The first story, Hardboiled, is written from the perspective of a woman who is hiking alone, passes a strange shrine and ends up in a hotel with a couple of surreal incidents that follow.

Her back story is filled in as a mixture of narrative and dream sequences.

The second story, Hard Luck, is about a woman whose sister Kuni is in a coma.

Kuni's fiancé leaves her after the incident, but his brother continues to visit.

Hardboiled & Hard Luck (English edition) by Banana Yoshimoto