On a hot summer's day, Yamaoka and Kurita see tea being roasted to make hojica which prompts him to recall the time he went home to visit his sick mother. Kaibara bullied her into make hojicha and she complied, even though Yamaoka tried to stop her and broke her roasting pot. Meanwhile, Manager Tanamura asks Yamaoka to visit the novelist, Mr. Riichi Kamura who is writing a series for Touzai News, but is behind schedule and has complained about the quality of the tea Touzai have sent him.
