Summary

In Chapter 14, K states that they never found out what happened to Sumire. Miu asked K if he thought Sumire was dead and they both agreed they did not. In retrospect, K felt as though Miu had “grabbed his heart with a rare intensity” (176). K went back to Tokyo for the new school term, stopping in Athens for a layover. He visited the Acropolis and thought about how much he missed Sumire, wondering about her existence “on the other side” (178). He felt lonely and thought about Sputnik.

In Chapter 15, K received a phone call from his girlfriend, the married mother of his fourth-grade student. She asked him to come to a nearby supermarket. Her son, who was nicknamed Carrot, had been caught shoplifting eight staplers. The store's security guard addressed K in a rude and arrogant manner and told him that Carrot had...