Sogo Hospital

Sogo Hospital is the emergency department selected during Sanada Chiaki and Kawashima Masayuki’s late-night taxi ride. There, Sanada Chiaki receives treatment for her injuries, but the brief encounter remains focused on immediate care rather than the circumstances behind them; Kawashima waits across the street, concerned that the bags he is carrying could attract police attention.

Emergency Visit

When the taxi driver asks whether Sogo Hospital in Yoyogi is acceptable, neither Kawashima nor Sanada Chiaki expresses a preference. At the hospital, Sanada Chiaki has no insurance card and provides her driver’s licence before writing her name and address on forms. She tells the doctor that she fell off a bicycle. He accepts this explanation and attends to the injuries she has come in with.

The waiting room holds about ten people, including a man in a wheelchair, a woman accompanied by two young men, construction workers, an elderly newspaper reader, and a couple with a baby. This varied group places Sanada Chiaki’s visit within an ordinary emergency-room setting, while the details of her own history remain largely unspoken.

Treatment and Its Limits

The doctor administers local anaesthetic, cleans the injured areas, stitches the deeper wound, and covers the treated areas with gauze. Although he sees scars from earlier incidents and the cloth used as a bandage, he does not ask about either. The scene thus distinguishes the medical attention given to immediate injuries from any investigation of how they arose: Sanada Chiaki offers a simple explanation, and the doctor does not press beyond it.

As she leaves the examination room, Sanada Chiaki asks whether she can have sex. The doctor, still writing on her chart, tells her only to be careful not to dislodge the bandage. His reply is practical and narrow, addressing the risk to the dressing rather than opening a conversation about her situation.

Waiting Outside

Kawashima does not wait at the entrance. He takes shelter at a bus stop across the street, where he can watch the hospital doors while appearing to wait for transport. He reasons that standing outside an emergency-room entrance at night with two large bags would look suspicious, particularly if a patrolling officer asked to inspect them: one contains Sanada Chiaki’s S&M equipment, while the other contains an ice pick and a combat knife.

His position outside the hospital makes the visit a temporary separation as well as a medical stop. Sanada Chiaki is inside receiving treatment; Kawashima keeps watch from a distance, preoccupied with the risks posed by what he is carrying. Sogo Hospital provides care for the immediate injuries, but the encounter does not resolve the concealed danger surrounding the pair.