The narrator returns to Haruki's house and tells his mom that he's home. He's glad to be home, because it's nice to be alone again. He thinks about how nice it is to have a meal with his mom, even though she doesn't say a word thanks. He also thinks about the fact that he went out in the snow to take a bunch of pictures of the landscape. He realizes that he wouldn't be able to do this if he were an ordinary man, because he would never meet an animal like narumi. He decides to do it again because he feels that he has to, because the weather's getting colder. He wants to save his mom's life, because she's about to lose her "round ball form" .