Arrietty Clock, a four inch tall Borrower who was on the cusp of her fourteenth birthday, was riding on the shoulder of Sho, a twelve year old human boy who was visiting the mansion the Clock family lived in to prepare for a heart surgery. Why did he need heart surgery? His heart was weak.
As he was running and laboring to breathe, he collapsed. Arrietty fell too, but her being smaller meant that falling didn't hurt her as much as it would for a human. She found a vein in his neck and used it to feel his pulse. Once she could no longer feel it, she realized that he exerted himself too much and died.
As she was grieving over Sho's death, the next thing she knew, she was back where she was when Sho first arrived, carrying herbs from the bay tree she got for her mother. Last time, she didn't realize Sho saw her, but this time, she knew. She saw a car, noticed Sho stepping out of it, and decided against getting his attention. She realized that she remembered everything that happened.
From the perspective of Sho, after his death, the next thing he knew, he was back in the car his aunt Sadako took to get him to the mansion. He said, "Huh? Is this the afterlife?"
Sadako, who was still driving, said, "What are you talking about?"
Sho said, "I thought I pushed myself too hard and died, so if this isn't the afterlife, why am I fine again?"
He too retained his memory of meeting Arrietty and saving her life at least once, but he decided against mentioning Borrowers to Sadako even though he knew of the dollhouse his grandfather and mother made after seeing other Borrowers.
When Sho arrived with Sadako, he knew that he entered the garden without asking "last time" when he saw Niya, Sadako's cat, fighting a crow. Knowing it was bad manners, he wanted to ask this time, but Sadako had already gone inside. Like the previous time, Niya and the crow fought, Sho assuming neither were aware of time resetting. He entered anyway and saw Arrietty again. Looking around to see if there were other humans and seeing none, Sho said, "Remember me, Arrietty?"
Although he had saved her life and helped her rescue her mother in the previous "cycle", hearing a human talk to her unnerved her. After she shuddered, she said, "You remember too? And why do I have this pin? I got it on the same borrowing you saw me in and it ended up being all we brought back-"
Niya took the opportunity to attack the young Borrower. Time seemed to reset again afterwards, both of them remembering this time too.
When she snapped back to where she was at the start of the cycle, Arrietty was as confused as Sho was during the second "cycle". She assumed the cat killed her and was confused as to how and why she was still alive. Deciding against talking to Sho but making sure he noticed her, she evaded Niya in a similar way to how she did in the first cycle.
When she got back to her house under the floorboards, she sneaked into her own bedroom through the window to surprise Homily, that being her mother. Like the first cycle, Homily noticed her daughter sneaking out and said, "You went outside again, didn't you? How many times-" and she looked around, noticing the room and its decorations, and said, "What happened to your room?"
Under her breath, Arrietty said, "So she doesn't remember,"
"Can you speak up?" Homily said.
"…I know this is hard to believe, but I may be trapped in a time loop,"
"You're right, I don't believe you. But can you prove it?"
Arrietty pulled out the pin she used as a sharp weapon and said, "Before time started looping, I got this. But in this cycle, the time I got it hasn't happened yet. A-and there's someone else who remembers previous cycles,"
She realized her mistake since saying a human knew time was looping would imply several things her parents would object to. Homily, not realizing the implications of the pin staying with her even though she should not have had it yet, said, "Who?"
The fear Arrietty felt was obvious, but she had a plan. She revealed the bay leaf and said, "Before time started looping, I got this and wanted to wait until your birthday, but… happy birthday!"
That somehow worked and Homily didn't ask about who else knew even though they didn't know any other Borrowers and were not supposed to talk to human "beans".
When her dad, Pod, came home, Arrietty said, "Papa, I made it to the bay tree, used the leaves over my head like you said, and the cat didn't even notice me. What I'm trying to say is that if there was any doubt-" but like before time started repeating, Pod didn't let her finish and instead said, "There's a new bean in the house,"
"What?" Homily said.
Arrietty said, "I know. I-" and realized that she'd either have to bluff, admit Sho saw her, or otherwise end up revealing that she knew too much about him. Homily turned to her and said, "I told you to be-" and Arrietty decided that, since she lied about Niya seeing her, she could do it again. Without letting her mother finish, Arrietty said, "Yes, Mama, I was careful and he didn't notice me! And he has a heart problem that makes him weak."
Pod said, "How do you know this?"
