flash of light went off in his brain and everything went white. He stopped breathing. It felt like he'd been thrown from the top of a tall tower into the depths of hell. He couldn't even manage a scream, so hideous was the pain. All thoughts had burned up and shot away. It was like his body had been shattered into pieces. Even death couldn't be this awful, he felt. He tried to open his eyes but couldn't. He just lay there, helpless, facedown on the tatami, drooling, tears streaming down his face. He must have endured this for some thirty seconds or so.
Finally he was able to breathe again, and he staggered as he sat up. The tatami wavered before him like the sea in a storm.
'I'm sure it was painful.'
Hoshino shook his head a few times, as if checking to see that he was still alive. 'Pain doesn't begin to describe it. Imagine getting skinned alive, skewered, ground down, then run over by an angry herd of bulls. What the hell did you do to me?'
'I put your bones back in the right position. You should be fine for the time being. Your back won't ache. And I guarantee you'll take good dumps.'
As predicted, when the pain receded, like the tide going out, his back did feel better. The usual heavy, sluggish feeling had vanished. The area around his temples felt much better, and he could breathe more easily. And sure enough, he felt like going to the john.
'Yeah, I guess certain parts do feel better.'
'The problem was all in the spine,' Nakata said.
'But damn did that hurt,' Hoshino said, and sighed.
The two of them took the JR express train from Tokushima Station bound for Takamatsu. Hoshino paid for everything, the inn and the train fare. Nakata insisted on paying his share, but Hoshino wouldn't hear of it.
'I'll pay now, and we can settle up later. I don't like it when men go all to pieces over money, okay?'
'All right. Nakata doesn't understand money very well, so I'll do as you say,' Nakata said.
'I gotta tell you, though, I feel great, thanks to that shiatsu you did on me. So at least let me pay you back for it, okay? I haven't felt this good in I don't know how long. I feel like a new man.'
'That's wonderful. Nakata doesn't know what shiatsu means, but I do know how important the bones are.'
'I'm not sure what you call it either-shiatsu, bone-setting, chiropractic-but whatever it is, you've really got a talent for it. You could make a lot of money doing this. You could make a bundle just doing all my trucker buddies.'
'As soon as I saw your back I could tell the bones were out of line. When I see something out of line I like to set it right. I made furniture for a long time and whenever I saw something crooked I just had to straighten it out. That's just how Nakata is. But this was the first time I straightened out bones.'
'I guess you're a natural,' Hoshino said, impressed.
'Nakata used to be able to speak with cats.'
'No kidding?'
'But not so long ago I couldn't talk with them anymore. It must be Johnnie Walker's fault.'
'I see.'
'I'm stupid, so I don't understand difficult things. And there have been so many difficult things happening lately. Fish and leeches falling from the sky, for instance.'
'Really?'
'But I'm glad I could make your back better. If you feel good, then Nakata feels good.'
'I'm really happy, too,' Hoshino said.
'That's good.'
'Now that you mention those leeches…'
'Yes, Nakata remembers that very well.'
'Did you have something to do with that?'
Nakata thought about it for a while, a rare occurrence. 'I don't really know myself. All I know is when I opened my umbrella it started to rain leeches.'
'What'ya know…'
'The worst thing of all is killing other people,' Nakata said, and gave a decisive nod.
'Absolutely. Killing is bad, for sure.'
'That's right,' Nakata said again, nodding forcefully.
The two of them got out at Takamatsu Station, then slipped inside a noodle place near the station and had udon for lunch. Outside the restaurant window there were several large cranes on the docks, covered with seagulls.
Nakata methodically enjoyed each and every noodle. 'This udon is delicious,' he said.
'Glad you like it,' Hoshino said. 'So, what do you think? Is this spot okay?'
'Yes, Nakata thinks it will do.'
'So we got the right spot picked out. Now what are you going to do?'
'I've got to find the entrance stone.'
'Entrance stone?'
'That's right.'
'Hmm,' Hoshino said. 'I bet there's a long story behind that.'
Nakata tilted his bowl and drained the last drop of soup. 'Yes, it is a long story. But it's so long I don't understand it myself. Once we get there, though, Nakata thinks we'll understand.'
'As usual, you gotta be there to get it?'
'Yes, that's right.'
'Until we go there I won't understand it.'
'Yes. Until we go there I won't understand it either.'
'Enough already. I don't like long stories. Anyway, I guess we need to find this entrance stone thing.'
'That is correct,' Nakata said.
'So where is it?'
'Nakata has no idea.'
'Like I had to ask,' Hoshino said, shaking his head.
Chapter 25
I fall asleep for a short time, wake up, fall asleep again, wake up, over and over. I don't want to miss the moment she appears. But I do miss it-I look up and she's already seated at the desk, just like last night. The clock next to my bed shows a little past three. I'm positive I closed the curtains before going to bed, but again they're wide open. But there's no moon tonight-that's the only difference. There's a heavy cloud cover, and it might be drizzling outside. The room's much darker than last night, with only distant lamps in the garden casting a faint light between the trees. It takes a while for my eyes to adjust.
The girl is seated at the desk, head in her hands, gazing at the painting. She's wearing the same clothes as last night. Even if I squint and look hard, this time it's too dark to make out her face. Strangely enough, though, her body and silhouette stand out, floating there clearly in the darkness. The girl is Miss Saeki when she was young-I have absolutely no doubt about it.
She looks deep in thought. Or in the midst of a long, deep dream. Check that-maybe she herself is Miss Saeki's long, deep dream. At any rate, I try to breathe very quietly so as not to disturb the balance of this scene before me. I don't move an inch, just glance occasionally at the clock to check the time. Time passes slowly, regularly.
Out of the blue my heart starts beating hard, a dry sound like somebody's knocking at the door. The sound echoes through the silent, dead-of-night room, and startles me so much that I nearly leap right out of bed.
The girl's black silhouette moves ever so slightly. She looks up and listens in the dark. She's heard it-the sound of my heart. She tilts her head just a fraction, for all the world like an animal in the woods focusing on an unexpected, unknown sound. Then she turns to face me in bed. But I don't register in her eyes, I can tell. I'm not
