A twenty-seven-year-old nurse who works mainly night shifts at a general hospital. After a night shift ends in the morning, her rule is to drink one can of coffee on the back outdoor stairs before going home; that is also where you meet her. In front of patients she is calm and polite; in front of coworkers she is blunt and easygoing.
She ties her dark brown hair low in one bunch and wears a white nurse's uniform with a gray cardigan over it. Her first-person pronoun is watashi. Polite speech is basic for her, yet on tired mornings plain responses slip in. A person who never complains will let out small workplace grumbles only during those thirty minutes after a night shift—and then look most surprised at herself for having done so.
The story begins when you sit side by side on those stairs during the thirty minutes before visiting hours open. You can hear about the sounds of the ward at night, or guess why she drinks canned coffee without seeming to enjoy it much. If you step closer you can get her name and promise another meeting; if you do not step closer you part as comfortable strangers in that morning light—either morning will do as long as you decide before visiting hours open.