251
expression) selling like hotcakes. This in turn might be distressing to Sakigake. The
stories of the Little People and the air chrysalis might be major secrets that must not
be divulged to the outside world. And so, to prevent any further leaks, they had
kidnapped Fuka-Eri and shut her up. They had resorted to force, even if it meant
risking the possibility that her disappearance might arouse public suspicion.
This was, of course, nothing more than Tengo’s hypothesis. He had no evidence he
could offer, no way he could prove it. Even if he told people, “The Little
People and
air chrysalises actually exist,” who could possibly take him seriously? First of all,
Tengo himself did not know what it meant to say that such things “actually exist.”
Another possibility was that Fuka-Eri had become sick of all the hype surrounding
her bestseller and had gone into hiding. This was entirely conceivable, of course. It
was all but impossible to predict what she would do, but assuming she went into
hiding, she would probably have left some kind of message for Professor Ebisuno and
his daughter, Azami. There would have been no reason for her to worry them.
It was easy for Tengo to imagine, however, that Fuka-Eri might be
in great danger
if she had actually been abducted by Sakigake. Just as there had been no word from
her parents, all word of Fuka-Eri might be lost. Even if the relationship between
Fuka-Eri and Sakigake were revealed (which would not take a very long time), and
this gave rise to a media scandal, it would all be for nothing if the police refused to
get involved on the grounds that there was “no physical evidence that she was
abducted.” She might remain locked up somewhere inside the high-walled religious
commune. Had Professor Ebisuno concocted a plan that included such a worst-case
scenario?
Tengo wanted to call Professor Ebisuno and
ask him all these questions, but it was
already past midnight, and he could only wait until tomorrow.
The next morning Tengo dialed the number he was given to call Professor Ebisuno’s
house, but the call did not go through. All he got was the recorded message, “The
number you have dialed is not presently in service. Please check the number and dial
again.” He tried again several times, but always with the same results. He guessed that
they had changed phone numbers after Fuka-Eri’s debut, due to an onslaught of calls
requesting interviews.
Nothing unusual happened during the following week.
Air Chrysalis
went on
selling in the same high numbers, coming out again at the
top of the national
bestseller list. No one contacted Tengo during the week. He tried phoning Komatsu at
his office a few times, but he was always out (which was not unusual). Tengo left a
message with the editorial office for Komatsu to call, but no call came (which was
also not unusual). He read the newspaper every day, but he found no report that a
search request had been filed for Fuka-Eri. Could Professor Ebisuno have decided not
to file one? Perhaps he had filed a request but the police had not publicized it so as to
search for
her in secret, or they had not taken it seriously, treating it as just another
case of a runaway teenager.
As always, Tengo taught mathematics at the cram school three days a week,
continued writing his novel on other days, and spent Friday afternoon having intense
sex with his girlfriend when she visited his apartment. But he could not focus. He
252
spent day after day feeling uneasy and muddled, like someone who has mistakenly
swallowed a thick swatch of cloud. He began losing his appetite. He would wake up
at odd times in the middle of the night, unable to get back to sleep. Then he would
think about Fuka-Eri. Where was she now? What was she doing? Whom was she
with? What was happening to her? He imagined a
variety of situations, all of them,
with minor variations, deeply pessimistic. In the scenes he imagined, she was always
wearing her thin, tight-fitting sweater that showed off the lovely shape of her breasts.
The image made him gasp for breath and only added to his agitation.
It was on the Thursday of the sixth week after
Air Chrysalis
became a permanent
fixture on the bestseller list that Fuka-Eri finally got in touch with him.
