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“Is that last place okay,” Fuka-Eri asked.
“Fine,” Tengo said. “I’ll go to the same café in Shinjuku at four o’clock. Oh, and
your photos in the paper looked good. The ones from the press conference.”
“I wore the same sweater,” she said.
“It looked good on you,” Tengo said.
“Because you like my chest shape.”
“Maybe so. But more important in this case was making a good impression on
people.”
Fuka-Eri kept silent at her end, as if she had just set something on a nearby shelf
and was looking at it. Maybe she was thinking about
the connection between the
shape of her chest and making a good impression. The more he thought about it, the
less Tengo himself could see the connection.
“Four o’clock,” Fuka-Eri said, and hung up.
. . .
Fuka-Eri was already waiting for Tengo when he walked into the usual café just
before four. Next to her sat Professor Ebisuno. He was dressed in a pale gray long-
sleeved shirt and dark gray pants. As before, his back was perfectly straight. He could
have been a sculpture. Tengo was somewhat surprised to find the Professor with her.
Komatsu had said that the Professor almost never “came down from the mountains.”
Tengo took a seat opposite them and ordered a cup of coffee. The rainy season
hadn’t even started, but the weather felt like midsummer. Even so,
Fuka-Eri sat there
sipping a hot cup of cocoa. Professor Ebisuno had ordered iced coffee but hadn’t
touched it yet. The ice had begun to melt, forming a clear layer on top.
“Thanks for coming,” the Professor said.
Tengo’s coffee arrived. He took a sip.
Professor Ebisuno spoke slowly, as if performing a test of his speaking voice:
“Everything seems to be going as planned for now,” he said. “You made major
contributions to the project. Truly major. The first thing I must do is thank you.”
“I’m grateful to hear you say that, but as you know, where
this matter is concerned,
officially I don’t exist,” Tengo said. “And officially nonexistent people can’t make
contributions.”
Professor Ebisuno rubbed his hands over the table as if warming them.
“You needn’t be so modest,” the Professor said. “Whatever the public face of the
matter may be, you
do
exist. If it hadn’t been for you, things would not have come
this far or gone this smoothly. Thanks to you,
Air Chrysalis
became a much better
work, deeper and richer than I ever imagined it could be. That
Komatsu fellow really
does
have an eye for talent.”
Beside him, Fuka-Eri went on drinking her cocoa in silence, like a kitten licking
milk. She wore a simple white short-sleeved blouse and a rather short navy-blue skirt.
As always, she wore no jewelry. Her long, straight hair hid her face when she leaned
forward to drink.
“I wanted to be sure to tell you this in person, which is why I troubled you to come
here today,” Professor Ebisuno said.