In this chapter, we learn that the young woman we met earlier in the novel is now in her mid-thirties, and that she has turned into a "slut" . We learn that she works as a "foodcourt" , catering for "over-eaters," and that her job is to "draft super-warm draft beer." She tells us that she used to be a "pretty tough slut," but now she's "turned into a slovenly young woman." She complains about how much beer she drinks, and how she doesn't like the guy who dumped her. She says that she'd rather just "just cry" than "talk a bunch" about her feelings for him. She adds that she still likes him, though, because he's still friends with her after all. She tells him that people still call her by the nickname "sunshine," and she tells him to "slam some nerve" and "be a good girl." She warns him that he'll protect her if he tries to use the nickname to "know the troubling details" of her past. She also warns him not to "chase after seethethere's nothing" going on between him and "Ichika." He tells her that he believes that she returned to him "of her own volition." He warns her not to worry about whether or not she'll be hurt, because they don't yet know each other.