Plain-language introduction: Even though Taiga Aisaka lives upstairs, Sora Kasugano is at home, and his deskmate is Kazusa Touma, Haruka Kasugano is sure he’ll never give in to the stomach medicine.
Literary introduction: Many years later, Haruka Kasugano sits alone in a little bar. The sun is sinking outside, and dusk is deepening. He takes out an old phone and looks through the photos from years ago, as if he can see the past, still alive in the flow of time.
He seems to see Kazusa Touma sitting in the music room at sunset, her slender fingers dancing across the piano keys, all the joys and sorrows singing out in the music.
He seems to see Taiga Aisaka, dressed to the nines on stage. When the show ends and the lights dim, her bright eyes and solitary figure finally fade from view.
He seems to see Sora Kasugano in a Gothic Lolita outfit, holding a stuffed rabbit and looking up. The white clouds in the sky shine beside her silver hair, while green leaves are reflected in her eyes, black as ink.
All of it seems like yesterday.
Then he puts away his phone, takes a small sip of sake, and lights a cigarette. Surrounded by smoke, he sits alone in the noisy bar, gazing into the past.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if life could stay as lovely as it was at first sight?
P.S. This book will not end with the protagonist growing old alone.
