After the quake blind willow, sleeping woman dance dance dance

little one
—or they were going to 
find out. Aomame was prepared. If need be, she would have no problem pumping all 
the 9mm bullets she had into Ponytail and Buzzcut. The God that protected her was 
also, at times, a bloody God. 
. . . 
A knock came at the door. Aomame sat down on a stool in the kitchen and gripped 
the automatic pistol tight, the safety off. Outside a cold rain had been falling since 
morning. The world was enveloped in the smell of winter rain. 
The knocks stopped. “Hello, Miss Takai,” a man’s voice said on the other side of 
the door. “It’s me, your friendly NHK collector. Sorry to bother you again, but I’m 
back to collect the subscription fee. I know you’re there, Miss Takai.” 
Aomame faced the door and silently spoke. We called NHK and asked about this. 
You’re nothing but someone posing as an NHK man. Who 
are
you? And what do you 
want here? 
“When people receive things, they have to pay for them. That’s the way the world 
works. You receive a TV signal, so you have to pay the fee. Receiving without paying 
isn’t fair. It’s the same as stealing.” 
His voice echoed loudly in the hallway. A hoarse, but piercing voice. 
“My personal feelings are not involved in this at all. I don’t hate you, and I’m not 
trying to punish you whatsoever. It’s just that I can’t stand when things are unfair. 
People have to pay for what they receive. Miss Takai, as long as you don’t open up, 
I’ll be back again and again to bang on your door. And I don’t think that’s what you 
want. I’m not some unreasonable old coot. If we talk, I’m sure we can come to an 
understanding. So would you be kind enough to open the door?” 
The knocking continued. 
Aomame gripped the pistol tighter. 
This man must know I’m having a baby
. A thin 
sheen of sweat formed under her arms and on the tip of her nose. 
I am never going to 
open this door. He can try to use a duplicate key, or try to force it open, but if he does 
I’m going to empty this entire clip into his belly—NHK collector or not
. 
No, that probably wouldn’t happen. And she knew it. He couldn’t open the door. 
As long as she didn’t open it from the inside, the door was set up so it couldn’t be 

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opened. Which is why the man got so irritated and voluble, using every verbal trick in 
the book trying to make her tense and on edge. 
Ten minutes later, the man left. But only after he had, in a thunderous voice, 
threatened and ridiculed her, slyly tried to win her over to his side, denounced her in 
no uncertain terms, and finally announced he would be back to pay her another visit. 
“You can’t escape, Miss Takai. As long as you get the TV signal I will be back. 
I’m not the kind of man who gives up so easily. That’s just my personality. Well, we 
will be seeing each other again very soon.” 
She didn’t hear his footsteps, but he was no longer standing outside the door. 
Aomame peeked through the peephole to make sure. She set the safety on the pistol 
and washed her face in the sink. Her armpits were soaked. As she changed to a fresh 
shirt she stood, naked, in front of the mirror. Her stomach still wasn’t showing enough 
to notice, but she knew an important secret lay hidden within. 
She spoke to the dowager on the phone. After Tamaru had gone over a few points 
with her, he handed the phone to the dowager without a word. They used a 
roundabout way of speaking, avoiding any clear-cut terms. At least at first. 
“We have already secured a new place for you,” the dowager said. “There you can 
perform the 
task you’ve been planning on
. It’s a safe place and you can get checked 
out regularly by a specialist. If you’re willing, you can move there as soon as you 
would like.”