In this chapter, the narrator laments that he has dropped from being the best student in the class to being the second best. He blames his lack of progress on the fact that he spends so much time studying and daydreaming. He falls asleep during a flag raising ceremony, during a choir competition, even though he is the lead singer, and even during a performance. He laments his inability to forget his infatuation with a "ren" . He resolves to "get rid" of the "rens" in the room. He tells his mother that he needs to stop associating himself with "an'ren" so that he can "avoid his routes" and "avoid seeing him." He tells her that he follows his "routes" and makes a schedule of his whereabouts. He asks her if she would like to study with him this weekend. She tells him that she does not have time to do so because she has run out of sweets to give to her mother. She also tells her mother that she has decided to give up her calligraphy class in order to return her apple.