Mikage gets off the bus and sobs violently, crying for the first time over her grandmother’s death. On the bus, she watches a grandmother soothe her grandchild. It’s dark and chilly as she catches the bus home. Soon after, Mikage goes to her grandmother’s apartment to finish cleaning it out. Mikage can tell Yuichi is touched by her concern and they warm to each other in a different way. Eventually, Mikage has to ask Yuichi about it directly and he smiles bitterly, saying it couldn’t be helped. That night, Mikage tries to subtly broach the topic of the cafeteria incident with Yuichi but, to Mikage’s irritation, he’s completely dense and doesn’t pick up on her cues. Mikage dated Sotaro because she was drawn to his perpetually upbeat outlook, but now she feels more at home among the “strange cheerfulness” of the Tanabes. Mikage laughs and explains that Yuichi and Eriko more or less adopted her and there’s no romance going on. They meet for a friendly catch up, and Sotaro tells Mikage that Yuichi’s girlfriend slapped Yuichi in the cafeteria when she heard about Mikage living with Yuichi. One day, as Mikage is cleaning out her grandmother’s apartment, her ex-boyfriend, Sotaro, calls to check in. Eriko is very motherly towards Mikage, which warms Mikage’s heart. She cooks for Eriko and Yuichi often and they enjoy sharing meals together. Mikage stays with Yuichi and Eriko for several months, falling into an easy rhythm of working part-time and tending to the house. Mikage feels strangely comfortable in their apartment and agrees to stay, sleeping on the giant sofa in the kitchen, next to a window framing a dark sky dotted with stars.

It seems perfectly natural to Yuichi to see Eriko as his mother as she’s so feminine. Mikage is dazzled by Eriko’s beauty and amazed when Yuichi explains that “ is a man.” Eriko was actually Yuichi’s biological father, but after Yuichi’s biological mother died of cancer when Yuichi was a baby, Eriko decided to become a woman, open a nightclub, and raise Yuichi as his mother. When Mikage enters Yuichi’s apartment, she is drawn to the kitchen full of plates, pots, and pans, and sinks into the massive, soft sofa. Yuichi seems to glow with light and Mikage is compelled to accept the invitation. Yuichi suggests that Mikage come to stay with him and his mother Eriko for a while. Yuichi goes to Mikage’s university but she doesn’t know him well, although Yuichi was close with Mikage’s grandmother.

The only place Mikage can sleep is in the kitchen, which is where she’s been for days when Yuichi Tanabe knocks on her door. Now that her grandmother is dead, Mikage has nobody in the world and feels utterly alone in the dark universe.

Mikage’s mother and father died when Mikage was very young, so Mikage’s grandmother raised her. Mikage’s grandmother has just died, and Mikage is in a haze of grief, unable to sleep.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto