April was the season when the cherry blossoms bloomed in all their splendor and students embarked upon new journeys.
Had nothing unexpected happened, Kazuomi should have been sitting inside some university auditorium as a new student, listening to ceremonial speeches.
Afterward, he might have stood beside the entrance-ceremony sign at the school gates and taken a photograph with his sister and Ms.
Ayako.
Watching the students pose for photographs with their formally dressed parents, Kazuomi could not help smiling.
He felt no resentment over his own circumstances.
On the contrary, the heartwarming sight made him imagine a day in the future when he might put on a suit and stand beside his sister with Ms.
Ayako, watching over her as they witnessed another step in her growth.
Amid the melancholy of early spring, there was also a trace of anticipation.
Perhaps he should find some time to contact home and let them know he was safe.
As that thought crossed his mind, Kazuomi happened to notice a girl standing in the distance.
She wore the academy uniform and appeared to be one of the new students reporting today.
After entering the academy, most students headed toward the bulletin board set up in an open area nearby.
The class rosters had been posted there.
Once the girls confirmed their assignments, they would proceed to their respective classrooms, listen to a brief welcome from their homeroom teachers, and then be escorted to the academy auditorium for the entrance ceremony.
According to the email sent yesterday, that was today’s schedule.
However—
Kazuomi noticed that the girl had been standing alone in a corner for quite some time, apparently unsure what to do.
She was small and delicate, almost like a porcelain doll.
Her bangs concealed nearly half her face, yet they could not hide her fragile beauty.
At that moment, however, an inescapable sorrow clouded her adorable features.
While everyone around her was smiling, the girl seemed like an outsider who could not fit into the scene.
“Could she be…”
Kazuomi murmured, but his body had already begun moving.
His assignment today was to guide students and provide assistance.
In his eyes, this girl—who looked only slightly older than his sister—seemed to be in trouble.
“Excuse me.
Are you having some difficulty?
Can’t find your classroom, or perhaps you’re lo—whoa!”
Before Kazuomi could finish, he failed to watch where he was stepping.
One foot of the mascot costume landed squarely on a decorative ribbon.
By the time he realized what had happened, he had already lost his balance and pitched forward.
He struck the ground face-first.
The fall was anything but quiet.
A considerable number of people in the courtyard turned to look.
Kazuomi lay sprawled in a wretched heap directly before the girl.
The impact had been severe enough to make him feel as though his entire body had come apart.
That must’ve looked ridiculous.
Anyway—”
He groaned while attempting to force a smile and show that he was fine.
Then he raised his head and realized something was wrong.
The girl covered her mouth with one hand.
Her eyes were already glistening with tears.
“Are you all—”
Kazuomi froze.
Before he could finish, the girl began bowing over and over, overwhelmed with guilt.
“I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry… It’s all Rice Shower’s fault…”
Without giving Kazuomi any opportunity to respond, she turned and fled.
“What… just happened?”
He had not done anything terrible, had he?
Had he somehow made a mistake?
Watching the girl disappear into the distance, Kazuomi could only lower his head and push himself upright.
He truly looked pathetic.
“My, are you all right?”
A warm, gentle voice sounded beside him.
Someone stopped at Kazuomi’s side.
He slowly raised his head.
The girl before him had long, fluffy hair flowing loosely down her back.
Blue ribbon bows adorned her slender horse ears, while the hair above her forehead had been carefully woven into a diagonal braid.
Her mature, softly beautiful face scarcely resembled that of a student.
She was poised, gracious, and strikingly lovely.
Even her voice was soft and sweet.
With a single glance, Kazuomi found his own reflection captured in her clear, sky-blue eyes.
He stared at her in a daze.
The girl, meanwhile, noticed the scrape on his face and looked concerned.
“My, it seems you grazed yourself.
You’re bleeding a little.”
“Huh?”
Kazuomi instinctively touched his cheek.
A sharp, needle-like sting immediately made him grimace.
“Wait!
You mustn’t touch the wound like that.”
For some reason, the girl frowned and pouted in mild displeasure.
A four-leaf clover had been embroidered upon it.
“Please hold still.
I’ll use this to wipe the dirt from the wound.”
She crouched and leaned closer.
A delicate fragrance unique to a young woman drifted from her, as intoxicating as lavender.
With meticulous gentleness, she studied Kazuomi’s cheek and carefully wiped every trace of dust from the scrape.
Apart from his sister, Kazuomi had never been this close to a girl before.
That was especially true of someone so beautiful and tender that she seemed almost made of water.
His cheeks gradually turned red.
“There.
That should do it.”
Once she had finished, the girl gave him a smile capable of leaving anyone spellbound.
What a kind person.
Kazuomi could not help thinking so as he looked at her.
“Um…”
He was about to thank her when a loud voice called from the distance.
“Creeeeek!
The entrance ceremony’s about to begin!”
A small white-haired girl was shouting in their direction.
The gentle girl covered her mouth in surprise.
“My, I nearly forgot the time.”
She turned back to Kazuomi and gave him another sweet smile.
“My apologies.
Please use this to tend to your wound, provided you don’t mind.”
She placed the four-leaf-clover handkerchief in the oversized paw of his mascot costume.
Then she rose and hurried toward the white-haired girl, happily waving as she ran.
“Tamamo dear!”
The front of her Tracen uniform strained visibly as she moved, swaying with every step.
With her angelic face and remarkably mature figure, she seemed the perfect embodiment of that particular contrast.
“Don’t call me Tamamo dear!
It’s Tamamo Cross!
Use my proper name!”
The white-haired girl’s indignant shouting echoed from afar.
Kazuomi, however, could see only the girl who had helped him.
“Creek…”
He lowered his gaze to the handkerchief, which still carried the faint trace of her fragrance.
For some time, he remained frozen where he stood.