Rikako Muto, a Tokyo-born high school student, relocates to Kōchi alongside her mother and younger brother after her parents’ divorce. With dark hair, brown eyes, and an arresting presence, her academic brilliance and athletic talent initially draw admiration, though she struggles socially, her reserved demeanor mistaken for aloofness. This stems from discomfort with the Kōchi dialect—reminiscent of samurai films to her—and a habit of waiting for others to bridge conversations rather than initiating them. Her fractured family life deeply influences her worldview; a tense dynamic with her mother sows seeds of distrust, extending even to peers like Taku Morisaki and Yutaka Matsuno. During a school excursion, she orchestrates a ruse about misplaced funds to secure money from Taku and Yutaka, aiming to reunite with her father in Tokyo. The journey unravels her idealized image of him, exposing his new romantic life and her shattered hopes for familial stability. Deception fuels mounting friction; she misleads friend Yumi Kohama about attending an Osaka concert, diverting borrowed funds toward her Tokyo venture. Guilt shadows her return, straining bonds. Tensions peak when she publicly reveals her overnight stay with Taku, wounding Yutaka, who had confessed romantic feelings. A heated confrontation with Taku escalates to mutual slaps, cementing her social exile. Post-graduation introspection sparks change; Rikako confronts her past selfishness, orchestrating apologies to Taku and Yutaka via Akiko Shimizu. Though enrolled at Kōchi University, she covertly pursues studies at a Tokyo women’s college, clinging to hometown ties. Years later, a serendipitous reunion with Taku at Kichijōji Station reveals enduring, unspoken affection—a silent testament to emotional complexities still navigated. Her identity as an outsider in Kōchi underscores narratives of displacement and coming-of-age. While early achievements in academics and athletics emphasize her separateness, growing awareness of personal shortcomings and attempts at reconciliation chart a fragile path from isolation toward hesitant human connection.