Yūichi constantly sneaks out at night, and to cut his habit, his nurse Akiko barricades his door to prevent him from leaving. However, she strikes a deal that if he is able to become friends with a new patient, she will lift her restriction. The new patient turns out to be Rika, a seventeen-year-old girl in the eastern ward who enjoys reading the works of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. At first, Yūichi, with the assistance of Akiko, lies about reading the same book, but Rika easily sees through this act and demands that in exchange for her forgiveness, he must do what she wants. One day, Rika requests to go up to Mount Hōdai despite her weak, sickly condition because it was the same place her father hiked up before he died, and she believed if she is able to do the same, she will lose her fear of dying. Yūichi sneaks her out of the hospital with much success and realizes that he is doing favors not because she tells him to, and when he tries to tell her his true intent of assisting her, he faints.
