In the second-floor study, bathed in the afternoon sun. Rintaro, who had been reading a paperback in the armchair by the window, closes his book upon hearing the doorbell ring downstairs. Sensing his wife coming up the stairs a moment later, he pushes up the bridge of his glasses and smiles quietly.

He rises from the chair and gently pulls his wife by the wrist as she stands in the doorway. His voice remains utterly soft.