The school bells rang.
Girls in red ties and pleated skirts wandered through the hallways, chattering about clubs and homework. Boys in blazers and crisp shirts adjusted their red ties, shuffling toward their next classes.
A teacher stood by the lockers — kind smile, fiery spirit, the type who scolded with love.
"Come on — faster! You don't want to be late again, do you, Kiryu?"
she called out, waving one arm like a traffic officer.
Students hurried past, but all of them smiled.
They clearly adored her.
THUD.
"Ow."
She turned.
A blonde girl sat cross-legged on the floor, staring at nothing with a vacant, almost serene expression.
"Sky? Are you alright?" the teacher asked gently.
Sky blinked up at her slowly.
"…Where is the Music Club?"
The teacher paused.
"I believe… Floor 2, Room B-5."
Sky nodded firmly and bowed.
"Thank you, Miss."
"No probl—"
The teacher blinked.
Sky was gone.
"She really is a strange girl…" the teacher sighed, though fondly.
Sky speed-walked down the hall, her bag bouncing behind her.
Thoughts swirled in her head like loose papers in a fan.
This must be the room.
I can join the music club.
Learn guitar.
Just like the manga heroines.
Cute all-girl club vibes.
Yes. This is perfect.
Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
She opened the door—
And the world blinked.
The ceiling vanished.
The floor vanished.
The hallway vanished.
Wind brushed against her upside-down face.
Sky blinked.
"…Why am I upside down in a tree?"
She squinted.
"…This can't be the music class."
Leaves rustled.
Birds chirped.
Her hair dangled downward like a sad blonde waterfall.
She stared blankly at the sky.
"…Hey."
"…Hey."
"…Hey."
"—I'm talking to you."
Sky froze.
She turned her head slightly, still hanging upside down.
A red-haired man stood below her, looking up with the expression of someone who had already mentally resigned from life.
She blinked at him.
"Oh. Hello."
He sighed.
"…Get down from the tree."
SNAP.
And she fell.
The man sighed — the long, heavy kind that sounded like he'd aged five years watching her fall.
"Why were you up there?" he asked, rubbing his temple.
Sky sat in the dirt, hair full of leaves, staring at him with the calm blankness of someone who had absolutely no intention of producing a reasonable answer.
"…Tree's always find their way to me," she said softly.
A pause.
"…like a magnet."
The man stopped.
Slowly… painfully slowly… he lifted a hand and scratched the side of his head, looking at her the same way someone might look at an alien casually explaining quantum physics.
"…What does that even mean?" he muttered.
Sky tilted her head.
"I dunno. They just do."
Wind rustled. A leaf fell between them.
He stared at her for another three silent seconds.
Then:
"…You are injured, aren't you?"
"I think so," Sky said. "But also maybe not."
He closed his eye. Took a deep breath. Regretted every decision that led him to this moment.
"…Stand up. We need to leave before more of them show up."
Sky blinked.
"…More of who?"
He stared.
"…The ones who were trying to kill you."
She gasped.
"Oh. Right. Them."
He almost collapsed.
Sky dusted dirt off her skirt, then looked up at him.
"Who were they?" she asked.
The man opened his mouth to answer—
Sky suddenly reached up and pressed a finger to his lips.
A soft shh.
His entire body locked.
His eye twitched with visible restraint.
Sky leaned in, expression perfectly blank.
"Who are you?" she asked, as if this question had been burning on her soul for the last five seconds.
The man stumbled back, caught entirely off guard.
"I— what— you—"
Sky tilted her head.
"…Oh right," she said, as if remembering basic conversation. She lowered her hand.
He stared at her like she had just committed a religious violation.
"…My name's Keir," he muttered finally.
He looked away from her — up, toward the sky — one hand resting quietly on the sheath of his sword.
There was a tired solemnity in the way he stood, as if he'd been carrying something heavy for years.
Under his breath, he murmured:
"…Isn't it beautiful."
Sky blinked, then followed his gaze.
Above them:
A deep, endless blue — too bright to be real.
Clouds like sprawling brushstrokes painted across the heavens.
A sky so perfect it felt unreal.
Sky's mouth parted slightly.
"…Woah."
Keir watched the clouds, his expression unreadable.
Sky watched the same clouds, her expression blank and mesmerized.
Two people looking at the same sky
for two very different reasons.