Twenty years ago, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture.
The cool evening sunlight streamed through gaps in the greenery, licking the rough stone surface of the train station platform.
The rails, covered in traces of age, trembled, signaling that the timetable had not been delayed—and that the next train was close.
"Ye Chun? Ye Chun? Hey, Ye Chun!"
The voice seemed to have been buried in some distant memory long ago. It echoed incessantly beside the dazed girl's ears, bringing her back to her senses.
Ye Chun blinked and looked at the girl in a school uniform standing beside her.
She touched the hair over her forehead and gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry... Nishino-chan. Maybe I stayed up too late reading manga last night and accidentally fell asleep."
"Huh? You can fall asleep standing up? Ye Chun, you really are amazing—though if that's the case, isn't standing this far forward dangerous?"
Nishino did not pay much attention to such a trivial matter. She leaned closer and asked curiously, "What manga could keep you up that late? Recommend it to me!"
Ye Chun smiled and began chatting with her classmate, who was taking the same route home after school, about a currently serialized battle manga.
The manga had a great story and exquisite artwork. More importantly, she still had several volumes she had not finished, so she could continue adventuring alongside the protagonist after she got home that night.
It was easy to chat with Nishino, who was good at reading the mood.
Besides, tomorrow began the May Day Golden Week holiday. After staying up late, they could sleep until the afternoon, and no teachers would call them to school to help prepare for the school festival anymore.
But Ye Chun felt that something was wrong.
Something very, very important had been accidentally