After the quake blind willow, sleeping woman dance dance dance

I’m back
, Aomame thought. 
We’re back
. 
The traffic on the expressway was bumper to bumper, just as she had left it. The 
Shibuya-bound traffic was barely inching along. This surprised her, and she wondered 
why. 
Whenever I come here, the traffic’s always backed up. But at this time of day it’s 
pretty rare for the lanes heading into the city on Expressway No
. 3 
to be like this. 
There must be an accident somewhere up ahead
. The lanes going the other direction 
were flowing along nicely but the ones heading into the city were crushingly 
crowded. 

---

798
Tengo climbed over the metal fence, lifting one foot up high to nimbly leap over, 
then came to stand beside her. They stood there together, wordlessly watching the 
throng of traffic, like people standing beside the Pacific Ocean for the first time in 
their lives, awestruck at the waves crashing on the shore. 
The people in the barely moving cars stared back at them. They seemed confused, 
uncertain how to react. Their eyes were filled less with curiosity than suspicion. What 
could this young couple possibly be up to? They had suddenly popped up out of the 
dark and were standing in a turnout on the expressway. The woman had on a 
fashionable suit, but her coat was a thin spring one, and she was standing there in 
stocking feet, with no shoes. The man was stocky, and was wearing a well-worn 
leather jacket. Both of them had bags slung diagonally across their shoulders. Had 
their car broken down? Had they been in an accident? There was no sign of any car 
nearby. And they didn’t look like they were asking for help. 
Aomame finally pulled herself together and took her high heels out of her bag. She 
tugged the hem of her skirt down, put the strap of her bag over one shoulder, and tied 
the belt on her coat. She licked her dry lips, straightened her hair with her fingers, 
took out a handkerchief, and wiped away her tears. And she once more nestled close 
to Tengo. 
Just as they had done on that December day twenty years earlier, in a classroom 
after hours, they stood silently side by side, holding hands. They were the only two 
people in the world. They watched the leisurely flow of cars before them. But they 
saw nothing. What they were seeing, what they were hearing—none of it mattered. 
The sights around them—the sounds, the smells—had all been drained of meaning. 
“So, we’re in a different world now?” Tengo managed to say. 
“Most likely,” Aomame said. 
“Maybe we should make sure.” 
There was only one way to make sure, and they didn’t need to put it into words. 
Silently, Aomame raised her face and looked up at the sky. At nearly the same instant, 
Tengo did so too. They were searching for the moon. Considering the angle, the moon 
should be somewhere above the Esso billboard. But they couldn’t find it. It seemed to 
be hidden behind the clouds. The clouds were flowing toward the south, sedately 
moving along in the wind. The two of them waited—no need to rush. They had plenty 
of time. Enough time to recover the time they had lost. The time they shared. No need 
to panic. A pump in one hand, a knowing smile on his face, the Esso tiger, in profile, 
watched over the two of them holding hands. 
Aomame was struck by a sudden thought. Something was different, but she 
couldn’t put her finger on it. She narrowed her eyes and focused. And then it hit her. 
The left side of the Esso tiger’s face was toward them. But in her memory it was his 
right
side that had faced the world. 
The tiger had been reversed
. Her face instinctively 
grimaced, her heart skipped a beat or two. It felt like something inside her had 
changed course. But could she really say for sure?