The early morning sun glistened off the cherry blossom petals and filled the cerulean sky with hues of fuchsia. He stood wedged between two empty sport fields, taking in the unfamiliar scenery around him. A chilly breeze appeared to push Kaito slightly forward, toward his destination.

Kaito inhaled and exhaled deeply, then he managed to approach the entrance of the rather large, intimidating building brimmed with glass windows and doors. Two of the doors slid open to the sides as he drew near, beckoning him to enter. Kaito looked around the empty hall but couldn’t find anything, save for the muffled sounds coming from the classrooms.

The hall was filled with rows of steel lockers. Kaito quickly located the locker that had been assigned to him and replaced his shoes with a pair of plastic slippers he found inside the compartment.

Ta-dum. Ta-dum.

A lengthy hallway stretched away from the entrance hall. The walls were lined with message boards, posters, and trophy cases filled with photos and names of unfamiliar people.

Kaito continued along, following the brass room numbers in search for room number thirteen. He took a left, passed a big DON’T RUN IN THE HALLWAYS sign, and then came to a sudden halt as the number thirteen glared off the door in front of him.

From beyond the door, he could hear the chitter-chatter of his soon-to-be new classmates, as well as a deep, howling laughter by what sounded to be a middle-aged man.

Sounds just like a salaryman after leaving the bar, back in Tokyo…

Ta-dum. Ta-dum.

Again, he took a deep breath, in and out. Kaito politely knocked on the door, moved his hand to his side, and swallowed hard. The world went dead quiet aside from his heart pounding in his head.

Ta-dum. Ta-dum.

“Yes. Come in already,” a voice answered.

Kaito turned the cold brass doorknob and pushed open the door to find a gray-haired, middle-aged man staring back at him. He walked through the door and instantly felt twenty pairs of eyes burning into the side of his face.

Ta-dum. Ta-dum. Ta-dum. Ta-dum.

With sweaty hands, Kaito quickly loosened the knot in his tie, and with a parched mouth, he tried his best to formulate a sentence.

“I’m uh… K-Kaito, Igarashi… The trans—”

“The transfer student!” bellowed the gray-haired man. “Ah-ha! I completely forgot we’re getting a new student today, else I would’ve met you at the entrance hall! Huhuhu!”

The man held his belly while laughing. It looked to Kaito like he was really enjoying himself.

“I Uh—”

“I don’t think we’ve ever gotten a third-year transfer student. I mean, who even does that! Ah-hahaha!”

Fortunately for Kaito, he was too focused on this strange man to notice the chatter and muffled laughs emanating from his new classmates.

“Welcome, Kaito,” the man said in a more serious tone, muting the entire room. “I am Professor Yoshida, and I will be your new homeroom teacher. Please, take a seat over there,” he gestured to the back of the classroom. “Yes, next to Touma, the red-headed slacker in the back.”

“Hey—!” Touma started objecting but quickly extended his hand to greet Kaito instead.

Kaito walked over to his newly-assigned desk, sat down, and completely ignored the red-headed boy’s hand hanging in the air.

Could that have possibly gone any worse…

Professor Yoshida continued with his lesson, but Kaito was in another world already, lost in thought.

It doesn’t matter. I just need to get through this year. There’s no need to make friends.

After a slow morning listening to Professor Yoshida ramble on about the importance of college entrance exams, the school bell finally chimed, indicating time for lunch. Kaito let out a sigh of relief, slung his bag over his shoulder and headed for the door.

Just a little bit longer. Then I can go home and back to sleep…

Kaito followed the general flow of children all the way to a big cafeteria filled with loud, energetic children, bright lights, and the strong aroma of hundreds of home-cooked lunch boxes.

Ugh. This is just too much…

He quickly turned around and made his way back to room thirteen where he enjoyed his aunt’s surprisingly delicious packed lunch in peace and quiet. Kaito made sure to stuff as much food as he could in his mouth because he knew once the bell rang again, he would have to make his way to the next classroom, which for all he knew, could be on the other side of this giant glass enclosure.

