On the day when Satoru and Momoko leave for their trip, Takako heads to the Morisaki Bookshop in the morning with a bag packed for her two-day stay in the room above the shop. She opens the shop, and though she does not see many customers, Satoru calls three times to check in. She assures him that she knows what she is doing and soon finds herself drawn into “In Praise of Shadows.” In the afternoon, it begins raining, and Takako rushes to bring in the book carts from the storefront. Once inside, the shop is quiet, and Takako revels in the feeling of belonging in the store and its books, wondering if Satoru feels the same way. At four o’clock, Sabu comes in to check on Takako, and they enjoy tea. At closing time, Satoru calls again, and Takako asks that he only call her once the next day.

That night, Takako settles into the room above the shop. She waters Momoko’s flowers, making sure that they stay healthy. She reflects on her first time in the room, after her heartbreak, and on how dark a time that was in her life. Once, Takako believed that she would never overcome her pain, but with the help of her uncle and friends, she fought her way to better times. Satoru was instrumental in her recovery and a strong support for her, just as he was when she was younger. Takako was an introverted child who struggled to find a place in the world. When she visited Satoru, she found a friend, and the two got along, allowing Takako to be more herself around him. She revels in these happy memories until she falls asleep.

On her second day running the Morisaki Bookshop, Takako helps two young girls find a book. Before they leave, they take pictures of the shop, even asking Takako if they can take one of her. Satoru does not call even once, and Takako finds it strange, though her focus is on her friend Tomoko (“Tomo”), who is coming to visit later that night. Tomo worked at the Saveur while she was in school, and she and Takako met when Takako stayed at the Morisaki Bookshop the first time. Now, Tomo is a librarian outside the neighborhood, but she is coming to visit for dinner.

Takako cooks dinner in the room above the shop, and when Tomo arrives, they eat and catch up. They talk about work and books, and Takako reflects on how Tomo is so mature, confident, and stylish. Tomo asks Takako how her relationship with Wada is, and she tells Tomo that it is going well. At that moment, Wada texts Takako, asking to come visit after work. Tomo encourages her to say yes, eager to meet him. When Wada arrives, he acts strangely, seemingly uncomfortable in the room. Both Takako and Tomo laugh when he tells them that it feels odd to be there without Satoru’s permission, as he is sure that Satoru hates him.

Later that night, Tomo leaves, and Wada and Takako go for a walk. Takako asks what Wada thinks of Tomo, and she is disappointed when Wada tells her that Tomo seemed guarded and protective of herself, like she is used to being alone. He comments that she is like him, and Takako worries that Wada is not being honest with her. She asks him to stay the night, but he refuses, uncomfortable about doing so without Satoru’s permission. She walks home disappointed.

The next day, Takako is in a bad mood as she sits in the shop. She is torn between feeling that Wada loves her and feeling that he does not, worrying that she is too burdensome for him. Her obsessive worrying is interrupted when Takano walks in. Takano works at the Saveur, and when Takako first stayed at the Morisaki Bookshop, she tried to help him strike up a relationship with Tomo. He loves Tomo but tells Takako that once Tomo moved away, she stopped texting him and now has his number blocked. He can think of nothing he did or said to illicit this treatment and asks for Takako’s help. He wants to find a book, The Golden Dream, for Tomo’s birthday. She always talked about the book and how she could not find it, and he wants to give it to her to say thank you for brightening his many days at the Saveur. Takako agrees to help him.

That night, Momoko and Satoru return from their trip and stop at the shop to check on Takako. Momoko is refreshed and happy after their trip, but Satoru seems upset. Takako asks why he stopped calling, but Momoko explains that they are just tired. Takako sends them home and closes the shop herself, wishing that she could stay at the shop for longer instead of returning to work the next day.

