[Yuzuru Hanyu] Cicadas Singing in High Summer

Not-so-serious version:

A girl he doesn't know: "Hanyu-san, I've liked you for a long time. Will you go out with me?"

Hanyu Yuzuru heard her and instinctively began scanning every corner, looking for Chi Xi.

He and Chi Xi were bound by a fateful connection: whenever someone confessed to him, Chi Xi would show up somewhere at the scene, tucked into a corner no one noticed.

Sure enough, before long, he spotted that familiar half-face peeking out. A pair of big eyes blinked on that half-face, shining with the unmistakable light of someone enjoying the gossip.

Hanyu Yuzuru glared at her, and Chi Xi quietly pulled her head back out of sight.

Only then did he have time to face the girl confessing to him...

Hiding in the corner, Chi Xi listened to Hanyu Yuzuru give yet another rejection with the same old message in different words, and admired him in her heart. She'd heard countless versions of his rejections by now, and every time, he phrased it differently!

With Hanyu Yuzuru's Chinese, he'd better get full marks on his language exam!

Serious version:

One midsummer day filled with the sound of cicadas, Chi Xi transferred to Nanakita Junior High in Sendai because of her parents' work, becoming Hanyu Yuzuru's classmate.

What does it mean to fall in love for the first time when you're young?

It's wanting to draw closer without realizing it, then instinctively putting distance between you once you notice what you're doing.

It's him giving a speech to hundreds of people dressed alike, yet always finding her at a glance.

It's the two of them anxiously searching around when the lights suddenly go out, only to meet each other's eyes the moment they come back on.

But life is unpredictable, and misfortune can strike at any moment. A sudden earthquake changed the lives of two carefree teenagers.

The feelings of their youth were buried deep in their hearts.

Later, Hanyu Yuzuru went abroad to train, while Chi Xi returned to China to go to school. After graduating from high school, they never saw each other again.

Then the pandemic broke out, and Chi Xi was called back to Japan by her parents.

By then, Chi Xi had become a renowned photographer.

Theme: After all these years, I still love you.