The story takes place at a boarding school where four students—Kanato Fuura, Hibari Watari, Akira Shikinagi, and Seraph Dazzlegarden—formed VOLTACTION, a popular VTuber unit under NIJISANJI that uses special skills to bring happiness to everyday people.
The protagonist, however, is not one of them. Sumire Takanashi, a quiet first-year high school student who tends an old greenhouse behind the school, is secretly in love with Kanato. She can never bring herself to speak to him. Her days are spen
The Unseen Heart Behind the Stage - Kanato's voice is a blade too gentle.
Tuesday.
After morning homeroom ended, during the short break before first period, Takanashi Sumire sat at her desk, tracing the edge of her textbook with her finger. The pale blue light that had glowed outside her window last night — had that really just been her imagination? Somewhere in her head, she could still feel that flower's voice echoing.
*(Do you want to see him from closer?)*
No. She didn't want to see him. She didn't — and yet, something deep in her chest prickled with pain.
The classroom air was the same as always. Someone laughing, someone frantically copying homework. She sat outside those circles, just waiting for time to pass. Shiina Tsugumi's seat had been empty since yesterday. In the morning, the teacher had simply said, "Shiina is absent due to poor health." No message from Tsugumi. Even when she opened her chat app, nothing showed as read.
*(Tsugumi, are you okay?)*
She was worried. But more than that, it hurt that she couldn't talk about what had happened yesterday. The flower's voice. Hibari's words. The things she couldn't tell anyone were growing heavier and heavier at the bottom of her chest.
Lunch break came.
The school store "Canaria" was at the east end of the main building's first floor. At lunchtime, a line formed with students after the yakisoba bread. She always waited for the line to settle down a bit before going. Today too, she left the classroom about ten minutes after the bell rang.
The hallway was still crowded. Everyone walked along, chatting happily. She walked along the wall, making herself small so their shoulders wouldn't bump into her.
The area in front of the school store was less crowded than she'd expected. Lucky. She let out a small breath and stood in front of the shelf lined with yakisoba bread, pulling her wallet from her pocket.
That was when it happened.
She sensed someone coming up behind her and hurriedly tried to step aside. But her body wouldn't move properly, and the wallet in her hand slipped and fell.
The clatter of coins scattering across the floor.
"Ah..."
Two hundred-yen coins, one fifty-yen coin. They spun and rolled across the floor. She tried to crouch down. But her fingertips were trembling, and she couldn't pick them up properly.
"You okay?"
A voice.
Right nearby.
She looked up. Standing there was Kazaraku Kanato.
Soft black hair, with only the bangs swept to the right. Calm brown eyes. Eyes that narrowed when he smiled. On his arm, with the sleeves of his white dress shirt rolled up slightly, was a black leather wristband. She knew there was a "K" engraved on the inside. Tsugumi had told her. It was the one all the VOLTACTION members wore.
Kanato was picking up the scattered coins for her.
"Here. You dropped these."
On his palm sat the hundred-yen coins and the fifty-yen coin.
"Th-thank you very much..."
Her voice was too small. She didn't even know what she was saying herself. She held out her hand. But her fingertips were still trembling, and she couldn't receive them properly.
Kanato gently placed the coins into her hand.
"Are you really nervous? It's okay, take your time."
That voice was low, pleasant to the ear. Completely different from the voice she heard from far away in the classroom. A voice directed only at her, from right up close.
Something deep in her chest tightened, hard.
*(Ah, it's this person's voice.)*
The voice she'd heard on the Kasumigawa riverbank on the day of the entrance ceremony. It was the same as that time. The air went soft and light. The sounds around her faded into the distance, and only his voice came through clearly.
"...I'm sorry."
That was all she said before fleeing the spot. Without even buying the yakisoba bread. Clutching the coins, she walked quickly down the hallway. Her heart was pounding. Her ears were hot. Her face was hot too.
*(What do I do. What do I do. I couldn't even look at his face properly.)*
But that voice — it had definitely been meant for her.
*Are you okay?*
Just those few words. And yet, something deep in her chest grew warm, spreading slowly. She was happy. But right next to that happiness, something cold came flowing in.
*(Is this... real?)*
Something had changed since she touched that flower yesterday. Hibari had suddenly spoken to her. And now Kanato had picked up the coins she'd dropped.
*(It's a coincidence. Just a coincidence.)*
She tried to think that. But somewhere in her heart, she knew it wasn't true.
Afternoon break.
She was in the greenhouse. Instead of the bread she hadn't been able to buy at lunch, she ate a rice ball from the school store alone, then headed to the greenhouse. Today wasn't her watering duty day. But she couldn't stop thinking about that flower.
Inside the greenhouse, there was the thick smell of soil and greenery. Outside it was sunny, but the light through the glass seemed somehow hazy. A few of the old glass panes were broken, so wind came in, making the leaves sway faintly.
She picked up a watering can and headed toward the third section.
The flower was blooming in the same spot as yesterday. Petals that looked pale purple, or maybe silver. When the light hit them, the surface gleamed smooth and glossy.
*(Beautiful.)*
She thought so. But she didn't want to get close.
She crouched down and touched the soil around the flower. Plenty of moisture. No need for water.
"...What are you?"
She said it out loud. The flower just bloomed quietly.
That was when she heard a voice from outside the greenhouse.
"Takanashi-san."
Her shoulders jumped.
She turned around. Kanato was standing at the greenhouse entrance.
"U-um... Kazaraku-san..."
Why was he here?
Kanato tilted his head slightly and looked around the greenhouse.
