on the other side of the pacific, ruth, a novelist living on a small island off the coast of british columbia, finds a hello kitty lunchbox washed up on the beach—possibly debris from the tsunami that struck japan in 2011. inside is nao's diary, and ruth becomes heavily invested in this narrative, and in finding out nao's fate. due to the geographic seclusion and rural nature of her home, ruth feels isolated from the rest of the world in her environment. she feels a strong connection to nao, and yearns to locate her in the real world in order to affirm her wellbeing. ruth succeeds in finding several traces of nao's father and great-grandmother online; however, her efforts to do so are continually thwarted. these attempts eventually culminate in a curious convergence between the two worlds.