This chapter opens with a description of the protagonist's relationship with the protagonist. The protagonist is a pattern maker and a designer, and he and his partner, Hiroyuki, are described as "designers." The protagonist complains about his waist, which he says is too small, but Hiroyuki assures him that it's not because he's a bad patterner, but because he and Hiroyuki are both good at making clothes. The two of them argue about whether or not they're good enough to compete with each other in making clothes, and the protagonist points out that they were both "contesters" in school, so they know how to work together. They argue about how each of them is better than the other, but the protagonist doesn't seem to have a problem with this. He says that even though they were "contests," they were still better than each other, and that they'd be better than anyone else if they were paired together. He points to a rumor that Hiroyuki has won an award and is ready to be hired by a company, and says that he can't compete with him because he isn't even close to winning an award. He also points to the fact that he was paired with Hiroyuki as a way of showing his love for the protagonist, and so he'd have to accept