Like dry ground welcoming the rain, he let the solitude, silence, and loneliness soak in.

No matter how much he loved someone, he still couldn't share his life with them. He needed solitary time every day to concentrate, and he couldn't stand it when someone's presence threw off his concentration. If he lived with someone he knew he would end up detesting them. Whether it was his parents, a wife, or children. He feared that above all. He wasn't afraid of loving someone. What he feared was growing to hate someone.

Kino enjoyed listening to whatever music he liked and reading books he'd been wanting to read. Like dry ground welcoming the rain, he let the solitude, silence, and loneliness soak in.

歳月をかければ、人はそういう海色に染まった孤独な眼球を獲得することができる。

Ο Τένγκο δεν είχε ιδέα τι είχε προσφέρει η Αομάμε στο φεγγάρι εκείνη τη στιγμή, μπορούσε όμως να φανταστεί πάνω κάτω τι της είχε δώσει εκείνο: αγνή μοναξιά και ηρεμία. Ό,τι καλύτερο έχει να δώσει το φεγγάρι σ'έναν άνθρωπο.

I’m free, I think. I shut my eyes and think hard and deep about how free I am, but I can’t really understand what it means. All I know is I’m totally alone. All alone in an unfamiliar place, like some solitary explorer who’s lost his compass and his map. Is this what it means to be free?