Chapter 10, 'Anxieties' Summary

Kinshi talks to Jiro the next morning about how it is wrong for them to have so much food while the poor of the city are starving. That night, Jiro is woken by Kinshi moving about, but Kinshi tells him to go back to sleep. In the morning, Kinshi is exhausted and has clearly been up all night. Jiro worries about how to help his mother, and how to find out what Kinshi is up to.

Kinshi gets out of chores by saying he needs to practice, but has a nap instead. The other boys cover for him, then wake him and get him on stage for the performance. Jiro is shocked to see that the audience is so small, but Mochida explains that the night rovers attacked a rice market, and now all the merchants are staying home to protect...