Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You

Sasaki is an exhausted salaryman trapped in the relentless cycle of corporate life. His only comforts are the brief reprieves he finds in smoking and the warm, cheerful demeanor of Yamada, a supermarket clerk whose bright smile consistently lifts his spirits after long, draining shifts at the office. For Sasaki, these small moments of human connection and quiet indulgence are what keep him moving forward through the daily grind. However, one evening after a particularly grueling shift, his routine falls apart. Arriving late to the supermarket, he discovers that Yamada is nowhere to be found. Without her familiar presence to ease his exhaustion, and with no available place left for him to light a cigarette, his morale plummets entirely. The weight of his fatigue threatens to overwhelm him as he stands alone in the night. Just as his spirits reach their lowest point, an unexpected voice breaks the silence. A young woman adorned with piercings calls out to him from the shadows, casually offering him a place to smoke behind the building. This chance encounter introduces a mysterious new figure into his monotonous life, transforming his usual refuge into something entirely unforeseen.