Hardboiled & Hard Luck by Banana Yoshimoto Read Free Book Online Page A

here anymore?” I said.
    At the same time, I was thinking, Yeah, well, that’s probably for the best.
    “That’s right. The man who owned it passed away, you see. His son has been saying he might tear it down and build a restaurant in its place next year. You know that bath? The owner built that himself, you know.”
    “Oh?”
    “It’s a cute little bath, isn’t it?”
    “Did he get the stones up on the mountain?” I asked.
    “Why?”
    “The mosaic is kind of unusual.”
    “Yes, he was a strange man—he collected stones. I don’t mean precious stones like diamonds and things like that. Just plain old stones. Useless rocks.”
    “I see. I think it’s great, though—it’s a lovely bath,” I said, because it seemed like a nice thing to say. “You should be careful, though. There’s a ghost, after all, and there’s something funny about this place. Somehow.”
    “Oh, I’ll be fine. I said this earlier, but it’s true—you have strange nights no matter where you are. And they always pass. You just have to force yourself to act like nothing is wrong, and when morning comes everything is back to normal. For me, people are the scariest. These other things don’t seem like such a big deal, not compared to the gleeful look the owner’s son had on his face when his father died. Once, the most elegant couple you can imagine came and took a room here, and when the man who does the cleaning went in after they left, he saw things so awful that he vomited. He said he couldn’t even begin to imagine the nauseating things they had been doing in there. That’s the kind of thing that frightens me.”
    The woman’s tone set my mind at ease. Everything will be fine, I thought, as long as they’ve got someone like her around. I made up my mind not to worry about the hotel.
    “Well, I guess I’ll go back upstairs. Good night,” I said.
    Outside, there was the faint chirping of a bird.
    Dawn was almost here.
    “You don’t really want to go, do you?” said the woman. “Why don’t you just sleep here?”
    “Huh?”
    “It’s fine, don’t worry, there isn’t a whole lot of space but I’ve got a futon here that you can use. Trust me, it’s better for you to stay. She’ll come back.” The woman’s voice was bright. “Things will be fine in the morning—you can go up and get your bag before you leave.”
    I don’t get it, I thought. I’m paying good money to sleep with an old woman in a Japanese-style room so dull it doesn’t even qualify as tastefully restrained. I decided to stay, though, since it was such an unusual experience.
    “OK, I will. Thanks.”
    I was also so tired by then that I didn’t care where I slept.
    The woman rolled out a futon for me a little apart from her own, which had been spread out on the floor the whole time.
    This small room, the low ceiling, the smell of the chrysanthemums.
    I got into my futon and said good night.
    Good night, replied the woman as she switched off the overhead light.
    She was still washing our teacups under the kitchen light, the only one she had left on, when I fell asleep.

6
    Another Dream
    The dream was very real.
    I couldn’t even say for sure whether it was a dream or a memory. Though I had the feeling it had actually happened. The dream was extremely short.
    I was there, in Chizuru’s apartment. In a room that no longer exists.
    Everything was so clear; I could even see the stains on the high ceiling.
    I saw light glinting off the beautifully polished, stainless steel kitchen counter.
    It was foggy outside. So foggy I almost thought it would come inside.
    The sky glowed dully and the noise of the traffic was muted.
    I could hear the sounds of the couple overhead ardently creating another child in the bathroom, as if they didn’t have enough already.
    “God, they’re so loud!” I moaned. “Don’t they know how late it is?”
    I was flipping through a magazine; my mind was blank.
    Recently, I had become something of an alcoholic; I was