After the quake blind willow, sleeping woman dance dance dance

What an odd young woman
, Ushikawa thought again as he kept her in sight. 
It’s 
like watching some rare exotic butterfly. Pleasant to watch, but you can’t touch it, for 
as soon as you do, it dies, its brilliance gone
. That would put an end to his exotic 
dream. 
Ushikawa quickly calculated whether it made sense to let the Sakigake duo know 
he had discovered Fuka-Eri’s whereabouts. It was a tough decision. If he did tell them 
he had located her, he would definitely score some points. At the very least, it 
wouldn’t hurt his standing with them—he could show them he was making decent 
progress. But if he got too involved with Fuka-Eri, he might very well miss the 
chance to find the real object of his search, Aomame. That would be a disaster. So 
what should he do? He stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his pea coat, pulled 
the muffler up to his nose, and continued following her, keeping a longer distance 
between them than before. 
Maybe I’m only following her because I wanted to see her
. The thought suddenly 
occurred to him. Just watching her stride along the road, bags of groceries clutched to 
her, made his chest grow tight. Like a person hemmed in between two walls, he could 
go neither forward nor back. His breathing turned ragged and forced, and he found it 
almost impossible to breathe, like he was caught up in a tepid blast of wind. A 
thoroughly strange feeling he had never experienced. 
At any rate, I’ll let her go for a while. I’ll stick to the original plan and focus on 
Aomame. Aomame is a murderer. It doesn’t matter what reason she may have had for 
doing it—she deserves to be punished
. Turning her over to Sakigake didn’t bother 
him. But this young girl was different. She was a quiet little creature living deep in 
the woods, with pale wings like the shadow of a spirit. 
Just observe her from a 
distance
, he decided. 
Ushikawa waited a while after Fuka-Eri had disappeared into the entrance of the 
apartment, grocery bags in hand, before he went in. He went to his room, took off his 
muffler and cap, and plopped back down in front of the camera. His cheeks were cold 

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from the wind. He smoked a cigarette and drank some mineral water. His throat felt 
parched, as if he had eaten something very spicy. 
Twilight fell, streetlights snapped on, and it was getting near the time people 
would be coming home. Still wearing his pea coat, Ushikawa held the remote control 
for the shutter and intently watched the entrance to the building. As the memory of 
the afternoon sunlight faded, his empty room rapidly grew chilly. It looked like 
tonight would be much colder than last night. Ushikawa considered going to the 
discount electrical goods store in front of the station and buying an electric space 
heater or electric blanket. 
Eriko Fukada came out of the entrance again at four forty-five. She had on the 
same black turtleneck sweater and jeans, but no leather jacket. The tight sweater 
revealed the swell of her breasts. She had generous breasts for such a slim girl. 
Ushikawa watched this lovely swelling through his viewfinder, and as he did again he 
felt the same tightness and difficulty breathing. 
Since she wasn’t wearing a jacket, she couldn’t be going far. As before, she 
stopped at the entrance, narrowed her eyes, and looked up above the electric pole in 
front. It was getting dark, but if you squinted you could make out the outlines of 
things. She stood there for a while as if searching for something. But she apparently 
didn’t find what she was looking for. She gave up looking above the pole and, like a 
bird, twisted her head and gazed at her surroundings. Ushikawa pushed the remote 
button and snapped photos of her. 
As if she had heard the sound of the shutter, Fuka-Eri turned to look right in the 
direction of the camera. Through the viewfinder Ushikawa and Fuka-Eri were face-to-
face. Ushikawa could see her face quite clearly. He was looking through a telephoto 
lens, after all. On the other end of the lens, though, Fuka-Eri was staring steadily right 
at him. Deep within the lens, she could see him. Ushikawa’s face was clearly reflected 
within those soft, jet-black eyes. He found it strange that they were directly in touch 
like this. He swallowed.