Thousand Cranes

Yokohama City.

A nursing home.

Hazy moonlight streamed through the window, spilling across the spotless white tiles and giving off a faint glow.

On a wooden chair in the center of the room, a white-haired old woman sat with her head lowered, silver strands hanging over her wrinkled face. By the moonlight, she carefully folded paper cranes in her palm.

Beneath her, hundreds upon thousands of paper cranes had buried her feet, piled high like a small mountain.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, she looked up at the bright moon outside the window. An unprecedented clarity appeared in her clouded eyes!

"Xiao Youli..."

She murmured to herself.

"Grandma Crane in Room 32, it's time for bed~" a caregiver called from outside the door.

As though she had not heard her, Grandma Crane trembled as she rose from the wooden chair. Stepping through the sea of paper cranes, she slowly walked to the window and forcefully pushed it open.

"Grandma Crane, I'm coming in!"

The sound of the caregiver turning the doorknob rang out.

Grandma Crane looked up at the moon and slowly closed her eyes. The next moment, her body transformed into one drifting paper crane after another, scattering into the air!

The paper cranes seemed to come alive, flapping their wings like a vast white cloud as they flew through the open window into the pitch-black night sky!

The caregiver pushed open the door.

Seeing the empty room, she froze on the spot.

"Grandma Crane? Grandma Crane?"

She spotted the open window and walked over in confusion. Looking up, she saw a snow-white cloud of paper cranes slowly rising, vanishing into the clouds beneath the brilliant moonlight...

Osaka.

The paper crane resting in Yurina's palm trembled lightly.

Under Yurina's gaze, the paper crane spread its wings and began