Three Years Ago. Slope Town!
"Aya, don't run so fast." Takeuchi Sosuke called fondly to his younger sister as she ran ahead. She was only a year younger than him, already thirteen and in her second year of middle school, yet she still acted like a child.
The twin-tailed girl running ahead wore a white dress that gleamed with a holy radiance beneath the sun. She looked so adorable, and her lovely little face was full of joy.
"Brother, hurry up." Takeuchi Aya turned around, ran back a few steps, and grabbed Takeuchi Sosuke, pulling him forward. "Come on, come on! You'll be graduating and starting high school soon, so you need to spend more time with me while you can."
"It's only one year. You'll be starting high school too in a year, won't you?" Takeuchi Sosuke said helplessly.
"One year is a long time!"
Takeuchi Aya snapped irritably, but as soon as she finished speaking, her gaze was drawn to the ice cream shop across the street. Pointing at it excitedly, she cried, "Brother, that one! I want ice cream. Can you go buy it for me?"
"Yes, yes, yes..." Takeuchi Sosuke nodded indulgently. After glancing around, he pulled Aya over to a bench by the roadside. "Sit here and wait for me. Don't run around, understand?"
"I'm not a child. Hurry up and go." Takeuchi Aya giggled, her two dimples utterly adorable.
"You know that, do you..." Takeuchi Sosuke glared at his sister helplessly, then turned and headed to the pedestrian crossing. Following the crowd across the road, he arrived at the ice cream shop.
But the moment he entered, his footsteps stopped.
Because he saw several classmates—several classmates he feared. Before he could think further, he turned to leave the shop.
But it was already too