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 - Memories of the Stage and the Creeping Shadow
In front of Veludo Station.
The afternoon sun glared off the rotary.
Sakuya leaned against the station wall. He glanced at his watch.
The hands had slipped past their meeting time.
(*...Will he come?*)
A small ache pulsed deep in his chest.
He couldn't forget yesterday. Itaru's cold eyes. The desperate plea in front of Touto Bussan.
But.
*—We might meet again.*
Those words.
The strawberry candy he'd pulled from the convenience store bag.
Itaru's expression. That slight waver when he handed it over.
None of that could be a lie.
"Sakuya-kun."
A voice.
He looked up.
A man in a suit walked over from beyond the station.
Soft brown hair. Narrow, sharp eyes.
The shadows beneath them looked a little lighter than yesterday.
"Itaru-san... You really came!"
Sakuya shot up from the bench.
A grin burst across his face. His smile showed a flash of double tooth.
"Well, I did promise."
Itaru smiled, a little awkwardly.
This smile was much softer than the business one he'd worn yesterday.
"Thank you! Okay, let's go!"
Sakuya's voice bounced. He started walking.
"...It really is in the middle of nowhere, isn't it."
Itaru followed behind.
"It's not nowhere! The stage is here!"
Sakuya turned back. He said it with force.
The two walked down Veludo Street.
Under the arcade, it was dim. More than half the shops had their shutters down.
As they passed the café "Lampriel," a faint wisp of coffee drifted out.
"This place used to be lively."
Sakuya spoke, remembering memories of the future.
"...I know."
Itaru's voice echoed quietly.
"Huh?"
"A long time ago, I used to come here. Just a little. To this town."
Itaru looked up at the arcade ceiling.
His profile seemed to be reminiscing about something.
Sakuya said nothing. He kept walking.
Soon, a familiar building came into view.
A forty-year-old wooden structure. Two stories.
Paint peeling off the walls. Weeds overrunning the garden flowerbeds.
The ruined theater of MANKAI Company.
"This is it."
Itaru murmured.
His voice trembled faintly.
"You know this place?"
Sakuya looked at Itaru, surprised.
"...Eight years ago, maybe. I was here briefly. As a kenkyuusei."
Itaru slowly approached the theater.
He gently pushed on the ill-fitting front door.
Creeeak.
The door opened with an eerie sound.
It was dark inside.
The audience chairs were covered in dust. Some had toppled over.
The stage curtain was faded. The floor was rotted from rain leaks. Holes gaped open.
The air smelled of mold.
"...Hasn't changed."
Itaru walked slowly between the seats.
His eyes seemed to be looking at something far away.
Sakuya watched his back in silence.
This was different from the Itaru in his future memories.
Not a star shining on stage. A fragile back. Like a boy left behind in the past.
Itaru stood before the stage.
Then, he stopped moving entirely.
"...Want to go up?"
Sakuya said it quietly.
Itaru didn't answer.
He just stared, fixedly, at the faded curtain.
"Itaru-san."
"...I'm scared."
Itaru said it, haltingly.
His voice shook.
"It's just a stage. There's nothing special on those boards. But if I go up... I'll remember. Eight years ago. Myself. Unable to do anything."
Itaru clenched his fist.
His hand trembled slightly.
Sakuya gripped the candy in his pocket.
*—It's okay. Itaru-san can definitely shine.*
*—I know it.*
"I can picture it. You, shining on stage."
Sakuya looked straight at Itaru and spoke.
Itaru turned around, slowly.
"What... are you talking about?"
"I don't know. But I do know. That you're someone who can shine brighter than anyone on that stage."
Itaru stared at Sakuya for a moment.
Then he let out a small breath.
"...You're a strange kid."
Saying that, Itaru placed a foot on the stairs to the stage.
One step.
The wood groaned.
Two steps.
Dust swirled.
Three steps.
Itaru stepped onto the stage.
He walked to the center.
The floor creaked.
Itaru stopped. He looked out over the audience.
