In this chapter, Ryoko shintani tells us that she's going to have to get rid of her "oya-shirazu" , which is a Japanese term for a person who is socially inferior to his or her parents. In other words, if you're poor, your parents aren't going to approve of you. Ryoko tells us, however, that this isn't the first time that she has had to deal with this problem. When she was younger, she used to get oya-shirasu from her parents, who didn't approve of her doing certain things, like going to the dentist for her teeth. Now, she says, most parents know what's up with this, and they're not too happy about it.