"Why, then?"

"She's in a very delicate place right now."

"How so?"

"Miss Saeki…," he begins, searching for the rest. "What I mean is, she's dying. I've felt it for a long time."

I raise my sunglasses and look at him closely. He's looking straight ahead as he drives. We've turned onto the highway to Kochi. This time, surprisingly, he keeps to the speed limit. A Toyota Supra whooshes past us.

"When you say she's dying…," I begin. "You mean she's got an incurable disease? Cancer or leukemia or something?"

Oshima shakes his head. "That could be. But I don't know anything about her health. For all I know she might be saddled with a disease like that. I think it's more of a psychological issue. The will to live-something to do with that."

"You're saying she's lost the will to live?"

"I think so. Lost the will to go on living."

"Do you think she's going to kill herself?"

"No, I don't," Oshima replies. "It's just that very quietly, very steadily, she's heading toward death. Or else death is heading toward her."

"Like a train heading toward the station?"

"Something like that," Oshima said, and stopped, his lips taut. "But then you showed up, Kafka. Cool as a cucumber, mysterious as the real Kafka. The two of you were drawn together and, to use the classic expression, you have a relationship."

"And then?"

For a brief moment Oshima lifts both hands off the wheel. "That's it."

I slowly shake my head. "I bet you're thinking I'm the train."

Oshima doesn't say anything for a long time. "Exactly," he finally says. "That's it, exactly."

"That I'm bringing about her death?"

"I'm not blaming you for this, mind you," he says. "It's actually for the best."

"Why?"

He doesn't answer this. You're supposed to find the answer to that, his silence tells me. Or maybe he's saying, It's too obvious to even think about.

I lean back in my seat, shut my eyes, and let my body go limp. "Oshima?"

"What is it?"

"I don't know what to do anymore. I don't even know what direction I'm facing in. What's right, what's wrong-whether I should keep on going ahead or turn around. I'm totally lost."

Oshima keeps silent, no answer forthcoming.

"You've got to help me. What am I supposed to do?" I ask him.

"You don't have to do anything," he says simply.

"Nothing?"

He nods. "Which is why I'm taking you to the mountains."

"But what should I do once I get there?"

"Just listen to the wind," he says. "That's what I always do."

I mull this over.

He gently lays a hand over mine. "There are a lot of things that aren't your fault. Or mine, either. Not the fault of prophecies, or curses, or DNA, or absurdity. Not the fault of Structuralism or the Third Industrial Revolution. We all die and disappear, but that's because the mechanism of the world itself is built on destruction and loss. Our lives are just shadows of that guiding principle. Say the wind blows. It can be a strong, violent wind or a gentle breeze. But eventually every kind of wind dies out and disappears. Wind doesn't have form. It's just a movement of air. You should listen carefully, and then you'll understand the metaphor."

I squeeze his hand back. It's soft and warm. His smooth, sexless, delicately graceful hand. "So you think it's better for me to be away from Miss Saeki for the time being?"

"I do, Kafka. It's the best thing right now. We should let her be by herself. She's bright, and tough. She's managed to put up with a terrible kind of loneliness for a long time, a lot of painful memories. She can make whatever decisions she needs to make alone."

"So I'm just a kid who's getting in the way."

"That's not what I mean," Oshima says softly. "That's not it at all. You did what you had to do. What made sense to you, and to her. Leave the rest up to her. This might sound cold, but there's nothing you can do for her now. You need to get into the mountains and do your own thing. For you, the time is right."

"Do my own thing?"

"Just keep your ears open, Kafka," Oshima replied. "Just listen. Imagine you're a clam."

Chapter 36

When he got back to the inn, Hoshino found Nakata-no surprise-still fast asleep. The sack he'd put next to him with bread and orange juice was untouched. The old man hadn't shifted an inch, probably hadn't woken up once the whole time. Hoshino counted up the hours. Nakata had gone to sleep at two the previous afternoon, which meant he'd been asleep for thirty solid hours. What day is it, anyway? Hoshino wondered. He was completely losing track of time. He took his memo book out of his bag and checked. Let's see, he told himself, we arrived in Tokushima on a Saturday on the bus from Kobe, then Nakata slept till Monday. On Monday we left Tokushima for Takamatsu, Thursday was all that ruckus with the stone and thunder, and that afternoon he went to sleep. So skip ahead one night and that would make today… Friday. It's like the old guy came to Shikoku to attend some Sleep Festival or something.

Like the night before, Hoshino took a bath, watched TV for a while, then climbed into his futon. Nakata was still breathing peacefully, sound asleep. Whatever, Hoshino thought. Just go with the flow. Let him sleep as much as he wants. No need to worry about that. And he himself fell asleep, at ten-thirty.

At five the next morning the cell phone in his bag went off, jolting him awake. Nakata was still out like a light.

Hoshino reached for the phone. "Hello."

"Mr. Hoshino!" A man's voice.

"Colonel Sanders?" Hoshino said, recognizing the voice.

"The very one. How's it hanging, sport?"

"Fine, I guess… But how'd you get this number? I didn't give it to you, and the phone's been turned off all this time so those clowns from work won't bother me. So how could you call me? You're kind of freaking me out here."

"It's like I told you, I'm neither a god nor a Buddha, not a human being. I'm something else again-a concept. So making your phone ring is a cinch. Piece of cake. Whether it's turned on or not makes not one jot of difference, my friend. Don't let every little thing get to you, okay? I could've run over and been right there beside you when you woke up, but I figured that'd be a bit of a shock."

"You bet it would."

"Which explains the phone call. I'm a well-mannered person, after all."

"I appreciate it," Hoshino said. "So anyway, what're we supposed to do with the stone? Nakata and I managed to flip it over so that entrance thing opened up. Lightning was flashing like crazy outside, and the stone weighed a ton. Oh, that's right-I haven't told you about Nakata yet. He's the guy I'm traveling with."

"I know all about Mr. Nakata," Colonel Sanders said. "No need to explain."

"You know about him?" Hoshino said. "Okay… Anyhow, Nakata went into hibernation after that, and the stone's still here. Don't you think we should get it back to the shrine? We might be cursed for taking it without permission."

"You never give up, do you? How many times did I tell you there's no curse?" Colonel Sanders said disgustedly. "Keep the stone there for the time being. You opened it up, and eventually you'll have to close it again. Then you can take it back. But it's not time for that yet. Get it? We okay here?"

"Yeah, I get it," Hoshino said. "Things that are open have to be shut. Things you have, you gotta return the way they were. All right already! Anyhow, I've decided not to think about things so much. I'll go along with whatever you want, no matter how crazy it sounds. I had a kind of revelation last night. Taking crazy things seriously is-a serious waste of time."

"A very wise conclusion. There's that saying, 'Pointless thinking is worse than no thinking at all.'"