One hundred and twenty chairs. No one sitting in them.
"...This is it."
Itaru said it like an exhale.
In that instant.
Itaru's expression changed.
His narrow eyes shone fiercely. As if a light had kindled from within.
The tension left his shoulders.
His back straightened.
His body began to move naturally. As if remembering an old sensation.
His arm rose.
His fingertips traced the air.
No one was there — yet before Itaru's eyes, a co-star seemed to stand.
"Ah... Right. It felt like this."
Itaru's voice vibrated through the theater air.
It was completely different from the exhausted voice heard in front of the company.
Clear. Resonant. And possessing a power that drew people in.
Sakuya held his breath.
*—This.*
*—This is the Itaru-san I know.*
Heat bloomed deep in his chest.
Sakuya desperately fought back the tears threatening to well up.
"...Amazing."
The words slipped out.
Itaru stopped moving. He looked at Sakuya.
"...Stop it. It's nothing special."
Itaru laughed, a little embarrassed.
His face looked much younger than when they'd first met yesterday.
"It is special! Really, amazing! I saw something just now! Light, all around you!"
Sakuya rattled on, excited.
"Light... What are you, a poet?"
Itaru laughed out loud.
*—He laughed.*
Sakuya's chest burst.
The future Itaru-san always forced his laughter.
Even when tired. Even when hurting. Saying, "I'm fine."
But this smile was different.
A genuine, natural smile.
"Alright!"
Sakuya dashed into the wings.
He came back with a bucket and a mop.
"...What are you doing?"
"Cleaning! We can't rehearse properly with all this dust!"
Sakuya started filling the bucket with water.
"Rehearse... I never said we'd be doing anything here."
"We are! Definitely! I mean, is there any other stage that feels this good?"
Sakuya rolled up his sleeves and slammed the mop onto the floor.
Itaru stared blankly for a moment. Then he shrugged and laughed.
"...I can't win against you."
Itaru took off his suit jacket. He draped it over the back of a nearby chair.
He rolled up his dress shirt sleeves. Loosened his tie a little.
"I'll help."
Side by side, they started mopping.
Squeak, squeak. Only the sound of the mops echoed in the empty theater.
Dust billowed up thickly. Sakuya sneezed over and over.
"You okay?"
"Ah-ah-choo! I-I'm fine!"
Itaru laughed again.
Sweat beaded.
Dust clung to their faces.
But it felt good.
"...Why go this far?"
Suddenly, Itaru asked.
Without stopping the mop, he began to speak, haltingly.
"I started theater in high school. I was a kenkyuusei here. But then I got into college. Joined the drama club... I couldn't compete at all. Everyone around me had so much more talent. I was just desperately trying to keep up."
Itaru's hand paused for a moment.
"In the end, I ran away. I was scared to admit I had no talent. ...So I decided to get a normal job. Live a normal life."
"But."
Sakuya put down the mop. He looked at Itaru.
"You still love the stage."
Itaru fell silent.
"Earlier, when you stepped on stage, your eyes changed. Your body still remembers the stage. That's because, all along, you really wanted to stand there."
Sakuya looked straight into Itaru's eyes and spoke.
"...You."
Itaru started to say something. He stopped.
Silence flowed for a moment.
"...I'll confess. Even now, I see it in my dreams."
Itaru started moving the mop again. He spoke quietly.
"Dreams of standing on stage. Bathing in the spotlight. Hearing applause. And when I wake up, I feel terribly empty. Dreams keep showing me a place I can never return to."
Itaru's voice sounded like he was telling himself.
"You can return."
Sakuya said it strongly.
"The stage is here. Your place is here."
"...It's impossible for me now."
"It's not impossible! I know for a fact that you shine on stage!"
Sakuya's voice rang through the theater.
*—I know.*
*—In the future, you shone brighter than anyone.*
*—So I absolutely won't let you give up.*
Itaru stared at Sakuya for a while.
"...How can you be so sure?"
Sakuya couldn't answer.