Arrietty was once again scared, but she said, "Papa, I know it sounds crazy, but I think I'm trapped in a time loop. I've already told Mom-" and she turned to her and asked, "Do you believe me? The only evidence I have is that, in the first cycle, I got this,"
She pulled out the pin. Pod said, "How do we know you didn't get that earlier today?"
"Because in the original flow of time, I got it tonight,"
"That makes no sense," Homily said.
While Arrietty was failing to convince her parents that she was trapped in a time loop, Sadako found Sho, who had gone inside, and said, "Remember what the doctor said, Sho. Your heart needs rest. Too much excitement could kill you. Is that clear, Haru?"
Haru, who had found and kidnapped Homily in the first cycle, noticed that Sho seemed to look at her with distrust. He had yet to confess to either that time was looping and he remembered every loop since he didn't want Haru to know. Predicting what Haru would say and do for now, he tried to close the screen window on his own. He couldn't, though, so he said, "A little help?"
Haru helped him. When she left the room, Sho turned off the light but kept a red night light on. He was torn between pretending to sleep, talking to Arrietty, or trying to sleep for real.
He waited in bed, wanting to talk to her. He assumed Arrietty wasn't borrowing alone and realized the last time they talked was in the previous cycle, where their conversation distracted her and caused Niya to catch her. He assured himself that he had interacted with her in this cycle with their mutual silent acknowledgment towards the beginning of the loop.
After longer than Sho expected, he saw Arrietty try to "borrow" tissue again. Rather than hide, she knew she could trust him but, with Pod right next to her, that limited how much they could talk then and there without raising suspicion. She was unsure how to acknowledge that she saw him without alerting her father while Sho was unsure how to acknowledge Arrietty and not scare away the other Borrower with her. The two of them stared, Sho convinced moving or making a sound would alert the other Borrower and Arrietty figuring that waving to Sho would be suspicious. Pod gave her a certain look and she hid behind the tissue they were going to "borrow". Unlike the first cycle, Arrietty made sure not to drop the sugar cube she and her dad had already "borrowed". When Sho realized that she didn't drop it, he decided to write a note asking her to come to his bedroom and talk. He knew that he'd have to write the note the next day. He thought about how he spoke to her when he saw her in the bedroom before time started repeating and assumed whoever else was in the room could hear him too.
The next morning, a thunderstorm rolled in. Arrietty, still under the floors, walked to a stone and sat down. A pill bug came up to her and she played with it like a ball. While intrusive thoughts told her to take a bite out of it, she dismissed them. As she expected, Sho arrived in front of the grate leading to the Clock house and left a note. He would have also given them the sugar cube, but Arrietty didn't drop it this time.
He stayed around, waving to Arrietty once he noticed her. As he kept his voice down, he said, "Read the note to find where I'd like to talk next,"
"Got it! But I'll still wait until the storm passes," she replied.
"Then I suppose I'll go inside and won't risk my already frail health," he said.
That afternoon, Arrietty worked with Homily to hang clothes on a line in front of the grate so they could dry in the sunlight. The latter said, "If you have this, I'll lie down."
Once Arrietty was sure no human or Borrower was watching her, she got to the note Sho left and opened it. It said, "Meet me in my room. If you remember each cycle, you remember how to get up here. Go through the window but beware the crow."
Deciding to meet him there, she got on her red borrowing dress, used her clip to put her hair back, and sneaked out without either of her parents noticing. She climbed up the vines along the mansion walls up to the roof and to the window. On the way, she looked at the estate from the roof and realized this was as much of the world as she had seen in her whole life.
When she made it to the window, she stayed behind a leaf. She heard a crow cawing at her, turned around, and saw it. She cleared her throat and Sho saw her silhouette and said, "Want me to take you inside?"
She crawled through a tear in the screen window as Sho approached. Although he had proven himself to be an ally of the Clock family and he had held her before, she was still hesitant to put herself in his hands. He said, "I know I'm a human, but since we both remember, I hope you can trust me because I trust you,"
Arrietty tried to look out the window at the crow, but the leaf was in her way. She stepped onto his hand and said, "Okay,"
Sho stood up and walked over to his bed, sitting down while keeping her in his hand. He asked, "How does being held feel? I ask this now because the last two times I held you, it was to save your life or that of your mom, meaning that how it felt was the least of our worries,"
"Her name is Homily, by the way. And while I call him my Papa, his name is Pod. Wow, it feels wrong to refer to my parents by their given names. Anyway… it feels… good… to be held,"
"… Anyway, do you have any idea why it seems that this week, the week I came here to rest before my heart operation, keeps repeating?"
