The narrative inciting incident occurs when Takashi begins to harbor intrusive thoughts. He finds himself obsessed with a specific hypothetical scenario: "What if my wife were to be held by another man?" Instead of recoiling from this thought in jealousy, he finds himself aroused and intellectually stimulated by the idea of observing Megumi in a vulnerable state with a stranger. This leads him down a path of manipulating his wife into compromising situations, testing the boundaries of their marriage and his own sanity.