[The dead are gone, and the living go on.]
[Your boyfriend's passing didn't destroy you, but it left a hollow space in your heart.]
[For a long time, nothing in life could bring you joy. It was as if all color and brightness had drained from your world.]
[Your eyes could see only gray and lifeless tones.]
[You practiced piano mechanically, driven only by your promise to him to fulfill it two years later. In your free time, you would open the diary and read the warmth of your love. Only then could you feel alive.]
[You had never once read the diary to the very end. Every time, your vision blurred with tears halfway through, the sharp ache in your chest making even turning a single page unbearably hard.]
[Days like this went on for three months.]
[Under your friends' patient comfort, your grief slowly softened. Bit by bit, color returned to the world, and you began to walk out from the shadows.]
[Then came summer.]
[After taking a deep breath, you finally made up your mind to open the diary your boyfriend had left behind.]
[This time, you would read it to the end. You would finish his last words.]
[One page, another page…]
[You didn't know how many you had turned.]
[Memories flowed with every line, and tears once again blurred your vision.]
[At last… you found his "will."]
[The thing you had searched for among all his belongings without success, he had hidden it here, within the most precious record of your memories together.]
[You wiped your tears away and read every word carefully...]
[It was two sheets of music. One a piano piece, or more precisely, an accompaniment. On the last page was the main melody of another song, so intricate that you wondered how difficult it must be to play it on the violin. Was there anyone in the world besides him who could perform such a piece?]
[At the bottom of the "will," Toru had written a code: ⑥, ①⑨, followed by a small treasure chest symbol.]
[You didn't need long to understand. Those numbers marked the place where you first met. Even after death, he was still finding ways to trouble you.]
[You hurried to the music room, searching for the "treasure" he had buried there.]
[Finally, on one wall of the classroom, you found your next clue.]
[He had hidden little fragments of your time together, waiting for you to discover them.]
[Following each sign, step by step, you searched. You felt like a child seeing her first toy. Excited, yet afraid.]
[In the end, you climbed the stairs and arrived at the school rooftop.]
[It was the astronomy club's domain. No other students had access to it except Toru. After his death, the key had been passed to you as part of his belongings.]
[You opened the rooftop door.]
[The hot summer breeze brushed against your face. For a moment, you thought you saw him standing there again.]
[When you blinked, his figure shattered like a bubble, leaving behind only a small paper box.]
[After months of wind and rain, the box was already falling apart.]
[You didn't care about its condition. You ran to it, desperate to see what it contained—]
[To your surprise...]
[There wasn't much "treasure."]
[Inside was a carefully preserved USB drive and a photo sticker from one of your dates, covered in silly filters and decorations. You remembered laughing hard at his ridiculous expression when you first saw it.]
[The USB contained an audio file, the main melody of the "will," personally performed by Toru.]
[Nothing else.]
[He hadn't left a recording of his voice, nor any videos.]
[Looking back, you realized that despite all the time you had spent together, you had never filmed a video with both of you in the frame. Even photos were rare. He had always been the one holding the camera, taking pictures of you. Beautiful, cute, perfect. He'd even joked once, half serious, that he didn't want anyone else photographing his girlfriend.]
[Recalling all this, tears spilled down your face once again.]
[When you returned home, you sat at the piano and tried to play along with his recorded performance—]
[You had played duets countless times before, yet now… you couldn't keep up with him.]
[You lowered your head and stared at your hands in silence.]
[The next day.]
[You moved into Toru's old home and began practicing on his piano. In the half year since his death, you had never once set foot in that house, let alone touched his instrument.]
[You had feared the memories it carried, yet feared even more the thought of forgetting him. That tangle of emotion had kept you from crossing the threshold.]
[But now, you couldn't stand still any longer.]
[You didn't want to waste your life unable to play the "will" he had left behind. You wanted to join him again, one last time, in a performance that belonged only to the two of you.]
[So you began practicing relentlessly.]
[Your parents didn't understand.]
[Your friends didn't understand.]
[Even the members of Kessoku Band, seeing how obsessed you had become, tried again and again to talk you out of it.]
[You ignored them. You entered a strange, transcendent state. Your hands no longer felt bound by flesh, your heart soared like a bird freed from its cage.]
[And in that moment, you understood why Toru had always gazed at the sky. Knowing his talent would be an envy of the heavens, that his life would be short, his soul had already left the world. And you, through love, had chained that free spirit down.]
[You felt a pang of regret.]
[The next year.]
[Winter gave way to spring.]
[In the beautiful season of falling cherry blossoms, you welcomed your first spring without him, your first April without him.]
[Because of your piano talent, you had been accepted early into Tokyo University of the Arts, skipping the national exams entirely.]
[That year, you began joining various competitions, learning from other performers, absorbing their strengths.]
[Your already exceptional skill continued to grow.]
[The third year.]
[As a freshman, you had little social life. Your entire being was devoted to the piano.]
[By then, you finally realized that your boyfriend's "will" was never meant to be a farewell as it was meant to push you forward, to keep you from sinking into despair.]
[That September, you began preparing for the Chopin International Piano Competition.]
[That world-class event had always been your dream, the goal you had fought toward for years.]
[And at the same time...]
[It was what he had promised you.]
[Your first, and your last promise together.]