This chapter's epigraph comes from a line in the novel's first chapter. It's a line from a poem called "Sweet My Mother Was at For Children Without Parents," which describes a mother who is at the mercy of a group of men who rape her and then shave her face to make her look like a vampire. The poem ends with the line, "Tap tecry / That person who vampirism flot vangere by me, sweet my mother" . This is a reference to the protagonist's mother, who was raped by five men who raped her and shaved her face. The protagonist, who is now called "midori anzai" , tells the audience that he feels bad about the rape and shaves his face to look like the vampire. He explains that he woke up the next morning feeling "great" and went out to kill five more people. He tells us that the vampire was suffering from "the symptoms of addiction" and that he was a "living corpse" suffering from the effects of his addiction. He says that he came to see the protagonist because he was worried about the vampire and wanted to talk with him. He adds that he always carried tranquilizers and guns and had been searching for the vampire all this time. He told the protagonist to think hard about the situation and figure out his own thoughts and then discuss it with his mother. He also tells her that if she gets bit, he'll kill her. He's relieved that they have contact for three months if he's away from her, he says, so he won't hurt her anymore. He asks if she's been careful, too, and