1 Prologue

A boy sat at his desk. He held a ball point pen in his right hand, allowing it to gracefully move across the pages he was writing on. His eyes kept flickering, as if his thoughts were rushing across his eyes as if his hand couldn't match the speed of his thoughts.

The room was quite cozy with a large bed in one corner, and the desk with a chair on the opposite side. It was clearly a junkyard of clothes and paper, but none of them sat on the ground, allowing the family to walk around freely.

There was also a carpet and television in front of the door to the hallway, and a beautiful glass sliding door on the opposite side of the door near the desk. The boy put down his pen, clearly exhausted yet still seemed to buzz with excitement.

"It's quite surprising how much energy I have to write today. Although it could be because tomorrow will be beginning of my last year at high school and during school time I definitely won't be able to write at all…"

The boy stretched out backwards, holding his arms in the air before shutting his notebook. Leaving them in place for the next day, clearly intending to write some more when he gets another chance.

"I have to wonder, is she thinking of me now? Or is she thinking about that boy again? I hate how devoted she is, although that's also what I love about her."

The boy thought to himself, before sliding his chair underneath the table with its head sticking out and pushed the switch near the door, creating an aura of melancholy within in his dark room.

"What if I don't finish this novel before school ends? What if it doesn't sell well? What if she…. Never falls for me?"

The boy lied on his bed plagued by thoughts before ending his conscience state with one last thought, decisively and peacefully going to sleep.

"As long as I don't give up, she will fall for me."

Elsewhere, there was a girl who had no plans to sleep at the moment, just browsing social media on her phone white listening to some music. She was quite attractive in her pajamas which revealed a lot of skin, with a figure that could cause many innocent boys to become infatuated.

Her headphones gave her a feeling of wildness which contrasted with peaceful state of the room excluding the clothes scattered around the room. Her room was even simpler than the teenager boy who had just fallen asleep, with merely a bed, a closet, a desk and some items scattered around.

Perhaps her wildness only existed in her mind, swirling around like a whirlwind. This night was the night of a full moon, on the precipice between fall and summer the moon exhibited a beauty that could entice anyone.

The girl faced the moon with her phone in hand, and headphones ringing with pop tunes from a bitter romantic song.

"Does he still love me? We can't even talk and yet he expects to wait for years till we can start dating? Why can't go back to those where he caressed me on the hillside, doing nothing but looking at the sun.."

The girls' eyes became blank, as the music seemed to disappear and the phone's screen shut off.

"Why does he love me, when even my true love prioritizes his religion over love?"

The "He" here seemed to be referring to the same person, although the confused light in her eyes seemed to object.

How can straightforward love be so hard?

These words echoed in the hearts of multiple boys and the girls this night, as if the bright moon had come out to echo their feelings and answer their queries. Yet even this heavenly body couldn't answer them, as it disappeared, to reveal a different heavenly body, one with an indifferent brightness.

About a mountain away from these two residences lied a simple school building. One could call it large, one could call it small, it was relative to the person observing the building.

It was a building that lacked curves on the sides, as if it was made out of boxes that had sides cut out to allow passage from one to another. Around it were roads and forestry structure, which gave it a feeling of separation from the world.

On another side of it was a large field with a fence covering its borders, and trees blocking the holes in the metal fence. There were youths all around this school, living out their cherry blossom days, giving off a feeling of purity which couldn't be seen elsewhere.

Autumn leaves covered the pathways and grassy areas, with others covering the sky blocking the view of the sky from any observer. In particular, a young boy who had just reached the school's entrance. The teen looked up to the sky with a glare while thinking, "It's beautiful but does it have to scatter everywhere on the ground?"

His statement seemed somewhat contradictory if you looked back at his house, where he had items all over the place. This young man is named Steve Hansen, a boy who loves all sorts of creative works yet dreams to be an aerospace engineer.

Perhaps he could see this contradiction in his mindset, but at the moment he didn't need to think too much about his future plans.

"I think we all have to meet up in the gymnasium for the opening ceremony?... How will she react when she sees me?" One could see the anxiety in his heart, as he prepared to see his sweetheart.

The youth was not the only person with this sort of conundrum, as a girl within a crowded gymnasium was wallowing in the same type of worries.

She had a bold figure, with sleek muscles and long black hair that seemed to shine under the light. She wore a long shirt that seemed to be one size to big for her, perhaps to cover her curves from others' viewpoints.

In that wooden gymnasium there were hordes of people, each standing near one of 8 signs displaying a specific number from 1 to 8. The floor had just been polished, perhaps an attempt from the school's staff to impress the youths, and lighten their fear of the school year.

"Every year when school starts I'm always in the 7th corner, although I never understood how the corners are set up, or why they need to organize into 8 groups, but perhaps it's just for convenience sake."

The young lady stood in her corner, keenly looking towards her left side, as if attempting to search for someone. This girl who watched the moon just the day before had indeed found someone, or perhaps one could say they found her.

