Ushikawa

When Tengo goes out to meet Komatsu on Sunday evening, Ushikawa does not try to follow. Tonight he has his own plans. Hurriedly, he rushes back to the playground and climbs the slide. He stares at the two moons and wills himself to get used to their presence. It does not matter that their presence does not make sense. Logic comes from reality, and the reality in this case is clear: there are two moons.

After looking at the sky for a while, Ushikawa walks back to Tengo’s apartment building. He does not notice Aomame tailing him. In his apartment, he eats a bit and resumes his watch just in time to notice the departure of a small, slender woman. She has a hat pulled down over her eyes and a muffler over her mouth, as if she is trying to hide as much of her face as possible. He snaps a couple of pictures and wonders if this woman is Aomame.

Soon after Aomame’s departure, Ushikawa grows exhausted and goes to sleep. He sleeps through Tengo’s arrival home, and also through his early departure for the sanatorium. On Monday morning, Ushikawa expects Tengo to leave for the cram school. When this does not happen, Ushikawa is confused. Eventually he calls the school and learns that a “family emergency” has caused Mr. Kawana’s classes to be cancelled for the day. Ushikawa immediately deduces that Tengo’s father has died.

Ushikawa reflects that Tengo is now “utterly alone.” As it happens, Ushikawa already knows the story Tengo does not know about his own mother. Shortly after Tengo was born, she ran away with a lover. She took Tengo along with her, but she died soon afterward, strangled in her hotel room with the belt of a bathrobe. When Tengo’s father learned that his wife was dead, he decided to raise his son alone.

Ushikawa gets some pictures developed and studies them carefully. First he looks at the pictures of Fuka-Eri. Her deep gaze disturbs him almost as much in the photograph as it did in real life. The expression seems to say that she understands him completely and, knowing how awful his actions are, feels pity rather than contempt. Looking at her again, he thinks, “I really am twisted and ugly.”

Next, Ushikawa scrutinizes the photographs of Tengo and the “mystery woman” who visited the apartment building last night. There is little of interest in the pictures of Tengo. The "mystery woman’s" face is completely unclear under her hat and muffler in the dark. Ushikawa's gut says that she is Aomame, but he cannot tell where she came from or where she is headed.

Ushikawa goes back home and watches the entrance of Tengo's building until late at night. To his disappointment, the “mystery woman” does not return. Eventually he gives up, crawls into his sleeping bag, and goes to sleep.

In the night, he awakes feeling a presence in the room. At first he thinks it is just a dream, but it is not. An enormous man is in the apartment. He grabs Ushikawa by the throat and begins to squeeze. Ushikwa fights for breath, but he cannot get any air. As he loses consciousness, he asks himself, “Why do I have to die in such an ugly place, and in such an ugly way?”

A few minutes later, Ushikawa wakes up with his wrists and ankles tied. He feels surprised that he is still alive. “You won’t die that easily,” a man's voice says in the dark.