Accumulating Starlight, with You Once More — A3! Another Spring
When I came to, I was standing at an unfamiliar train station. An impossibly vivid stream of memories flooded my mind. Brilliant stages. The smiles of my friends. And the cruel vision of a future where the person most precious to me loses his life to illness.
This is the world just before the theater troupe MANKAI Company takes its very first step. Knowing what the future holds, I made a single, desperate resolution above all else: This time, I absolutely won't lose him.
My name is Sakuya Saku
Accumulating Starlight, with You Once More — A3! Another Spring - A Ruined Stage and Two Resolves
Cold.
The hard bench pressing against his back.
"Nn... ah..."
He opened his eyes.
His vision blurred. His head throbbed, splitting.
Nausea surged. Sakuya pitched forward, nearly tumbling off the bench.
—That dream again.
A white hospital room. Sterile machine beeps. Thin arms lying on the bed.
His own voice, desperately calling out. No longer reaching.
Quietly. So quietly. The machine tracing his heartbeat flatlined.
"Hah... hah..."
He couldn't breathe. His own heart felt like stopping.
With trembling hands, Sakuya reached into his blazer pocket.
Fingertips touched a wrapper. A strawberry candy.
—It's okay. Still okay.
"Sir? Are you all right?"
A voice.
He looked up. A uniformed station attendant stood before him. Worried face.
"Sorry... where am I?"
"This is Velvet Town Station... You look terrible. Should I call an ambulance?"
Velvet Town.
The moment he heard that name, Sakuya's chest tightened.
"Velvet Town... What's the date today?"
The attendant tilted his head and told him.
The date was exactly two years before the "now" Sakuya knew.
—He'd come back.
"I'm fine. Just a little anemic, I think."
Sakuya forced a smile. His canine teeth peeked out slightly.
Inside his pocket, he squeezed the candy tight.
—This time. Absolutely.
—I won't let Itaru-san die.
The lukewarm wind of early summer blew across the station platform.
He stood up from the bench.
His knees wobbled. Slightly unsteady, Sakuya passed through the ticket gate.
Velvet Town. The final stop on the private Velvet Line.
Before him spread a small rotary and the entrance to a desolate shopping street.
Only the sign of the convenience store "Suncross" in front of the station looked unnaturally bright.
Sakuya walked, relying on memory.
Eight minutes on foot from here.
Past the residential area, the Mankai Company theater stands.
—In the future, that place was where everything began.
—Meeting the Spring Troupe. Laughing. Crying. Standing on stage.
—But now...
Along the way, Sakuya walked through the shopping street called "Velvet Road."
Under the arcade, it was dim. More than half the shops had their shutters closed.
Passing by the café "Lampriel," he stopped.
—This is where Itaru-san often drank coffee.
—Always black. Making a terrible face. Everyone teased him for being "so adult."
A faint coffee aroma leaked from beyond the door.
He could see the master, Seta-san, wiping the counter.
But he's still a stranger.
Right now, Sakuya is just a high schooler passing by.
—First, the theater.
He moved his feet.
Soon, a familiar building came into view.
A 40-year-old wooden two-story structure. The central theater of a place once called "the holy land of small theaters."
—Mankai Company.
But.
"Terrible..."
Sakuya gasped.
The theater in his future memories was always overflowing with laughter.
Light streaming through windows. Someone practicing on stage. Someone reading a script in the audience seats.
But now.
Paint peeling from the walls. Weeds overrunning the garden flowerbeds.
The front door was warped. When Sakuya pushed it gently, it opened with an eerie creak.
Inside was worse.
The audience chairs were covered in dust. Some toppled over.
The stage curtain was faded. The floor rotted from leaks. Holes gaped here and there.
The air smelled of mold.
No one there. No light.
"This is... Mankai..."
Sakuya slowly walked between the audience seats.
Only his footsteps echoed in the hollow space.
He climbed onto the stage.
Stepping on the creaking floor, he stood at center.
—The view from here is the same as the future.
—But everything else is different.
Before him, 120 chairs. No one sitting in them.
"Where... do I even start?"
In his future memories, this theater would restart soon under a new director.
But he couldn't wait that long.
Itaru-san's life wouldn't last another two years.
—First, I have to meet Itaru-san.
—But how?
Sakuya stood on stage, lost in thought.
He took the candy from his pocket and unwrapped it.
The sweet strawberry scent erased the mold smell, just a little.
He popped it into his mouth.
Sweetness spread across his tongue. His head cleared slightly.
Then.
Something caught his eye. Posted in the stage wing.
"That's..."
Sakuya approached.
An old poster. Colors faded. Edges torn.
『Mankai Company 32nd Performance — A Midsummer Night's Dream』
Dated eight years ago.
Looking at the cast list, Sakuya's breath stopped.
『Cast: Itaru Chigasaki (Apprentice)』
"Itaru-san... was here."
He didn't know.
In the future, he'd never once heard that Itaru-san had been with Mankai Company.
