After the quake blind willow, sleeping woman dance dance dance

waiting for me
there.” 
Tamaru paused briefly, and then said, “What happened?” 
“We made a deal.” 
“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Tamaru said, his voice stiff. 
“I never had the opportunity to tell you.” 
“Tell me what sort of deal you made.” 
“I massaged his muscles for a good hour, and all the while he talked. He knew 
about Tengo. And somehow he knew about the connection between Tengo and me. 
He told me he wanted me to kill him. He wanted to escape the terrible physical pain 

---

765
he was in as soon as possible. If I would give him death, he said, he would spare 
Tengo’s life for me. So I made up my mind and took his life. Even if I hadn’t carried 
it out, he already had one foot in the grave, and when I considered the kinds of things 
he had done, I almost felt like letting him stay as he was, in such agony.” 
“You never reported to Madame about this deal you made.” 
“I went there to kill Leader, and I carried out my assignment,” Aomame said. “The 
issue with Tengo was private.” 
“All right,” Tamaru said, sounding half resigned. “You most definitely did carry 
out your assignment, I’ll give you that. And the issue of Tengo Kawana is indeed a 
private matter. But somewhere either before or after this, you became pregnant. 
That’s not something that can be easily overlooked.” 
“Not 
before or after
. I got pregnant on that very night, the night of the huge 
rainstorm and terrible lightning that hit the city. On the same exact night when I 
dealt 
with
Leader. As I said before, without any sex involved.” 
Tamaru sighed. “Considering what we’re talking about, I either have to believe 
you or not believe you, one or the other. I have always found you to be a trustworthy 
person and I want to believe you, but I can’t fathom the logic. Understand, I am a 
person who can only follow deductive reasoning.” 
Aomame was silent. 
Tamaru went on. “Is there a cause-and-effect relationship between Leader’s 
murder and this mysterious pregnancy?” 
“I really can’t say.” 
“Is it possible that the fetus inside you is Leader’s child? That he used some 
method—what that would be I have no idea—and impregnated you? If that’s true, 
then I understand why they’re trying to get ahold of you. They need a successor to 
Leader.” 
Aomame clutched the phone tight and shook her head. “That’s impossible. This is 
Tengo’s child. I know it for a fact.” 
“That’s another thing I have to either trust you on or not.” 
“Beyond that, I can’t explain anything.” 
Tamaru sighed again. “All right. For the time being I’ll accept what you’re 
saying—that this baby is yours and Tengo’s, and that you know this for a fact. Still, I 
don’t see how it makes sense. At first they wanted to capture you and punish you 
severely, but at a certain point something happened—or they found out something. 
Now they 
need you
. They said they guarantee your safety, and that they have 
something to offer you, and they want to meet directly to discuss this. What could 
have happened to account for this sudden turnaround?” 
“They don’t need me,” Aomame said. “They need what’s inside my belly. 
Somewhere along the line they realized this.” 
“Ho, ho,” one of the Little People intoned from somewhere. 
“Things are moving a bit too fast for me,” Tamaru said. He gave a little groan 
again in the back of his throat. “I still don’t see the logical connection here.” 
Well, nothing’s been logical since the two moons appeared
, Aomame thought. 
That’s what stole the logic from everything
. Not that she said this aloud. 
“Ho, ho,” six other Little People joined in. 

---

766
“They need someone to