The chapter opens with the narrator complaining that he's freezing in his hotel room. He's not feeling well. He tells the other students in the room to point their skis inward so they don't get caught in the snow. They're supposed to have a hot water heater in their room, but the students are already in class. The narrator tells the students to chill out because it'll be dangerous for them to do so in the middle of the night. He also tells them not to get too worked up about the snowball fight that's going to be happening later in the day. The other students agree that it's a good idea to get out of the room and chill out, but they're not sure if they should join the fight because they are students or because they want to stay up all night with their friends. They decide that it would be better if they stayed and watched the fight from their room. The students decide that the fight is dangerous because it involves a lot of people staying up late, so they decide not to join it. They also decide that they should stay and watch the fight since it involves chiaki, who they think is "vulnerable to spiritual influence." The narrator then asks if the girl in class has a "sixth sense" , which is a fancy way of saying that she has a hunch that something is going on in her room. She's heard rumors that the room is haunted by a ghostly sailor, but she doesn't know how to figure out what's really going on.