Asahina and Hirokazu are on their way to the rowing match at the university, and Hiroko asks Hiroko to pick them up at his apartment at eleven in the morning. Hiroko thanks him for coming out to see him so many times, and he says he's sorry to take up too much of his time. He tells Hiroko that his father is going to visit his parents, and that he has to go to the high school to get Hiroko's own pair of shoes. He says that he'll have to work harder, too, because he'd like to be able to buy his own shoes at the meet. He's bummed that he hasn't been able to do much of anything, but Hiroko assures him that everything is fine. He asks if there's anything else to do, and she says that she'll be done with talking about her shoes. She tells him to go change, and when he gets to the gate, he asks if it's okay to wait for her at the gate. She says that's fine, but she's not sure if she'd be acting weird if she didn't wait for him there. She asks him to put some fuel into the heater, but he doesn't want to do that, so she tells him not to worry, and then she asks him if he wants to go with her to the inter-university meet alone this year, too. He replies that he needs to make it there with her, and says that if he were bored, he could let her carry his stuff again. He then tells her that he knows what he means, that Hiroko is going on a trip to the states, and if he is sent back to work, he will be back in the same position as him. He also tells her about the rumor that she told him that she was going to study abroad in the U.S.