Chapter 17 - Whether We Are Happy or Unhappy

            Aomame sees two moons in the sky for the next few nights. She tries to subtly ask Tamaru and the dowager if they've noticed the moon lately, but neither of them seem to find anything unusual. Aomame remembers when she told the dowager her secret - that she killed Tamaki's husband - and the dowager admitted that she, too, had "made a man vanish." The dowager's daughter killed herself after suffering years of abuse by her husband, so for revenge the dowager "socially destroyed" him. Because of her daughter, the dowager set up the safe house for women suffering from domestic violence. The dowager informs Aomame of a new job and introduces her to Tsubasa, a ten-year-old girl who came to the safe house. Like Fuka-Eri, Tsubasa doesn't speak. The dowager explains to Aomame that at only ten years old Tsubasa is infertile because her uterus has been destroyed. Aomame wonders who would do such a thing, and Tsubasa responds; "The Little People." (She's from Sakigake?!)

Chapter 18 - No Longer Any Place for a Big Brother

           Fuka-Eri did well at the press conference and the magazine with Air Chrysalis sold out. Fuka-Eri calls Tengo to meet her at the Shinjuku cafe. They are joined by Professor Ebisuno, who thanks Tengo for doing the rewrite of Eri's story. As they talk, it becomes clear that Ebisuno has other motives in making Air Chrysalis and Eri famous - he's hoping that the media will look into Eri's background and bring attention to Sakigake and Eri's parents. Ebisuno leaves first, and Tengo and Fuka-Eri walk around Shinjuku aimlessly (okay, Toru and Naoko) before going to Tengo's together.

Chapter 19 - Women Sharing a Secret

           The dowager tells Aomame that Tsubasa escaped from Sakigake, where the cult's leader raped Tsubasa repeatedly. The dowager doesn't know the name of the leader or where to find him, making Aomame's job difficult. After Aomame leaves, the dowager and Tsubasa fall asleep in Tsubasa's room. As Tsubasa sleeps, Little People emerge from her mouth and set to work (on the air chrysalis, I'm assuming).

Chapter 20 - The Poor Gilyaks

           While Fuka-Eri sleeps in Tengo's bed, Tengo writes at the kitchen table. She wakes up during the night and joins him. Tengo asks her about The Tale of the Heike, which she recited a passage of from memory during the press conference, and she recites another passage for Tengo. She asks Tengo to read a book to her and he chooses Sakhalin Island, a documentary-like novel about the Gilyaks, the indigenous people of Sakhalin. Tengo reads until Eri falls asleep. When he wakes in the morning, Eri is gone, and Tengo ponders his feelings for her.

Chapter 21 - No Matter How Far Away I Try To Go

           Aomame returns to the library to examine newspapers from 1981, looking for more information about what's going on inside Sakigake. Unable to find anything, she calls Ayumi and asks her if she's heard anything about cases of crime or violence within Sakigake since the 1981 shootout.  She tells Ayumi that she's heard that young girls are being raped within the compound, and Ayumi says she'll look into it. Ayumi finds that Sakigake has had a number of legal issues - most notably civil suits concerning land deals as the organization has been buying up land in many areas, including Tokyo. Also, the children from Sakigake were pulled out of school and are said to have emotional problems. Ayumi confirms that it will be difficult for Aomame to do anything about Sakigake's abuse of its children unless she has a witness who can testify in court.

Chapter 22 - That Time Could Take On Deformed Shapes As It Moves Ahead

           Tengo wonders if he created the memory of his mom's affair with a man who is not his father since he recognizes that he shouldn't have been able to remember something that happened when he was only one or two years old (and also asleep in his crib). It's Friday, so Tengo's married girlfriend comes over for their weekly rendez-vous, and Tengo comes thinking about the scent of the pajamas Fuka-Eri had worn to sleep the night before (gross, dude. She's 17 and you're so old). A few weeks later, Komatsu calls to ask if Tengo knows anything about Fuka-Eri's whereabouts - she's been missing for three days,

Chapter 23 - This Is Just the Beginning of Something

           Aomame and Ayumi continue picking up men together. One night, unable to find a suitable pair of men, they opt for having dinner together instead. Ayumi has been looking further into Sakigake, and they discuss the cult over a bottle of wine. Aomame tells her about Tsubasa, and Ayumi resolves to dig further into the case. She confesses to Aomame that when she was little her brother and uncle molested her, and when she met Aomame she'd assumed that Aomame had had a similar experience.
         
           Aomame recieves a call from Tamaru to set up an appointment with the dowager. Tamaru tells Aomame that something "not so good" happened - the dog exploded during the night (WHY DOES THE DOG ALWAYS DIE?!).

Chapter 24 - What's The Point of Its Being a World That Isn't Here?

           A few weeks later, Fuka-Eri sends Tengo a message in the form of a recording on a cassette tape. She explains in the recording that she wasn't kidnapped, she went into hiding on her own. She says that she doesn't plan to be a novelist, and she won't be writing anything now that Air Chrysalis is published. She leaves a cryptic message regarding the Little People - that they are just as wise and powerful as Professor Ebisuno, and they may be mad that they were put into writing. When Komatsu calls again, Tengo lies and says that he hasn't heard from Fuka-Eri.

           In bed with his girlfriend, Tengo talks about the novel he's working on writing. The story is about Tengo, or a character who resembles Tengo, who exists in a world that isn't this world. In the different world, there are two moons - an idea which Tengo took from Air Chrysalis. He explains that the point of having two similar worlds is the ability to rewrite the past. Tengo's girlfriend mentions that the word "lunatic" was created around the idea that the moon has the power to make people crazy, and she guesses that in Tengo's created world, the influence of two moons would make people even crazier.

Comments

           I wasn't freaked out by the Little People at first, because I kind of picture them to be like the little guys in the movie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, but they grow to TWO FEET TALL? Nope. No.

           What I'm gathering right now is that Tengo has created this world, which Aomame has named 1Q84, and Aomame exists in Tengo's imagined world? Then Tengo exists in 1984, but since the character in 1Q84 is based off of him, it is this version of his self that Aomame met when she was ten and fell in love with. So then maybe Fuka-Eri exists in 1984 while Tsubasa is the 1Q84 version of Eri, and the Little People are the connection/pathway between the worlds??? This is 100% speculation, but I feel like I'm onto something here.

           There was a full moon the other night and I was looking at it and thinking about what it would look like if there were two moons - if the real moon had a smaller, lopsided, green-ish moon next to it. While I was thinking about it, the EXO song Two Moons became stuck in my head and now I can't stop thinking about how that song has to be about this book.



           Obviously the song is about having two moons in the sky, and some of the lyrics are: