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 - On a night clinging to rain, I fall into a false love.
The moment she opened the classroom door that morning, the air changed.
Sumire nearly stopped in her tracks on the way to her seat. Her classmates' gazes flickered toward her for an instant. But before their eyes could meet hers, everyone quickly looked away. As if they were looking at something filthy.
*(Ah, so it's like this again today.)*
Deep in her chest, something went cold and tight. Sumire lowered her head and walked to her seat, careful not to make a sound.
On her desk, a small envelope had been placed.
A white envelope. She didn't know who had put it there. But the moment she saw the origami crane perched neatly on top of it, Sumire's fingertips trembled.
*(An origami crane...)*
Tsugumi used to fold them all the time. After school, in the corner of the classroom, she'd smile and say, "I'll teach you how to make them too, Sumire," as she folded pink origami paper in half. Sumire remembered the movement of Tsugumi's fingers from those days.
Sumire gently opened the envelope.
Inside was a single scrap of paper.
*"Disappear."*
Just two characters. Written hard, in ballpoint pen.
Sumire made no sound.
She couldn't.
It was as if something hot had blocked her throat. She couldn't draw breath properly.
*(Disappear.)*
*(They want me to disappear.)*
She crushed the paper in her hand, making no sound. In her palm, the paper crumpled into a tiny ball. Her nails dug in, and her palm hurt. But that pain alone felt like the only thing holding her together right now.
Sumire looked at the seat diagonally in front of her.
Shiina Tsugumi's seat.
It was empty again today. A pink mechanical pencil left on the desk caught the morning light streaming through the window, glinting faintly.
*(If only Tsugumi were here.)*
Every time she thought that, her chest burned with pain.
*(If Tsugumi were here, she would have laughed off a letter like this.)*
*("What is this, some childish harassment! Sumire, don't let it bother you, okay?")*
*(She would have pulled me along with that bright voice of hers.)*
Beneath her desk, Sumire squeezed the crumpled paper even tighter.
The paper's edges bit into her palm. It hurt. But without this pain, she felt like she might bolt out of the classroom right now.
The homeroom bell rang.
The teacher came in.
"Shiina is absent again today due to poor health."
At those words, somewhere in the classroom, she heard a stifled laugh.
Sumire didn't raise her head.
She opened her textbook. The letters looked blurred.
*(Today is Friday.)*
*(Tomorrow is Saturday.)*
*(A day when no one comes to school.)*
Sumire realized her breathing had become shallow.
No matter how much she inhaled, the air wouldn't reach the bottom of her lungs. It felt like a heavy stone was sitting in the center of her chest.
*(Tsugumi, what am I supposed to do?)*
She repeated the same question over and over in her mind.
No answer came.
Lunch break.
Unable to stay in the classroom, Sumire sat down in the shadow of the old building.
The courtyard between the main building and the old building filled with students during lunch. But behind the old building, there was little foot traffic. She leaned her back against the red brick wall and hugged her knees.
The ground was still slightly damp from yesterday's rain.
The hem of her skirt got dirty with mud. But she didn't care.
*(I'm not hungry.)*
She hadn't eaten anything since morning. When she remembered the smell of the yakisoba bread from the "Canaria" school store, she felt nauseous.
*(The yakisoba bread Tsugumi loved so much.)*
She closed her eyes.
On the back of her eyelids, Tsugumi's smile floated up.
"Sumire! Today I'm definitely winning the yakisoba bread!"
That girl's bouncing voice.
*(I want to see her.)*
*(I want to see Tsugumi.)*
Tears threatened to spill, and Sumire bit her lip.
That was when it happened.
"I figured you'd be here."
A voice.
Sumire looked up.
Watarai Hibari was standing there.
His flax-colored, wavy hair swayed in the wind. His large brown eyes were fixed on Sumire's face.
Hibari sat down beside her, leaving a little distance.
"Your color's been murky black all morning. I could see it even from outside the classroom."
Sumire couldn't say anything.
It took her a moment to understand what Hibari's words meant.
*(The colors of the heart.)*
Watarai Hibari could faintly see the colors of people's emotions. Sumire knew that about him.
"It's nothing."
Sumire forced the words out.
Her voice was small and hoarse.
Hibari looked at her hands.
Sumire's fingertips were trembling faintly.
Hibari furrowed his brow slightly, as if thinking about something. Then, suddenly, he spoke in a bright voice.
"Oh, right! The school store got a new melon bread in. The kind nobody's bought yet. Do you like sweet things? I bet it's really good."
Hibari kept talking in a deliberately light tone.
Sumire looked at his face.
Hibari was smiling.
But that smile wasn't the bottomlessly bright one he showed during his streams.
*(Hibari-kun is trying to make me laugh.)*
The moment she realized that, deep in her chest, something warmed just a little.
*(But.)*
*(This might also be the flower's power.)*
Sumire immediately closed off her heart.
*(Hibari-kun has only been kind to me since that flower bloomed.)*
*(Before that, he probably didn't even know my name.)*
*(This kindness isn't real.)*
Sumire bit her lip.
"...Thank you. But I'm fine."
She said that and averted her eyes from Hibari.
Hibari's smile clouded slightly.
He was staring intently at the color of Sumire's heart.
*(Black.)*
*(It had brightened just a little a moment ago.)*
*(Now it's even darker.)*
Hibari pressed his fingers to his temple.
A habit he had when using his faint mind-reading.
He could see the color of Sumire's emotions slowly sinking into a deep darkness.
*(This girl is preparing herself to lose someone.)*
*(She's trying to let go of something on her own.)*
Hibari's expression turned serious.
"...You're showing a really dangerous color right now."
Sumire didn't answer.
She just tightened her arms around her knees.
Hibari stood up.
