Mizu ga Kooru ni Naru Toki

A man jokes with his overly dependent best friend, suggesting he could only tolerate such behavior if the friend were a dog. After the friend disappears, the man encounters a dog. Two subsequent chapters follow different characters: one involves a girl repeatedly meeting a mysterious young man during difficult times, and another focuses on a man being urged by his lover to leave his wife and go on a trip with her. The final two chapters feature Karino Yoshihito, a recurring character in the author’s works, exploring his life at ages 26 and 15.