This chapter opens with a flashback to a time when the protagonist was a student at a school in the town of hama. The protagonist's name is Sousuke, and he has just returned from a shopping trip with his servant, Kishibi. Kishibi tells the protagonist that her family is well known in the area of doshu, which is a Japanese term for "second-hand goods." The protagonist asks Kishibi to fetch him a jacket, but Kishibi refuses to do so, saying that the jacket belongs to a woman and that she will use it to cover her soiled cape. The shopkeeper, who is also the protagonist, explains that Kishibi is his servant and that they will clean her cape. He tells Kishibi that he is interested in the protagonist because Kishibi looked worn out when he saw him earlier in the day. He asks her to open her mouth so that they can breathe together, and she agrees.