"Nope… wait! I may have an idea as to why. My mama once claimed a cousin of hers named Lupy saw ghosts,"
"Were they ghosts of humans or ghosts of Borrowers?"
"She never said. But what she did say was that ghosts were rather chill. In some ways, they even helped Borrowers borrowing things be dismissed as being due to the ghosts. But if their presence ended up scaring away any human beans, supplies wouldn't restock. Maybe ghosts have powers to trap people in time loops. … People being both human beans and Borrowers,"
"The part about supplies not restocking if ghosts make no one wanna live with them makes sense. About the ghosts having powers over space and time…- Wait, did you just call me a 'bean'?" Sho said, doing a double take.
Arrietty nodded as if it was obvious and said, "That's what you are. You're a human bean,"
Sho sighed and said, "I hope you know it's supposed to be 'beings'. As in, I'm a human being,"
Arrietty was about to argue again but remembered that the last time they argued, it related to the topics of their mortality and the potential extinction of Borrowers. Noticing expressions cross her face, Sho said, "Anyway, who have you told about time looping?"
"Since Borrowers aren't supposed to talk to beans, the only ones I've told are my parents, and I'm pretty sure they don't believe me-" and, feeling a shiver run down her back, she said, "Have you told any other bean here about Borrowers or time looping?"
Sho said, "I've kept both secret from the other two humans who live here. The taller lady with gray hair is Sadako, my aunt, and the shorter one with brown hair is Haru, the maid. She's not related to either me or my aunt. I know Haru has to be the one that captured Homily, but I don't know how Aunt Sadako would react if I told her Borrowers were real since she doesn't seem to be the type to trap tiny people in jars,"
"Please don't! I mean, don't tell her!" Arrietty said.
Sho shuddered when he realized that he hadn't kept his voice down and feared that Sadako or, worse, Haru, was listening. Arrietty saw the fear on his face and said, "What is it, Sho?"
He kept his voice down and said, "I worry another human is listening to us. Keep your voice down,"
Keeping her own voice down too, she said, "I don't hear any humans outside and my hearing is better than yours,"
Sho said, "Maybe you should return to wherever you live. Your parents may be worried about you. Where do you wanna head back from?"
"There's a hole behind the dollhouse. It's how I entered this room when you saw me that night in the first loop and when you… saved me from the crow."
Still in his hands, Arrietty directed Sho towards the dollhouse. When she got inside, she said, "I'll take it from here. It was good catching up with you,"
"Good luck with your parents," Sho said.
He saw her enter the walls through the dollhouse and felt a sigh of relief knowing that humans wouldn't catch her.
Arrietty walked down the "stairs" Pod made in the walls out of nails when she saw a light behind her. She turned around and knew it was her dad. She feigned surprise and said, "Papa!"
"I heard you talking to the young bean," he said.
Arrietty said, "How?"
"It was easy to deduce who he was talking to given that your voice is distinct from those of the other two beans even when muffled,"
"I'm sorry. I told him to leave us alone. But like me, he also remembers past cycles of the time loop. Besides the current cycle of the time loop, I've noticed two previous cycles where one of us… died… and time reset to the beginning of the loop soon after, undoing our deaths. And before time started looping, he saved my life from a crow! What I'm saying is that he's not a threat,"
Pod said, "Many Borrowers died because they thought that same mistake,"
Ashamed of being caught talking to a human (and of being caught in particular, not the part about talking to a human), Arrietty hung her head down as her father said, "It must never happen again. Do you understand?"
"Yeah," Arrietty said, already thinking of where and when to talk to Sho next. She and Pod headed to their kitchen as Homily served them all tea. Pod said, "We should start looking for a new home,"
"Huh?" Homily said.
"The new boy knows we're here," Pod said.
Homily asked, "Are we safe?"
Pod didn't answer and Homily collapsed into her chair. Knowing it would be suspicious to vouch for Sho and not knowing whether or not her dad believed her when she said she told him to leave them alone (it was a lie in this cycle but the truth in the first cycle), Arrietty chose not to mention that Sho also remembered previous cycles of the time loop and therefore would have still known about the Clock family even if Arrietty didn't talk to him this cycle.