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Synopsis

Makio Koudai, a thirty-five-year-old novelist, never had a warm bond with her older sister Minori, who repeatedly criticized Makio for not fitting in. When Makio learns that Minori and her husband have died in a car accident, she does not feel overwhelming sorrow, shaped by their strained relationship. While identifying the bodies, Makio unexpectedly encounters her fifteen-year-old niece, Asa Takumi, whom she has not seen in years. Asa is reeling from the sudden loss of her parents, and Makio responds by acknowledging the complexity of Asa’s emotions and recommending that she begin keeping a diary to help process the grief. Discovering that no other relatives were willing to take Asa in, Makio chooses to assume guardianship despite her own inexperience. Faced with instability and change, the novelist and the teenager must adjust to living together and, through their shared struggles, confront their individual uncertainties and begin to redefine their lives.