Just as Kaito left the classroom, he heard someone call his name.

“Kaito! Kaito, wait up!” Touma called, running toward him. Panting, he introduced himself. “Hey Kaito, I’m Touma. I just wanted to welcome you properly,” he said with his hand hanging in the air again.

Annoyed by Touma’s friendliness, Kaito asked, “What do you want?”

Confused Touma continued, “Uh, okay… Well, I just wanted to let you know that I’m here if you need help or just need a friend.”

“Don’t bother.” Kaito turned his back on Touma and walked away.

Touma fidgeted his fingers in frustration. “What’s up with you?” he called out to Kaito. “I’m just trying to be friendly!”

Kaito ignored him and kept walking down the hallway.

“Well, if you don’t want to be friends, that’s fine! But so you know, you’re walking the wrong way. Science class is down this hall.”

Kaito stopped dead in his tracks. Through the reflection in a nearby trophy case, he glimpsed Touma’s hand pointing in the opposite direction, from where he was headed. All emotion drained from Kaito’s face.

Ugh, I’m such an idiot… idiot, idiot, IDIOT!

Kaito waited a few moments till Touma was out of sight, then he set off in the same direction. The school of students that flooded the hallway just moments ago had cleared up, and Kaito realized he was going to be extremely late for his next class. He broke into a run, turned the corner and—

Oh, shiiii—!

EEEK!

Kaito lost his footing and slid across the slippery floor, thus thrusting his body forward—straight into the back of Touma.

BAH!

The two boys toppled over, and the contents of their schoolbags spread across the floor like cracked eggs running over a pan.

“Ouch! What the hell was that f—”

“You idiot! Why were you standing still in the middle of an empty hallway!” snapped Kaito.

“What do you mean? You were the one running in the hall—!”

“Both of you are in the wrong because neither one of you are in my classroom!” said a rather large woman who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Her face was filled with frown lines, her arms crossed tightly, and the impatient tapping of her foot echoed intimidatingly throughout the empty hallway.

The two boys quickly got up, and with low hanging heads, apologized to the woman, who Kaito assumed was Professor Hoga, his new science teacher.

After a scolding from Professor Hoga and few more classes, the school day had finally ended, and Kaito swiftly made his way to the train station where he hopped on the first train home.

Home was an apartment on the seventh floor of a giant apartment building, surrounded by more apartment buildings. The courtyard was decorated with colorful stones, plants, and benches, and it linked three of these buildings.

Kaito chose to run up the seven-story steel staircase instead of using the elevator, which he considered the world’s slowest moving elevator.

He let out a small sigh of relief as he opened the door.

Finally, home. I don’t think I could’ve handled much more on my first day.

He kicked his shoes to the side and yelled, “I’m home!” And judging by the silence that followed, he concluded he was the first one back. Kaito made his way up to his bedroom, dropped his school bag on the floor, and face-planted his bed.

However, instead of the surface of a nice comfy pillow to crash on, he felt something dry and scratchy sticking to his face—a note from his aunt. Her voice rang in his ear while he read the note: “Those boxes aren’t going to unpack themselves you know.”

Ugh! I was looking forward to having a nap…

But I guess if I do a few boxes now, I can finish the rest tomorrow.

He grabbed the closest box to him, marked “clothes.”

Did Yui pack this for me? It kinda looks like her handwriting.

I should thank her for that someday…

After he’d packed away his clothes, he started opening another box but stopped as soon as he saw something strange on his bedroom wall, peeking out from behind the pile of boxes.

He quickly moved the pile of boxes away to reveal a long, thunderbolt shaped crack that ran across the wall. Kaito then ran his finger over the cracked plaster.

Geez. Just how old is this house? I hope I can’t see my neighbors through this thing…

Chills ran down his spine.

