The autumn wind carries a distinctive scent.
It’s unlike spring, summer, or winter.
They say autumn is the season of harvest, when rice bears fruit and corn fields glow golden. It’s said that under the sun, a breeze can carry the warm scent of popcorn.
Whether that’s just a city dweller’s fantasy or not, even in the steel and concrete jungle of Tokyo, the scent of autumn follows closely behind.
At Haneoka Private High School, this scent refers to the aroma of maple leaves.
In the school’s courtyard, maple trees are everywhere, their leaves having turned golden in the summer, almost dazzling under the reflection of the sun.
But come autumn, one could see the golden of the maples start to tinge with vivid red.
That’s a sign of the maples ripening, evolving into the legendary red maples, even more eye-catching than gold. If they were to blanket the hills and fields, the sight would be unexpectedly spectacular.
Kiryu Hina had only witnessed that scene last autumn.
From the classroom window, she could see clusters of red clouds swaying in the gentle breeze, relaxing even the most troubled of moods.
A fresh, faint scent of leaves mixed with the wind, blowing in through the classroom windows.
The autumn wind was much more mischievous than the summer’s, stirring the curtains to dance periodically, occasionally hitting the faces or backs of the students as if to tease them.
During tedious classes, watching the billowing curtains, one might even think they were alive.
Normally as inanimate as a rock, manipulated by others, it was just because its friend hadn’t come. Once the wind visited, it immediately became lively.
From this angle, the curtain might be a follower of the wind, dancing in pursuit of it.
But the wind, that friend, was heartless; it played with the curtain when in good spirits, and once it lost interest, it departed from the other side of the classroom, leaving the curtain to droop down dispiritedly, once more becoming lifeless, and desperately waiting for its friend’s next visit.
Thinking this, Kiryu Hina even felt a sense of empathy.
Riiing, riiing, riiing...
The end-of-class bell rang.
Glancing at her watch, Kiryu Hina realized class had ended.
She had been daydreaming during the Japanese language class and probably missed recording half of her notes.
It looked like she’d have to make some time for self-study tonight.
Kiryu Hina sighed softly and turned her head towards the seat behind her.
It used to be Kagura Hikaru’s seat, but now it was occupied by a girl, which momentarily disoriented Kiryu Hina.
A moment later, she remembered that Kagura Hikaru had already changed his seat to the one by the back door, which was now empty.
He certainly wasn’t going to attend school, especially since his illness had not fully healed yet.
Strangely enough, Kagura Hikaru was fairly well-liked among classmates, but after he stopped attending school, not a single student inquired about him.
Perhaps it was because Kagura Hikaru was usually too cold, pushing people miles away, making him difficult to approach, which discouraged any curiosity about him.
But if it were the current Kagura Hikaru, the one from middle school, returning to school, the scenario might be entirely different.
Not to mention, Kiryu Hina did not wish for such things to happen.
She believed even Kagura Hikaru himself, prior to losing his memory, would not want to be seen by outsiders in his former self.
Rather than calling it a dark history, it was more his rawest form before experiencing any tragedies, like a knight without armor, a masked man without his mask.
That posture, for Kiryu Hina, should have remained a beautiful memory faded with time.
Little did she expect to see it manifest in reality again, which she had never anticipated.
No matter what, the current Kagura Hikaru seemed fine, but it was just an illusory facade.
Put overly, it was a sort of pathology.
He needed to regain his memory as soon as possible.
It would suffice if he were to return to school and sit in the corner seat, reading books as usual.
Whether he was willing to talk to her or not, Kiryu Hina would rather see such Kagura Hikaru rather than face an empty seat every day.
She shifted her gaze towards Ayakoji Chiyoko, who was seated diagonally behind her.
She was talking to other people, apparently discussing Student Council matters and obviously couldn’t disengage herself.
This left Kiryu Hina with no opportunity to ask about Kagura Hikaru’s condition.
Lately, such situations had become frequent, inevitably making her feel as if the other party was deliberately avoiding her.
Several days had passed since Kagura Hikaru was discharged from the hospital, and during that time, only Ayakoji Chiyoko had visited his house, as everyone else had been busy with their matters.
Kohinata Suse’s drama club was rehearsing for an upcoming major play, and as the newly appointed head of the club, she had to attend to the practice of all members and thus was temporarily unavailable.
As for Kiryu Hina herself, she too had matters to attend to.
It concerned the Ayakoji family.
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Ever since she and Ayakoji Chiyoko acknowledged each other as sisters, she had been invited to meet her biological father, Ryoma Ayakoji, and they had a long discussion.
After that day, Kiryu Hina gained a father and reluctantly accepted a sister.
Her other father, Kiryu Masaki, although upset about the situation, as always refused to meet Ryoma Ayakoji but still recognized the outcome and respected his daughter’s decision.
Everything had initially been moving in a favorable direction, but somehow, Ryoma Ayakoji heard about her playing the female lead in "The Phantom of the Opera" during the school festival and even watched the recording. Then, he spontaneously decided she was talented and interested in acting, planning to train her as an actress.
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This was a path once abandoned by Ayakoji Chiyoko. It seemed Ryoma Ayakoji was still harboring these feelings and wanted to try again to have his second daughter continue his business.
Kiryu Hina had no interest in acting.
However, she hadn’t yet mastered the proper distance with her biological father, inadvertently agreed to an audition, and, unfortunately, passed the screening.
The result was that after school every day, she had to wait on set with an agent arranged by Ryoma Ayakoji, accompanying the film crew.
The part-time acting job after class left her with no time to seek out Kagura Hikaru.
She vaguely felt that all this was too coincidental; there might have been someone else’s shadow in it.
Could it be Ayakoji Chiyoko?
Wrong, it must be her.
Her desire to monopolize Kagura Hikaru was utterly evident to those with intentions.
Kiryu Hina even suspected that she might not have even told him about their real relationship.
That violated their initial agreement.
Seizing today when the acting work had paused, she planned to personally visit the Kagura family and see Kagura Hikaru.
This was also a challenge for Kiryu Hina.
Because the one she was going to see was not the Kagura Hikaru from high school, but from junior high — the Kagura Hikaru from her past relationship.
It was after their breakup that he had started to change.
In a sense, the person she was about to meet was not just Kagura Hikaru.
It was her own consequence.