This chapter opens with a flashback to the beginning of the novel, when Hiroshi is still in love with Mishima. Mishima is now sixteen years old, and Hiroshi's parents are still alive. The flashback reveals that Mishima's father has died, leaving Mishima and his younger brother, Hiroyuki, as the only surviving members of the family. The chapter ends with a description of the house in which Mishima, Hiroshi, and their younger brother live. The house is described as a "box-shaped ice cream" , and Mishima compares it to a "misunder standing" .