The scene is set in the year 1944, wartime Fukuoka, Japan. The Japanese Imperial Army are cornered. They decided to send students to the battlefield. On his way home from a draft check, Kanji, who is hiding his gayness, agonizes over whether he should declare his feelings for his friend Sakunosuke, who is leaving for the front lines tomorrow.

Minako is at the age where her father is more like an alien to her than a person. The situation is exacerbated when he comes home drunk one night and tries to climb on top of her. Minako's mother deserted them for another man when Minako was a child. Now working as a hostess, she has little time for her own six year-old daughter, Yu, Minako's half sister. Both girls are yearning for their mother's love. Minako runs into Yu at a game center in the mall and proposes they take a trip. She changes out of her school uniform and into adult clothes and the pair hops on an overnight bus out of the city.