Chapter 3, pages 153-183 Summary

The group rises at 6:00 in the morning to prepare for their visitation. Sonoko's little sisters tease her for having slept through the air raid alarm, jokingly accusing her of having drowned out the alarm with the sound of her snoring. While the young man delights in the domestic sound of the sisters' quarreling, it also reawakens the peculiar anguish that he associates somehow with Sonoko. His thoughts turn to the war, and specifically the air raids. The young man decides that he wouldn't care if his family were killed while he was away. He rationalizes such thoughts as typical considering the state of the world.

As the group walks to the visitation site, the young man offers to carry Sonoko's bag. The gesture is designed both to endear himself to Sonoko and to embarrass her, thus enhancing the degree...