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 the morning of the seventh day, even if love withers
It was Sunday night.
Outside the dormitory window, the sky had cleared as if the daytime rain had been a lie. The moon peeked through gaps in the clouds, casting a pale light toward the direction of the greenhouse.
Takanashi Sumire sat staring fixedly at the yellow ribbon placed on her desk.
Shiina Tsugumi's ribbon. The one that had fallen on the greenhouse floor.
*(I'll end it today.)*
Sumire picked up the ribbon. Her fingertips trembled slightly. The ribbon was cold, yet somehow it also felt warm. That bright yellow Tsugumi had always tied in her hair.
*(This is something I brought about.)*
*(So I'll be the one to end it.)*
Deep in her chest, her resolve slowly hardened. She was scared. Terribly scared. But she couldn't run away.
Sumire tucked the ribbon into the breast pocket of her uniform.
Then she took the greenhouse key from her desk drawer.
An old-fashioned brass key. The key that only Sumire, as the greenhouse manager, possessed.
She gripped the key tightly. The cold metal bit into her palm.
*(Let's go.)*
Sumire stood up.
The dormitory hallway was utterly silent. Only the green light of the emergency lamps faintly illuminated the floor. The clock on the wall had just passed nine in the evening.
When she stepped out through the entrance of the Estella dormitory, the outside air was chilly. It smelled of rain. Wet earth and grass, and somewhere far off, the faint scent of exhaust fumes.
Sumire headed toward the path through the wooded grove.
An unpaved trail leading from behind the main building to the greenhouse. Sawtooth oaks and konara oaks grew thick on both sides, making it dim even in daylight. At night, it was even darker.
Only the moonlight slipped through the gaps between the trees, making the wet fallen leaves glint silver.
Her footsteps echoed strangely loud.
She could almost hear the sound of her own heart, too.
*(I'm scared.)*
She murmured in her mind.
*(But I have to go.)*
When she emerged from the path, the greenhouse came into view.
Built 124 years ago, a Victorian-style structure of steel and glass. The aging glass walls reflected the moonlight, floating up in a pale glow.
And in front of it—there were four figures.
Kazaraku Kanato. Watarai Hibari. Shikinagi Akira. Seraph Dazzlegarden.
The four members of VOLTACTION were waiting for Sumire in front of the greenhouse.
Kanato noticed Sumire and turned around. His soft black hair swayed in the night breeze. His gentle brown eyes gazed directly at her.
"You came, Takanashi-san."
Kanato's voice was low and pleasant to the ear.
Sumire tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come.
Instead, she gave a small nod.
Hibari peered into Sumire's face as he spoke.
"Your color—it's calmer than yesterday. ...Just a little, it feels like you've steeled yourself."
Hibari had his fingers pressed to his temple. It was his habit when using his subtle mind-reading ability.
Sumire looked at Hibari's face.
His flaxen, wavy hair looked silver in the moonlight. His large brown eyes were reading the color of Sumire's emotions.
"...Yes. I've made my resolve."
Her voice trembled slightly.
Akira crossed his arms and spoke.
"Don't push yourself too hard. This isn't something you should carry alone."
It was a cool voice. But the words carried genuine concern.
Seraph quietly came to stand beside Sumire.
"It's all right. We're here with you."
Seraph's voice was calm and warm.
Sumire looked at each of their faces in turn.
*(Everyone came.)*
*(For someone like me.)*
A warmth spread deep in her chest.
"...Thank you, so much."
Sumire bowed deeply.
Kanato placed his hand on the greenhouse door.
"I'm opening it. ...Okay?"
Sumire held out the key.
Kanato took it and inserted it into the old-fashioned keyhole.
*Clunk.*
With a heavy sound, the door opened.
From inside the greenhouse, a sickly-sweet floral scent spilled out.
That flower's fragrance—so thick it was almost nauseating.
The five of them entered the greenhouse.
