came, and Tatsuya and his brother Michihisa began repainting their sailboat. They did this every year. First they repaired the carved hull and filled in the cracks with putty and then sandpapered the surface smooth. They were like two women fussing over their faces. While they worked they reminisced about the previous summer and thought up things to do during the present one. They had found from experience that their boat was just as successful an aid to seduction as autos were for some of their friends.
"Girls who fall for a car are just not in the same class as those that fall for a yacht," Tatsuya said to one of these friends one day. "There's no need to wear anything out of sea. You can get to know each other pretty well without clothes on, and there are no cops out there!"
On the strength of this advice, the friend talked his father into buying a boat even though they did not have a seaside house.
Tatsuya and his brother renamed the boat each summer. They had an annual argument over what they should call it. The previous year it had been Popular, and the year before, Dandy. This year Tatsuya wanted to call it Climb On, but his brother flatly refused.
"What kind of name is that? This is a boat, not a girl."
Finally Michihisa, whose turn it was, decided to name it Bel Ami after a French writer's article.
"Bel Ami" sounds like 'blimey,' but if you insist, it's okay," Tatsuya said.
When Nishimura came back from the mountains, the members of their group met together at his seaside house in Hayama. It was the second week of the summer vacation. The two brothers used to avoid the crowded beaches and sail along to Nishimura's place near Isshiki Beach. The boat was usually moored there or at the harbor.
Now the area was populated by well-off young people whose families had summer houses. Most were soon looking for boy or girl friends to while away the time with.
Eiko appeared at her family's house in Hayama. She and Tatsuya met oftener than before at the yacht club or the hotel and sometimes went out sailing.
Meanwhile Tatsuya was also making new conquests: a shop-girl, a not-quite famous photographer's model, a second-rate actress who was dull but, Tatsuya said, very pretty.
He would tell Eiko about his new girls from time to time but was quite disappointed to get no reaction from her beyond a smile.
One afternoon in August he asked her out sailing just before the evening calm. He took food and drink so that they could eat at sea and return in the cool of the evening when the breeze freshened. The Bel Ami was still sailing towards Enoshima Island when other boats began to head for shore. Later, off Inamuragasaki, the wind died down, so Tatsuya lowered the sails and dropped anchor. With a rustle of wings a dragon-fly flitted over the dark glassy sea, and they could hear the faint klaxon of cars rushing on a distant highway. Eiko tuned on the portable radio, from which poured some suitably romantic music.
They watched the bright afterglow in the sky. If there had not been the faint lapping of the waves against the hull, the sea could have been a shiny floor for the two to dance on.
"Hey, they're giving us a good tune."
"Too bad we can't do anything about it!"
"Yeah, we'd need the deck of a cruiser at least."
The afterglow gradually disappeared, but the water continued to twinkle. Suddenly a fish jumped out of the water in front of them.
"What's that?"
"Just a fish."
"Are you sure?"
The moon was not up yet. Tatsuya took off his aloha shirt.
"I'm going in for a swim. I feel hot after drinking."
He dived over the stern and for a moment the smooth sea was disturbed by a series of large concentric rings. Eiko began to worry and stared anxiously at the water. But in a moment his head shot out of the water some distance away.
"Come on in. The water's warm."
"Wait a minute. I'm coming."
And she too plunged in. The boat pitched and tossed and the water slapped against the bow. When she surfaced, she could not see Tatsuya. She began to swim to where she thought Tatsuya had been, but all she could see was the dim outline of the boat.
"Tatsu!" she called, but there was no answer.
She felt scared and turned back, and suddenly there was Tatsuya beside her laughing.
"Here I am. Did you think I was lost?"
As she swam closer to him, something slimy touched her.
"Help! What's that?" She grabbed hold of him in terror.
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