Kafka prepares to open the library, so that he can leave once Oshima arrives. He needs some time to himself before he sees Miss Saeki again. He goes to the gym and works out; he is mentally exhausted and confused. After showering and changing his clothes, Kafka goes to the noodle house near the train station. He realizes that he’s been in Shikoku for about three weeks. He contemplates getting on another bus and leaving, but he knows that he cannot leave. The boy called Crow pipes up and reminds him that he isn’t free, but then asks, “But is that what you really want? To be free?” (315).

Oshima echoes this sentiment upon Kafka’s return to the library, telling him that people think that they want to be free when, in reality, they wouldn’t know what to do if they were really free.

Kafka goes upstairs to talk to Miss Saeki, taking a cup of coffee with him. When he enters, she is writing. She stops and looks up at him. She asks him what he does when he works out. They discuss the kinds of strength that are necessary to survive this world.