After the Banquet by Yokio Mishima

Author:Yokio Mishima
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Random House
Published: 1999-11-02T22:00:00+00:00

12

Collision

The customers at the Setsugoan dwindled each day. First of all, Genki Nagayama stopped coming. The last time he appeared sparks had flown between him and Kazu when she visited his room.

“You certainly seem to be throwing yourself into the fray,” Nagayama said, grinning.

“What would that refer to, I wonder?”

“But people are saying, ‘The enemy is elsewhere.’”

“You talk more and more in riddles.”

“All I mean to say is that you needn’t go to such extremes just because you’re in love with your husband.”

“Really? I’ve always thought that when a woman fell in love she could even commit murder without any qualms.”

“Murder could be forgiven. But there are worse things than murder. You’ve sold our tricks to the enemy.”

“When have I ever sold any secret of yours?”

“I’m not talking about secrets. I’m talking about tricks. What you’re doing now is to teach little baby Radical Party wicked tricks. The kind of wicked tricks which have always been our exclusive property.”

“The tricks I learned from you don’t amount to much.”

“I suppose it’d be useless to try to stop you, with your nature. Go ahead, do what you please. But remember, violations of the election law by the Radical Party can’t be overlooked. Be careful. Your pals can thank their stars they’ve never had any money before. That’s what’s kept them out of jail.”

“Thank you for your kind advice. But don’t forget, if I’m caught I’ll have quite a bit to tell the district attorney myself.”

Nagayama colored, and he fell silent. Then, perhaps deciding that it would seem childish to stalk out of the party on the spot, he treated the other guests to a few of his usual dirty stories before leaving much sooner than his accustomed time. Kazu started to show him down the hall to the door when Nagayama, putting his arm around Kazu’s shoulder, lightly patted her breasts. Such a dismal pretense at love-making irrevocably alienated Kazu from Nagayama.

The following day, when Yamazaki visited the Setsugoan at Kazu’s request, he found her in her room. She was being massaged and wore only a thin undergarment. Yamazaki was dazzled by the superb pink of the under-robe, but he recognized at once that Kazu’s slatternly pose, which might easily have been mistaken for enticement, represented the informality she permitted herself only with a man she did not love. The pink underrobe became disarranged as Kazu’s hips were massaged, and Yamazaki caught a glimpse of her dazzlingly white thighs. The thighs had a glossy luminosity incredible in a woman in her middle fifties. Kazu felt no sense of responsibility about leaving her thighs exposed.

“What can I do for you?” Yamazaki demanded. “Please tell me quickly before I get the wrong ideas.”

“Nothing special. I called you just to take a load off your mind.” Kazu raised herself a little, rather warily, like a woman getting up on a rocking boat. “I’d like you to stop worrying. Whatever we do there’s absolutely no danger of being arrested.”

“What makes you so sure? That’s the Committee Chairman’s biggest worry.

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