It wasn't a simple matter of work being boring, nor was it a grand reason like losing the will to live. Even if he had worked hard without a specific goal, he didn't regret it; even if he earned a lot of money, he wasn't sure if it was what he wanted. Did he endure those days of struggling to make ends meet just to photograph famous people, the items they use, or the weddings of the wealthy? Was making a lot of money truly the ultimate goal of his life?

It was just a self-indulgent thought that occurred to him right before a nap on a work-free holiday. However, it felt like sinking into mud. It was an unpleasant feeling, rising from his toes to his head like a swamp, covering Akito's entire body. So, after a month of thinking, the conclusion he reached was simply 'let's not work.' Even though he couldn't help but think he was being spoiled. Living a jobless life that felt somewhat meaningless, he began to photograph new things every day. The out-of-focus photos he took as a child didn't come out well even when he intended them to. Unlike professional models, the animals passing by on the street didn't cooperate. Yet, for some reason, it was more fun than commercial shoots or grand weddings. The fact that things didn't go his way was actually refreshing.

About two months after adapting to this life of leisure, he was lying alone on a mat in a wide field because a high school friend who was supposed to come couldn't make it. He felt a bit foolish just spacing out in a place with no trees to hide in—just grass and common flowers he'd seen somewhere before but didn't know the names of. He didn't live with anyone who would pack him a lunch, so he just lay there in the tall grass with nothing but his mat and camera, looking up at the sky. He wanted to photograph something living, but there were fewer animals and people than he expected. Perhaps because it was a weekday.

Then came the day his hat, which he had set aside, blew away in the wind, and he chased after it while cursing. It was a day that was neither hot nor cold. And through that small incident, in that grassy field, he met them for the first time. The most ideal human being he could have ever imagined.