When Kawashima Yukiko, landlady of the Apartment where Kaoru was a lodger in his university days, has died in solitude by heat stroke and is found dead, Kaoru heads for the apartment for the first time in 20 years. Yukiko was highly educated, sophisticated, and unmarried. Onoda who also lodged in the apartment appeared emotionally warped in her dealings of her own family and colleagues. Kaoru relives in his mind the days when the excessive attention and affection of the two women have all but stifled him.