Chapter 3, pages 183-218 Summary

Home on leave, the young man finds himself bedridden with tonsillitis. He is visited by a young woman named Chieko, a distant relation who, despite being recently widowed, seems unusually cheerful. As the young man lies feverish in the bed, Chieko suddenly and unexpectedly kisses him on the mouth. He accepts her advances, appreciating at last his first kiss with a woman.

Even as the young man kisses Chieko, he finds himself thinking of Sonoko. The next day, speaking to Sonoko on the telephone, he cancels their scheduled rendezvous, insisting that he must immediately return to the arsenal. The young man has begun to think of Chieko's kisses as something "ugly", reasoning that it must be due to his love for Sonoko. The narrator reveals, however, that he was just using Sonoko as an excuse. In truth, the kisses...