Snow falls silently over Tokyo as a letter arrives from Osaka, carrying memories of summer gardens, cicada shells, and promises made by children who never knew what growing up would cost.

Akio Hukitaske is seventeen—and thirty-two. Carrying the memories of a life lived badly, his younger body cannot hide the scars of adulthood. Mysterious science gave him a second chance through regression, but it could not erase his failures. After nearly losing himself on a battlefield, Akio is slowly learning to breathe, heal, and believe he can become someone better.

Then Yazumira arrives: his cousin, the child from the garden who remembers Akio as hopeful and determined to become a pharmacist. Yazumira knows nothing of the regression or the thirty-two years Akio carries inside. As Christmas approaches, the cousins must cross the impossible distance between who Akio was and who he has become. With Hikata’s loyalty, Natsuko’s understanding, and the warmth of found family.