14. Toys

In Swain’s billiard room at Number 16, Petal entertains Kumiko by demonstrating “toys”: a rosewood holo unit replaying the Battle of Britain and various sporting and news feeds. His inability to disable auto-translation on a Japanese channel highlights cultural distance as they watch Ono-Sendai trainees perform a loyalty ritual.

Left alone, Kumiko explores a Victorian cabinet that doubles as a dartboard. In its drawers she finds darts, a pornographic magazine about knots, a waxed cotton jacket, and a gray WALTHER case containing a heavy air pistol. She confirms from multilingual instructions that it fires lead pellets—more toy than weapon—then carefully replaces everything.

Over tea, Petal gently but firmly refuses Kumiko’s request to go out alone, citing their brief with her father. He characterizes Sally as dangerous yet acceptable company when present, and explains Swain’s absence and business cycles, promising busier days ahead.

As snow deepens in the garden, Kumiko spends the afternoon in enforced seclusion, watching the sundial disappear beneath white and imagining her mother’s tragic poise. She warms by the gasfire, her isolation and lack of agency underscored by the empty house and Petal’s watchful control.