There are times when a person does not truly live in the world around them. They simply... exist. Walking, breathing, repeating the same day without direction, as if their soul has been left far behind their body.
For Kazuki Minase, that had been his life for the past two years.
The spring sky hung a pale blue over Aozora City, but Kazuki saw it only as a meaningless, empty surface. Cherry blossoms fell slowly onto the pavement, creating a beautiful scene that made many people pause to take photos and enjoy the moment.
But not Kazuki.
He kept walking, his bag slung over one shoulder, his steps slow but steady, as if trying not to be seen. As if the world was too noisy, too bright... and he was just a small, insignificant dot in the crowd.
But life has a strange way of shaking things up when they want to stay still.
As he passed through the school gates, a gust of wind blew a cherry blossom petal onto his uniform. Kazuki brushed it off without thinking, but his movement suddenly stopped.
The petal fell to the ground.
And at the same time...
someone passed by him.
Yukari Kobayashi.
A bright smile. Soft brown hair. A warm aura that captivated anyone who saw her.
She didn't see Kazuki. She didn't realise she had just passed someone who lived in his own world.
But as if something was calling... something... it made Kazuki turn his head. And there, in the silhouette of the morning light, Yukari walked slowly, buffeted by the wind as if she were the centre of spring itself.
Kazuki didn't know why he stared longer than he should have. He didn't know why his chest felt tight.
He didn't know why there was a faint echo in his heart, an echo that had long been buried.
For a moment, the world felt quieter.
Softer. And more... real.
What had just happened? he wondered.
But he quickly turned his face away, returning to the shell he had built for himself. Because he knew one thing:
That the world of people like Yukari never intersected with the world of people like him.
Or at least... that was what she had always believed and trusted. Unconsciously, Yukari paused for a moment in front of her classroom door. She held her chest, her eyes dim, as if something heavy was inside her.
Her smile remained as bright as ever.
But if one looked longer...
there was a small shadow moving behind her eyes.
A secret. A wound.
A darkness that had not yet blossomed.
The wind blew again, shaking the branches of the cherry blossoms. And in the silence that could only be felt by two hearts that did not yet know each other...
A shadow flower began to grow.
Not brightly, but slowly, almost imperceptibly, in the most fragile place within them. In a place called the heart.