...I hope they can’t see me through this thing!

Kaito gave the crack a good scan but soon realized it was way too thin, and there was no way anyone could see anything through it.

Nice one, Kaito, worried about nothing again!

An hour into tidying up, his room ended up looking worse than before. Kaito figured his time would be better spent taking a nice, warm shower.

Kaito gazed at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He was rather manly for his age, compared to other seventeen-year-olds, and was a good-looking guy. Just a smidgen shorter than Touma, with messy brown hair and aquamarine eyes. He had a lean, muscled figure, even though he stopped playing sports when he got to high school.

But just like the crack in his bedroom wall, he, too, had a scar that ran down his chest. It reminded him of his mother.

Mama, I miss you…

...Yui misses you.

He closed his eyes and embraced the warm water flowing over his face, hiding his tears.

After a long shower and a reminder to himself that he needed to stay strong, especially for his sister, Yui, he made his way back to his room.

Kaito was running a towel through his hair when he heard it. A girl, singing.

“Yui! Is that you?” he called out.

No answer.

And again he heard it. A girl’s voice, coming from his room.

“Yui! What the hell are you doing in my r—,” he barged into his own room. But Yui wasn’t there. He was alone in his room, yet he could still hear the voice in his bedroom.

It’s coming from the crack in my wall?!

What the—

Kaito stood still and listened to her soft, beautiful voice, and for the second time today, he had chills running down his spine.

“You blind my eyes

You shine so bright

You light up my night...”

“Doesn’t matter if I’m looking up at the stars...”

Who is she?

“Or down at the beach...”

Wait, I know this song…

It was a popular song by a band called Don’t Kiss the Messenger.

“You’re always

You’re always

Just out of reach...”

Kaito felt his heart racing. His face was blood-red, and his hands and knees were shaking uncontrollably. He couldn’t decide if she was an angel or just a girl that lived next door to him with an amazing voice. Never before has he had such an urge to blurt out words. And before he could stop himself, he sang.

“My sky-princess, my star queen!”

Did she hear me?

If she didn’t hear him sing, she would’ve definitely heard his heart pounding from the other side of the wall.

Kaito stretched out his arm and softly touched the crack.

“Take my heart and give us a chance...”

Kaito sang another phrase with her, but the mysterious girl’s voice was getting softer.

“Let’s shine together”

Please don’t stop…

“May I have this dance?”

Kaito was mesmerized by her voice, and for a moment, both voices synced up in perfect harmony.

“Oh what I would give

To be close to you

To be the one you choose”

“The one you’re scared to lose...”

Kaito heard the guitar strumming the end of the song followed by a gasp, a door slamming shut, and then silence.

What the—

Kaito was shaking with a mixture of excitement and anxiety.

“H-hello?”

Obviously, there’s no answer! She probably heard the perverted boy next door sing with her, ran out of her room, and now she’s calling her dad to come kick my ass!

Ugh, I’m such an idiot!

He ran his finger over the crack again.

But… Who is she?

“What are you do—”

“AAGH!” Kaito cried out in shock.

Smiling at his shocked expression, Kanna asked: “Didn’t I leave you a lovely note regarding these boxes, Kaito?”

“Uh… yes, but I uh… got a bit sidetracked you see… At least I emptied two boxes already!” Kaito smiled and scratched the back of his head, wondering if Kanna was really upset.

“Hmm, yes I can see that. Singing and talking to yourself in your room. Sounds very productive, Kaito.”

“Do you need any help with dinner?” Kaito asked with a smile.

“Woah! You emptied two boxes, and now you want to help with dinner? Did you do something I need to be worried about?” she asked with big eyes, covering her mouth with her hands.

“Did you… Did you get a girl PREGNANT?!” she yelled out the last word so loud that Kaito was sure the entire neighborhood heard her.

Kaito let his head hang in disappointment. “Sometimes, I really do think I’m the only adult around here.”