A cascade of dewdrops

A strobe of red lights started to enter Alto’s eyes as he slowly woke up from his comatose state, covered with a warm blanket and surrounded by many people in navy uniforms, they were the fire department. Despite all of his wounds and cuts caused by the rock in that river and the paramedics telling him to stay down, he gets up and started to lay his glance in every direction and there he saw the girl that saved him earlier.

「...as white and fluffy as the cloud.」her wet hair covered her face, he doesn’t seem to be able to see her face but it was obvious that she was…getting berated by a lady in their mid-30s, it was her mother.

Eh…?

He couldn’t hear much as his ear are filled with water but all he could catch was…

“YOU’RE SUCH AN STUPID CHILD!!! WOULDN’T YOU LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!?!? WHY WOULD YOU THROW YOURSELF INTO THE RIVER!!!” it doesn’t look like her anger would fade away very soon, her head is all cherry red and her saliva gets all over her as she yelled over and over again.

B-but…she saved me…

『I was…trying to save him-』

SLAP!

Alto’s pupil shrunk when she suddenly gets slapped before she could properly say anything. She holds her cheek and looks away from her mother, but in a tide of an event, she grabbed her hair and brings her closer to her as her eyes started to water.

N-no…

“Listen here you damn brat, you’re my only child and do you think I can just let my little one exchange her life for the other- what have I thought you about keeping yourself self huh!?” she raises her voice and arms before-

No no NO NO NO!-

SLAP!

A drop of a tear is all it takes before she burst into tears, it runs down her cheeks like a cascade of a waterfall, and she bites her lips to endure the pain that came from her own mother-

「STOP!!!」Alto screams on top of his water-filled lung, it was enough for her and the firefighter to hear it. She halted and was immediately subdued by one of the firemen. As Alto’s vision started to give up once more, he looks at the white-haired girl once again and reach his hand out.

I-i-i-I’m sorry…because of me…you…

I’m sorry…!-

March 10th. Otaru, Hokkaido

Sitting by the windows that faced the white rice paddy field, he went through the pages of his notebook. The library's air had always been peculiar, especially during the winter. Bathed in the faint yellow sun rays, it gave a warm and nostalgic feeling to those who were lucky enough to have stayed in the library at this hour, and it seems like Alto has been enchanted by its blessing.

He rests his head on top of his arm, he breathes slowly as the warmth of the heater runs through him. Brushing his short velvet hair to the back of his head, he turns to the window before him. Gazing into the far corner of the sky, crowded in a cluster of wooly clouds, moving ever so slightly by the wind in the wandering the earth's atmosphere.

「It's a sea of Perlucidus...」he whispers to himself as his sparkly blue eyes are reflected by the windows.

…

It has been 10 years since the day he jumped into the river, the scar that came from clashing against the rock and other debris may have faded away but his heart was never the same since. His memory of her never seem to fade away, but the only thing he could do to mend those feelings are by looking at the clouds, so much so that he can pinpoint the name of each and every one of them. But, this slowly drifts him away from his friends, sitting by the windows at any given chance, and having a grudge for everything that wouldn’t go his way…he became a loner from that traumatic past.

He lets out a whimper as he gets up from the chair, pulling out a locker key from his right pocket before he takes out all of his stuff from the locker. His figure is sluggish as if he didn’t want to go home yet, but now’s the time when the library is closed.

Approaching the receptionist's table slowly, he looked around the library of his school, ever so slightly looking down at the green concrete floor, and as he arrived, an old lady was waiting for him.

“...It’s not every day you leave this late, is there something you’re working on?” the long-haired librarian who wears glasses seems intrigued as Alto gives her the key to the locker.

「Miss Sydney… Well, I was working on my math homework it’s quite a handful」

“Quite a handful, huh?”

「 There are a lot of problems to work with, I guess Mr. Jensen wanted us to practice problems that will come out on the Uni exam」

“He sure is mindful of his student, preparing all of that”

「So are you Miss, for letting me stay in the library…」

“Haha, you’re making me blush. Don’t tease this old lady, wouldn’t you?”

「Well, I’m just…saying what I had in my mind」he sighs.

“I’m glad of it, though…I’m a bit concerned that you stayed in the library for all these years, do you have some problem with your friends?”

「Ah…It’s not like that, It’s just…I prefer to study on my own」

This is the fourth time she asked me…but what can I do? She can be quite forgetful.

“I see…well, It’s almost time for graduation you know? You should have spent your time with your friends! Having some fun wouldn’t hurt right?”

「...」Alto swallowed his saliva and froze, biting his lips and looking down at himself. It’s true, compared to when he was in middle school, he hasn’t been hanging out a lot with his friend, and even though he thought of going out, he’s unsure if it will be okay, he doesn’t want to give up on his goal in getting into a university, saying it could make him forget his goal and he doesn’t want a similar “Thing” to happen again, he sighs.

「I see…then, maybe I’ll hang out for a bit」at least…this will comfort her for a bit, even though I’m not doing it.

“Haha, of course! Wouldn’t they miss you if you keep disappearing into the library?”

Ah. I haven’t thought of that…- Alto gets out from his thought as Ms. Sydney snaps her finger repeatedly.

“Oh- and how is your final? I forgot to ask you about it!”

「Well…」

He takes out the final report from his backpack.

“...I see, good job as always, Alto”

「Thank you miss.」he faintly smiles as he walks away from the library.

Twilight greets him as the lights in the library fade away, then comes along the wind that brushes his hair and before long, the sky turns fiery but he hasn't lost its blue hue yet. Walking through the corridor, he started to reminisce about the time he enthusiastically introduced himself in front of his class and now, it will become a fleeting memory.

「...」he sighs before his visible breath comes out of his mouth.

Walking along the dim hallway, he puts on his gray sweater over his uniform and took a glance outside and see the cloud from before slowly drifting away and changing its color to orange. Turning to his right, he catches a glimpse of the now-frozen Katsunai River.

Strangely, he doesn’t feel any fear of the incident, he could go out and play in the water as anyone would do but there’s still one thing that he couldn’t get out of his mind.

She should still be around here…but why didn’t I notice even a trace of her after all this time? Not to mention…a month left for graduation… he sighs before exiting the building.

Unlocking his bike, he noticed that the school's lights started to turn on one by one, there were not a bunch of students left but the ones who were leaving, he then pushed his bike towards the school gate before he notices something bright up in the sky.

Emitting a clear light, it sits on top of the sunsets with its brilliant cyan glow, shaped like the wings of an angel, it's a...

「『Noctilucent Clouds』」there’s…a girl's voice that overlaps with his, it was so faint but Alto’s able to hear it.

Who…is it-

He quickly turned to his right, and his blue pupils widened and shines for what he had just seen. Her fluffy white hair moved ever so slightly by the night wind, the same goes for her black sailor uniform, white necktie, and light brown vest.

Fuu…fuu…fuu the snowflake falls as water vapor comes out from Alto’s mouth.

As it falls on them, several drops of tears run down her cheeks, and her mouth seemed to be trembling from seeing something…it must be the clouds he thought and he leans in to take a closer look, and…he was finally able to see the eyes of the heroine who saved him 10 years ago again, his heart trembles and his eyes started to twitch when he saw her tears runs down her cheek.