That same evening, after the image of Leo and Lumine's happiness on the school rooftop remained etched in her mind like a piercing needle, the late afternoon sun began to wane, casting long, pale orange shadows across the now-empty Classroom 3-A. Most students had dispersed, heading home or to their club activities. However, in a corner of a second-year classroom, not far from the stairs leading to the rooftop, Sora Aoki still sat silently at her desk, even though the final bell had rung long ago.
The report books she had intended to submit to the teacher at lunchtime still lay untouched on the desk beside her. After fleeing downstairs with a broken heart, Sora hadn't dared to go back up. The shame and pain were too intense to face reality. So, she chose to sit, lost in her own thoughts in the silent classroom, letting time pass slowly.
She pretended to review a history lesson in the open textbook before her, but her amethyst-purple eyes weren't focused on the words on the page. Instead, they gazed blankly out the window. The image of Leo Tsukino and Lumine Komori joking happily on the rooftop just a few hours earlier replayed endlessly in her mind.
Leo's relaxed, joyful smile when he was with Lumine... Lumine's clear, bright laughter echoing in her memory... The small gestures that showed their care and connection... Everything was so vivid it made Sora feel as if her heart was being squeezed.
"Why... why isn't it me..." Sora whispered to herself. The feeling of loneliness and being an "outsider" slowly ate away at her heart. She knew she had no right to feel this way. Leo and Lumine were both good people, and their love seemed beautiful and fitting. But still, she couldn't help but wish... wish to be a part of that happiness.
Sora slowly packed her books into her bag. She finally decided she should go home. Sinking into sadness in an empty classroom wouldn't make anything better. She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the room, looking weary and lifeless. The last light of day was fading from the sky, leaving only long shadows stretching across the increasingly silent school corridors.
Sora arrived home in the evening, after the sun had set. The atmosphere inside her small, two-story townhouse was silent, as usual. Her parents were still at work and would likely be home late again. Sora was used to being alone in the house; it had become normal. She took off her shoes and walked quietly up to her bedroom on the second floor.
Her bedroom was like her whole world, a place where she could be completely herself. The desk, usually cluttered with textbooks, now held only a small, light blue diary, open and lying flat. On the wall were line drawings of characters from her favorite fantasy novels. Beside them, hidden behind a framed picture of a fluffy puppy she'd borrowed from the library, was a photo of Leo Tsukino she had secretly taken from afar during the school sports festival last year.
Sora collapsed onto her bed, exhausted. The weariness wasn't physical, but mental, from her weakened and confused state of mind. She reached for the diary and began to read what she had written at lunchtime... "Today... I saw Leo-senpai and Komori-senpai on the rooftop again. They looked so happy... Komori-senpai has such a beautiful smile..." Tears welled up again as she read that sentence.
Her thoughts always returned to him... Leo Tsukino.
The memory of that day was still as clear as if it had happened yesterday. She was a first-year, and had dropped a large pile of report books in front of the library. Amidst the disapproving looks and snickers of some upperclassmen, she was about to cry from shame and nervousness. But then he appeared. Leo Tsukino, a second-year student who happened to be passing by. He didn't say much, just calmly bent down to help her gather the scattered books. When he was done, he handed them back to her with a faint smile at the corner of his lips. "It's okay. Just be more careful next time." Those brief words and that warm, sincere smile were instantly etched into Sora's heart.
From that day on, Sora's world revolved around him. Leo Tsukino became like a small, guiding light in her otherwise dull life. She started watching him from afar, silently observing his every move – the way he laughed with his friends, the way he looked out the window lost in thought, or even the way he frowned when reading a difficult book. Everything about him seemed interesting, captivating.
Sora sighed softly, turning a page in her diary. The pen in her other hand began to move, slowly writing down new words. "Today... I saw Leo-senpai and Komori-senpai on the rooftop again. They looked so happy... Komori-senpai has such a beautiful smile..." Her handwriting trembled slightly when she wrote Lumine's name.
Sora had tried to get closer to Leo many times, but each attempt ended in failure and disappointment. She vividly remembered the day she gathered all her courage to bake star-shaped cookies (because she'd heard Leo liked stargazing) and planned to give them to him at the science club room. But when she reached the door, she saw Leo laughing and talking happily with Lumine and his other friends. Her feet felt frozen; she couldn't go in. In the end, the box of cookies ended up in a trash can in front of the school, along with her silent tears.
Or the time she planned to "accidentally" bump into him in the hallway, just to have a chance to talk. But in her nervousness, she tripped over her own feet and almost fell. It was Leo who caught her arm in time. "Are you okay, junior?" he asked with concern. But Sora was so embarrassed her face turned beet red. She could only stammer, "S-sorry!" and quickly ran away, leaving Leo standing there, bewildered.
Every failure reinforced Sora's feelings of worthlessness and insecurity. She always compared herself to Lumine Komori. Lumine, who was beautiful, smart, articulate, and seemed to fit perfectly with Leo. While she was just a shy junior with nothing remarkable about her.
Sora turned another page in her diary. This page had several line drawings of Leo smiling. Each drawing captured small details she had observed and memorized. Beneath them, in a hurried but heartfelt script, were the words: "If I were Komori-senpai... If I were as brave and bright as her... would Leo-senpai even look at me?"
The desire to be "Lumine" was taking deeper root in Sora's heart with each passing day. She often stood in front of the mirror, imagining herself with long, golden-brown hair like Lumine's, with dark brown eyes that sparkled with confidence, able to talk and laugh with Leo as naturally as Lumine did. It was a sweet but painful dream, because she knew it could never come true.
Sora placed the diary beside her, leaning back against the headboard. Her amethyst-purple eyes stared at the ceiling, which was growing darker as time passed. The exhaustion from her thoughts and pent-up emotions made her eyelids increasingly heavy.
"I wish I could be you... Komori-senpai..." A faint whisper escaped her thin lips, before Sora's consciousness slowly drifted into a dark slumber. "I wish Leo-senpai would look at me... only me..."
She fell asleep with that intense desire still burning in her heart, sinking into a dream she hoped might one day become reality.
However... in the dead silence of that night, just before everything completely dissolved into darkness, a voice – cold, mysterious, and imbued with a terrifying power – seemed to whisper in the quiet of the room... or perhaps it was merely an echo from the depths of her own subconscious...
"...Then... just become her!..."
The voice resonated in the darkness before fading away, leaving only a chilling cold that spread throughout the room, and a slowly growing sense of instability, as if reality itself was about to distort...