An image of Liyun came to mind. Her damp skin gleaming in the morning sunlight. She had a peculiar way of walking, as if she were avoiding invisible booby traps.

‘She’s a strange cat,’ Shoji finally said.

‘If it’s a rare breed, you should sell her to a pet shop. Problem solved.’

Shoji rested his head against the back of the sofa, feeling more and more exhausted. Yoshioka moved to sit next to him.

A few minutes passed before Yoshioka said, ‘You look troubled.’

‘Do I?’

‘Yeah.’

Shoji thought of Liyun, and then of Yoko. If Yoko were here, how would she react? She probably wouldn’t forgive him. Even he couldn’t forgive himself.

All he wanted was to see Yoko again. Even if she was going to swear at him for cheating on her, even if it would take him forever to earn back her trust, he would put up with anything. If only he could find her.

But what if she had never returned to Tokyo? Perhaps she’d been waiting in Akakawa. No, that couldn’t be true. Shoji took a deep breath. Was there nothing more he could do? Apart from Uncle Hidetoshi, who had specifically instructed him not to contact him, was there no one else he could reach out to?

Of course, there was also Mizuki. But he had brought enough trouble to her. When he’d reached Tokyo, he had considered trying to contact her, but the more he’d thought about it, the more he realised the best thing was probably to stay away. Every time he thought of Mizuki, he felt a tremendous amount of guilt.

‘If there’s anything you want to talk about, I’m all ears,’ Yoshioka said.

Shoji hesitated. He didn’t want to bother his senior, but he had exhausted all his other options. ‘Remember I used to live in Akakawa?’

Yoshioka nodded. ‘What about it?’

‘The reason I had to return to Tokyo was that I’d tried to help a female friend leaving an abusive marriage. Her husband was a politician with considerable influence. But instead of saving her, I ended up with people wanting to kill me.’

Yoshioka’s eyes widened. ‘That’s serious. Are they still pursuing you?’

‘I can’t be certain, but I like to think that they eventually gave up.’

‘You seem relaxed for someone with a noose around his neck.’

Shoji forced himself to laugh. ‘It’s been two years. I used to be anxious, but not anymore,’ he said. ‘There’s just one thing. I often wonder about that friend. Most probably, she’s still stuck in that marriage, though I do hope that she managed to get away somehow.’ Even as he said the words, he couldn’t help dismissing it as a feeble attempt to make himself feel better about his helplessness.

Yoshioka took a long sigh, seemingly thinking hard. ‘You want to meet up with her?’