Summary

Kazu wondered about the circumstances of Shige's death and what happened to his cat Emile. When Kazu died, he assumed he would move on to the afterlife, but instead found himself back in the park. Since then, days have passed, but he feels as though time stands still.

One day, Kazu followed two women from the park into the Ueno Royal Art Museum and listened to their conversation, which appears in snippets of dialogue interspersed with museum labels describing the works in an exhibit by the French painter Redouté. The paintings in the exhibit were of roses and the museum labels described their visual appearance while also providing historical context. One woman told the other that she was separated from her husband because they were quarreling about how to handle one of his relatives who was suffering from dementia. The other woman encouraged...