He couldn't talk about the future memories.
But—.
"...I don't know. But I believe it. It's my... intuition."
Sakuya said it and smiled.
Itaru let out a small breath. He shook his head.
"...You really are a strange kid."
But his eyes were much gentler than before.
The two resumed cleaning.
After a while, Sakuya suggested they take a break in the wings.
In the stage wing, there was just one old sofa.
They dusted it off and sat down side by side.
"It got pretty clean."
Itaru looked out over the audience and said.
"Yes. A little more and we could almost invite people in."
"There aren't any people, though."
Itaru laughed.
"There are. The Spring Troupe's... No, never mind."
Sakuya hastily shut his mouth.
He'd almost let the names of his future comrades slip out.
"...Weirdo."
Saying that, Itaru suddenly reached a hand toward Sakuya's head.
"?!"
Sakuya froze.
"You've got dust on you."
Itaru's fingers gently brushed the dust from Sakuya's hair.
The gesture was so tender.
"Reminds me of when I was a kid. My parents used to do this all the time."
Itaru laughed innocently.
That smile.
*—Ah, I absolutely want to protect this person.*
Warmth seeped through Sakuya's chest.
In that instant—
Throb.
"Ngh...!"
A sharp pain pierced his head.
His vision blurred.
*—What is this.*
Images burst inside his head.
A flashback.
A scene from the future.
The stage.
The lights.
Itaru standing there.
The audience's applause.
And then—
Suddenly, Itaru's body tilts.
The lighting rig crashes down.
*—Itaru-san!!!*
His future self is screaming.
Itaru's face goes pale.
He collapses onto the stage just like that—
"...Ah..."
Sakuya clutched his head. He slid off the sofa.
He fell to his knees.
Nausea hit him.
His vision warped grotesquely.
His heart pounded violently. He couldn't breathe.
"Hey, Sakuya-kun?!"
Itaru's voice sounded distant.
Someone was supporting his shoulder.
"Are you okay?! You're completely pale!"
Itaru's face was right in front of him.
His eyes were wide open. Genuinely worried.
*—I'm making him worry.*
Sakuya desperately forced a smile.
"I-I'm fine... Just a little dizzy..."
"That doesn't make you look like this! We're going to a hospital. Right now."
Itaru took Sakuya's arm and tried to pull him up.
"It's okay, really. I'm just a bit anemic."
Sakuya gently shook off Itaru's hand.
*—No.*
*—I can't go to a hospital now.*
*—More importantly, I have to protect Itaru-san.*
"But..."
Itaru still tried to press.
"Sorry, I startled you. But I'm really fine now."
Sakuya stood up.
His legs trembled.
The edges of his vision were still a little blurry.
But.
*—I have to stand.*
*—This is no time to collapse.*
"...Are you always like this?"
Itaru said it quietly.
"Huh?"
"Putting yourself last. Pushing yourself too hard. Just like me."
Itaru's voice wasn't accusing. It sounded sad.
Sakuya couldn't say anything.
"...Fine. But don't overdo it. Promise me."
Saying that, Itaru lightly tapped Sakuya's shoulder.
* * *
When they stepped outside, the sky was already dyed orange.
The two walked in silence. The road back to Veludo Station.
Lights were starting to flicker on, here and there, in the shopping district.
In front of the station ticket gate.
"Well, this is me."
Itaru stopped.
"Itaru-san."
Sakuya looked straight into Itaru's eyes.
"Let's start a theater company. Together. You and me. We can definitely create an amazing stage. I need you."
Itaru said nothing.
He just looked at Sakuya, quietly.
"...Not bad."
Itaru murmured.
Sakuya's face lit up instantly.
"I'm not saying I'll do it yet. But... I'll think about it. A little."
Saying that, Itaru gave a small smile.
"Yes!"
Sakuya bowed deeply. Very deeply.
Desperately fighting back the tears that threatened to spill.
Itaru turned his back. He passed through the station ticket gate.
Sakuya stood there until h
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.