Tokyo Traffic by Michael Pronko

Author:Michael Pronko [Michael Pronko]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

“Tadaima,” Hiroshi called out as he came in the front door. He took off his shoes at the genkan, waiting for Ayana to shout back, “O-kaeri nasai.”

Not hearing it, Hiroshi braced himself with a clear explanation about why he had been home for only a couple hours before he got called away again. He’d worked all day, except for a nap while Akiko took a long lunch. He’d pulled out his futon bed in his office and it felt like old times, before he moved in with Ayana, when he’d slept in his office most nights.

He had not found much on the case all day. Every direction ended with nothing. The cryptocurrency accounts disappeared, Jack and Jill’s finances seemed aboveboard, and missing foreign women were all long-since cold cases. Even the cases of child pornography didn’t trace back to Jack and Jill, but led in other directions. At six, he packed it in and headed home.

He was proud to be home at a reasonable hour and wanted Ayana to notice how hard he was trying to not overwork like a typical salaryman. Whether she noticed or not, being home on time for a meal with her felt like a slice of heaven. Knowing the apartment and Ayana were there calmed him in a way he’d never felt before. And excited him, too.

As a librarian at the National Archives, Ayana came home without being jangled, disgusted, or drained by the chronic futility he felt every day. Hiroshi knew his calm was a mask he put on at the front door, while hers ran deep. It was why she was going to the Budokan for the kendo competition and he wasn’t. She could do things outside work, while all he did was recover.

“We should get a cat,” Ayana said when Hiroshi got to the kitchen.

“Didn’t you hear me come in?”

“I’m cooking.” She went up to kiss him, first on the lips and then on the side of his neck.

His parents had led separate lives together in the same home. He couldn’t remember ever seeing them touch. He only remembered his father touching him for the first time at his mother’s funeral, a heavy hand on his shoulder at the crematorium. After that, setting aside sports, it wasn’t until Ayana, making love on the beach in Kamakura after a college kendo competition, that he remembered any loving touch at all. Now, he had it all the time.

Hiroshi said, “What about a dog?”

Ayana hummed her approval. “A dog? They have bigger tongues.” She licked him with the flat of her tongue and watched his reaction, her face bubbling with energy.

Hiroshi said, “Whatever pet you want, you shall have.”

“We could start making cute pet videos.”

Hiroshi groaned, thinking of the videos on the case.

Ayana sashayed back to the kitchen area. Hiroshi watched the roll of her hips and took a deep breath, planning his initial move after dinner. Maybe just carry her into the bedroom. The couch would be fine, too.

“What brought on this pet urge?” Hiroshi set down the wine he’d picked up from the nearby deli and washed his hands.

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