Prologue
“Hey, what comes to mind when you think of spring?”
One lazy afternoon on a day off.
While gazing at the cherry trees, now lush with greenery, a breathtakingly beautiful girl asks me this.
With glossy long hair and features as delicate as a finely crafted doll, the girl, dressed casually in a white hoodie and black shorts. Even though she wore a black cap pulled low over her face, it was clear at a glance that she was breathtakingly beautiful, beyond what you’d call ordinary.
The boy, Sezaki Touya, thinks for a moment before answering.
“Cherry blossoms, I guess. Kinda obvious, though.”
“Heh, that’s so you, Sezaki-kun.”
The girl says this calmly, then flashes a faint smile as she looks at him.
Maybe it’s the dappled spring sunlight, but her smile feels dazzlingly bright, and Touya averts his gaze.
“Sorry for the boring answer.”
“Eh? Maybe I’m praising you in a roundabout way.”
“Hiding behind cryptic words, huh… Anyway, what about you?”
“What about me?”
“The whole ‘what comes to mind when you think of spring’ thing.”
When he turns the question back on her, the girl reaches out toward the cherry tree.
“Hmm, let’s see… Hay fever, maybe?”
“Lame.”
“Ugh, that’s harsh!”
She playfully nudges his side, and Touya lets out a wry smile at the ticklish sensation.
Bzzt—at that moment, Touya’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
Checking it, he sees a notification from an SNS app.
“The new MV from the goddess-like idol Himeno Shizuku dropped today!”
Seeing that news, Touya lets out a small sigh.
“Something wrong?”
“Nah, just thinking the world’s a small place.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? —Anyway, I’m starving. Wanna grab something to eat?”
“Talk about choosing dumplings over flowers.”
“Oh, right! Speaking of spring, dumplings are totally the vibe!”
“So we’re circling back to that, huh?”
Even as they carry on this laid-back, silly conversation, it was no surprise that Touya let out a sigh over how small the world felt.
After all, the friendly girl sitting beside him right now—
She was none other than the so-called goddess-tier beautiful national idol herself.
