At noon on April 3rd, Haizaki boarded a train bound for Tokyo.
He had asked the homeroom teacher for a day and a half off, and the teacher had agreed, since his reason was that he needed to visit the Eastern Union's embassy in Japan to handle some matters.
He really was going to the embassy to take care of something, but the more important reason was to fulfill the promise made for April 4th.
At this moment, Haizaki was both afraid to see Utaha and eager to see her again.
With a heart full of unease and faint impatience, Haizaki sat on the train heading toward Tokyo.
At five in the afternoon, Haizaki arrived at a flower shop in Tokyo.
"Welcome. How may I help you?"
When she saw Haizaki enter, the female clerk greeted him politely with a standard professional smile.
The man in her field of view looked very young, probably a high school or university student.
She guessed he was either buying flowers to confess his feelings or as a gift for his girlfriend.
How nice.
Unlike her, who still had to struggle and work hard for her dreams, with no time for romance at all.
"If it's for your girlfriend, I recommend roses. Our shop currently has—"
"Miss Aoyama, please give me a bouquet of forget-me-nots."
Noticing the name tag on the left side of the clerk's chest, Haizaki spoke.
He only needed forget-me-nots.
The meaning of forget-me-nots was different.
"Forget-me-nots?"
Roses were more suitable for giving to a girlfriend. Why forget-me-nots?
"Don't you have them?"
"No, we do. Please wait a moment. But if you're giving them to a girl, roses are more appropriate, especially if she's your lover or someone you're pursuing."
Aoyama offered her suggestion earnestly.
"No, forget-me-nots have special meaning for us."
"I see. Sorry about that."
"It's fine. Thank you, Miss Aoyama. By the way, Miss Aoyama, you're a part-time high school student, right?"
"Eh… yes."
She really couldn't deny it.
"Although it may not be appropriate to say this, Miss Aoyama, you should pay attention to rest. Your health is the foundation of everything."
If one looked closely, the dark circles under the girl's eyes were noticeable.
"Thank you… I'll keep that in mind."
Haizaki knew she wouldn't actually change anything.
It was just a polite response.
"Mm. Health is the most important thing. Dreams and everything else all depend on having a healthy body."
Haizaki stopped there.
He thought of Utaha staying up late to write, and how because of her health, she eventually—
Even with the influence of the "Solitary Apocalypse," it was unavoidable that Utaha's own poor physical condition was a major factor.
"Thank you…"
Aoyama sensed something different in Haizaki's emotions. Coupled with his repeated emphasis on health, she arrived at a reasonable guess.
Three minutes later—
"Here are your forget-me-nots. The total is 8,800 yen."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Please come again."
Haizaki looked at the forget-me-nots in his hands. Compared to the bouquet he had once given Utaha, these greenhouse-grown flowers lacked that sense of toughness and desperation.
Hopefully, Utaha still remembered.
That was what Haizaki thought.
…
Holding the forget-me-nots and wearing a baseball cap, Haizaki walked step by step toward the direction of Toyogasaki Academy.
He needed to go there first to check the situation.
At this time of day, there shouldn't be many people there.
The setting sun dyed the land red, a gentle breeze blew, carrying drifting cherry blossom petals, and the air was filled with a faint cherry blossom fragrance.
"Still longing for you to remember me."
That phone call had already made Haizaki understand that Utaha had forgotten his existence.
He repeatedly confirmed with the system and received only the response: "The assistant has lost her memories of the apocalypse world."
He both hoped Utaha would remember and hoped she would forget.
He was nervous. He was flustered.
Perhaps one day, when his authority level was high enough, he would be able to restore Utaha's lost memories.
After all, according to the system, as long as his authority and points were sufficient, he could do anything.
But all of that depended on one premise—resolving this catastrophic apocalypse and returning the world to a peaceful path.
The wind grew stronger. Cherry blossoms filled the sky like snowflakes, swirling upward before gently falling again.
Haizaki continued forward along streets that were unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar.
"Ring—"
The sound of a bicycle bell rang in his ears. A pure white beret fluttered down, landing perfectly within Haizaki's reach.
He instinctively reached out and caught it.
A white beret.
Haizaki turned around.
At the end of the cherry blossom-covered slope, a girl stood in peerless beauty, like a painting.
Nearby, a black-haired boy with glasses riding a bicycle was frozen in shock, deeply captivated by the harmonious scene he had just witnessed.
A male lead holding flowers met the female lead wearing a white beret on a cherry blossom slope.
It was practically a two-dimensional scene playing out in three-dimensional reality.
His creative urge surged instantly.
At the end of the cherry blossom slope, a girl wearing a white dress with a red vest jogged over.
"Thank you, really, thank you…"
The girl's plain words expressed gratitude, though they didn't sound particularly heartfelt.
But Haizaki knew this was simply her nature.
"It's nothing. Here you go…"
Haizaki smiled faintly, looking at the girl in front of him, and softly murmured in Chinese—
It's really nice to see you again, Kato.
The world really was small. On his very first day near Toyogasaki, he had already met two familiar people from his previous life.
After handing the beret back to Kato Megumi, Haizaki nodded and turned to leave.
It was time to go back.
All that remained was to wait for tomorrow.
"Hey, wait. At a time like this, shouldn't you, as the male lead, give the flowers to the female lead…?"
Aki Tomoya had already imagined the next line of dialogue and scene.
He was full of anticipation.
The story wasn't supposed to go like this.
Haizaki should give her the flowers—give her the flowers!
"I'm not the male lead, just an ordinary person you can find anywhere. And these flowers already have a recipient."
Haizaki continued walking, not stopping.
Tomoya wanted to chase after him, but once he calmed down, he finally realized how inappropriate his behavior had been.
He had mixed up the two-dimensional world with the three-dimensional one.
He then turned his gaze to the girl he had treated as the female lead.
Ordinary, with nothing particularly striking.
But upon closer inspection, her face was quite delicate, her figure well-proportioned, yet somehow… she felt very plain.
"Aki-kun, if you stare at me like that, even I will feel embarrassed."
The girl's calm, emotionless voice reached Tomoya's ears.
"Sorry, really sorry…"
Tomoya immediately lowered his head to apologize, but suddenly thought of something. He looked up, confusion in his eyes.
"You know me…?"
"Wouldn't it be strange if I didn't know you, Aki-kun?"
Tomoya felt as if the heavens were playing a huge joke on him.
In April, with cherry blossoms falling, Tomoya felt that he had encountered fate itself—he had witnessed a two-dimensional-style meeting of male and female leads in reality.
The only regret was that the male lead had already left…
At the edge of his vision, Tomoya had completely lost sight of the flower-holding male lead.
…