After the quake blind willow, sleeping woman dance dance dance

I was in bed with the young one, and 
Ayumi did it with the thin-haired one on the sofa. I’m pretty sure that was it. And after 
that … everything after that is in a deep fog. I can’t remember a thing. Oh well, 
maybe it’s better that way. Let me just forget the whole thing. I had some wild sex, 
that’s all. I’ll probably never see those guys again
. 
But did the second guy wear a condom?
That was the one thing that worried 
Aomame. 
I wouldn’t want to get pregnant or catch something from such a stupid 
mistake. It’s probably okay, though. I wouldn’t slip up on that, even if I was drunk out 
of my mind
. 
Hmm, did I have some work scheduled today? No work. It’s Saturday. No work on 
Saturday. Oh, wait. I do have one thing. At three o’clock I’m supposed to go to the 
Willow House and do muscle stretching with the dowager. She had to see the doctor 
for some kind of test yesterday. Tamaru called a few days ago to see if I could switch 
our appointment to today. I totally forgot. But I’ve got four and a half hours left until 
three o’clock. My headache should be gone by then, and my brain will be a lot 
clearer
. 
She made herself some hot coffee and forced a few cups into her stomach. Then 
she spent the rest of the morning in bed, with nothing but a bathrobe on, staring at the 
ceiling. That was the most she could get herself to do—stare at the ceiling. Not that 
the ceiling had anything of interest about it. But she couldn’t complain. Ceilings 
weren’t put on rooms to amuse people. The clock advanced to noon, but she still had 
no appetite. Motorcycle and car engines still echoed in her head. This was her first 
authentic hangover. 
All of that sex did seem to have done her body a lot of good, though. Having a man 
hold her and gaze at her naked body and caress her and lick her and bite her and 
penetrate her and give her orgasms had helped release the tension of the spring wound 
up inside her. True, the hangover felt terrible, but that feeling of release more than 
made up for it. 
But how long am I going to keep this up?
Aomame wondered. 
How long
can 
I keep 
it up? I’ll be thirty soon, and before long forty will come into view
. 

---

144
She decided not to think about this anymore. 
I’ll get to it later, when I have more 
time. Not that I’m faced with any deadlines at the moment. It’s just that, to think 
seriously about such matters, I’m—
At that point the phone rang. It seemed to roar in Aomame’s ears, like a super-
express train in a tunnel. She staggered from the bed and lifted the receiver. The 
hands on the large wall clock were pointing to twelve thirty. 
A husky female voice spoke her name. It was Ayumi. 
“Yes, it’s me,” she answered. 
“Are you okay? You sound like you’ve just been run over by a bus.” 
“That’s maybe not far off.” 
“Hangover?” 
“Yeah, a bad one,” Aomame said. “How did you know my home phone?” 
“You don’t remember? You wrote it down for me. Mine should be in your wallet. 
We were talking about getting together soon.” 
“Oh, yeah? I don’t remember a thing.” 
“I thought you might not. I was worried about you. That’s why I’m calling,” 
Ayumi said. “I wanted to make sure you got home okay. I 
did
manage to get you into 
a cab at Roppongi Crossing and tell the driver your address, though.” 
Aomame sighed. “I don’t remember, but I guess I made it here. I woke up in my 
own bed.” 
“Well, that’s good.” 
“What are you doing now?” 
“I’m working, what I’m supposed to be doing,” Ayumi said. “I’ve been riding 
around in a mini patrol and writing parking tickets since ten o’clock. I’m taking a 
break right now.” 
“Very impressive,” Aomame said. She meant it. 
“I’m a little sleep deprived, of course. Last night was fun, though! Best time I ever 
had, thanks to you.” 
Aomame pressed her fingertips against her temples. “To tell you the truth, I don’t 
remember much of the second half. After you guys came to our room, I mean.” 
“What a waste!” Ayumi said in all seriousness. “It was amazing! The four of us did