Last Winter We Parted by Fuminori Nakamura Read Free Book Online Page A

hard sound echoes within my small apartment.
    Yukie will never be happy with me. She should just get rid of me and find someone new, I think selfishly. I no longer even know whether I love her. I want her to be happy, but no sooner do I have the thought than the intensity of my feelings is likely to disappear.
    But the world around me keeps moving, regardless of my will. The phone doesn’t stop ringing. As if it’s reproaching me for running away.
    I turn on my computer and look at Internet news I care nothing about. I read the biased comments written below the articles, and look away when they make me sick. The phone keeps ringing. The sound reverberates through my cramped apartment. I take a sip of whiskey and light a cigarette. I can no longer hear the coughing from the apartment next door. It is almost as though the guy is holding his breath while he listens to my phone ringing. As if he has stopped his coughing and is patiently, resentfully waiting. “Save me.” I remember Akari Kiharazaka’s voice. While the phone rings, I feel her fingers on me, hear her voice. As if she is right in front of me. The phone stops ringing.
    In the now quiet apartment, my heart has started to race slightly. Through the wall I can hear the coughing start back up again. I get up, consciously draw in my breath, and grab my exhausted-looking cell phone. When I touch it, the overworked device still retains the slightest heat. I call the publisher. I want to investigate Akari Kiharazaka further. I need more time. I have the guy with a deep voice who answers the phone call the editor who is in charge. He isn’t there. That’s how it always is with them, I think. Despite the ridiculous number of times the editor called to hound me to take on the project, whenever I try to reach him, I can never get him on the line. He doesn’t even have a cell phone. I have no choice but to send him an email; he always takes forever to reply.
    I am thinking about visiting the children’s institution where Akari Kiharazaka had lived. I wonder if anyone who was there at the time will still be around. Her scent spreads across my chest. I wonder why she seduced me.
    Just then the doorbell rings.
    The sound seems too loud for my quiet apartment. My heart starts to race a little again. Could it be Yukie? I wonder as I approach the door. But it could be Akari Kiharazaka, I think. What will I do if it is her? Most likely I will lose any hesitation the moment I see her. I’ll let her into the apartment and probably throw her onto the bed. If she tries to tease me or laugh, I’ll show her my dark side.
    Amid the contemptuous roar of the rest of the world, together she and I …
    I look out through the peephole. As if I am a criminal peering out at the money I am about to steal. There is a man I don’t know standing there.
    Before I know it, I am opening the door. After I have done so, I realize I haven’t latched the chain. Just what do I intend to do if this guy turns out to be dangerous? But the man just stares at me, without trying to come inside. He is wearing a grey coat over a navy blue suit.
    “… Who are you?”
    “We spoke on the phone … I’m Saito.”
    He is a member of K2. I have been trying to interview him for quite a while.
    “… Why are you here?”
    “I don’t know.”
    The man is standing there, immobile. What is this guy doing here? He looks at me with jittery eyes.
    “… Just a minute, please. I’ll get my things. We can go to a coffee shop in the neighborhood.”
    “Here is fine.”
    He keeps staring at me.
    “… Here? My apartment?”
    “Yes. I don’t mean to intrude on your privacy, but don’t you want to be somewhere safe?”
    This is a strange visit. I start to feel nervous. But why should I? I smile.
    “No, come in. There’s nothing here though.”
    The man enters my apartment. He looks around the room. There is almost no furniture. I offer him the chair from the desk, but he stands there without