The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Not knowing where else to go or what else to do, Toru decides to head to May’s house. May sees him outside and greets him. Toru asks May for a favor; he wants her to call Kumiko’s office and ask if Kumiko is there. May does as he asks. When she gets off the phone, May reveals that Kumiko still has not come into work. In fact, she has missed work for two days straight. Toru thanks May for her help and then returns home, hoping that someone will call him and explain what is going on. While walking around his neighborhood, he realizes that he has not heard the wind-up bird for some time and wonders why.

At home, Toru sits and wonders what could have happened to Kumiko. He thinks about how strange the last few days of his life have been and tries to make sense of it all. Suddenly, Toru feels sleepy, and so he clumsily makes his way to his bedroom. While asleep, Toru has another sex dream about Creta Kano. Like before, she performs oral sex on him. However, this time, she is not naked; rather, she is wearing Kumiko’s dress.

In the dream, Toru asks Creta about her relationship with Noboru, and she tells him not to think about it. Then, she tells Toru to leave everything to “them.” Toru wonders who “they” could be. Moments later, the lights in Toru and Creta’s hotel room shut off, and Toru hears a mysterious voice, which orders him to forget everything. Toru recognizes the voice as that of the mysterious woman.

Toru wakes up to find he has had another wet dream. He cleans himself up and wonders what to makes of his recent dreams. He doesn’t understand why such strange and sexual dreams are occurring during this stressful period of his life. He also thinks about the relationship between Creta and the mysterious woman. For some reason, the mysterious woman sounds familiar, but Toru cannot figure out where he knows her from. He is almost certain she is not an ex-girlfriend.

In the evening, May comes over to keep Toru company. May asks Toru if anything good has happened since they spoke last, but Toru has nothing to report. Then, May asks Toru if he thinks she is pretty. Toru says that she is. May thanks him and then says that her ex-boyfriend used to insult her and call her ugly constantly. Toru assures her that her ex-boyfriend was just being cruel—as young people often are—and that she is certainly attractive.

May switches the conversation topic to Kumiko. She asks Toru if he will take Kumiko back if it turns out she ran off with another man. Toru tells May that her question is difficult for him to answer. At this point, he does not know what he would do. After this conversation, May leaves and wishes Toru good luck. Just before bed, Toru gets a call from Malta. She asks to meet Toru at the Pacific Hotel the following day because she wants to talk to him about Kumiko. She also tells him that Noboru will be there with her.