Rin's Grandmother

Age shows plainly on her, with white curls, a deeply wrinkled face, and eyes that stay shut tight. She is depicted lying in bed dressed in a brown and white vest.

Dementia clouds her mind, leaving her to repeatedly ask whether her dead son Tadamichi will come home. Even so, she felt guilty that Rin was confined to caretaking instead of playing outside, which moved her to cheerfully tell the girl to go out, reassuring her she was grown enough to manage on her own.

Rin handled the housework and cooked her grandmother's meals after school. When Rin's mother returned home, the old woman would ask after Tadamichi despite his death, then be bathed by her daughter-in-law. Days later, asking Rin for water, she again brought up her son and was gently told no. She thanked her granddaughter for the care but sensed Rin's unhappiness, even when Rin lied that she had no friends and preferred reading at home.

On the day of Mai's idol audition, when Rin tried to beg off to stay and look after her, the grandmother instead told her to go, insisting she could be left alone, and with a smile urged the girl to live without regrets, prompting Rin to attend. A brief scene shows the two enjoying a day out together, Rin pushing her grandmother in a wheelchair. Whether she died of age or illness is never made clear.