20dB

A high school girl, Uta, walks alone in a forest with an audio recorder in hand.
In order to wake up her friend Hiyori, who is in a vegetative state, she visits places from their shared memories and records the sounds there.
On the bed in the hospital room, on life support, her friend does not wake up. Only the cold, inorganic noise from the electrocardiogram resounds in the room.
She continues going to that hospital room every day, letting her friend listen to the sounds that she has recorded.
Trying to make her remember the time they spent together.
She can't think of anything else she can do.
Believing in the meaning of her actions, she continues doing the same thing day after day.
One day, as if guided there, she ventures deep into the forest. She comes across a huge tree that the two of them encountered in the past.
Resting against the tree, she closes her eyes and raises the mic to the sunlight filtering through the leaves.
She is enveloped in a gentle light.
Resurfacing memories of the time spent together with Hiyori.
Shared recollections race through her mind.
Then, her expression calms.
For a moment, the blowing wind and sound of the birds come to a halt, and silence reigns.
From that instant, time starts moving again for the two of them.