about his not joining them. A few days later, Noboru visits again. With Omasa and Osei present, Noboru tells Bunzō that rumours of rehirings at the office have been spreading, and offers to put in a good word for him. Bunzō feels insulted to the extent that he has to keep himself from hitting Noboru. He eventually breaks ties with his former friend, for which he is scolded by Omasa who considers Noboru a regular guest of the house, urging him to reconsider Noboru's offer. Bunzō approaches Osei, convinced that she still feels for him and will take his side. Instead, he has to learn that not only Osei refuses–at her mother's instructions–to share his viewpoint, but has also grown fond of Noboru. Furiously, he vows never to speak to her again. When Omasa hears of this, she declares that all plans of a possible marriage between Bunzō and Osei are now extinct. Part Three Bunzō, treated disdainfully by both Omasa and Osei, considers moving out of his uncle's house and has even found a small apartment to rent, but can't bring himself to take final steps. His attempt to explain himself to Osei is angrily fended off by her. Noboru has started giving English lessons to his supervisor's wife and sister-in-law, and when he shows up for his now less frequent visits, he is more involved in discussing business affairs with Omasa than in speaking to Osei. Osei tries to attract his attention with an increasingly childlike behaviour, but eventually loses interest in him and convinces her mother to pay her knitting lessons. Meanwhile, Bunzō has come to the conviction that Osei is in danger of taking a downhill route under Omasa's influence and that someone has to save her. During one of their next encounters, Osei, while getting ready to go to the public bath with the maid, gives him a sympathetic glance instead of a contemptuous one like in the past weeks. Bunzō decides that he will try to talk to her once more upon her return and, in case that he fails again to make her listen, will leave the house once and for all. Background With his debut novel Ukigumo, Futabatei aimed at incorporating everyday, colloquial language and in-depth characterisation to achieve a greater realism, a result of lengthy discussions between him and critic Shōyō Tsubouchi who advocated a new Japanese literature. Tsubouchi lent his