The chapter opens with a soliloquy by Hiroshi. Hiroshi tells his wife that he loves her, and that he has noticed that she has a ring on her finger. He tells her that his wife's friend, Aechi, has been on good terms with her, but that he can't quite get used to the idea of her being alone with him. He says that he had hoped that he would graduate, move out, and grow up, and then they would meet again, but now that he is alone, he doesn't want his friend to like him back. He explains that he was holding out hopes that he'd graduate, grow up and then meet again. But the whole time, he had only eyes for him, and he was afraid to tell him how he felt. He promises that he will be there for her if she ever needs him. The chapter ends with Hiroshi's declaration of his love for his wife, and his fear that she will tell him about his feelings for her friend. He is afraid that she'll tell him that she loves him, but she's too upset to do so. She's just trying to get away from him, he says. He's also afraid that he won't be able to tell his friend how he feels, because he's afraid to get rejected. He adds that he didn't even want to leave the house with a whimper, either. He was afraid that her feelings for him would cause trouble, and she'd be the one who would tell him. But she was just feeling down. She was lumping everyone together in the world, he thinks, and it was all her fault that she couldn't tell Hiroshi how she felt about him. She just wanted to get out of the house. He remembers that after he passed out, he rolled his eyes in her face