The narrator tells us that he's been stuck in a relationship with Ikezaki for a year. He's surprised that she's still in love with him. He thinks she fell into a "troublesome guy" trap, and that she got caught up in people's "slovenly" ways. The narrator says that he doesn't want to be like the guy, because he wants to be "his equal," and that's why he wants "to be like him" . He also says that it is "outrageous" for him to bring his love into work, because it's a "rude" thing to do. He says that if he were to stay with the girl, it would be more "meanful" to do so than to "support him well" , which is what he thinks he does. He tells the narrator that the bullet train isn't running, so they're going to have to stay at his hotel for the night.