Three Days of Happiness

118
“Just means a graceful and intelligent woman.”
“Please save that line for Ms. Himeno, will you?”
“But her virtues are a different beast. I’m talking about you,
Miyagi.”
Her expression still intact, she lightly bowed her head. “Well,
thanks. You and I are worth next to nothing as humans, at any rate.
According to our reports.”
“Pretty strange,” I said.
We were in an Italian restaurant by the street, and naturally our
conversation sounded like me talking to myself.
A middle-aged couple sitting nearby was sneaking glances at me
and whispering with each other.
After our meal, we left the main street, went down some stairs on
the side of a bridge, and walked along the river.
I was full of alcohol by then, so I held Miyagi’s hand all the while
and swung it way back and forth as we walked. Miyagi looked
concerned, and I continued to pull her along.
Others just saw me doing a weird walk, and I didn’t care. I could
never be among honest people anyway.
So then I might as well resolve to make myself a weird guy. It’d be a
lot easier.
Once Miyagi was getting used to holding my hand, she said with a
clear face, “Now, drunk Kusunoki, try to think of me as Himeno and
seduce me.”
I stopped and looked Miyagi right in the eye. “You appearing before
me was the best thing that’s ever happened in my life. The worst