Tsuneo Suzukawa, a university student and part time store employee in
Osaka, rescues the disabled Josee, when she accidentally pushes her wheelchair down a steep road. Tsuneo is invited in by Josee’s grandmother, Chizu, spending the night at the house and becoming Josee’s caretaker. At first, Josee acts selfishly, but eventually their relationship grows. Tsuneo and Josee spend time at the beach together. Later, Josee is hired at the library by one of her friends, Kana Kishimoto. Tsuneo receives the scholarship and an offer to study in
Mexico, but does not tell Josee about the future. After Chizu dies of a
heart attack, Josee
holds out alone, but is informed by two men that she will leave the house for a few months. One of the co-workers, Mai Ninomiya, tells Josee to "redeem herself and set Tsuneo free". Josee becomes an office worker, instead of being an artist. After having an argument at the beach, Josee gets her wheelchair stuck in the road. Tsuneo gets hit by a car, suffers a
bone fracture on his right leg, and stays at the hospital for two months. When the professor informs Tsuneo that another student will replace him for school and travel, he gives up his dream and leaves Josee some time alone. However, Mai visits Josee, and tells her that she deserves Tsuneo more because she knows him better, in an attempt to convince Josee to help Tsuneo. As Tsuneo goes through
rehabilitation, Josee resumes her role as an artist. One of Tsuneo's friends, Hayato Matsūra, escorts him from the hospital to the library, where Josee reads a story to the children: a book she has drawn called "The Mermaid and the Radiant Wings", an allegory for their relationship. Tsuneo, becoming impressed with the story, is encouraged into physical therapy, working relentlessly and walking again. He asks her to be there before being discharged, but she tells him that she will be happy for him. The discharged Tsuneo leaves the hospital and returns to the empty house, only to find Josee gone. While his friends search for Josee around the city, Tsuneo sees and follows the wheelchair tracks in the snow from the zoo (where Josee sees the tiger). When a careless stranger knocks the wheelchair into a snowy road, Josee finds herself tumbling but Tsuneo saves her once again, the same way they first met. Holding each other, they confess their feelings and share the future: Josee tells Tsuneo that she wants to be a storybook illustrator, and he tells her that he is staying with her. Josee asks about Mexico, and Tsuneo tells her that he will return home, because he loves her. She tells him the same and they embrace. Tsuneo travels to Mexico and Josee abandons the house for
demolition. The next year, Tsuneo returns to Japan and continues spending time with Josee. ==Cast==