Chapitre 23: Flower

Listening to this segment alone, it might seem like a very ordinary travel tale. Hana asked, "And then?"

Jun replied, "Then I came back."

Hana fell silent. Usually, you'd expect someone to mention such a trip first if something extraordinary had happened. 'But nothing happened? Why would he recall this trip first, then?'

She didn't know that a single, lightweight white feather and a conversation with a strange old man had almost saved that weary young man. By the lake under the snowy mountain, Jun had once clutched the white feather as if grasping onto some hope.

"We shall meet again," because of these words, he had kept the feather safe all this time, even... until now, the feather was still there.

Hana had a sudden stroke of insight and asked, "Do you still have that feather?" As she asked, she simultaneously thought that it must have been a long time ago, and it probably was gone.