Chapter 1

Muranoto Kenji ran down the silent beach at night, his shoes kicking up sand. His shoelaces flew left and right. After nearly tripping, he pulled to a halt, groaning as he got to his knees to tie his laces. Time continued ticking; every second mattered. In his panic, Kenji made a mistake, and his laces ended up undone. With a frown, he tied them up as quickly as he could before he continued sprinting onward.

The moon shone above the calm waters, its reflection occasionally broken by the floating piece of junk. The icy breeze tickled his neck, but his dark blue hair was too short to flutter in the wind. Besides, even if it did, it wouldn’t look beautiful. Sweat ran down his cheeks. His light brown eyes scanned the sand. The flashlight in his right hand lit up the beach ahead of him.

Just a few minutes ago, he heard a loud sound coming from the beach. It sounded nothing like the excited shouts children or tourists made during the day, nor did it sound like any kind of animal during the night. Rather, it sounded like metal crashing upon a hard surface followed by an eerie silence. Regardless, he could tell it was nothing good.

Small metal and plastic parts littered the beach. Life vests floated into the distance. A wave of nausea washed over him. Kenji’s heart thumped as he approached the source of the sounds. His legs sank into the sand, eyes gazing upon the sight in front of him. A boat. Not a large one, with dimensions similar to those of a minivan. A gaping hole tore into its left side, while its right rested on top of a rock.

Kenji reached out for his smartphone, about to call the police, when he saw something lying on the sand right next to the boat. His hair stood on end. He took careful steps, approaching. The body of a young girl lay there, eyes closed. Sand and water had dirtied her long black hair, parts of her clothes ripped apart. From the gaps in the cloth, he could see small wounds. There didn't seem too many, although still more than he ever saw on a person.

Her face felt familiar, but Kenji couldn’t remember where he had met her. He couldn’t remember a name, nor what his relationship with her was.

Is she family? No, wait, that’s not important!

Kenji kneeled by her side, shouting, “Are you okay?”

No reaction. What should I do…?

It was late in the evening. There was a police station not too far, but they wouldn’t be able to make the trip in an instant. He couldn’t leave her on the beach. She might be dead. Kenji certainly didn't want to be in prison for murder. But above all, he couldn’t leave someone in such a state on their own. Should he bring her to the hospital, then? That should save some time. As he panicked, the girl moved slightly.

“Hey! Hey! Wake up!”

Kenji lightly slapped her cheek. Her head shook, and her eyes slowly opened. Dark green eyes, like the color of an emerald.

Ah.

A name came to mind. It had been a long while since he last saw her face, but he couldn’t forget those beautiful eyes of hers.

“Are you alright!? Anywhere hurt?” he asked, but she simply looked up and smiled.

“Ah, a prince. Looks like I have made it,” she whispered and closed her eyes.

“Hey! Don't just say something like that and then faint!”

Realizing she might not have a lot of time, Kenji took her on his back and ran toward the road.

•••

Kenji sat in the hospital hallway. The hospital staff had taken care of her. One nurse came around earlier, giving him a quick report. The girl was fine. She didn’t suffer any serious injuries, and most of her wounds would disappear within a couple of months. The nurse had told him to go home, but Kenji decided against doing so.

He glanced at the clock. Two in the morning. He yawned, loving the idea of heading straight to bed. But Kenji couldn’t shake off her face or her voice. He recognized the girl. She had changed a bit from the last time they met, but everything about her felt familiar.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go home, Sir Muranoto?” the nurse from before passed through the waiting area.

“No, I’ll be fine. Thank you for your concern.”

“If you say so.” She went ahead.

At this point, going home might be a bad idea. The drive home would take at least fifteen minutes. He was exhausted. Even a fifteen-minute drive could turn dangerous if he fell asleep at the wheel. He would rather not involve himself in another crash.

Kenji rested his back against the hospital chair. They were made of cold metal with some padding. Not the most comfortable, but it beats lying on the floor. He set his phone to vibrate at eight. That should give him enough time to sleep.

Kenji closed his eyes.

•••

“Good morning, Mister Muranoto.”

Kenji shot upward, looking around. A different nurse stood in front of him, smiling in satisfaction. Only one other person waited in the area, and he was too busy reading his newspaper to care.

“What time is it? Is she alright?” Kenji asked.

The nurse understood the person he was talking about. “It’s nearly lunch, and the person you brought here has woken up. She said she wanted to see you.”

Relief washed over him as he stood up.

“Please follow me.”

While they walked, Kenji checked his smartphone. Looking at the screen, Kenji winced.

I hadn’t turned on the alarm.

He caught up with the nurse, who knocked at the door. “Excuse me.”

The nurse entered the room while Kenji waited outside. From next to the door, he could hear the two conversing.

“Miss Hikayashi, the person is here to visit you.”

Hikayashi…

Her eyes, her name, her voice. All the pieces fitted together, confirming her identity.

“The person...? Oh, the one that took me here? He’s here to visit me?” she sounded confused. She had just woken up, after all. Kenji couldn’t blame her.

“Should I let him enter?”

“Su- sure. I haven’t thanked him.”

Kenji felt relieved hearing her voice. She sounded fine. He was about to turn around when he heard the nurse call out.

“Mister Muranoto?”

“Mu- Muranoto?” The girl inside sounded even more confused.

Figuring he might as well check on her himself, he entered. Sitting on the bed was the same girl from last night, looking much better. She wore a light blue hospital gown. Bandages covered parts of her arms and legs. The light had returned to her eyes, and her cheeks reddened when she saw him.

“Ahh…”

She pulled the sheets and curled up like a snail, catching both of them by surprise.

“Excuse us-” the nurse said to Kenji, before turning toward the bed. “Miss, what are you doing!?” she shouted. Kenji didn’t expect such a drastic change of tone.

The nurse tried pulling the sheets off, but the girl held them tight.

“Le- leave me alone!”

“Now, Miss, please don't be like that!”

“It’s embarrassing!”

“Of course it is, but didn’t you say-”

“I wasn’t expecting it to be him!”

Her voice. Still as cheery, as wonderful as he remembered.

It quickly became a tug of war. One a small girl like her couldn't win. Maybe the girl had lost some strength from her accident, but she couldn’t hold the sheets in place. The nurse pulled them off, and some more people quickly entered the room after hearing the commotion. Sweat descended her brow. Her eyes stared at the wall.

“Sh- Should I step out for a bit?” Kenji asked.

“Sorry for the trouble, Mister Muranoto.”

Kenji headed back to the waiting area. He borrowed a newspaper from the newspaper rack. He rarely read them, or read anything for that matter. But Kenji spent quite some time extracting information from the newspaper. Information which he promptly forgot about a minute later. A while later, the girl appeared in the waiting room. She wore an oversized shirt and long, baggy pants with squeaky slippers at her feet. She twiddled her fingers, refusing to maintain eye contact.

The person reading the newspaper lowered his newspaper, glanced at the two, returned the newspaper to the newspaper rack, and left, leaving just the two of them there. Kenji sent him his silent gratitude.

“Ke- Kenji…” she said faintly.

“You… know my name?”

Of course she did.

Her eyes floated back to him. “Did… did you forget about me?”

… As if.

If there was one person he couldn’t forget about, that wouldn’t be her. But she would still be in the top five.

“Hakayashi Tsukiko? Kurantoro Middle School? Class 2-C?” she asked, concerned by his silence.

“Tsukiko…”

Tsukiko nodded meekly, scratching her cheek. “I guess I’m back.”