"I heard you manage this place. That's amazing. You take care of all these flowers by yourself?"
"Y-yes... but, it's not really that impressive..."
Her voice cracked. Her heart was so loud.
Kanato slowly stepped into the greenhouse.
"The flowers are beautiful."
He smiled as he said it.
That smile was so gentle that she nearly forgot how to breathe.
*(Why does he know my name?)*
Until yesterday, they'd never even spoken.
*(Is it because of that flower? Or is it really...)*
She was happy. She was happy, and yet the center of her chest throbbed with pain.
"...Thank you very much."
She barely managed to say that much.
Kanato smiled once more and walked back toward the greenhouse entrance.
"Well, see you. Don't push yourself too hard."
His footsteps faded into the distance.
She stood rooted to the spot, unable to move.
*(Don't push yourself too hard.)*
Just those few words. That alone was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
*(This is fake.)*
A cold voice spoke from deep in her heart.
*(That flower is controlling Kanato's heart. That's why he suddenly became kind. There's no reason for him to be kind to someone like me.)*
That's right. That had to be it.
She told herself, over and over.
*(I'm not happy.)*
But her clenched palm was still faintly warm.
After school.
She had come to the greenhouse once more.
She couldn't stop thinking about that flower. After Kanato left, she wanted to check whether the flower's condition had changed.
Inside the greenhouse, everything was dyed orange by the evening light.
She crouched down in the third section. The flower was blooming quietly, as always.
*(Nothing's changed.)*
That was what she thought — when it happened.
"Hey, Takanashi-san."
A voice from behind.
She turned around. Watarai Hibari was standing at the greenhouse entrance.
Flax-colored curly hair. Large brown eyes. Hands in his pockets, body swaying slightly.
"We meet again. You're interesting, you know."
Hibari approached with a grin.
"...Do you need something?"
Her voice went stiff. She remembered last night. This person had said something about the color of her heart.
"Not so much 'need something' — I was just curious. You talked to Kanato today, didn't you?"
Her heart lurched.
"...How do you know that?"
"I saw it. At the school store. He picked up coins for you, right?"
Hibari said it with the same smile. But his eyes weren't smiling.
"And that got me thinking. The color of your heart is even stranger than yesterday."
Hibari pressed a finger to his temple.
"This morning it was still a faint white. But now... I can barely see it. It's like something is covering up your emotions."
"...What are you talking about?"
"You don't have to play dumb. I'm good at sensing the presence of people's hearts, despite how I look. I call it micro mind-reading."
Hibari took a step closer to her.
"There's a strange flower blooming in this greenhouse, isn't there? After you ran out of here yesterday, I came to look too. And I felt something strange."
A chill ran down her spine.
*(He knows about that flower.)*
"...I don't know anything. I don't know what you're talking about."
"That's a lie."
Hibari's voice suddenly dropped low.
"Your heart is hiding something. You touched the flower, didn't you?"
"I didn't touch it."
The voice that came out was so clear it surprised even her.
Hibari stared into her eyes.
"Hmm. Well, whatever. But I'm worried about you. That flower isn't a normal plant. It looks like it's draining your emotions."
With that, Hibari walked toward the third section.
"Wait, please."
She hurried after him.
Hibari crouched down in front of the flower.
"So this is it."
He brought his face close to the flower, pressing a finger to his temple.
"...I can't feel anything."
For the first time, Hibari's expression clouded over.
"A normal plant would have at least a faint color of life. But this... it's nothing. No emotion, no color, nothing."
That was when it happened.
Hibari suddenly clutched his head and doubled over.
"...!"
"Hibari-kun!?"
Without thinking, she reached for his shoulder.
Hibari's face was twisted in pain.
"...My head feels like it's splitting. When I try to read this flower, it's like it reads me back instead..."
He staggered to his feet.
"...I knew it. This isn't normal. There's something wrong with this flower."
Hibari turned to face her.
"Takanashi-san. The four of us in VOLTACTION got caught up in a strange incident two years ago. It's called the Midnight Corridor Incident. At that time, we stopped a student whose powers went out of control. Since then, we've been sensitive to weird powers like this."
Hibari's eyes were serious.
"Our bond is real. No matter what happens, it won't break. But that flower of yours is trying to distort our hearts. Stay away from Kanato."
"...What?"
"Kanato is kind. If he realizes you're being controlled by some strange power, he won't be able to leave you alone. But that would put him in danger. You understand, right?"
Hibari's words were cold.
"I'll do whatever it takes to protect my friends. If you do anything to Kanato, I won't forgive you."
With that, Hibari left the greenhouse.
She stood there, frozen.
*(Stay away from Kanato.)*
Hibari's words repeated in her head.
*(I would put Kanato in danger?)*
No. She had only been treated kindly by him. That was all. And yet.
*(I want to argue back.)*
Something inside her was screaming.
*(That kindness might be real. It might not be the flower's power — it might be Kanato's own kindness.)*
But she couldn't voice it.
She was completely overwhelmed by Hibari's intensity.
After dinner.
Room 108 of the girls' dormitory.
She sat on her bed, hugging her knees.
*(Kanato's voice.)*
*Are you okay?*
*The flowers are beautiful.*
*Don't push yourself too hard.*
All of them were gentle words.
*(But Hibari said it. That flower is trying to distort our hearts.)*
Was Kanato's kindness fake?
Just thinking that made her feel like her chest would burst.
*(To Kanato, I'm nobody.)*
Just another student at the same school.
Until yesterday, they'd never even spoken.
And yet, he'd suddenly been kind to her.
*(It must be because of that flower, afte
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