Cold.
That was the first thing Sakura felt.
Cold stone beneath her hands.
Cold air against her skin.
Cold silence surrounding everything.
Sakura slowly opened her eyes.
For several seconds, she simply stared upward.
Rows of shelves stretched endlessly above her.
Books.
Thousands of them.
No.
Millions.
The shelves rose so high that darkness swallowed their upper ends.
She couldn't even see the ceiling.
Her mind struggled to understand what she was seeing.
"...Haruto?"
No answer.
The silence remained.
Sakura sat up.
Immediately regretting it.
Her head spun.
Memories crashed into her.
The wedding.
The accident.
The light.
Then—
nothing.
Her breathing quickened.
No.
No no no.
This wasn't right.
She should be with Haruto.
She remembered holding his hand.
She remembered his voice.
She remembered—
"Haruto!"
Her shout echoed through the library.
The sound traveled.
And traveled.
And traveled.
Eventually disappearing into the distance.
No answer came back.
Sakura stood.
Her legs trembled.
The endless shelves surrounded her from every direction.
Books filled every corner.
Every wall.
Every shadow.
Some looked ancient.
Others appeared brand new.
Some glowed faintly.
Others seemed older than time itself.
The sight was beautiful.
Terrifying.
Impossible.
"...where am I?"
No answer.
Only silence.
---
Hours passed.
Or maybe minutes.
Sakura couldn't tell.
The library never changed.
There were no windows.
No sunlight.
No clocks.
Nothing that marked the passage of time.
Just shelves.
Books.
Silence.
At first she searched carefully.
Then desperately.
Then frantically.
Running through endless aisles.
Calling Haruto's name.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Eventually her voice became hoarse.
Still no answer.
The realization slowly settled inside her.
She was alone.
Truly alone.
For the first time in years.
---
Eventually exhaustion forced her to stop.
Sakura collapsed beside a shelf.
Her legs ached.
Her throat burned.
Tears stung her eyes.
She hated crying.
Especially now.
Because crying wouldn't help.
Haruto always said that.
Not in a cruel way.
In a practical way.
Whenever she panicked.
Whenever things went wrong.
Whenever life became overwhelming.
He would smile and say:
> "Let's solve the problem first.
> Then cry later."
The memory hit harder than expected.
A small laugh escaped her.
Immediately followed by tears.
"...idiot."
Her voice shook.
"He was supposed to be here."
The library offered no response.
---
Something glittered nearby.
Sakura blinked.
A small blue object rested beneath a shelf.
Half-hidden in the shadows.
She frowned.
Slowly crawling closer.
A stone.
No larger than her palm.
Smooth.
Beautiful.
Blue.
The color reminded her of a clear summer sky.
Or a calm ocean.
Or—
Something else.
Something she couldn't quite place.
Sakura picked it up.
The stone felt warm.
Strangely warm.
As if it had been waiting for her.
The thought sounded ridiculous.
Yet she couldn't shake it.
Her fingers tightened around it.
For some reason—
holding it made her feel less alone.
Not safe.
Not happy.
Just...
less alone.
So she kept it.
---
More wandering followed.
More shelves.
More books.
More silence.
Until eventually—
she noticed something strange.
A book sitting on a pedestal.
Alone.
Unlike every other book.
Unlike everything else.
The cover was blank.
No title.
No markings.
Nothing.
Sakura approached cautiously.
The moment her fingers touched the cover—
the book opened by itself.
Pages flipped rapidly.
Thousands of pages turning on their own.
Faster.
Faster.
Faster.
Then stopped.
A single page remained open.
At the center of the page were only five words.
Words written in black ink.
Words Sakura had never seen before.
Yet somehow understood.
> **Every story must begin somewhere.**
The moment she finished reading—
the library trembled.
A deep vibration echoed through the endless shelves.
The floor shook.
Books rustled.
Dust filled the air.
Sakura stumbled backward.
"What—?!"
The world cracked.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
Like a page being turned.
The shelves blurred.
The darkness twisted.
Light exploded around her.
And then—
everything disappeared.
---
The last thing Sakura saw was the blue stone in her hand.
The last thing she felt was fear.
And the last thing she thought before consciousness left her was:
> Haruto...
> Please be alive.