Yoda, a writer specializing in the adult entertainment industry, visited a role-play-themed sex club with a *rakugo* storyteller for a weekly magazine feature, where he covered a session involving a female college student named Yumemi and the performer's "widow" role-play scenario. Although Yoda had a fiancée named Mari, she had recently asked to postpone their wedding, which was scheduled to take place in a few months. Yoda consulted Inada—a writer who was also acting as their matchmaker—about the situation. Inada’s wife, Yasuko, met with Mari to hear her out; it turned out that Mari had been married before and was harboring anxieties about marriage and a child from her previous relationship. After talking things over with Yoda, Mari decided to reciprocate his sincere feelings. Just then, however, Inada passed away suddenly...