The third section of the greenhouse. Soil where nothing should have been planted.
There, that flower was blooming.
Bathed in moonlight, it glowed faintly.
The petals were red like blood. No—dark red, almost black. As if dried blood had taken the shape of a flower.
The flower slowly swayed its petals, as though it had been waiting for Sumire and the others to arrive.
*—So you've come.*
A voice echoed directly inside her head.
A sweet, grating voice.
Sumire stood before the flower.
She gripped the ribbon in her breast pocket tightly.
"Give back Tsugumi's memories."
Her voice trembled. But she didn't look away.
The flower laughed.
Its petals rippled eerily.
*—If you want them back, try to take them.*
*—But your love has been sustained by me.*
*—Will you throw that away?*
The flower's voice reverberated in her mind.
As if caressing the depths of Sumire's heart with sweet words.
*(Throw it away...?)*
For a moment, her heart wavered.
Her feelings for Kanato. The false kindness that flower had given her.
But.
Sumire shook her head.
"What you gave me was fake."
"I won't give my love to you."
The flower laughed eerily.
*—Then it will simply be taken from you.*
In that instant, the flower began to glow violently.
A dark red light flooded the greenhouse.
And then Sumire felt it.
Something was pulling at her memories.
The memories throughout the academy were being sucked into the flower.
*(Stop...!)*
Sumire clutched her head.
Hibari shouted.
"Everyone, be careful! The flower is starting to devour memories!"
Hibari pressed his fingers hard against his temple, concentrating on reading the flow of the flower's power.
Subtle mind-reading.
Hibari's ability to see the colors of emotion.
Hibari desperately traced the flow of the flower's power.
A torrent of dark red light. Something lay beyond it.
*(I can see it...!)*
Hibari found a small cluster of light deep within the flower's roots.
"...Found it. Tsugumi's memories. They're trapped as a core deep in the flower's roots."
The moment Hibari said that—
The flower unleashed a torrent of false emotions toward Hibari.
"Guh—!"
Hibari clutched his head and dropped to one knee.
False emotions flooded into his mind. Sorrow, anger, fear, despair. Emotions that weren't his own surged in like a tsunami.
"Hibari-san!"
Sumire tried to rush to him.
But Hibari held up a hand to stop her.
"...I'm fine. More importantly—I saw it."
Hibari raised his face.
Sweat beaded on his forehead. But his eyes shone with strength.
"I can see your color clearly now."
Hibari looked straight at Sumire.
"It's the same color as mine. You're scared, but you're standing your ground without running. ...I finally saw your true color."
Sumire's chest trembled at Hibari's words.
*(He can see my color...)*
*(The same color as Hibari-san.)*
Hibari slowly stood up.
"I'll leave the role of defeating the flower to you. You'll be the one to take back Tsugumi's memories."
Sumire looked at Hibari's face.
"...Me?"
"Yes. Only you can do it. That flower is clinging to your love. So you have to be the one to end it."
Hibari's voice was serious.
Sumire bit her lip tightly.
*(I'll do it.)*
*(For Tsugumi.)*
At that moment, Akira stepped forward.
"I'll lift the roots. With my buoyancy palm, I'll tear the flower's roots from the soil."
Akira aimed both palms at the base of the flower.
Buoyancy palm. Akira's ability to levitate anything he touches with his palms, up to five kilograms.
Akira's palms glowed with a pale light.
The soil began to tremble.
The flower's roots rose up from the earth.
Countless thin roots were tangled together, gripping the soil and refusing to let go.
"...It's heavy...!"
Akira clenched his teeth.
Sweat beaded on his forehead. Buoyancy palm consumed his concentration. Thirty seconds was his limit.
Seraph took Sumire's hand.
"Takanashi-san, the flower is trying to pour pain into you. I'll take it on."
Seraph's ability: pain transference.
The power to take on a portion of the physical pain of someone he touches.
In that instant, pain shot through Sumire's body.
