1Q84

Amid the illogic of 1Q84, Aomame boils down her life to three basic duties: “Protecting myself, searching for Tengo, and providing this little one with nourishment” (742).

Meanwhile, Tamaru tells Aomame that he called NHK and confirmed that the fee collector in her area has not been to her apartment. Nevertheless, a man claiming to be a fee collector continues to harass her routinely. Tamaru hands the phone to the dowager who warns Aomame to be on the lookout for a short, unusual-looking man with a misshapen head—Ushikawa—who was seen skulking around Willow House.

After a few drinks at a bar, Tengo feels the urge to look at the two moons again. He returns to the playground, the only spot where he knows he can see the moons. After a few minutes of reflection, Tengo gets up, thinking to himself, “That’s all I can do. I was able to see that the number of moons hasn’t changed, and I will leave it at that for now” (751).

That same night, Tengo goes to his school and finds a letter Fuka-Eri left for him. It states that she had to flee immediately because she was being watched. There are no details pertaining to how she knew this or who was watching.

The next evening, Tengo meets Komatsu at a bar in their first in-person meeting in months. Komatsu reveals the truth of his disappearance from work: He was imprisoned and kidnapped for over two weeks.

For two days Ushikawa sees no sign of Tengo. Finally, he calls Tengo’s school and is told that Tengo has been on leave for ten days caring for a sick parent. As Ushikawa debates whether to go home or maintain his surveillance, he thinks back to his career arc. After passing the bar exam, Ushikawa struggled to obtain employment at major firms. Instead, he helped companies connected to organized crime launder money until he was disbarred.

Ushikawa’s instincts tell him to keep up his surveillance, and in the afternoon he sees a young woman he recognizes as Fuka-Eri leave the apartment. He follows her to a stationery store and to a grocer. He then follows her back into the apartment. He returns to his room, and about an hour later Fuka-Eri leaves again, this time carrying her travel bag. On the way out, she looks directly at Ushikawa’s camera, even though there is no way for her to see it or know it is there. Fuka-Eri’s gaze shakes Ushikawa to the core, and he is unable to move for several hours as she leaves the premises.

The next morning, an NHK fee collector knocks on Ushikawa’s door to demand payment. Eventually, the collector gives up, but Ushikawa never sees him leave the building.

Aomame’s nighttime surveillance of the playground is interrupted by a call from Tamaru. After the call, Aomame returns to the balcony to see what looks like a stout child in a stocking cap in the playground below. The narration explains that the figure is no child; it is Ushikawa. Moreover, had Aomame not been interrupted by Tamaru’s call, she would have seen Tengo before seeing Ushikawa. It is unlucky that Aomame received a call immediately before Tengo arrived on the playground. However, had she seen Tengo and run downstairs, Ushikawa—who is tracking Tengo—would have seen her and discovered her location.

Komatsu continues to narrate his abduction and imprisonment to Tengo. After being placed in a small, locked room, nothing happens to Komatsu for three days. On the fourth day, two men who fit the description of Buzzcut and Ponytail enter. Buzzcut tells Komatsu they know about Komatsu’s literary fraud and are prepared to reveal it to the world. Alternatively, they could simply kill him, though they would like to avoid that if possible. Buzzcut adds that since the publication of Air Chrysalis, “the voice no longer speaks to them” (788). Finally, to ensure his safety Komatsu must cease publication of Air Chrysalis and cut all ties with Fuka-Eri. Komatsu agrees, but he is worried that Ebisuno will not be satisfied until he learns of old friend Tamotsu Fukada’s fate. Buzzcut tells Komatsu that Fukada—who was both Leader and Fuka-Eri’s father—died of natural causes shortly after the publication of Air Chrysalis. Four days later, Komatsu is released.

After raising the threat of a ghostwriter scandal, Komatsu convinces his publisher to stop printing Air Chrysalis. He also believes that Ebisuno will eventually accept the revelations about Fukada and let it go.

Given his recent experiences, Komatsu starts to wonder if everything in Air Chrysalis really happened. He and Tengo also discuss the possibility that Fuka-Eri is not the original maza; she may be a dohta, possibly one of many.

Ushikawa believes Fuka-Eri is likely gone for good. Moreover, he still cannot shake her haunting gaze. He wonders if he may be in love with her, even though he has no sexual desire for her.

Three days later on a Saturday, Tengo finally returns. That evening, Ushikawa follows Tengo to a bar and then to a playground where he climbs the slide and stares up.

Around 15 minutes later, Tengo descends the slide and leaves the playground. Curious about what Tengo was staring at, Ushikawa ascends the slide and looks to the sky. He is shocked to see a second moon that he has never seen before—a second moon just like the one described in Air Chrysalis.

The following night, Aomame sees the same stout child with the large head from the previous night. This time, she takes a closer look at the figure and realizes it is a grown man. Based on Tamaru’s description, she intuits that this is the individual who had been skulking around Willow House and who was therefore likely to be an agent of Sakigake.

Although she knows it is risky, Aomame follows Ushikawa with the hope that he will lead her to a clue about Tengo—or perhaps to Tengo himself. She tracks him to an apartment building, which she enters a few minutes after he does. Aomame surveys the mailboxes, hoping to find a name that looks familiar. Her heart stops when she sees “Kawana,” Tengo’s last name. After recovering from the shock, Aomame goes to Tengo’s door and rings the bell, but no one answers.

After returning to the safe house, Aomame calls Tamaru and explains everything that just happened. She also explains that Tengo Kawana rewrote Air Chrysalis and that he has a “personal” connection to her, though she won’t elaborate on that point. Although Tamaru is unnerved that Aomame left the apartment, he appreciates the information she gathered. He is as confused as Aomame is that Ushikawa apparently tracked Aomame down, only to let himself be totally exposed atop the slide, and to let himself be followed back to his hideout.

After Tamaru hangs up, Aomame is gripped by a terrible fear: Maybe the reason Ushikawa hasn’t apprehended her yet is that Sakigake doesn’t want her; they want her baby.

Nurse Adachi calls Tengo to inform him that his father passed away. He takes the next express train to Chikura to take care of various formalities related to his father’s passing. In the will his father prepared, Tengo is only referred to as “legal heir,” not “son.” His inheritance is an envelope with 500,000 yen in cash, a bundle of newspaper clippings about Tengo’s success as a math prodigy and judo star, paperwork related to his father’s work as an NHK fee collector, and a black-and-white photograph of Tengo’s mother and father holding him as a one-year-old baby. Tengo’s father also insisted that he be cremated in his NHK fee collector uniform. Adachi says that in his comatose state, Tengo’s father would knock on his bed frame as if he were knocking on doors to collect fees.