Chapter 10 Summary

After the ten-day school vacation for New Year's, Yoko discovers that a newspaper is holding an essay contest, with the top prize of ten thousand yen. She enters the contest and wins the top prize, but the subject of her essay is critical about the way the other school children treat her, and this does not please the students or teachers.

A week later the principle calls Yoko into his office. He has a letter from Corporal Matsumura, who now lives in Kyoto. Corporal Matsumura recognized Yoko's name when it appeared in the paper with the winning essay, and he wants to make contact. Yoko tells Ko about the letter, which contains a reply postcard, and mails the card with contact information. Two days later, the Corporal appears at Yoko's school. They ride together in the streetcar to the warehouse.

Corporal Matsumura tells...