"I have something to do in the clubroom after school today. Checking the streaming equipment. But once that's done, I'll head straight to the greenhouse."
Sumire looked up.
"To the greenhouse...?"
"Before you decide something on your own, I'll be there."
Hibari's voice wasn't in its usual light tone.
"So until then, don't do anything. Just wait."
Sumire looked into his eyes.
Large brown eyes.
Those eyes were staring straight at her.
*(Hibari-kun is serious.)*
*(He's trying to stop me.)*
Sumire's chest ached again.
*(But I—)*
*(I've already made up my mind.)*
Sumire gave a small nod.
"...I understand."
It was a lie.
Hearing her answer, Hibari looked slightly relieved.
"Then, see you later."
Hibari walked off toward the old building.
Sumire watched his back.
*(I'm sorry, Hibari-kun.)*
*(I can't wait.)*
After school.
Sumire headed to the greenhouse alone.
From behind the main building, she cut through the path in the wooded grove. Kunugi and konara trees grew thick on both sides, making it dim even in daylight. A moss-covered stone bench sat along the path.
Sumire stopped once in front of that bench.
*(I rested here so many times.)*
*(I talked with Tsugumi here, too.)*
*(Back then, I still didn't know anything.)*
Sumire clenched her fist and started walking again.
The greenhouse came into view.
A 124-year-old structure of steel frames and glass.
In the evening light, the glass glowed dully.
Sumire took out the old brass key.
She inserted it into the keyhole and turned.
*Click.*
She slowly opened the heavy door.
Inside, it was cool.
Damp air, thick with the smell of soil, leaves, and flowers.
Sumire headed toward the third section.
The soil that should have had nothing planted in it.
There, that flower was blooming.
The moment Sumire stepped inside, the flower emitted a pale blue light, as if it had been waiting.
*—So you've come.*
A voice echoed directly in her head.
A sweet, honey-like voice.
*—You've already made your decision, haven't you?*
Sumire stood before the flower.
Her legs were trembling.
"...What happens if I refuse the deal?"
Sumire forced the words out.
The flower was silent for a moment.
Then its leaves rustled.
*—If you refuse, I will wither your love, and you along with it.*
The voice turned cold.
*—I will erase your very existence from this world.*
The strength drained from Sumire's entire body.
*(Wither me along with it.)*
*(Erase my existence.)*
Sumire took a yellow ribbon from her pocket.
Shiina Tsugumi's ribbon.
The ribbon that had fallen on the greenhouse floor that day.
Sumire pressed the ribbon to her chest.
"...Please."
Tears overflowed.
"I offer you the memories of being loved. So... please, give Tsugumi back."
Her voice trembled.
The flower quivered its petals, as if delighted.
*—Very well.*
*—Now, close your eyes.*
Sumire was about to close her eyes.
That was the moment.
BANG!!!
The greenhouse door flew open with force.
Sumire spun around.
Hibari stood there, his bangs wet.
He was out of breath, his shoulders heaving.
"...I made it."
Hibari looked at Sumire's face.
"Your color went pitch black, so I ran."
Hibari looked at the ribbon clutched in Sumire's hand.
Then he looked at the flower.
Hibari's eyes flashed sharply.
"Don't you dare touch her memories!"
Hibari's shout echoed through the greenhouse.
The flower rustled its leaves, as if mocking him.
*—Those eyes of yours are irritating.*
The flower's voice poured directly into Hibari's head.
*—Then let me show you. The true colors of your companions.*
The next instant, Hibari's body lurched violently.
"...Ugh, aaaah!"
Hibari clutched his eyes and ears.
The flower was flooding his faint mind-reading directly with false emotions.
*—The color of Kazaraku Kanato's irritation as he looks at you.*
*—The color of Shiina Tsugumi sneering at your love, calling it foolish.*
*—The color of your classmates seeing you as filth.*
A torrent of negative emotions from everyone involved surged into Hibari's mind all at once.
"S-stop... it...!"
Hibari screamed.
"AAAAAAAHHH!!"
Hibari collapsed to the floor.
The back of his head struck the hard earthen floor.
*Thud.*
A dull sound.
"Hibari-kun!"
Sumire screamed.
Hibari lay on the floor, curled up and trembling.
He clutched his head with both hands, groaning in pain.
*(This is my fault.)*
*(Because I tried to accept the deal.)*
*(Hibari-kun got hurt.)*
Sumire's vision went black.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry...!"
Sobbing, Sumire fled from the greenhouse.
Outside, it was raining.
The sky that had been cloudy in the morning was now covered in thick clouds.
Cold rain pelted Sumire's hair and clothes without mercy.
Sumire ran.
She ran down the wooded path, stumbling again and again.
The muddy ground caught her feet.
She struck her knees.
She scraped her palms.
Mud and blood mixed together, staining her skirt.
Still, she ran.
*(Because of me.)*
*(I hurt someone again.)*
*(After Tsugumi, now even Hibari-kun.)*
*(It's me, it's me, it's me—)*
Sumire stopped near the construction fence behind the school building.
She couldn't breathe.
Her lungs burned.
Rain hammered against her face without mercy.
That was when it happened.
At the edge of her vision, a figure appeared.
A tall male student holding an umbrella.
Black hair.
*(Kanato-san.)*
Sumire's heart leaped.
It was Kazaraku Kanato.
Kanato was walking side by side with someone under his umbrella.
A small male student, apparently a soccer club underclassman.
The two of them were talking and laughing happily.
"So, morning practice tomorrow, meet at seven."
"Got it! Senpai, your shot today was seriously beautiful!"
"You've got a smooth tongue, I'll give you that."
Kanato's low, pleasant voice.
Laughter carried through the sound of the rain.
Sumire stood rooted to the spot.
Soa
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