Chapter 1
Prologue
The rows of cherry blossom trees were white and in full bloom. As they were also a little past their prime, their petals were beginning to fall off one by one. The soft white flowers danced in the air, transforming the surroundings into a sea of blossoms.
Suddenly, a heavy gust of wind blew.
It was the kind of wind that you could feel deep in your gut, pressing against your eardrums.
Saku Fujisaki's vision was blanketed in white.
Countless petals twirled in the air. Some were mercilessly slammed to the ground, some gently descended onto the water's surface, and others were thrown back into the air, spinning in an endless loop.
As he looked upon this scene, Saku felt as if he could not even breathe.
That was how densely the flowers filled the space.
It was as if there was no room for even a single person to stand.
Yet, in the middle of it all, one thing stood out.
Something out of place.
Black . . .
It was a girl in black.
There she was, standing amid the storm of cherry blossoms.
The girl's figure seemed to defy the white of the cherry blossoms scattered all around.
She wore only black, her classical dress reminiscent of a noblewoman's gown. From her stockings to silk gloves, she was clad entirely in a color as dark as night.
Her face was as beautiful as the flowers, almost unearthly in its perfection. If she was not human, there was only one other alternative . . .
She was a girl.
The embodiment of girlhood.
Dark yet elegant, delicate yet strikingly vivid—such is the essence of girls.
Her existence was different from ordinary people.
The wind surged once more.
The girl held down her black hair.
Despite being showered with petals, her clothes remained untainted by the white. For some reason, not a single petal clung to her body. It was like a kind of magic, almost miraculous.
Do not touch me . . .
Do not touch . . .
As if she was whispering this, the petals veered away from the girl.
Saku naturally accepted this wonder as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.
Suddenly, the girl laughed.
At least that was what it looked like.
Indeed, her red lips twisted with a womanly suppleness.
That was how it appeared to Saku.
Everything was too fantastical, too ambiguous.
Any sense of reality had long been lost.