Volume 1

    Chapter 1

    Amakawa Haruto, a college student living in Tokyo .

    Summer .

    He was walking below the clear blue sky as the sun shone brightly above .

    With the sun shining down combined with the asphalt on the ground, the area was filled with hot air rising causing a heat haze .

    In such hostile environment, Haruto still had a cool expression on his face as he continued walking towards the University campus .

    Along the way, Haruto discovered a group of female college students walking nearby secretly raising small shrill voices .

    Haruto had this hard to approach atmosphere, tall along with a handsome face .

    Also as a practitioner of ancient martial arts, he was able to train his body resulting in an excellent physique .

    Therefore Haruto walking to University was seen as some sort of celebrity by the opposite sex .

    Despite that, no rumours could be found about Haruto being interested in any girls .

    It did not mean that he was into men .

    Just that in the 20 or so years he had been alive, Haruto never found himself a girlfriend .

    The reason was that there was only one person in his heart .

    That person was Haruto’s childhood friend .

    Unfortunately, his crush never bore fruit .

    Yearning for her, Haruto was almost able reached her but she suddenly vanished .

    Five years passed since Haruto’s childhood friend’s disappearance .

    The last time he talked to her was 13 years ago .

    Ever since the time he first encountered her, it took no time for Haruto to fall for her .

    Playing with her everyday, it was difficult for him not to notice his attraction towards her .

    But Haruto’s parents divorced when he was still young and he was taken by his father to live in his father’s home town in the countryside .

    At that time, the two childhood friends made a certain promise .

    Someday, when they were reunited, they would get married .

    There was no binding force to that promise, only a fleeting transient promise in their childhood .

    But Haruto was determined to make that dream a reality and poured all his strength towards that promise .

    To achieve their dream, he built his foundation towards manhood through the pursuit of knowledge, agriculture, housework, and martial arts .

    He wanted to meet .

    He could not stand not being able to meet her .

    He did everything with great effort and impatiently waited until the day he reached adulthood for their reunion . Haruto blindly believed in the promise .

    Haruto, who dedicated great effort into all his endeavors, was recognised by his father .

    Owing to that, his father allowed Haruto to enroll in a famous high school near the area his childhood friend resided .

    It was where a shocking reunion was about to happen .

    Coincidentally, his childhood friend also enrolled in the same high school .

    Dokun, Haruto could feel his heart race .

    There was no mistake, it was her .

    Even if her appearance had changed over the years, he would make such a mistake .

    She was still in the distance but he knew because she was his beloved .

    He was fascinated, looking at her back, covered by glossy black hair .

    Her small, beautiful face .

    Her skin, white as snow .

    Her short stature, but possessing finely balanced features .

    Her appearance, neat and tidy, giving her the most graceful atmosphere .

    She was like a girl straight out of a painting .

    Haruto felt grateful to the fate that reunited them .

    But he simultaneously cursed that same fate .

    Next to her was an unknown guy .

    Haruto became scared .

    Was it possible that the two were dating?

    When he thought this, he became unable to call out to her .

    And then just like that, while he was agonizing over what he should do, Haruto’s childhood friend vanished .

    Ever since then, Haruto continued to live in regret .

    By the time he realised that she had vanished, Haruto finally noticed the great mistake he had committed .

    His spirit almost broke .

    He could not even let out a sound of his heartbreaking cry, only letting it resound in his body .

    But, he did not give up .

    There was no way that he would give up .

    He would not be so easily discouraged with just this .

    Because he did not get to confess his feelings yet .

    He embraced the faint feeling that he would someday, somehow meet her as long as he was in Tokyo .

    After graduating from high school, Haruto enrolled in a University in Tokyo .

    But even to this day, he was not able to get his hands on a single piece of information about her .

    Eventually, three years rolled by .

    There was not a single day where he forgot about his beloved childhood friend .

    He even sought the police’s help to investigate his childhood friend’s disappearance but the truth remained wrapped in a mystery .

    After lectures ended, Haruto headed back home by bus .

    The time was just before evening so there were only a handful of passengers riding the bus . Currently there were only three passengers including Haruto .

    The inside of the bus was wrapped in silence .

    Staring out the window, Haruto watched the flowery scenery pass by .

    Suddenly, the bus started violently shaking .

    Before he noticed, the bus was suspended in mid-air causing a floating feeling, followed by a sudden impact to his whole body . In an instant, Haruto’s consciousness faded to black .

    “…te…”

    The moment before all became darkness, a beautiful voice in an unknown language resounded in his mind .

    “…to the next news . This afternoon at 3:15 in the Tokyo ○○ prefecture, a bus and medium sized truck collided . Three bus passengers were pronounced dead on scene .  Despite suffering serious injuries, the two drivers survived the accident . ”