Inside the entranceway of the teahouse wait the woman in charge and two of her geisha. They offer her tea, a bath, a massage. None of this is needed or desired. Flesh demands its due. Exhaustion is overwhelming. Pain returns. Machiko accepts the offer of a place to sleep and follows the geisha to a room, already prepared. The geisha help her undress. They provide a rack for her swords and a small chest for her other equipment. They take her clothes, presumably to see them laundered. She hardly hears them. She lies down on the bedding and closes her eyes, and, in just moments, it seems, goes under.