But he never did locate the guy, so instead he clicked his tongue in anger and stepped over the fence around the park again. The asphalt road was lit up by the orange streetlight. And that’s when he spied a woman walking toward him. The woman must have been meeting up with somebody, for she checked each car as she walked by.

Keigo straddled the fence and leaped out from the shrubbery. And at that instant one of the cars parked between him and the woman blew its horn. The horn pierced the air and echoed on the road along the park. Startled by the sound, the woman came to an abrupt halt. She recognized Keigo before he recognized her and he saw a smile spread on her partly shadowed face.

The woman quickly ran over to the car, the clatter of her boots on the road absorbed into the darkened interior of the park. Halfway to the car she shot a quick glance inside, but didn’t slow down. Just as Keigo walked past the car he realized that this was that girl he’d met at a bar in Tenjin, the one who wouldn’t leave him alone with all her e-mails.

“Keigo!” she called out.

Keigo lifted a desultory hand in greeting. He was concerned about the parked car, and when he glanced over he caught a vague glimpse of a young man’s face in the dome light. He didn’t get a good look at him, but from the hair color it looked like the guy who’d been peeing outside a few minutes ago.

Yoshino didn’t call out to the guy in the car, who was obviously waiting for her, but trotted over to Keigo.

“What are you doing in a place like this?” she asked.

Even in the darkened street Keigo could see how beaming and happy Yoshino looked.

“I had to take a leak.”

Yoshino looked about ready to hug him and he took a step back.

“What a coincidence. Our apartment building is just behind here,” Yoshino volunteered, pointing to the dark park. “Did you come by car?” she asked, looking around.

“Uh, yeah,” Keigo answered, concerned about the blond man in the parked car staring at them.

“Is it okay?” Keigo asked, motioning with his chin toward the car. As if suddenly remembering, Yoshino turned around and shook her head. She frowned and said, unenthusiastically, “Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”

“But weren’t you meeting him?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it.”

“What do you mean, don’t worry about it?” Keigo asked.

Yoshino, sounding resigned, said, “Just, ah-just wait a second,” and scurried off toward the car.

Keigo certainly hadn’t come here to see Yoshino, but he was taken aback by her cheery welcome and realized he couldn’t very well just leave.

When Yoshino ran over to the car, the man’s face in the overhead light visibly relaxed a bit. But she merely opened the passenger-side door, said a few words to him, then shut the door and came back over to Keigo.

She’d slammed the door so hard the sound reverberated through the street for a time.

“Sorry,” Yoshino apologized. “He’s a friend of a friend, someone I lent some money to.” She looked annoyed.

“Don’t you want him to give it back?”

“No, it’s okay. I just asked him to transfer it to my account,” Yoshino said lightly. Keigo glanced over at the car and saw the man still staring in their direction.

“Going back to the apartment?” Keigo asked.

She’d neglected the man she was supposed to meet up with, and come back to him, but this didn’t seem to bother her. She stood there watching Keigo steadily, waiting for him to continue.

“Uh, yeah…” Yoshino answered.

Truthfully, Keigo found this type of girl hard to deal with. The kind who was waiting for something, but pretended not to be. Who made of show of not expecting anything but actually was expecting a lot.

If the car the man she had met up with had pulled away right then, Keigo would probably never have given her a ride. He wouldn’t have found it hard to just say, “Well, I gotta go. Catch you later,” and leave her there. But that other car just stayed put, the man’s face-at once angry and sad-still faintly visible in the interior light. It didn’t look like the man was going to get out of the car, and Yoshino showed no indication that she was going back to him.

“So your building’s nearby?” Keigo said, breaking the silence, and for a second Yoshino was at a loss for an answer. Her smile could have been interpreted either way.

“Want a ride?”

Yoshino nodded happily. He pressed the key to unlock his car. When he opened the passenger door Yoshino crawled inside.

While they’d been outside talking in the cold wind, he hadn’t noticed Yoshino’s breath, but when she said, shivering, “It’s nice and warm inside the car!” he realized she stank of garlic.

His feelings changed as soon as he got in the driver’s seat. This girl would be a good outlet for all the irritation he’d been feeling all night.

“You have some time?” Keigo asked as he started the engine.

“Why d’you ask?” Yoshino said.

“You feel like going for a drive?”

“A drive? Where to?” She wasn’t going to turn him down, but still she tilted her head as if she had her doubts.

“No place in particular… How ’bout we test our courage and go to Mitsuse Pass?” Keigo teased, and stepped on the gas. In the rearview mirror he caught a glimpse of the blond man’s white Skyline.

It’s no big deal, she told herself, and her legs, which had been pedaling furiously, came to an abrupt halt. The Saga station, where she was supposed to meet Yuichi, was just across the street.

It’s no big deal, Mitsuyo murmured to herself again. Seeing a guy she met online-no big deal. Everybody does it, and meeting him isn’t going to change anything.

This morning she’d told Tamayo as she left for work, “I’ll be a little late tonight.” She realized now that ever since then she’d been telling herself, over and over, that this was nothing to get all worked up over.

She’d e-mailed Yuichi, promising to meet him. He’d asked her where would be a good place, and she’d answered back. He’d asked her what time would work for her, and she’d replied. Simple enough, but as soon as she put down her cell phone, she started to feel uneasy, wondering whether she was really going through with it. Making a date had been easy, but she’d never given any thought to how she really felt about it.

No way am I going through with this, Mitsuyo murmured. I’m not that brave.

Perhaps she wasn’t, but she did think about what she should wear. And she did imagine the two of them meeting up at the station.

As morning dawned she couldn’t see herself actually going on the date. Couldn’t see herself going, yet she told Tamayo she’d be late. Couldn’t see herself going, yet she changed her clothes and left the house. Wasn’t brave enough to actually meet him, but now here she was standing right across from the station.

She must have been standing there for a while, for people rushing to the station passed her. Mitsuyo stepped to one side and sat back on a railing. A middle-aged woman behind her, thinking perhaps that she wasn’t feeling well, shot her a sympathetic look. The sun was strong, so she didn’t feel the cold. Just the railing digging painfully into her rear end.

It was already past eleven, the time they’d agreed to meet. From her perch on the railing, she could see the traffic circle in front of the station. People were going in and out of the station entrance but none were likely candidates. Just then a white car roared into the traffic circle. The car’s tires squealed so loudly as it took the corner that Mitsuyo, some distance away, instinctively stood up. There was no doubt about it-this was the car whose photo Yuichi had shown her in an e-mail the night before. “I can’t go through with this,” Mitsuyo said softly. But despite her words, her right leg took a small step forward.

What do I do if he isn’t happy with what he sees? If he’s disappointed by me-what then? These thoughts in mind, she started walking.