The novel opens with a discussion of love between two men. The narrator is a novelist, and he has just finished a "fulfilling satisfied date" with a man named Tomoyuki. The two men are on their way back from a business trip, and the narrator asks him about the nature of romantic love. He asks if it's normal for two men to have romantic feelings for each other. Tomosyuki replies that it depends on the man's partner. He says that if he were with his editor, he would have had less fun on the date, but when he's with his lover, he has a lot of fun. He tells the narrator that he wants to do one last thing before they get back to his apartment. He wants to hold hands with him, but he doesn't want to do it while they're out on the road. He's not sure how to do this, since he has gotten used to the way they've been jerking off each other, but the narrator says that's fine, since they can do it now. He also says that he'd like to squeeze the two men's hands before they go back to their apartments, but Tomozuka says that men can only do this if they'd "squeeze prepared" . The novelist says that she's already done this, and that she thinks it'll help her writing, but she also says she wants to make sure that she looks out for him when they do this.