prologue

“Goodbye, Hikari.”

“Promise me you won’t try to leave this planet without me, okay?”

“But-”

“Just promise me.”

The 3rd year sighed and shook his underclassman’s hand. “I promise.”

It’d been almost 2 months since that day, and Isaki Tanaka had broken his promise.

Hikari Keita arrived at school with her group of friends walking beside her, laughing and trading English notes. While walking to school, they’d pass by the flourishing trees and dipping sidewalks, enjoying the beautiful weather but not the blistering heat. As usual, the rugby team doing their morning laps bumped into the girls, who distracted the players from their workout.

They entered the building after harassing the boys, switching from their outdoor shoes to their school shoes. Tokanatsuki (referred to as Toka or Tokki) noticed Hikari had been slightly off that morning. “What’s up with you today, Ari-chan?” Toka asked, slipping on her left shoe.

“Nothing, Tokki. I just need to make a stop before getting to class. You mind not waiting for me?” Hikari replied. Before Toka could say anything, the two other girls in the group dragged her away, complaining about how late they were going to be. “Fine!” Tokki shouted from down the hall.

Hikari waited for the three to turn the corner before pulling out an origami rose from her bag. The death of her upperclassman had just been announced, so she didn’t have time to get him anything worthwhile. All she could come up with was a rushed paper flower.

Hikari wished she could get him something more.

Hikari walked up to the small shrine on the first floor, holding the flower in her right hand. The last words she heard him say echoed through her head.

“I promise.”

At first, she was angry when she heard. She was angry that he didn’t try to ask for help when he needed it–that he just dealt with it quietly until he couldn’t anymore. ‘Why couldn’t he just come to me?’, Hikari thought. She exhaled, pushing that unwanted anger. She knelt down in front of the picture of Isaki, noticing that no one had given him flowers. He never liked having the spotlight on himself so he was probably happy that no one cared.

Just as Hikari was about to set the flower on the ground, she noticed someone to her right kneel down and place an orchid down. The girl beside her bowed for a few moments before lifting her head up and flinched slightly, her attention now on Hikari. “Oh, hello. You startled me.” The girl said, brushing off her skirt. She looked down to see the paper flower in Hikari’s hand.

“Does the rose have a slur in it or something?”

“What?! No!” Hikari called out, confused.

“Oh, sorry. It’s just that people have been writing bad notes about Tanaka-kun and placing them near the shrine…He was… terrible. But he doesn’t deserve that.”

Hikari subconsciously clenched her right fist, crushing the origami rose. “He wasn’t terrible! Who are you to say that about him?!” She said, taking a step closer to the girl.

“Who are you to be making poorly-made origami roses?”

Hikari’s face turned a bright red. She opened her balled-up fist to see the crumpled rose.

‘She’s right,’ she thought. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

“Ai-chan! We’re gonna be late!” A head peeked around the corner, yelling for an “Ai-chan.” The girl turned around in response to the voice. Without saying anything else, Ai-chan left the shrine and followed the student who’d called for her, leaving Hikari with a crinkled flower.