This chapter opens with a soliloquy by Tomoyuki Shimada. The narrator laments the fact that the match is being played in front of a crowd that is not paying attention to the action on the field. He laments that the spectators are making the match seem like an exhibition match. He wonders if the players are playing hard because they are tired of playing in the first round of the tournament. He also wonders if Ueda is on the bench because he hasn't played in a while. He muses that he wishes they would play him in the second round so that he might get a chance to prove his worth to the team. He thinks that if they lose the match, it will be like his own throat. He compares Ueda's behavior to that of a young woman who is in love with a man. He worries that if the match goes badly, he will lose interest in the match and will not be able to keep up with the action. He wishes that he could ask Ueda to play him, but he can't because he is so engrossed in the action that he cannot concentrate on the match. The speaker then turns to the audience and tells them that he has won the first cup match in the country against the second-best team in the world. He predicts that the second cup match will be even more important because it will determine the fate of the team for the rest of the season.