The chapter opens with a description of the boarding house where the two students are staying. The narrator introduces us to the two young men, who are introduced as "son" and "kasumi" . They are both students at the same university, and they are introduced to each other as "brother and sister" in the chapter's opening scene. The two students discuss the differences between the dormitories and the homes they live in, and the differences in the food they eat and drink. They discuss the school's uniform rules, which state that boys should wear a short-sleeved shirt and trousers, and that girls should wear skirts and dresses. They also discuss the fact that they are in the same boarding house as "a cute girl" , who is wearing fewer layers in the dormitories than in the homes she lives in.