A Story in Yokohama -16【White iris petals】
A Story in Yokohama【 Subtitled "Longing"】-16
One night, Shiro saw Junko slurping down a strong drink.
“I've never seen you drink like that before.”
“I had a quarrel with my sister.”
“With your sister?”
“Compared to me, a stray cat, she's a very respectable person.”
“What did she say to you?”
“She told me to repent.”
“Sounds like a Christian to me.”
“She really is. She's a hard-hearted Christian, and she's always talking in one direction. She said if you don't repent, you'll end up a slut and leave nothing behind.”
"...I don't think your sister's opinion is necessarily wrong.
“I don't care what she said, but put yourself in my shoes. My sister, who lives in a different world from mine, is forcing her opinions on me, which she believes to be absolutely correct.”
“I think you are a more liberal person than your sister, but I can understand her concern for you.”
“I don't care what she says, because I like my life the way it is. But...”
“But what?”
“She told me there would be nothing left of me, and that hit me.”
“In what way?”
“Loneliness. I thought it would be very lonely to die alone with nothing.”
“Isn't the freedom to live alone, after all, an acceptance of loneliness?”
“I have always wanted to be alone, but I'm afraid of dying alone.”
“You don't know now if you'll die alone.”
“I am sure that I will. Unlike my sister, I'm free, and I'm enjoying that freedom, but I'm afraid of dying with nothing to leave behind.”
“There's a saying.”
“What is it?”
“At the prime of life we hope to be alone, at the end of life we hope to flee from solitude.”
“Who said that?”
“Shiro Murakami.”
“What?”
“I improvised it.”
“Hmm. You're not stupid.”
“Well, I don't know. By the way, I have the perfect remedy for loneliness.”
“What's the remedy?”
“It's a religion. Whether it's your sister's Christianity or Buddhism, if you devote yourself to it properly, you'll end up in peace.”
“I don't want to do that. I have no one to turn to. Aren't you afraid of dying alone?”
“I don't think about it much, being born and dying is fate, and there's nothing we can do about it.”
“You can say that because you have a wife. At least you're not alone.”
“That's true, ...”
“I'm all alone. My sister is right. That's why I told her I was leaving her.”
“That's the kind of sister you can fix.”
“So I thought, you know...”
“What did you think?”
“I've been thinking about it a lot, and I think maybe I should tell you.”
“If it's all right with me.”
“I want to have a reason to exist. I want to be released from loneliness.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to have a child. Will you help me?”
“Me?”
“I won't bother you. I'll raise the child as my own. I've got enough saved up to keep me out of work for a few years.”
“You say the most amazing things.”
“Does it bother you?”
“I’m honored to hear that.”
“Do you care about your wife?”
“…”
That night Shiro left the Carriage Road for the first time, accompanied by Junko, and went to a hotel near the park where the harbor can be seen.
“I'm going to stay here for a while, you just hold me and then go home.”
“I'll stay here with you tonight.”
“No. I won't bother you or your wife. All I want is a child.”
“If we have a child, we'll legally recognize that.”
“No, not that either. It's only for me.”
As she said this, Junko stripped down to her underwear, her body looking magnificent.
When she took off her bra, her nipples were as beautiful as a girl's.
“Isn't my body more beautiful than you imagined?”
Nights of oblivion followed.
After about ten days, Junko suddenly disappeared from the hotel.
He went to the Carriage Road, but was told that she had not come.
Commentary
No commentary this time.
・・・To be continued・・・