Summary

This section begins with Komura arriving at the airport in Kushiro. He was greeted by two women at the airport. Sasaki’s sister, Keiko, introduced herself and her friend, Shimao, to Komura. Keiko thought that Komura’s wife had died because she misunderstood when Sasaki told her that Komura had “lost” (10) his wife.

The trio had coffee together, then Komura gave Keiko the package that Sasaki had given him. After Keiko accepted the package, she excused herself to take a phone call, leaving Shimao alone with Komura. Shimao started to have small talk with Komura, but she soon started to ask personal questions involving Komura’s wife, such as, “I’ll bet you loved her, didn’t you?” (12). After noticing Komura’s obvious reluctance to answer the questions, she offered to drive him and Keiko to a restaurant.

Shimao drove them to the...