Scattered All Over the Earth

Hiruko arrives at the sushi restaurant and greets Susanoo, who does not speak to her despite her challenging him to. They sit down and she feels a familiarity with him and craves a conversation, even suggesting to him that silence will lead to death. She tells him where she is from and asks him about his prefecture, Fukui. Susanoo still does not say anything, and in the silence, Hiruko thinks of the joy of conversation, and of all the people she talks to in her life.

Hoping to engage him, Hiruko tells him the folktale about the crane, hoping for some connection. The crane is saved from a trap by a young man, and they marry. The crane pretends to be a girl and secretly weaves her feathers on a loom for her new husband. He still says nothing, and Hiruko notices that while the story of the crane gets no reaction, the word “loom” causes his body to involuntarily twitch. She soon moves on to tell him about how time feels frozen in Europe, being separated from her family and homeland.

Hiruko tells Susanoo that she does not know what happened to their country. She does, however, recognize a connection in their names, as Hiruko is a goddess and an older sister of Susanoo, who, born unhealthy, is set adrift at birth in the ocean. She tries asking about his father and soon acts out a conversation as his father in which she tells him that though they do not keep in touch, he is proud of Susanoo. This engages him, though he still does not speak.

Nanook arrives and introduces himself, using phrases from a new book. He starts mentioning Susanoo’s home and past, specifically about the power plant but is interrupted by the arrival of Knut. Hiruko is relieved to see him, and Knut explains to Susanoo how they are trying to help Hiruko find answers about her country as well as find her someone to connect to. When he realizes that Susanoo does not speak and asks why, no one has a clear answer. He promises solutions, knowing people at a university who study such cases of silence. During this conversation, the door to the restaurant opens and Knut’s mother walks in, startling both Knut and Nanook.

Knut wonders how his mother found them, swearing to himself that he never told her he was coming to Arles. He has always been secretive around her, manipulating her even as a child to put distance between them. He realizes that he told her as they discussed Monet and the artist’s time in the South of France.

Knut gets up to confront his mother, but she approaches Nanook, asking where he went after leaving Denmark and why he never contacted her. Nanook does not answer, and Knut realizes that Nanook is the student his mother sponsors. He interrupts her questions, but she soon interrogates him about his relationship with Nanook, though he assures her that he never knew of his connection to her.

Nora enters the restaurant and introduces herself to Knut’s mother, who tells her that she also came to see Nanook. They both begin berating Knut for running from them, but Knut interrupts and tells them to stop attacking him, and that he is not running from anything but rather searching for something in his life. When Nora tells Knut’s mother that she is Nanook’s lover, Knut’s mother grows angry and suspicious of her, believing she has led Nanook astray. Just as they all sit down again, Akash bursts in, and Knut’s mother, shocked, asks, “What are you?” Akash claims to be Knut’s lover, and Knut, pleased to see that this claim upsets his mother, does not contradict it. After a tense exchange between Knut’s mother and his friends, Akash explains that Knut has no need for sex and that he only needs the friends he has to be with him.

Susanoo suddenly stands up and gives a speech, though no sound leaves his mouth. Despite this, everyone understands that he wants to go to the university where Knut’s friends can help discover why he cannot speak. While he speaks, Knut’s mother leaves, and when Susanoo is finished, the group of friends agrees to travel with Susanoo to the university together.