Years Ago
"Kaito, I love you."
The words echoed in the wind, but they were soft, fleeting. Like a whisper carried by the petals of a cherry blossom. Kaito's mind stirred with confusion, the voice so familiar, yet distant. He tried to hold onto it, but it slipped through his fingers like sand.
Kaito blinked, his eyes fluttering open. The soft sunlight filtered through the branches above him, and the scent of cherry blossoms filled the air. His head ached as if he'd just woken from a long, strange dream.
He sat up, rubbing his face, trying to shake off the dizziness. Something about that voice lingered in his mind, but the moment was already fading. He glanced around. The familiar cherry blossom tree stood tall in the distance, its petals drifting in the wind. Everything looked serene, peaceful.
"Kaito?"
Sayuri's voice broke through the haze, and Kaito looked up, startled. She stood above him, her concerned eyes peering down at him.
"You asleep under the cherry tree again?" she asked, her expression a mix of worry and affection. She was holding a crumpled paper flower in one hand, a soft smile on her face.
Kaito rubbed his eyes again, trying to clear the fog in his mind. "I... guess so?" His heart still thudded uncomfortably in his chest, as if something was wrong. But he couldn't pinpoint what it was. The moment with the voice — it had felt so real, yet so distant.
"Are you okay?" Sayuri asked, crouching down beside him.
Kaito forced a smile, brushing dirt from his sleeves. "Yeah, yeah. Just... had a weird dream."
Sayuri raised an eyebrow, but she didn't press further. Instead, she smiled warmly, her cheeks flushed. "Kaito… when we grow up, I'm going to marry you."
The words jolted him, and he blinked, confused. He'd heard those words before, hadn't he? A déjà vu swept over him like a cold breeze, making his skin prickle.
He smirked, trying to ignore the strange feeling creeping up his spine. "Only if you become cool first."
"Huh?! I am cool!"
He crossed his arms, trying to shake off the unsettling sensation that was building. "Then prove it. If you're still cool when we're older... I'll marry you. Promise."
Sayuri beamed at him, holding out her pinky. "Deal! You better not break it, dummy!"
Kaito hesitated for a moment, his mind fogged by something he couldn't quite grasp, but then he hooked his pinky with hers.
"Sayuri... why do you like me, anyway?"
Her grip on the flower tightened, and she looked at him with wide, shining eyes. "Because you run ahead like nothing scares you… You stand up for others, even if it gets you in trouble… And when I cry, you never laugh."
Kaito's smirk faltered, his chest tightening with something heavy he couldn't name.
"You're like the sun, Kaito," she added, her voice soft and sincere. "Loud and warm... and you make me want to be brave too."
He scratched his cheek, his face flushing slightly. "That's... kinda embarrassing."
Sayuri giggled, her eyes sparkling with the innocence of youth. "Then hurry up and grow up cool too, or I won't marry you!"
He grinned, the smile feeling strangely hollow. "Alright, promise. When we're older — it's you and me."
They sealed it with a pinky swear beneath the falling blossoms — two children who had no idea how heavy their promises would become.
Years Later — Present Day
The sun hung lazily in the sky, casting its golden light over the town, the cherry blossoms still drifting gently through the air. Kaito's feet dragged as he walked toward school, the weight of a thousand thoughts pressing down on him. The town was quiet, too quiet, like it was waiting for something.
Today would change everything.
"KAITO!" The sudden shout shattered the calm.
Kaito turned, blinking in surprise. Koji was running toward him, arms flailing like a windmill.
Kaito grinned, his usual carefree smirk returning. "Overslept again?"
Koji gasped for breath. "Bro, we wiped for three hours last night! My soul's still buffering."
"Maybe you just suck at the game," Kaito teased, throwing a playful jab.
Koji gasped dramatically. "Betrayal! From my own DPS!"
They laughed, the sound too loud in the otherwise quiet morning.
"You joining tonight, right?" Koji asked, breath still uneven. "New event drops."
Kaito shrugged. "If I finish my homework."
"Ugh. Nerd."
They reached the school gates, the noise of students flooding the air. But then Kaito felt it — a sharp chill down his spine, a sudden awareness that he couldn't place. The world shifted, just slightly. His gaze flicked over his shoulder.
Sayuri.
Her long black hair caught the breeze, the familiar quiet presence of her like a whisper in the air. She stood a little apart from the crowd, eyes locked on him for a moment, then quickly averting.
