murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood

"Not at all," I said.
"That's good," said Naoko.
"He's just being polite," said Reiko, yawning.
At first I thought that Naoko was embarrassed or acting innocent for
Reiko, but her behaviour remained unchanged when Reiko
momentarily left the room, and her eyes had their usual transparent
look.
"How'd you sleep?" I asked Naoko.
"Like a log," she answered with ease. She wore a simple hairpin
without any kind of decoration.
I didn't know what to make of this, and I continued to feel that way all
through breakfast. Buttering my bread or peeling my egg, I kept
glancing across the table at Naoko, in search of a sign.
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" she asked with a smile.
"I think he's in love with somebody," said Reiko.
"Are you in love with somebody?" Naoko asked me.
"Could be," I said, returning her smile. When the two women started
joking around at my expense, I gave up trying to think about what had
happened in the night and concentrated on my bread and coffee.
After breakfast, Reiko and Naoko said they would be going to feed the
birds in the aviary. I volunteered to go along. They changed into jeans
and work shirts and white rubber boots. Set in a little park behind the
tennis courts, the aviary had everything in it from chickens and
pigeons to peacocks and parrots and was surrounded by flowerbeds,
shrubberies and benches. Two men in their forties, also apparently
sanatorium patients, were raking up leaves that had fallen in the
pathways. The women walked over to say good morning to the pair,
and Reiko made them laugh with another of her jokes. Cosmos were
blooming in the flowerbeds, and the shrubberies were extremely well
manicured. Spotting Reiko, the birds started chattering and flying
about inside the cage.
The women entered the shed by the cage and came out with a bag of
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