Cape of Escape Chapter 1 Scene 2

 'Cape of Escape' by Saho Sasazawa 1987

 Chapter 1 Scene 2 *translation still in progress*

Misa was lying on her stomach. Her relaxed body had a rosy glow. Sweat was flowing down her back.

She lifted her arms and made a banzai sign burying her face under it.

A pillow was on her head. Just a moment ago, she had used it to dampen her cries of joy.

Kumon took a glimpse of Misa's face from under the pillow. Her eyes appeared exhausted - as if she had been battling against the urge to sleep for several days.

From the look on her face one could tell that the relief she felt had changed into the greatest degree of satisfaction. Seeing her in such a great mood, contributed even more to Kumon's emptiness.

It was her greed for extreme ecstasy. Her hoarse voice was just proof of how insane her performance was. In the aftermath of her act her body plunged into a state of sweet euphoria.

However, on the other hand, Kumon felt anger welling up inside of him. His emptiness turned into self-loath. 

He thought, 'Why does this kind of inequality between men and women exist? Why are the female and male positions, based on this inequality, so opposite to each other?'

Kumon felt regret for ending up having sex with Misa, despite knowing that it was certainly wrong.

For her, sex was just a means to reach a compromise. This was her way to sabotage their breakup discussions. For example, no matter how far they proceeded in their argument, just one act of physical intermezzo was enough to get them back right to the start.

 

'Hey, do you think they heard me?', inquired Misa laughingly.

'Which one of you?', replied Kumon while reaching out for his cigarette box.

'I hope none of them.', uttered Misa and blushed.

'If you mean your previous alter ego, then they couldn't hear you. The door and the window were shut.', claimed Kumon with a cigarette between his teeth. He didn't intend to lighten it up. It was his habit to stick a cigarette in his mouth without smoking it. It's been two and a half years ago since he had quit smoking.

'No, I meant my angry outburst, of course.',

'Well, then they heard it for sure.'

'Do you think so...?'

'The bathroom window was open, too.'

'Oh, no. How embarrassing!'

'Why do you bother now?'

'After so many times...'

'No one in this house is surprised by your angry outbursts.'

'But since I'm friendly with everyone, they know the fights are because of you.'

'Besides that, only people from the fourth floor can hear me. So it's the old couple from next door and the apartment opposite to us.', added Misa.

'No, actually, they can hear you from the corridor and staircase in the 3rd floor, too. Since there are twelve apartments, rumors may spread swiftly.'

'That's why I hate small apartment houses.'

'The bigger the house, the wider the waves of embarrassment.'

'But, hey, if I got murdered, everybody living in this house would testify that the perpetrator was you.'

'Good grief...!', Kumon exclaimed.

'I mean, after all, you got a motive to kill me. At least that's what my neighbors are convinced of. You won't be able to deny that your motive is linked to our breakup fight.', explained Misa haughtily.

'This is why you've been calling me a murderer and shouting 'Kill me!'. You did it on purpose. You made up a motive and forced others to be your ear witnesses!'

'That was not my intention. I only wanted to intimidate you.'

' In short, what's behind that harassment and threat against me? '

'Will you try to kill me?'

'That would be foolish. I'm not wasting my life by killing you. Do you really think that you're worth it?'

'Being killed by your hands is my biggest desire.'

'Get hold of yourself. You need to cool down. There are millions of other men in this world. '

'But it's only you who gave me this feeling. It's your fault I'm obsessed about you. If you really want to break up with me, then do something which makes me hate you.'

'Women from today. Once they face something uncomfortable, they immediately lose personal autonomy.'

'I was about to break up with you anyway. In two months I'll be heading to America.'

'Oh, really?', uttered Kumon indifferently.

'You don't need to worry. I got enough savings for this.', sneered Misa in a mocking voice.

Obviously, she was not serious about it. Even though she didn't mean it, Misa enjoyed talking about her imaginary plan. Blurting out words carelessly was quite common for her. Nevertheless, Misa certainly had enough savings for her plan. She led a rather wealthy life style.

Misa's hoemtown was Gifu. Her father worked in in the food supply sector but her parents got divorced when she was 5 years old. From that time till leaving high school she had been raised by her paternal grandmother. Due to her spoiled up-bringing she grew up as a self-centered young lady who never had to make any efforts to get her will. Shortly before graduating from high school, her grandmother passed away from an illness. Misa had to leave her home and headed for Tokyo.