Kirie’s High Places

Kirie’s movement from finance to window washing and tightrope walking reveals a vocation that excludes ordinary intimacy and ultimately leaves Junpei behind.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Meeting at the Party

A Woman with a Secret Profession A first attraction Junpei meets Kirie at a restaurant party. Her confidence and physical presence attract him before he knows what she does. A conversation of observation She asks him to infer her profession, turning the encounter into a test of attention and imagination. Junpei enjoys the mystery.

A Brief Relationship

Intimacy with Boundaries An unusual rhythm Kirie and Junpei meet, talk, and sleep together, but she disappears early for work. She refuses to define their relationship as serious. Junpei accepts the terms He is attracted to her but does not force a commitment. Her insistence on independence becomes part of the relationship’s appeal and its limit.

The Story of the Stone

Kirie Enters Junpei’s Fiction A tale under construction Junpei describes a doctor who finds a Kidney-shaped stone that moves each night. Kirie suggests that the stone wants to unsettle its owner. A shared intuition She says everything acts for a reason, including wind and stone. Junpei’s story begins to take a direction beyond his prior plans.

Kirie’s Calling

Life Above the Ground A career revealed Junpei hears Kirie describe leaving a securities firm to wash windows and eventually perform high-wire walks between buildings. A private world of wind She says height and concentration transform her. Junpei realizes that no one can come between her and the wind, and feels jealous of a force rather than a person.

A Place in the Countdown

Love Recognized Too Late Calls that do not connect Kirie vanishes from Junpei’s life, and his attempts to reach her fail. He waits, then recognizes the depth of his feeling. The second significant woman He decides to count Kirie among the three women who have real meaning for him. The decision matters more than the numerical countdown itself.

At the restaurant opening

After their first night together

During an autumn night in bed

Months later, during a radio interview

At the end of the year after her disappearance