Summary

In “The Kingdom at Summer’s End,” shortly after meeting Nishino, Reiko suggested they have sex. Nishino agreed. When a man “aroused lust” in Reiko, she often thought she could fall in love with him (78). With Nishino, she simply wanted to have sex.

Reiko brought “a toothbrush and a pair of underwear” to Nishino’s apartment (79). When she arrived, Nishino was searching for a lost key. He had promised to return it to the girlfriend he was “in the process of breaking up with” (80).

After Nishino left for work the next morning, Reiko hung around his apartment. She found the lost key and fell asleep reading. She stayed in his apartment until Nishino returned “from the office” at 11 that night (81). Reiko was a writer and did not have any current assignments. Nishino was a “bit baffled” that...