In this chapter, the narrator introduces us to a young woman named Hikikomori, who lives with her parents in a small seaside town in the northeast of Japan. She is the daughter of Hirokomori, a wealthy businessman, and his wife, Hitomi, a woman of modest means. Her parents have recently moved into the seaside town, and her brother, Hiroki, is planning to move into the house with them. The narrator asks Hikikomiri if she has told her brother that she doesn't want him to live with her, and she replies that she does not want him. She says that she will not leave the house as long as Hiroki is there, and that she won't be affectionate with him if he tries to leave without her