"Fujimori?" Kaito called, his voice uncertain, as if hearing her name out loud brought the weight of something he couldn't quite remember.
She hesitated before she smiled softly. "Good morning, Kaito. Koji."
"You walking with us?" Koji asked, surprised.
Sayuri nodded, her voice soft, almost apologetic. "If that's okay."
Kaito shrugged, but something in the air felt wrong. It wasn't her. It was him.
"Sure," he said, though it felt like a lie even as he said it.
They walked together in silence. The rhythm of their footsteps was the only sound — until Koji nudged Kaito with his elbow.
"Tonight?"
Kaito didn't answer immediately. Something in him stirred, a sense of unease rising in his chest. "Depends," he muttered.
Sayuri giggled, the sound almost like it was meant to cut through the tension, but it only seemed to make it worse.
"You two are funny," she said, but her voice seemed distant, like she was looking at something far beyond them.
Kaito forced a smile. "We try."
"You play games?" Koji asked, unaware of the subtle tension building.
"A little," Sayuri replied, her voice low. "Nothing serious."
"You should join tonight," Koji offered, oblivious to the subtle weight of the moment.
Sayuri's eyes widened slightly, and for a moment, something flickered in her gaze. A flash of fear, or hope? "Maybe… I'll think about it."
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Kaito felt detached from everything. The colors seemed wrong, too bright, too saturated, like he was watching the world through a cracked lens.
In class, Kaito bought a bun, and returned to his desk, the mundane action almost comforting, like it could ground him. But it didn't.
"K-Kaito…"
He looked up to find Sayuri standing before him, her hands twisted nervously around the edges of her skirt. She was holding something — a white letter, trembling in her grasp.
"Fujimori-san?"
"After school..." she whispered, voice barely audible, "...on the rooftop?"
Kaito blinked, a strange sinking feeling in his chest. "Sure."
Her eyes widened, and she hurried away, leaving him standing there, a cold knot forming in his stomach. Something wasn't right.
After School — Rooftop
Kaito leaned against the railing, the golden light of the sunset stretching across the sky, turning everything into an unreal, dreamlike scene.
Five minutes passed.
Ten.
Fifteen.
No Sayuri.
His chest tightened. Maybe it was a prank. Maybe she was messing with him. Maybe... no.
The air grew colder, and the chill seeped deep into his bones. The weight of the silence pressed in on him, heavy and suffocating. He turned, about to leave.
Then, something snapped.
A shadow flickered in the corner of his vision. Something... someone.
A chill ran up his spine.
He turned back to the stairwell. Nothing.
Still... the feeling was there. Something was wrong. He couldn't place it. It was like a premonition.
Meanwhile — Rooftop
Sayuri burst through the door, panting, holding the letter like it was the only thing tethering her to reality. Her heart hammered in her chest.
"Kaito!" she gasped.
Empty. The rooftop was empty.
"No… no, no…"
Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision. She staggered toward the edge, gripping the letter so tightly it threatened to tear.
She had to tell him. She had to.
She needed him to understand.
She needed him to hear her.
But the world was already spinning too fast.
"Kaito!!"
At the Gate
Kaito froze. A sharp, sick feeling lodged in his gut.
Sayuri.
She was at the rooftop's edge, clutching the letter, her eyes wide with something he couldn't place.
"Sayuri?!" he called, voice strangled, the panic rising in his chest.
She smiled, her eyes sparkling with a breathless hope.
And then, cupping her hands, she shouted, "I KEPT MY PROMISE, KAITO! I LOVE YOU!!"
The world stilled.
Kaito's heart plummeted. It was too late. It had to be too late.
And then, a shadow.
Behind her. A man. A figure.
"Sayuri!! Behind you!!"
The world shattered.
Her foot slipped.
The letter flew from her hand, twisting in the air, as if time itself slowed.
"No... not yet…" her mind whispered, frantic. I didn't even hear your answer…
The wind howled as she fell, her scream splitting the air.
Kaito screamed her name, but it was too late. His legs couldn't carry him fast enough. She was already gone.
The world around him blurred.
Sayuri — his sun, his promise — was gone.
> "Let's get married when we're older, okay?"
> "Only if you become really cool, Sayuri-chan!"
> "Deal! Promise?"
A pinky swear beneath the cherry blossoms.
Now shattered.
A promise, once whispered with hope... gone in the blink of an eye.