—Apprentice. Eight years ago. So he was in high school.
—Itaru-san stood on this stage.
—And eight years later, he comes back. But that's...
Sakuya stared hard at the poster.
—An Itaru-san I don't know is here.
That fact pierced his chest strangely.
"...Alright."
Sakuya carefully peeled off the poster, folded it neatly, and put it in his pocket.
—Found a clue.
—Now, where is Itaru-san right now?
He left the theater.
Outside, it was nearly evening. The sky was beginning to stain orange.
Back at the station, Sakuya entered the convenience store "Suncross."
"Um, excuse me."
At the register stood a friendly-looking middle-aged clerk.
"Yes?"
"I heard someone named Itaru Chigasaki lives around here... Do you know him?"
Itaru Chigasaki. A 26-year-old elite businessman at Touto Trading.
The clerk thought for a moment, then clapped his hands. "Oh."
"Chigasaki-san? He's at Corpo Tsukimidai apartment. About twelve minutes on foot from the station. He always comes late at night to buy rice balls."
"Really?! Thank you very much!"
Sakuya bowed deeply.
Corpo Tsukimidai.
—Found it.
—Itaru-san's current home.
—
Around that time.
Forty minutes by train from Velvet Town.
The harbor area of Kagari district. In a corner of an art district converted from an old warehouse area, that theater stood.
Warehouse Theater Kagari.
A rugged steel-frame building. High ceilings. Exposed concrete inside.
Minimal lighting. The air was cold and crisp.
In the rehearsal room on the basement floor, a man was alone, flipping through documents.
Black hair grown to his shoulders, slicked back. A few strands fell across his face.
Black eyes, unreadable. Bottomless.
His lean, tall body wrapped in a black turtleneck. The man blended into the darkness like a shadow itself.
Arata.
Director of Weltbühne — an invitation-only theater production company bearing a name that means "World Stage" in German.
28 years old. Once a stage actor with a promising future. At 22, he damaged his vocal cords. His acting career ended.
Now, he burns with obsession. Finding talented actors. Driving them to their absolute limits.
In Arata's hands was a single file.
『Itaru Chigasaki — Background Investigation Report』
Touto Trading, Second Sales Division. Top sales record among his peers.
In university, he led the drama club. Won multiple awards.
And — in high school, he stood on stage as an apprentice at Mankai Company.
"...A talent for self-destruction, is it?"
Arata's thin lips twisted faintly.
The file also contained a personality analysis of Itaru.
『Extremely strong self-sacrificing tendencies.
Even at work, he takes on too much of others' responsibilities.
He lacks self-awareness. Rather, he overworks himself as a "matter of course."
Even when exceeding his mental and physical limits, he behaves so no one notices.』
"Magnificent. Truly magnificent material."
Arata took out a single photograph.
A snapshot of Itaru. In a suit. Face tired. Yet still forcing a smile.
"The play 'Karma.' A monodrama depicting a single person consumed by karma until they burn out. Starring Itaru Chigasaki. He will shine on stage as if dying. And—"
Staring at the photo, Arata quietly deepened his smile.
"That radiance will burn him to ashes. The brilliance just before breaking is the most beautiful of all."
A subordinate waiting behind him spoke up.
"Arata-san, the draft of the invitation..."
"Ah. I'll write it now. He needs a lure he can't escape."
Arata picked up a pen.
He began slowly writing on the stationery.
『To Itaru Chigasaki,
We know of your talent.
The thirst for the stage you have kept hidden.
The stage you could not stand on before — we have prepared it now.
— Weltbühne Inaugural Performance "Karma" Lead Role Offer』
"...He can't refuse. With that personality, he'll absolutely take the provocation."
Arata's black eyes glinted sharply in the darkness.
—
As the sky turned from red to purple.
Sakuya stood before Corpo Tsukimidai.
An old two-story apartment building, 30 years old. Cracked wall paint. Rusted stairs.
Twelve minutes on foot from Velvet Town Station.
"This is... Itaru-san's..."
The corner room on the second floor.
No light in the window. He probably wasn't back from work yet.
Looking up at the apartment, Sakuya squeezed the candy in his pocket.
—Tomorrow. I'll come here.
—I'll meet Itaru-san directly.
In the future, Itaru-san was always smiling.
Sometimes he showed a tired face. But he still said "I'm fine." Pushed himself. And then—.
"This time, I'll make absolutely sure you're fine."
Sakuya murmured quietly.
The wind blew.
He could hear the cherry blossom leaves of Hanasaki Park rustling faintly.
—Nothing has started yet.
—But things have definitely begun to move.
Sakuya turned his back on the apartment and started walking toward the station.
The first star of evening shone in the sky.
Gazing at that light, Sakuya swore in his heart.
—Just seven days.
—But that's enough.
—I will definitely save Itaru-san.
Inside his pocket, the candy rustled.
The veil of night gently enveloped Velvet Town.
In the distance, he heard the last train's whistle.
(End of Chapter 1)
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.