Chapter 29: Whispers Beneath the Stars
The golden afternoon slowly melted into a warm evening.
The soft chirping of cicadas blended with the chatter of students leaving the academy grounds.
Today had been another typical day... but somehow, to Riku, everything felt different.
Maybe it was the way Airi had laughed a little too brightly during lunch.
Or how Kaoru kept glancing toward the west wing of the academy — where the ancient, vine-covered greenhouse stood.
Or perhaps... it was just the strange feeling lingering in his chest ever since the night of the festival.
"You coming, Riku?" Kaoru called out, tossing his bag over his shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah!" Riku laughed, jogging after him.
Airi caught up to them, her hair swaying under the soft light.
"I heard there's a meteor shower tonight," she said, her voice tinged with excitement.
"Let's watch it together!"
Kaoru grinned. "Only if you bring snacks."
Airi puffed her cheeks. "Why do I always have to bring snacks?!"
They burst out laughing, their voices echoing in the empty courtyard.
Moments like this — simple, joyful, pure — made Riku's chest ache in a way he couldn't explain.
He wanted to hold onto these days forever.
---
Later, they gathered atop the hill behind the academy.
A spot where the city lights were distant, and the stars blanketed the sky like spilled glitter.
Airi had indeed brought snacks — mostly sweet rice crackers and melon soda — and they sprawled out on the grass, pointing at constellations like children.
"That one's obviously a cat," Kaoru declared confidently.
Airi squinted. "It looks like... a crooked spoon."
Riku laughed so hard he nearly choked on a cracker.
As the night deepened, a soft breeze brushed past them, carrying with it the faint scent of blooming flowers — even though no flowers should have been blooming this late in the season.
Riku sat up, feeling a strange shiver crawl down his spine.
"Did you feel that?" he asked quietly.
Airi and Kaoru looked at him, puzzled.
"Feel what?" Airi asked.
Riku hesitated. The feeling was faint — like a whisper brushing against his ear.
He turned toward the east, toward the hidden forest that bordered Hoshikawa City.
Something out there was calling him.
---
The first meteor streaked across the sky — a bright silver trail that made them all gasp.
"Wahhh!" Airi clapped her hands together.
"Quick, make a wish!"
Kaoru immediately closed his eyes, hands clenched tight.
"I wish for... endless snacks!"
Riku laughed but said nothing.
Instead, he silently wished:
"Let these days... never change."
Another meteor shot across the sky — this one bigger, blazing red.
Riku's heart skipped a beat.
Red... like the strange, glowing flower he had seen in his dreams lately.
The Scarlet Bloom.
He shook his head. It's just my imagination, he told himself.
But when he glanced at Airi, he noticed her staring at the same meteor — her hands trembling slightly.
And Kaoru, usually carefree and loud, had gone completely silent, his eyes wide and filled with something Riku couldn't quite name.
Fear? Awe?
Or maybe... recognition.
The wind picked up again, stronger this time.
And for just a split second — a heartbeat — Riku thought he heard a voice carried by the breeze.
"Awaken..."
---
They didn't talk about it that night.
They laughed, they teased, they shared their dreams under the falling stars.
But deep down, all three of them knew something had shifted.
The magic of the world they lived in — the magic they thought only existed in stories — was real.
And it had just brushed against their souls.
---
The next morning, Riku found something strange inside his desk at the academy.
A tiny, dried flower — crimson red — pressed neatly between two pages of his notebook.
It hadn't been there yesterday.
And when he touched it... he swore he could feel a faint warmth pulsing from its petals.
---
Meanwhile, deep within the ancient forest, far beyond the eyes of the city...
a figure cloaked in shadows watched the sunrise.
Their eyes glinted with a light that wasn't human.
"Soon..." they whispered to the morning breeze.
"The Scarlet will return."