Ocean Waves

Taku Morisaki is called to meet at his high school in Kochi, where he encounters Yutaka Matsuno and the enigmatic transfer Rikako Muto. Rikako is academically gifted and athletic but also arrogant, and Taku suspects she is unhappy about leaving Tokyo. The reunion sets up a tense dynamic that will ripple through the year.

During a school trip to Hawaii, Rikako asks Taku to lend her money after losing her own funds. He lends ¥60,000, hoping it will be repaid. Rikako warns him not to tell anyone about the loan.

Back in Kochi, Rikako befriends Yumi Kohama. Taku notices that Rikako still hasn’t returned the money, and he wonders if she has forgotten. A sense of unease begins to simmer between them.

Yumi contacts Taku in distress, revealing that Rikako tricked her into coming to the airport under the pretense of a concert trip. The real destination is Tokyo, and the tickets were paid with Taku's money. Taku hurries to the airport and ends up traveling to Tokyo with Rikako instead of Yumi.

Arriving in Tokyo, they discover Rikako's father has a new lover and has moved on. He thanks Taku for his help, repays the loan, and arranges a room for him at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo.

Rikako explains that during her parents' fights she used to side with her father, but she has learned that he is not truly on her side. The revelation shifts her view of family loyalties. The moment deepens the complexity of her character for Taku.

Taku offers to sleep on the bed, but Rikako rejects that idea and eventually sleeps in the bathtub. The next morning, she wakes early to change for a lunch with a friend and asks Taku to leave. This awkward moment cements the uneasy boundary between them.

Rikako asks Taku to rescue her from her former boyfriend Okada, and he arrives to confront them. He chides both of them for their childish behavior and insists they stop acting like bored teenagers.

Back in Kochi, Rikako ignores Taku but tells her friends they spent the night together. Yutaka confesses his feelings to Rikako, but she rejects him. The social fallout begins to pull the trio apart.

The autumn term arrives and Taku confronts Rikako in the school corridor; they argue publicly. Rikako slaps him, and he retaliates, signaling the fragility of their relationship before the school year ends.

During the autumn cultural festival, Rikako becomes distant from the other girls and defends herself from an attempted assault. She slaps the aggressor and runs away in tears, while Yutaka punches Taku for not standing up for Rikako. The rift among the trio deepens.

None of the three talks for the rest of the year as they prepare for university. They each end up attending different universities, diverging onto separate life paths. The high school years end with unresolved tension lingering in the background.

Years later, Taku, Yutaka, and Yumi reconnect at a class reunion, though Rikako does not attend. They reminisce about high school memories and the paths they chose. The reunion hints at what might have been if things had turned differently.

Yutaka explains that he punched Taku because he was angry that Taku had held back on pursuing Rikako. They watch the sunset and the ocean, reflecting on what might have been. The moment underscores the nostalgia and lost opportunities of youth.

Taku later learns that Rikako was visiting Tokyo to meet someone who likes to sleep in bathtubs. In Tokyo, he spots Rikako on a distant train platform and runs toward her; she waits for him instead of boarding. The encounter leaves the future open and unresolved.