Quartet (カルテット)

Suzume-san, are you awake?

Suzume-san. Suzume-san.

Ouch, ouch!

- Hm? - Sorry. It's Makimura.

Ah... Makimura-san. Iemori-san's friend.

No. He's a lowerclassman from school.

The room is only booked until 7AM, so we should go soon.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

If you want to visit Iemori-san, I can take you to the villa.

Ah, it's fine. I just want to watch him perform.

- I'll visit the restaurant. - We aren't performing today. Tomorrow.

- Then I'll go tomorrow. - Let's go now.

Alright then.

Here's your change, 40 yen.

Sorry.

- Thank you. - Here you go.

Are these on trend right now?

No, I probably stepped on something.

Makimura-san, do people tell you that your voice is really soft?

No, no one's told me that before.

Thank you for your patronage.

Yeah. The ticket gate is right next to the exit.

Yeah. See you soon.

Are you meeting your mother-in-law?

- Yes. - Are you gonna be fine?

I'll be fine. Have you heard from Suzume-chan?

She replied to my messages. She's even laughing too.

"Suzume-chan,where are you right now?"

"Please reply me."

"Suzume-chan~!"

"I'm staying over at a net cafe in Saku tonight. I'll come home tomorrow, so don't worry."

Suzume-chan normally doesn't use stickers.

Let me make dinner for today.

I'll make a lot of something warm and wait at home.

I'll try to come home early too.

- Also, we need to buy coffee milk. - I'm going out too.

There might be a quick and easy job that pays 100,000 yen.

Eh?

Why, what's the matter?

- Family registry... - I'm not selling my family registry.

- Organized crime group... - I'm not joining any organized crime groups.

I'm not transporting any illegal stuff. It's a part-time job.

Have a safe trip.

Ah, are you all right?

- Don't worry, we'll help you. - Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. Thanks for the help.

It was far, wasn't it?

I'm used to it. I've been here a few times already.

I'm home~

Iemori-san? Iemori-san~

Maki-san!

No one's home.

- Monkey? - Yeah.

He was brought there for an event at a farm in Northern Karuizawa, then escaped on his own.

He belongs to a rare breed of monkey, right?

Blue...

Apparently he has blue scrota.

- Scrota? - What's scrota?

Well, just google it. "Monkey with blue scrota."

Anyway, if you manage to catch that monkey

they are gonna give you 100,000 yen.

Huh?

Blue scrota... these are scrota?

By "scrota," you mean these? Huh~?

- What? Did you get the same thing? - They are the same. Look!

- Scrota, huh? - Blue scrota.

- Scrota. So these are scrota. - Look, Mama. "Scrota" means these.

It just means "balls" right? Why are you getting so excited about what you both also have?

- Sorry. - Excuse us.

What's going on? What are scrota?

- Arisu-chan. Wait, hold on. - It's okay, no need to look it up.

Mother, you should drink it while it's still warm.

Mother, we're at a church.

Until when do you plan on feigning innocence?

Let's be frank with each other.

I...

You.

Did you kill Mikio?

Wow~ this looks amazing.

- It's bigger than expected. - Right? It's so pretty.

- Look, look. - Hm?

- The Cross is huge. - It is.

Wow. The chairs are all wooden too. And there are so many of them.

- That's Maki-san's. - Sorry?

Are you interested in violins?

Ah, no...

- Please, have some tea. - Thank you.

Maki...mura-san.

You're married, aren't you?

- Sorry? - Your wedding ring.

- Ah, this is not a ring. - It's not?

- It's more like an object actually. - It looks like a ring though.

It's an object that looks like a ring.

An object that looks like a ring is a ring, right?

Yes.

I feel like I have seen something similar before.

Maki...mura-san, what's your normal body temperature?

- Eh? - Ah...

Can you measure it now?

Is this place a hospital?

My acquaintance's husband has an average temperature of 37.2°C.

Apparently he has a nice smell coming from here.

Iemori-san isn't contacting me.

Your husband is...

To: Maki Maki

Maybe he's back.

- Hello. - Thank you for the hard work.

Can you sign please?

- Those shoes... did something happen? - Pardon me?

Looks like someone threw color balls on them.

Color balls...?

You haven't seen them at banks or convenience stores?

The ones they throw at robbers?

The balls are thrown at robbers' feet so that they can be tracked down.

I see~

Thank you very much.

- Maki-san. - Yes?

Um...

That.

Ah...

- Was it a bank? - It was a convenience store.

Ah~ what did you do at the convenience store?

- I was out of money... - So you robbed the store?

No, I didn't rob it...

More like, the cash register was open and the shopkeeper wasn't around, so...

I just went behind the register and...

How much did you steal?

- 30,000? - 39,000 yen.

Your hand... what happened to it?

The shopkeeper came out, so out of surprise, I...

You know that thing? The thing with the meat buns inside.

Ah~ the big glass case?

It just fell. Like "smash."

- That's a tall one, huh? - Yeah, it just fell to the ground.

- Eh... what are you doing? - I'm calling the police.

Wait--

If you don't want to get arrested, why did you steal from a convenience store?

I'm sorry.

- Ah... what should I do? - Eh?

What should I tell Maki-san?

- No... - I'm in trouble.

It's so slippery.

I have no idea how it became like this either.

How can you not know?

You two were married and had been living together for 2 years.

You guys must have had fights too, right?

He must have had his reasons for running away from home.

We didn't fight.

When I came to my realization, it's already gone.

What was gone?

His... romantic love for me.

You know, Maki-san...

...has been waiting all this time for you to come home.

And yet there you were, stealing from a convenience store. That's some amazing feat.

I was always thinking about her.

People who disappear on their own...

...must have fun thinking about people whom they have left behind, right?

I always feel I've done her wrong.

If that's how you feel, then why did you leave her?

Ah.

Hm?

Ah... Because I no longer liked her.

December 2013

To Hongou, please.

Excuse me?

- To Hongou, please. - Ah, Hongou? Sure.

Could you open the door please? Thank you.

- Thank you, Maki-san. It's so hard to catch a taxi. - No worries. Get in.

By the way, this is the violinist who played for us in the shoot today.

- Ah yeah, please get in. - Are you sure? Thanks so much.

- Thank you so much. Alrighty! - Thank you.

- Thank you so much. - You're welcome.

- I'm getting off at Hatagaya. - Waseda for me, please.

- She's getting off at Waseda. - Ah, sure.

At that point, I felt an immediate connection to her.

At that point, I only thought of him as someone from work.

Here's your slow-cooked beef cheeks in red wine.

My last name is Maki, right?

From your standpoint, someone with my last name...

...is definitely no good as a marriage partner, right?

Maki Maki would be kinda bad, I guess.

What kinds of songs do you usually perform?

Ah, I'm totally not familiar with classical music.

I was playing for an orchestra today.

We played this song by a composer named Mascagni...

We had a couple of meals together, and I started looking forward to his phone calls.

That was when I realized.

"Ah, maybe I like this person," I thought.

She's quite different from all people I've met.

She has a refined air about her. She's also a musician.

You can never guess what she's thinking.

Her mysteriousness was what drew me to her.

Let's take a photo.

When I was with him, I felt like I didn't have to try so hard.

When I was with her, my heart was always pounding.

- I was cutting bread and then-- - Ah...

Right. Um, this...

This is a book of collected poems.

Eh? Did you write this, Maki-san?

No, no, I didn't. This was written by my favorite author.