Summary

In pages 32- 69, Yoshiro he cuts an orange for Mumei's juice. He wishes he could be more like an orange or unlike other plants, unconcerned with worry and anxiety. Yoshiro, however, is perpetually absorbed with Mumei's fragility. Eating anything causes him extreme pain because his body is unable to digest food. Yoshiro thinks of his childhood. Life for children is now much different, all of them suffering from constant fevers and fatigue. Medical practices have altered accordingly. Yoshiro remembers leaving their thermometer in a cemetery devoted to the burial of objects people no longer need. He thinks of the day he buried his first book. Because the novel mentioned too many foreign places, Yoshiro knew he could be punished for it.

When Yoshiro pours Mumei's juice, Mumei asks him why he never drinks any. Yoshiro tries to explain that because the old never...