Tengo delves into his childhood. His father worked as a collector of subscription fees for NHK, and would drag Tengo along on Sundays, using him as an object to keep those owning fees from getting angry and violent. While friends and classmates did fun, childlike activities, Tengo never could. He could not play with friends, was always alone, and he resented this, and his father. His father was repatriated from Manchuria. His family was poor and hungry. They were taught to farm in a bad area, but they managed to just get by. After the Soviets invaded Manchuria, his father fled and was the only one from his farming community to make it back to Japan. He met up with a man from Manchuria who offered him the NHK job. He worked hard and was able to get insurance and move into a corporate-owned apartment. He worked his way up to the lowest spot on the totem pole. Tengo's father never read books to him, sing songs, none of the typical things parents do to have special time and bond with their children. He only repeated the story of where he came from and how he rose to his current social rank. Tengo hated hearing it. The story moves from his nameless father, to his nameless mother. Tengo knows little of her, his father shuns all questions, and only says she died shortly after his birth. Tengo is first able to recall memory of her at the age of one and a half, so he knows his father is a liar. This memory involves his mother being with a man, not his father. the only thing he seems to share with his father are dark secrets.
In his preppiest attire, Tengo meets Fuka-Eri at the train station. She was in her oddest attire. They boarded, she was her usual quiet self. After a quick nap, he asks what books she reads. She does not read. After a tedious attempt to extract details as to why, he discovers she is dyslexic. After even more interrogation, his fears are confirmed, she did not write Air Chrysalis by herself. She did so with the help of Azami, whom she lives with. Azami is the Professor's daughter, who also lives there. They are on their way to meet this Professor.
Obviously, things became so much more complicated. Tengo could not know what Komatsu's reaction would be to learn there was a 4th peg in the conspiracy. Tengo is afraid things will not go well meeting the professor. Maybe it's his fear of meeting new people on Sundays. The mere thought would bring him close to vomit. Sensing his distress, Fuka-Eri takes his hand in hers, startling him, which continues to their destination. She tries to comfort him saying first, to not be afraid, then it's not just another Sunday, to which he is surprised that she spoke two complete sentences...a first.