The chapter opens with Ruchika, who is in her office outside her perfect boss's office. She is horrified to find that her boss has turned into a "pervert" . She apologizes to her co-worker, Misono, who has come to pick up her things. She tells him that he is scaring her, and she asks him to introduce himself properly. He does so, and the two of them meet for the first time. He tells her that he has just come to talk to her about his new book deal, and that she is "even more hyped up" than usual. He says that he did not tell her about the deal, but that she kept talking about how his place looked "too clean" , and he wonders if publishing agents always know about authors' houses. He asks if she and murataka know each other, and they tell him that they had known each other "for a long time" when they were students. He wonders if they would have been good friends, but she says that they are not yet "cut out" for each other.