As soon as Ken left, Aya plopped down next to Jiro on the sofa and giggled.

“You looked so scared when you saw me.” She kicked her tan legs up and down as she laughed. “And what is that shirt? It’s ten sizes too big! It looks terrible.”

Jiro opened and closed his mouth like a fish. “But I … you ….” He tried to put the events of the cave into words. He had sneezed between this girl’s legs! In that cave, she had been in a panic. And now she was giggling at him?

Aya wiped the tears from her eyes. “Oh come on, I know it wasn’t you. I’m not stupid. As soon as I woke up at the bathhouse, I told them about the creepy guy I saw. And about how I woke up in the cave. And one of them, Yui I think? The quiet girl with the bob? She spun some story about washing up on the beach … but I know the truth.” Aya took out some lotion and began applying the cream to her legs. She looked slyly up at Jiro. “It has to do with one of those … disappearances.”

“Disappearances ...”

“Oh, that’s right, you’re new in town. It happens occasionally. A fisherman or resident will vanish, only to appear sometime later, not quite remembering what’s going on. Like what happened to me.” Her face darkened. “I guess it’s not laughing business. At first it was funny, but now we have these fishing spots drying up, and of course what happened to the Hinomaru too … The community is in a bad place.”

“Yes, I heard from your father,” Jiro said. So Aya thought that Sheena’s act in the cave was related to the disappearance of the Hinomaru. But they were really two separate things.

“I guess we can talk about that after he gets back.” Aya shook her head as if to get rid of the dark thoughts. Then she sidled up next to Jiro on the couch. “More importantly,” she whispered, “Did you like my show?”

Jiro swallowed.

“I get so hot, you know, doing that. Right behind my Dad. Right there, where he could catch me. Did you get hot too?”

“I guess …”

“Do you want to see more?”

Jiro gulped. Yes, he very did much want to see more.

Aya put a hand on Jiro’s thigh.

He sneezed.

“Sorry,” Jiro said, rubbing his nose. “I’m allergic to women.”

Aya gave him a look of disbelief.

“Really.”

She poked him with her foot.

He sneezed again.

Aya giggled. “Wow, I’m allergic to peanuts and I thought that was bad! Yours is the worst in the world. You’ll never be able to be with a girl.” Then she said sheepishly, “Sorry … That was rude.”

“No it’s okay. And it’s not true, anyway.”

“How do you sleep with a girl if you’re sneezing all the time?”

“Well of course there are things we can’t do, but there are other things that we can …”

“Like what?”

“You know, make love without touching.”

Aya raised an eyebrow. “You mean masturbate? In front of each other.” She put a hand on her crotch, by way of demonstration.

Jiro nodded. Was this conversation going in the direction he thought it was?

“That does sound kind of hot … And you do that with your girlfriend?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend now.”

“What happened to her? Did she get bored?”

Jiro shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.” His stomach churned just at the thought of Misha.

Aya looked at him. “That look on your face. I know that look … She hurt you, didn’t you?”

Jiro nodded.

For a moment, both of them were silent. The Aya leaned forward and whispered in Jiro’s ear: “Do you want to try?” she said.

“Try what?

“Masturbating with me.”

“What?!”

“It’s been a while, no? Surely you have needs.”

“Sure but, but we just met and—”

Aya giggled and kicked her legs again. “C’mon it will be fun. I don’t know what happened to you, but maybe this will help you get over it. Here, I’ll start.” She leaned back on the couch and slowly walked her fingers underneath the waistband of her shorts. The whole time, she looked Jiro in the eye, licking her lips. Jiro swallowed. He could feel little Jiro responding.

“I’m home!” At the sound of the door opening, they both snapped up into position.

Aya picked up a slipper and pitched it at Ken. It hit him square in the forehead.

“Dad! You always come at the absolute worst times!”

“What, is he violating you again? I will kill his sorry little …”

“No!”

#

Aya was right, her dad was a really good cook. In a quarter-hour there were three steaming plates of pasta sitting on the counter.

“It was all a misunderstanding Dad,” Aya was saying to Ken. “Jiro wouldn’t do a thing like that. He works at the bathhouse. He’s the proprietor of the bathhouse.”

Jiro raised an eyebrow. “How did you know that? I didn’t tell you?”

Aya ate her pasta Japanese-style, with chopsticks instead of a fork. “Last night, a woman in a kimono stopped by. Really late at night, nearly midnight. She had my drawstring bag and things … She told me about what happened. And how you had nothing to do with it.” Aya looked at her father. “Dad slept right through the whole thing. Or I should say snored through the whole thing.”

Jiro took a bite of his pasta. Woman in a kimono … it must have been Kaori. So she came all the way into town just to clear up a misunderstanding. For his sake? If so, he had really misjudged her character. Then again, maybe she was doing this for her own good. So that the bathhouse owner wouldn’t be labeled a pervert. You really could never tell with that woman.

“So you’re Ichizo’s grandson,” Ken was saying. He was smiling broadly now, which had the strange effect of making the scar on his face seem even more pronounced. “Why didn’t you say so? Of course you’re not to blame. Such an honor. That bathhouse has been around for hundreds of years! If anything, I almost want you to violate my daughter …” Ken began to laugh. Aya kicked him in the shin of his good leg. Then Aya began to laugh too.

Jiro suppressed a smile. It was nice to see a family that got along well. He had never had this kind of fun with his own family. But this was not his family. He was just a guest and he did not belong. He was here on business.

“Can you tell me anything more about the Hinomaru? How it disappeared”

Ken frowned. “I don’t recommend getting involved. I don’t think we’ll ever get that boat back. But if you really want to know … you need to ask Aya.”

Jiro looked at Aya and then back at Ken. “Ask Aya? Why?”

Ken pointed to his leg. “With my bad leg … I’ve had trouble going out on the boat. And I’m not young anymore.”

“Yes but what does Aya have …” Oh … oh. He looked at Aya. “You ..”

“That’s right,” Ken said with a proud smile. “Aya is the captain now. Or she was … Until the night the boat disappeared.”