Kafka on the Shore (Fanfiction)

Oshima's Letter (SPOILER ALERT)

Kafka,

I am writing this letter to you at 4:36 on a Tuesday afternoon. Miss Saeki is dead… 

Just like I said yesterday when I drove you up to my cabin in the mountains… I’ve known for a long time that this was going to happen.

Two men arrived at the library in the early afternoon. Their names were Hoshino and Nakata, and they came across the bridge from Nagoya. Those two were a strange combo. They didn’t look like relatives and didn’t have much in common in terms of age or appearance. Mr. Nakata had an odd way of speaking, but not in a bad way. There was something about him that I just couldn’t put my finger on.

I remembered Mr. Hoshino and Mr. Nakata because they were the only two people to take our Tuesday tours today. They were the last people to see Miss Saeki alive.

Mr. Hoshino was reading a biography of Beethoven. When I told him about freedom and the emancipation of the ego, he said that it seemed like I knew a lot about music. Then he asked if music had the power to change people, and I said that it was possible because it’s like falling in love. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s unexpected and it raises our expectations up a whole other notch.

At around three o’clock, Mr. Nakata walked up the stairs to the second floor. After he completely ignored our NO VISITORS ALLOWED BEYOND THIS POINT sign, I had to remind him - as I do with other patrons of the library - that the area was off limits. Then Mr. Hoshino ran up the stairs after Mr. Nakata, and I too. Mr. Nakata approached Miss Saeki’s desk and started asking her about an entrance stone, whatever that may be. I could see hesitation in her eyes, then decision when she told me to close the door behind Mr. Hoshino and myself. I address Mr. Hoshino’s worry about Miss Saeki and Mr. Nakata - Miss Saeki knows what she’s doing and if she’s says it’s alright, there is no need to worry about her.

I do not believe that Miss Saeki suffered when she left our world. When I found her facedown on the desk, her eyes were slightly open. Not in a bad way, though. She looked like she was having a pleasant dream, and a faint trace of a smile was still on her lips. Even in death, Miss Saeki was graceful and dignified. 

I didn’t realize that I would feel so lost, so empty after Miss Saeki died. I vowed that I had to remember this day, this afternoon forever.

I had to tell you, Kafka Tamura, if you didn’t already know.

Oshima