Dark Water by Kôji Suzuki

friend. He wanted her to know that if he'd noticed earlier, she'd never have been left alone so long. 'Aso never mentioned you were waiting down here,' he said.
    Staring at the dashboard, she simply shook her head as if embarrassed.
    'Why don't you come up and join us?'
    Although he was unsure how Aso would react, Kensuke thought it better to invite the woman into his home. She nodded and got out of the car. As she introduced herself, she spoke with a lisp:
    'I'm Yukari Nakazawa.'
    As they walked along the passage and rode in the elevator, Kensuke could not stop looking at the woman, this Yukari Nakazawa. Aso had introduced Kensuke to many girlfriends in the past, but Yukari was quite different from all the others. First and foremost, she wasn't glamorous. Her petite body was well proportioned but she had only average looks, and she walked with downcast eyes in this terribly morose way. The red bag she carried under her arm looked so infantile that it would have made a schoolgirl blush. Her cheap-looking clothes had clearly been picked from a mail-order catalog. Yet her skirt revealed legs that were gorgeously slender, tapering down to firm and compact ankles. Kensuke found it difficult not to stare at her bare legs. Her entire appeal converged on her legs.
    Aso was obviously not pleased when Kensuke returned to the apartment with Yukari. Peeved, he insisted that they were leaving right away. Kensuke appeased him, going out of his way to lighten up the mood and urging them both to stay and have a little more to drink. The situation became increasingly clear to Kensuke as the three of them talked together. Aso had wanted to avoid introducing Yukari to him. There was little denying that she did not compare with his past girlfriends. That must've been it. Aso indeed went haywire, perhaps feeling defensive, and began insulting Yukari.
    This woman has had no education to speak of, pal. She didn't even make it through high school.'
    'I knew she wouldn't be able to join our conversation. She's so stupid, everything goes straight over her head.'
    'As if that's not bad enough, she's up to here in some weirdo religious cult!'
    'I can't show her around in public, can I?'
    No matter how badly Aso trashed her, Yukari would only lower the corners of her mouth and look desolate, but show no hint of anger. She'd wait for hours on end in an illegally parked car if she were told to stay put. Women who would offer submissive loyalty in return for numbing brutality were an increasingly rare phenomenon. Kensuke could not for the life of him understand why Aso went out with Yukari. Surely there was absolutely no reason to be with her if he intended only to revile the poor girl. Yukari, too, could surely find someone more compatible than Aso.
    It soon became clear that it was not to be the kind of pleasant chat among three friends that he had expected. The more Aso drank, the more vicious the abuse he heaped on Yukari. Unable to endure the torment any longer, Kensuke announced that the party had to end. He was doing the unthinkable; he was asking Aso to leave.
    Kensuke walked them down to the car. Aso was already showing signs of being too drunk, so Kensuke sat him in the passenger seat. Yukari could drive. But Aso insisted that he was driving, and demanded a can of coffee. Kensuke ran to a nearby automatic vending machine and brought back cans of chilled coffee. He first handed a can to Yukari, who responded by taking a card from her bag and offering it to Kensuke.
    'Please don't hesitate to drop by whenever you're in the neighbourhood.'
    This did not escape Aso's attention.
    'You stupid bitch!' he snarled, striking her hand aside and sending her calling card flying. Aso then grabbed her wrists and twisted her arms behind her back, forcing her head down. 'He happens to be a good friend of mine. Don't you lure him anywhere nasty, get it?'
    Yukari gave a small cry of pain and slumped onto the hood of the car. Aso did not move to help her up, but