The narrative flashes back to Tsukuru’s college years. While swimming at the college pool, Tsukuru befriends a younger man named Haida. Haida is more intellectual than Tsukuru and tends to think more abstractly than Tsukuru; however, both are similarly introverted and “not very sociable” (44). Like Tsukuru, Haida moved to Tokyo to attend college, only his home town is Akita, in the northern part of Japan.

In an aside, we learn that Tsukuru’s father died when Tsukuru was 30 years old. We also learn that there is some ambiguity to Tsukuru’s name, which can mean “create” or “build,” though his father intended the latter meaning.

Unlike Tsukuru, who has older sisters, Haida was an only child. Haida also thoroughly enjoyed classical music; he and Tsukuru often listened to classical music together. One day, they discuss the arrangement and the melancholic effect of Le Mal du Pays, a piano piece by Liszt (the title means “homesickness”). The conversation then turns toward the philosophical. As their friendship grows, Tsukuru feels relief from the pain caused by his old friend group’s rejection.

The chapter ends with Haida asking Tsukuru if he wants to hear a strange story about his father, also named Haida.