After seeing his great grandfather have his ears cleaned on his deathbed, a young boy named Toru becomes obsessed with getting the same woman to give his own ears a spring clean. Then one day at a fireworks festival, Toru encounters the same woman and buys one of the handmade ear cleaners that she’s selling. He quickly grows excessively attached to it, even naming the implement Suzunosuke. But when his teacher accidentally breaks Suzunosuke, Toru falls into despair, and only the mysterious woman at the ear cleaning shop can ease his suffering…