City of Refuge by Kenzo Kitakata

Author:Kenzo Kitakata [Kitakata, Kenzo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kodansha USA
Published: 2022-10-18T00:00:00+00:00

4

The light was on in the window. Koji didn’t remember if he’d turned it off when he’d rushed out.

Trying to warm his hands by breathing on them, he looked at his window for a while from a distance. There was no sign of human movement in the light.

The door was unlocked.

The apartment was exactly the way it had been when he’d dashed out. He could hear the radio in his neighbor’s apartment as usual.

He kicked the bread packaging lying on the floor. Then he lifted a double-sized bottle of Suntory Red to his lips and drank. Some of the liquid dribbled down his neck.

He thought about what he needed to do.

First, he stripped naked. He changed all his clothing, including his underwear. He was covered with goose bumps. For a moment he recalled how he’d changed soiled clothing like this before, then immediately realized it was a trick of the mind. It was Numata who’d done the changing, not him.

He stuck his mouth to the tap and drank. Then he sat down on the tatami floor and lit a cigarette. He smoked many more. Before the ashtray could become full, his pack was empty.

He put Hiroshi’s underwear in a paper bag, along with soap, towels, and toothbrushes. There was nothing else to bring.

He plucked one of the longer cigarette butts from the ashtray, stretched it out, and lit it. Its taste irritated his throat.

The thought of money suddenly entered his mind. He pulled the empty whiskey bottle from the closet and removed the lid. He turned the bottle upside down and shook it repeatedly, but not one of the 10,000-yen bills fell out.

He smashed the bottle on the sink. The savage sound seemed to linger forever in the calm of the night.

After counting his thirty-one 10,000-yen notes, he squeezed them into his trouser pocket.

He walked around his apartment, using his foot to scoop up the clothes lying on the floor and pushing them into a single pile. He didn’t feel like doing anything more with them.

He was about to leave the apartment when he noticed the blue toy Volkswagen on the floor. Without removing his shoes he went back in and threw the toy car into the paper bag.

He was halfway down the stairs when he turned back again. He couldn’t leave his clothes in his apartment. They had blood on them.

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