A long while later, after the files were completely burned, Hoshino stomped the ashes into dust. The next strong wind would scatter all the remains. The sun was nearly setting by then, and crows were flying back to their nests.

“Nobody’s gonna read it now,” Hoshino said. “I don’t know what was written in it, but it’s all gone. A bit of shape and form has disappeared from the world, increasing the amount of nothingness.”

“I have a question I’d like to ask.”

“Fire away.”

“Can nothingness increase?”

Hoshino puzzled this one over for a while. “That’s a tough one,” he admitted. “If
something returns to nothing it becomes zero, but even if you add zero to zero, it’s still zero.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t get it either. Thinking about those kinds of things always gives me a
headache.”

“So maybe we should stop thinking about it.”

“Fine with me,” Hoshino said.

- Kafka on the Shore