Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore

"Cripes," he said, and shook his head.

But the next morning, when Hoshino woke up at seven, Nakata was already awake, gazing out the window.

"Hey, Gramps, so you finally made it up, huh?" Hoshino said, relieved.

"Yes, Nakata just woke up. I don't know how long I slept, but it must have been a long time. I feel like a new man."

"No kidding it was a long time! You went to sleep at nine p. m. the day before yesterday, so you've been asleep something like thirty-four hours. You're a regular Snow White."

"Nakata's kind of hungry."

"I bet you are. You haven't had a bite in two days."

The two of them went downstairs to the dining room and had breakfast. Nakata amazed the maid at how much rice he packed away.

"You're as big an eater as you are a sleeper!" she exclaimed. "It's like two days' worth of meals in one sitting!"

"Yes, I have to eat a lot now."

"You're a really healthy person, aren't you?"

"Yes, Nakata is. I can't read, but I've never had a single cavity and don't need glasses. I never have to go to the doctor, either. My shoulders never get stiff, and I take a good dump every morning."

"Isn't that something," the maid said, impressed. "By the way, what's on your schedule for today?"

"We're headed west," Nakata declared.

"West," she mused. "That must mean you're going toward Takamatsu."

"I'm not so bright and don't know geography."

"Anyway, Gramps, why don't we go over to Takamatsu?" Hoshino chimed in. "We can figure out what's next after we get there."

"All right. Let's go to Takamatsu, then. We'll figure out what's next after we get there."

"Sort of a unique style of traveling, I must say," the maid commented.

"You got that right," Hoshino said.

Back in their room, Nakata went to the toilet, while Hoshino, still in his yukata robe, lay back on the tatami and watched the news on TV. Not much was happening. Police still didn't have any leads in the murder of a famous sculptor in Nakano-no clues, no witnesses. The police were searching for the man's fifteen-year-old son, who'd disappeared shortly before the murder.

Man alive, Hoshino thought, a fifteen-year-old kid. Why is it that these days it's always fifteen-year-olds who're involved in all these violent incidents? Of course when he was fifteen himself, he stole a motorcycle from a parking lot and went for a joyride-without, mind you, a license-so he had no right to complain. Not that you could compare borrowing a motorcycle and slicing your dad into sashimi. It was only luck, maybe, that had kept him from stabbing his own father, because he'd certainly taken his share of beatings.

The news was just winding up when Nakata emerged from the bathroom. "Mr. Hoshino, may I ask you something?"

"What's up?"

"Does your back hurt at all?"

"Yeah, it's an occupational hazard, I guess. Every trucker I know has back problems, just like pitchers all have sore shoulders. Why do you ask?"

"When I saw your back I thought maybe you had that problem."

"Huh…"

"Do you mind if Nakata touches your back?"

"Be my guest."

Hoshino lay facedown and Nakata straddled him. He put his hands just above the backbone and held them there. All the while Hoshino was watching some afternoon talk show featuring all the latest celebrity gossip. A famous actress had just gotten engaged to a not-so-famous young novelist. Hoshino didn't care, but there wasn't anything else on. Apparently the actress's income was ten times that of the novelist, who wasn't even particularly handsome or very intelligent looking.

Hoshino found the whole thing suspect. "That marriage won't work out, I can tell you that. There's gotta be some kind of misunderstanding going on here."

"Mr. Hoshino, your bones are out of line a bit."

"Not surprising, what with the out-of-line kind of life I've led," Hoshino replied, and yawned.

"It's going to cause all sorts of problems if you don't do something about it."

"You think?"

"You'll get headaches, you won't be able to take a good dump. And then your back will go out on you."

"That can't be good."

"This will hurt a little. Do you mind?"

"No, go right ahead."

"Honestly speaking, it's going to hurt a lot."

"Look, Gramps, I've been punched out my whole life-at home, at school, in the SDF-but I survived. Not to brag or anything, but the days I haven't been hit I could count on both hands. So I'm not worried that something might hurt a little. Hot or tickly, sweet or spicy-bring it on."

Nakata squinted, concentrating, carefully making sure he had his thumbs just where he wanted them. Once they were positioned just right, he ever so slowly increased the pressure, gauging Hoshino's reaction. He breathed in deeply, then let out a clipped cry like some winter bird's squawk, and pressed down with all his might on the area between muscle and backbone. The pain Hoshino felt at that instant was awful, unreasonably so. A huge 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.