"Hey Lily, I'm so happy to see you~" A random petite girl bounced at Lily, putting her into a hug.

"Erika~" Lily said in a fake annoyed tone, clearly used to this blond child's enthusiasm. A moment later, Erika let go and stood a comfortable distance away from Lily, perhaps worried about annoying her friend too much.

Behind Erika, there was a tall girl with glasses waving at Lily, while saying "Hey Lily, how was your summer?"

This girl was a close friend of Lily, someone she had known since the start of high school. Although 5 years of being friends could neither be called a long time or a short time, they were both quite used to each other and had a faint sense of how the other was feeling,

Lily laughed a little before saying, "Hey Erika, Quinzel, I've been doing fine. Did you guys walk to school together again?"

Lily was quite a polite girl, as she didn't bounce to start a conversation about how her vacation has been, instead allowing the two girls to explain how they have been as she had noticed their enthusiasm.

At this moment Erika talked first due to her excitement of meeting Lily again after months, "Well we did walk to school together, but we also slept together-"

"Erika!" Quinzel blushed as she looked at her girlfriend, surprised by her wording.

"What I'm not wrong am I?"

"No but it was just a sleepover! We didn't actually go to bed together!"

Quinzel was quite an innocent girl, as she gets embarrassed quite easily even over the simplest matters.

Lily laughed, before glancing to the left, once more searching for that boy who's always been distant from her.

Erika seemed to have caught her eyes, noting "Are you looking for him again?"

Quinzel and Erika's happiness turned into a teasing mood, targeting the polite youth who had gotten distracted.

"I mean…" Lily's smile seemed to have faltered for a moment before she continued, "Nah, just looking for the principal-"

One could call her a jinx, as a man with a speaker phone had just appeared at the center of the gym, making a screeching noise akin to smack the head of a microphone.

"Wow Lily, you called it." Quinzel quickly noted before quieting down. The rest of the gym has also gone quiet, although it took a few moments.

Right when the principal was about to start speaking, a thin young man entered the gym through the doors leading to the inside of the school, not to be confused with the two doors leading to the outside.

For a moment it felt awkward, with everyone cringing but that atmosphere soon disappeared when the principal started to speak.

"Of all my days, I have never been so proud to be speaking during the opening ceremony as I have already been here for 4 years and I have met so many…"

For some reason Lily got distracted from the principal's speech, instead focusing on the young man who had just entered.

"Steve?" A voice so quiet no one around her could tell she spoke slipped through her lips, as her eyes watched the young man slide across the walls bordering the gym.

"That idiot, why did he get late to the opening ceremony?"

The boy seemed to stop at one corner for a moment, before looking towards Lily's direction.

"The youths who I have met when I first came to this school will be leaving, off to enjoy their lives away from this place of learning, and learn real-life skills…"

While the principal kept going on, the boy had found Lily's location, causing his eyes to glimmer, before continuing to slide across the walls, quietly weaving to the crowds of students, and sneaking towards Lily.

"Seriously? Can't you wait just ta little longer before we talk? The principal is giving his opening ceremony speech you know!"

Lily made a noise of disproval before looking once more toward the teacher, seeing a strange look in Quinzel's eyes.

"What is she looking at?"

Lily knew that Quinzel wasn't looking at the principal and could tell she was looking in the direction of Steve.

"Is she looking at Steve? Wait no wasn't I just looking for him?"

Lily decisively ignored both the principal, Quinzel and Steve who were all acting passionately, although for different reasons. She looked toward her left once more, before her gaze rested on a boy with brown hair,

Joe…

Her heart started beating quickly, as she tried to focus more on the young man as if absorbing his image into her mind. The young man didn't seem to notice her gaze, instead focused on the impassioned speech of the principal, as if he didn't have the will to even note her existence.

Didn't you say you would date after University? Do you still love me now?

The girl's heart became bitter, as a sour expression appeared on her face, causing her vision to go blank.

At this moment Erika smacked her in the back, before saying, "Hey look, Steve's here."

Erika seemed to have a somewhat worried expression as she looked at Lily's face, perhaps attempting to distract Lily from her thoughts even in the dumbest way possible.

The thin youth had almost reached Lily, clearly intent on greeting her.

At this moment Lily had refocused once more, before putting a finger over her lips, trying to sign at Steve to not say anything.

Steve clearly didn't care, as he had walked right beside Lily and whispered with a slightly nervous tone, "Hey."

You aren't helping either you-

Lily's heart had softened a little before tensing up once more, realizing her current problem.

He who looks at me lovingly, or he who tells me to wait what do I choose.

In this brightly lit area a young woman was being tempted by the devil and comforted by the angels at the same time, as she sat beside this young man who was fidgeting with his hands, throwing glances at her secretly, although failing to be secretive.

"I love you…." Steve released an almost imperceptible sound unconsciously as he gazed at Lily, before turning away.

On the last blooming of this cherry blossom tree, what will wither and what will glow like luminescent stars?

Let us begin this story, of romance and passion, on the cusp of sunrise.