'Do you have anything like that with you?' the brawny one asks. 'Something that can be a sign?'
I shake my head. 'No, I don't have anything. Just memories.'
'Hmm…,' the brawny one says. 'Memories, huh?'
'That's okay. Doesn't matter,' the tall one says. 'Memories can be a great symbol too. Course I don't have any idea how well memories will stand up, how long they'll last.'
'Something that has a form or a shape is best, if you can manage it,' the brawny one says. 'It's easier to understand.'
'Like a rifle,' the tall one says. 'By the way, what's your name?'
'Kafka Tamura,' I answer.
'Kafka Tamura,' they both repeat.
'Weird name,' the tall one says.
'You got that right,' the brawny one adds.
After this we walk in silence down the path.
Chapter 44
They took the three files to a riverbed along the highway and burned them. Hoshino had bought lighter fluid at a convenience store, and doused the files before setting them ablaze. Then he and Nakata stood by silently as they watched each page become engulfed in flames. There was barely a hint of wind, and the smoke rose straight up, getting lost among the low-hanging gray clouds.
'So we can't read any of these papers?' Hoshino asked.
'No, we're not supposed to,' Nakata replied. 'I promised Miss Saeki we wouldn't, and my job is to keep that promise.'
'Yeah, keeping promises is important,' Hoshino said, wiping away sweat from his forehead. 'It would be nice if we had a shredder, though. That would sure make it a lot easier. Copy shops have big shredders you can rent pretty cheap. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. It's just kind of hot to make a bonfire at this time of year. If it were winter, that'd be another story.'
'I'm sorry, but I promised Miss Saeki I'd burn it all up. So that's what Nakata has to do.'
'Okay, then. I'm in no rush. A little heat's not going to kill me. It was just a, what do you call it-a suggestion.'
A cat sauntering along stopped to watch, a skinny, brown-striped cat whose tail was slightly bent at the tip. A personable cat, by the looks of it. Nakata badly wanted to talk with it but decided he'd better not, since Hoshino was with him. The cat wouldn't be able to relax unless they were alone. Besides, Nakata wasn't at all confident he could speak with cats like he used to. The last thing he wanted was to blurt out something weird and frighten the poor animal. Before long, the cat grew bored of watching the bonfire, stood up, and padded away.
A long while later, after the files were completely burned, Hoshino stomped the ashes into dust. The next strong wind would scatter all the remains. The sun was nearly setting by then, and crows were flying back to their nests.
'Nobody's gonna read it now,' Hoshino said. 'I don't know what was written in it, but it's all gone. A bit of shape and form has disappeared from the world, increasing the amount of nothingness.'
'Mr. Hoshino?'
'What's up?'
'I have a question I'd like to ask.'
'Fire away.'
'Can nothingness increase?'
Hoshino puzzled this one over for a while. 'That's a tough one,' he admitted. 'If something returns to nothing it becomes zero, but even if you add zero to zero, it's still zero.'
'I don't understand.'
'I don't get it either. Thinking about those kinds of things always gives me a headache.'
'So maybe we should stop thinking about it.'
'Fine with me,' Hoshino said. 'Anyhow, the manuscript's all burned up. All the words in it have disappeared. It's gone back to nothing-that's what I wanted to say.'
'That's a load off my mind.'
'So this pretty much wraps up what we need to do here, right?' Hoshino asked.
'Yes, we've almost finished what we need to do,' Nakata said. 'All that's left is to close up the entrance again.'
'That's pretty important, huh?'
'It is. What's opened has to be shut.'
'Well, let's get to it. Strike while the iron is hot and all that.'
'Mr. Hoshino?'
'Yeah?'
'We can't do it now.'
'Why not?'
'It's not time yet,' Nakata said. 'We have to wait for the right time to shut the entrance. Before that, I have to get some sleep. Nakata's so sleepy.'
Hoshino looked at the old man. 'Wait a sec-you're not going to sack out for days on end again, are you?'
'I can't say, but it may turn out like that.'
'Can't we take care of business before you zonk out? Look-once you shift into sleep mode things kind of come to a halt.'
'Mr. Hoshino?'
'What's up?'
'I wish we could shut the entrance first. That would be wonderful. But I have to get some sleep first. I can't keep my eyes open anymore.'
'Like your batteries have fizzled out or something?'
'I suppose. It took longer than I thought to do what we needed to do. All my energy's gone. Would you take me back to where Nakata can get some sleep?'
'No problem. We'll grab a cab and head back to the apartment. Then you can sleep like a log if you want.'
Once they'd settled into the cab Nakata started to nod out.
'You can sleep as much as you want once we're back in the apartment,' Hoshino said. 'But hang in there until we get home, okay?'
'Mr. Hoshino?'
'Yup?'
'I'm sorry to have put you to so much trouble,' Nakata murmured vaguely.
'Yeah, I guess you have,' Hoshino admitted. 'But nobody asked me to come-I tagged along of my own free will. Like volunteering to shovel snow. So don't worry about it.'
'If you hadn't helped me, Nakata wouldn't have known what to do. I wouldn't have finished even half of what I had to do.'
'Well, if you put it that way, I guess it was worth the effort.'
'I'm very grateful to you.'
'But you know what?' Hoshino said.
'What?'
'I have a lot to thank you for too, Mr. Nakata.'
'Is that right?'
'It's been about ten days since all this began,' Hoshino said. 'I've skipped out on work the whole time. The first couple of days I got in touch with them and asked for some time off, but right now I'm sort of AWOL. I probably won't get my old job back. Maybe, if I get down on my knees and apologize, they might forgive me. But