The flower had unleashed a torrent of agony toward her.
But through Seraph's clasped hand, that pain was being drawn away.
Seraph's face twisted in anguish.
"Guh... ugh...!"
Even as he absorbed the pain, Seraph didn't let go of Sumire's hand.
"...You don't have to carry it alone."
Seraph's voice was trembling.
But his hand was warm.
Seeing Seraph's pained expression, Sumire's chest tightened.
*(Everyone is getting hurt because of me.)*
*(I want to run away.)*
*(But I can't run.)*
Sumire desperately suppressed the urge to flee.
Then she reached toward the base of the flower.
At that moment, Kanato stepped forward.
"I'll cut off the flower's words."
Kanato took a deep breath.
Resonant voice. Kanato's ability to instill trust in people.
Kanato had long struggled with the fact that his voice had the power to make people believe.
But now, it was different.
Kanato raised his voice.
"————!!"
Kanato's voice resounded throughout the greenhouse.
The flower's sweet whispers were drowned out.
The false voice that had enveloped Sumire faded away.
Kanato shouted.
"Your feelings are real! So they will reach her!"
Kanato's voice struck directly into Sumire's chest.
*(Kanato-san's voice is reaching me.)*
*(His real voice.)*
Tears spilled from Sumire's eyes.
But they weren't tears of sadness.
Sumire grabbed the flower's stem.
The stem was cold.
And then Sumire plucked the final blossom.
The last flower, filled with Tsugumi's memories.
The flower let out a death cry.
*—Your love will never be requited. For all eternity.*
The cold curse echoed through the greenhouse.
But Sumire no longer flinched.
The flower slowly withered.
The dark red petals turned brown and crumbled away.
The light faded.
And then silence fell.
Only moonlight streamed into the greenhouse.
Sumire clutched the plucked flower to her chest.
From within the flower, tiny particles of light spilled out.
Tsugumi's memories.
The particles of light floated gently upward, disappearing into the night sky.
"...Tsugumi."
Sumire murmured.
The tears wouldn't stop.
The next morning.
It was Monday morning.
Sumire sat at her desk in the classroom.
Outside the window, the sky was perfectly clear.
Last night felt like a dream.
But in her breast pocket, Tsugumi's ribbon was still there.
*(Will Tsugumi come back?)*
Sumire looked at the seat diagonally in front of her.
Shiina Tsugumi's seat.
It was empty again today.
*(I guess it really was impossible.)*
A sharp pain squeezed deep in her chest.
The homeroom bell rang.
The teacher walked in.
"Shiina will be returning to school starting today."
At those words, the classroom buzzed.
Sumire raised her head.
The classroom door opened.
There stood Shiina Tsugumi.
Bright chestnut hair in a semi-long cut. Half of it tied up with a pink scrunchie.
But her usual big smile was gone.
Tsugumi looked around the classroom with a somewhat dazed expression.
Then she looked at Sumire's face.
Sumire's eyes met Tsugumi's.
*(Tsugumi...!)*
Tsugumi stared at Sumire's face.
But in her eyes, there was none of the usual sparkle of "Sumire!"
Tsugumi tilted her head slightly.
"...Um, I'm sorry. I can't remember your name."
Sumire felt her breath stop.
*(She can't remember... my name.)*
*(My name.)*
But Tsugumi smiled softly.
"But you know, I feel like we've been together for a long time. With you, for a long time."
Tsugumi's voice was gentle.
Sumire desperately held back the tears that threatened to overflow.
"...I feel the same way."
Her voice trembled.
Tsugumi smiled again and sat down at her own seat.
Sumire gazed at Tsugumi's back.
*(She forgot my name.)*
*(But the feeling of having been together—that remains.)*
*(That alone is enough.)*
Sumire gently squeezed the ribbon in her breast pocket.
*(The days I spent with Tsugumi were real.)*
*(No one can take that away.
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