Chapter 15 : April, beneath the cherry blossom

Before Ayase noticed, the school year had already begun to shift around her.

Haru was entering his second year of high school.

His uniform fit him better than before, his shoulders broader, his gaze more distant. The word “second year” carried weight—entrance exams, expectations, the quiet pressure of deciding a future when he was barely ready to think about one.

Souta, meanwhile, was moving up to fifth grade.

He tried to act proud, insisted he could prepare his bag on his own, told Ayase she didn’t need to walk him all the way anymore. 

Spring was already settling in.

The cherry blossoms bloomed without asking for permission, and the new school year arrived quietly, as if it had always been waiting for them.

Before Ayase realized it, everyone was growing up— and she was the only one standing still, trying to hold everything together.

In the small kitchen, still wrapped in darkness, Ayase clenches her teeth while staring at the clock.

6:12 a.m.

She lets out a quiet sigh, ties her apron, and prepares three breakfasts with the precision of someone who cannot afford to make mistakes.

“Haru! Souta! Wake up!”

Her voice echoes through the narrow apartment.

Dragging footsteps answer.

Souta appears first, still half asleep, his elementary school uniform slightly too big for him. Haru comes out of his room next, already immaculate in his brand-new high school uniform, tie perfectly adjusted.

Ayase freezes for a moment.

He’s grown.

She looks away before it shows.

“Eat quickly, she says. We’re leaving in twenty minutes”

Souta sits down, his feet still not reaching the floor.

“Ayase… you’re coming to my entrance ceremony, right?”

She hesitates.

Just a fraction of a second.

But Souta sees it.

“ Of course” she replies with a forced smile. The elementary school one is earlier.

Souta beams.

“What about you?” he asks his older brother.

Haru shrugs.

“ It’s nothing. Just high school.”

Ayase knows he’s lying.

The high school entrance ceremony matters.

She knows it.

But so does her boss.

~

The elementary school courtyard is filled with parents.

Cameras. Nervous laughter. Children stiff in unfamiliar uniforms.

Ayase holds Souta's hand.

He grips it tightly, as if afraid she might disappear.

“ Look, Ayase! The cherry blossoms!”

Petals drift down, landing softly in his hair.

Ayase smiles and takes a picture with her old phone.

“You look wonderful”, she whispers.

Souta blushes.

The ceremony is short.

Speeches Ayase only half listens to, too focused on the time.

She checks her watch.

Again and again.

When Souta’s name is called, she claps louder than anyone else.

In front of the high school gate, Haru adjusts his jacket one last time.

Around him, students stand with their parents.

Mothers crying. Fathers patting shoulders.

Haru is alone.

He looks at the time.

She won’t come.

He knows it.

He takes out his phone, ready to send her a message…

then stops.

He puts it away and takes a deep breath.

“ I can do this” he murmurs.

When his friends called is name, his voice is steady as he answers.

~

In the late afternoon, the apartment is quiet.

Haru comes home, exhausted.

He drops her bag, slips off his shoes, then freezes.

On the low table:

A small cake, bottle of apple juice, and a note, written in clumsy handwriting:

“Happy first day.”

Haru slowly sits down.

His shoulders tremble.

When he sees Souta and Ayase, he quickly wipes his eyes.

“So?...” Ayase asks.

“I got a seat by the window!” Souta exclaims.

“ nothing really changes” Haru says.

Cherry blossom petals stuck to their shoes melt onto the floor.

Ayase watches them.

~

The next day.

Souta walks a little straighter than usual.

The “Fifth Grader” badge on his school bag taps softly against his jacket with every step.

“Fifth graders help first graders” the teacher said.

Souta clenches his fists.

Near the shoe lockers, he sees him.

A small boy, frozen in the middle of the corridor. His school bag is almost as big as he is.

His eyes dart from one classroom door to another, lost.

Souta stops.

He could keep walking.

Someone else will come.

But the boy sniffles.

So Ren steps closer.

“Um… are you looking for your classroom?”

The boy startles, then nods.

“It’s… it’s 1-B.”

Ren smiles, the way he has seen his sister do when she comforts people.

“Come on. I’ll take you there.”

They walk side by side.

Ren deliberately slows his pace. He remembers his own first days.

The noise. The adults. Ayase's hug. The rules you don’t understand yet.

“What’s your name? ”he asks.

“Kenta Nijima”

“ I'm Souta Fujimoto. I’m in fifth grade”.

Kenta looks up at him, impressed.

“ You’re big…”

Souta doesn’t answer.

He just nods.

In front of classroom 1-B, Kenta hesitates.

“ Can you… can you stay a little?”

Souta looks at the clock.

He’s going to be late.

He thinks of Ayase

Of what she would say.

“ You’ll be okay, he says softly. The teacher is nice.”

He places a hand on Kenta’s shoulder.

Just for a second.

“ If you get lost again, look for someone with a badge like mine.”

Kenta finally smiles.

As Souta runs off, his heart pounding, he feels strangely heavier.

But also… a little taller.

That evening, when he gets home, he will simply say:

“ I helped someone today.”

And Ayase will smile, Haru will tease him, not knowing that on that day,

Their little brother truly began to grow up.

End of chapter 15