Takako begins searching for The Golden Dream, first at the Morisaki Bookshop and then at bookshops around the neighborhood. She asks Satoru, but he tells her that he has never heard of the book. Takako believes that he is acting strangely, seemingly exhausted and unwilling to talk about it. Takako has no luck finding the book anywhere else, and she and Takano soon put their hopes in the upcoming Book Festival. Every October, the Jimbocho neighborhood hosts a large book festival, and the neighborhood is flooded with readers. Takako has one day off work when she can go to the festival. She spends much of the day with her aunt and uncle, running the shop.

That night, she and Takano meet and scour the shops together for The Golden Dream. Takano reminisces about how they once did this with Tomo. They split up to better their chances of finding the book, but to no avail. They return to the Morisaki Bookshop in defeat, confident that they did their best to find the book. Before Takano leaves, Takako promises to try to convince Tomo to invite Takano to her upcoming birthday party.

On Sunday, Takako visits Tomo at her apartment for the first time. As Tomo cooks, Takako looks through her bookshelves, noticing that she reads many foreign authors and fantasy series. As they eat, Takako suggests that Tomo invite Takano to her party. She asks Tomo what happened between them, and Tomo admits that Takano did nothing wrong and that the problem lies with her. She tells Takako that when a man pays her romantic attention, she closes herself off. Tomo explains that when she was younger, she had a crush on her older sister’s boyfriend. When her sister died, Tomo was overwhelmed with grief but also filled with hope that her sister’s boyfriend would want to be with her. She never saw the boyfriend after the funeral, and the guilt of this feeling haunts Tomo. She refuses any kind of romance now. She pushed Takano away because of this but feels the need to apologize to him when he comes to her party. Takako is shocked to see this other side of her friend, particularly when Tomo tells her that she reads to escape these feelings and find a safe space away from the world.

Two days after seeing Tomo, Takako sees Wada walking on the street as she makes her way home from the Morisaki Bookshop. She tries to catch up to him but stops when she sees his ex-girlfriend come up to him. She watches as they speak and walk into a coffee shop. It seems like they meant to see each other, and Takako waits, hoping to see them leave. Finally, she gives up and heads home.

Takako does not know how to feel about Wada seeing his ex-girlfriend and struggles to rationalize it. She listens closely to his voice on the phone, trying to detect any clues, but finds none. She meets with Momoko and asks for advice. Momoko is confident that Wada would never do anything to hurt Takako and tells her that she is hurting herself by guarding herself from him. Takako realizes that after her last relationship, she struggles to trust anyone. Momoko tells her that she cannot expect Wada to be open with her if she is not open with Wada.

On a Thursday night, Takako hosts a birthday party for Tomo in the room above the Morisaki Bookshop. It is just Takako, Tomo, and Takano, and the atmosphere is tense and awkward. When Takano gives Tomo a stained-glass lamp as a gift, Takako reveals his true goal of finding The Golden Dream for Tomo. Tomo is shocked and admits that the book is not real. She explains that it is a fictional novel in the novel A Moment of Twilight. In the novel, a woman reads The Golden Dream to a blind man. When she finishes, the man realizes that he loves the woman. Before Tomo’s older sister died, she told Tomo that she had to read The Golden Dream, and Tomo believed that it was real. Now, she knows that the book is fictional but still looks for it, thinking that if she finds it, something in her life will change, like it did for the old man.

In the silence that follows Tomo’s admission, Takano bursts into a speech about how much Tomo means to him and how she made him smile and brightened his days when they worked together at the Saveur. He wants her to know that she had a positive impact on his life. Tomo does not respond, shutting herself in a spare room where Satoru stores extra books. When Takako and Takano check on her, they find her reading, and Tomo tells them that she felt an urge to read. Takano soon grabs a book and sits down with her, saying that he will stay with her and that if she needs him, she can just say so. Takako joins them, astonished by Takano’s approach with Tomo. He exhibits patience, being open and honest with her and giving her the space to trust him. Takako realizes that she must act the same way with Wada.