The novel opens with a soliloquy by the narrator, who tells the reader that he's been stuck teaching an "airhead novelist" about love. He asks the reader to imagine what it's like to be in love with someone else. The narrator tells us that he and his lover, Takumi, are in love, but that their relationship is "for a limited time" . The two of them have agreed to spend a month apart, and the narrator says that's enough time for them to get to know each other.