Watanabe and Midori’s rainy reunion

Watanabe and Midori’s rainy reunion is a turning point in their relationship: after coming back together, they share tenderness and sexual intimacy, and Watanabe admits to himself that he loves Midori. But the encounter does not resolve the competing claim of his love for Naoko. He refuses to go further while that conflict remains, and the happiness of reunion is inseparable from the knowledge that he still owes Naoko an honest reckoning.

From reunion to private intimacy

After their time together in the rain, Watanabe and Midori go to her flat in Myogadani. They buy a towel, take turns drying their hair, and settle in the kitchen with coffee while their clothes dry. The movement from a public, rain-soaked reunion to the ordinary warmth of her home gives the scene its intimacy: Midori offers him a bathrobe, and the two talk before they draw close again.

Midori asks how much Watanabe loves her. He answers, “Enough to melt all the tigers in the world to butter.” They get into bed and hold each other, kissing as the rain sounds outside, then talk about subjects ranging from the formation of the universe to their preferences in boiled eggs. Affection here is not just declaration or desire; it takes the form of ease and conversation, a shared domestic space in which the two can be physically close without pretending that every difficulty has vanished.

Desire and the boundary Watanabe sets

Their intimacy becomes explicitly sexual, but Midori recognizes a limit in Watanabe’s hesitation. She asks whether he really wants to be with her before he has sorted out “all that business.” He answers that he wants her intensely, but says it would not be right. His refusal is not a rejection of Midori or a lack of desire; it is a decision to keep his actions aligned with the unresolved emotional situation he faces.

Midori tests that distinction playfully and then affirms it. She says that she probably would not go through with it either in his position, and tells him that his stubbornness is part of what she loves about him. The moment makes restraint a form of intimacy rather than distance: Midori understands that he wants her, and Watanabe’s choice not to proceed becomes evidence of the care and responsibility she values in him.

The scene nevertheless remains physically charged. Midori touches him and asks him to look at her; later, under the covers, she takes off her panties and offers them to him, telling him he can come on them. Watanabe accepts this limited intimacy, and she urges him not to hold back over concern about the underwear. The episode’s boundary is therefore precise, not absolute: they do not have intercourse, but Midori actively participates in a sexual encounter that gives Watanabe pleasure while respecting the limit he has set.

Recognition and divided attachment

During the encounter, Watanabe compares Midori’s gentle touch with Naoko’s and recognizes that the experience is different. The comparison does not collapse the two women into substitutes. Rather, it shows that he experiences each relationship as distinct, even as both remain present in his emotional life. When Midori suspects that he is thinking about another girl, he denies it, although he privately knows that his answer is a lie.

After saying goodbye, Watanabe cannot concentrate on the newspaper he buys at the station; its print seems incomprehensible, and he wonders what will happen to him and how the world around him will change. Yet his uncertainty does not extend to the encounter itself. He feels no regret and knows he would choose the same day again: holding Midori on the roof in the rain, getting soaked with her, and letting her bring him to climax in her bed. He recognizes that he loves her and has probably known it for some time, while admitting that he had avoided the conclusion.

That recognition does not mean his love for Naoko has ended. Watanabe cannot imagine telling her he has fallen in love with someone else while she is in her present condition; at the same time, he insists inwardly that he still loves her. He describes an untouched space within himself preserved for Naoko alone. The reunion thus marks a real change in his relation to Midori without offering a clean exchange of one attachment for another.

Confession and the scene’s consequence

Watanabe decides that he can at least tell Reiko the truth. Sitting on the veranda at home and watching rain fall over the garden at night, he forms the words and writes a letter summarizing his relationship with Midori and what has happened that day. The movement from rain-soaked intimacy to a written confession gives the scene an immediate consequence: what Watanabe cannot yet explain to Naoko, he attempts to disclose honestly to Reiko.

The scene’s emotional force lies in that unfinished choice. Midori is present, warm, and alive to him, and he is happy that she has returned; still, his joy cannot make Naoko’s claim on his memory disappear. The reunion makes Watanabe’s love for Midori unmistakable while showing that love alone does not settle the responsibilities created by another relationship. Its closeness offers neither a simple romantic resolution nor a denial of desire: it leaves him facing the difficult task of carrying affection, restraint, and grief at once.