"Hmm…?"
Lena slowed her steps.
Her thoughts had felt strangely blurred for a while now, as if a thin fog had settled over her mind. At first, she had assumed it was nothing more than exhaustion from days of overwork, but the sensation lingered in an unsettling way.
This didn't feel like ordinary fatigue.
She should have gone straight home after leaving the academy. That had been the plan. A warm shower, a proper meal, then sleep.
And yet—
"…Just for a moment."
Without really understanding why, she found herself changing direction.
"Oh…"
When she finally came to her senses, she was standing in a familiar park.
The soft glow of the streetlamps illuminated the empty benches and gently swaying trees, and the quiet atmosphere felt oddly detached from reality. It was a place she had visited countless times before, both alone and with others, yet tonight it felt distant, almost dreamlike.
Ah.
Her gaze stopped.
There, beneath one of the lamps, stood a boy.
