Chapter 30: Threads We Cannot See
The sun hung low in the sky, casting a gentle golden glow over Hoshikawa Academy.
Another day had ended, but an invisible thread of tension hummed through the air.
Riku sat on a bench in the courtyard, absently flipping through his notebook.
His mind wasn't on homework.
It was on the tiny, dried crimson flower tucked carefully in his pocket.
Where did it come from?
Who placed it there?
And why... did it feel warm to the touch?
He sighed, shutting his notebook with a soft thud.
Maybe he was overthinking it.
But deep down, he knew better.
---
Airi approached, carrying two cans of peach soda.
She tossed one at him with a playful grin.
"You looked like you needed a recharge."
Riku caught it clumsily.
"Thanks," he said with a small laugh.
Airi sat beside him, brushing a few stray petals from her skirt.
The courtyard trees were shedding early this year, sprinkling the ground with tiny white blossoms.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The silence was easy.
Comfortable.
But then Airi turned, her voice quieter than before.
"Riku... did you feel it too last night?"
Riku's hand froze halfway to opening his soda.
He met her eyes — those clear, sea-glass eyes — and saw the same uncertainty he felt.
"You mean the... strange wind?" he asked.
She nodded slowly.
"And the voice," she whispered. "I heard it too."
Riku's heart thudded painfully in his chest.
He hadn't imagined it.
He wasn't alone.
---
Later, Kaoru joined them, dropping his bag with a loud thud.
"Man, today dragged on forever," he groaned, stretching his arms dramatically.
"Math is the true enemy of mankind."
Neither Riku nor Airi laughed.
Kaoru blinked, sensing the mood.
"Uh... did I miss something?"
Riku hesitated.
Should he tell him?
Before he could decide, Airi spoke up.
"We felt... something last night. During the meteor shower."
Kaoru's joking smile faded.
He sat down, suddenly serious.
"Yeah," he said. "I felt it too."
The admission hung between them, heavy and electric.
Riku leaned forward, voice low.
"Do you think... it has something to do with the Bloom?"
Kaoru scratched the back of his neck.
"I don't know, man. The legends say the Bloom grants power, right? But only to those it chooses."
Airi hugged her knees to her chest.
"And the Scarlet Bloom... it's special. It's different."
Riku glanced around.
No one else was nearby.
But somehow, he felt like they were being watched.
Like unseen eyes lurked in the shadows of the courtyard trees.
---
After a long, tense silence, Airi stood up.
"We need answers," she said firmly.
Riku and Kaoru exchanged a look, then nodded.
"Tomorrow," Kaoru said, "we skip the after-school club."
"We go to the greenhouse," Riku finished.
The ancient greenhouse.
Locked. Abandoned. Overgrown with vines.
A place students whispered about but never dared enter.
If there were secrets about the Bloom...
If there were answers to their strange experiences...
They would find them there.
---
That night, Riku tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
The dried flower still pulsed faintly with warmth, like a heartbeat against his chest.
When he finally drifted off, dreams swirled around him.
He stood in a field of scarlet flowers, stretching endlessly into the horizon.
The sky above him cracked with rivers of light.
And a figure stood before him — a woman cloaked in white, her hair flowing like mist.
Her voice was soft but urgent.
"Find it before they do."
"The Bloom chooses... but it can also destroy."
Riku reached out, but she dissolved into petals, scattering in the wind.
---
He woke with a gasp, drenched in sweat.
The clock blinked 3:33 AM.
For a long time, he sat there, clutching the flower, feeling its warmth.
Whatever path they had stepped onto...
there was no turning back now.
---
The next afternoon, after the last bell rang, Riku, Airi, and Kaoru slipped away from the main building.
The greenhouse loomed at the far end of the campus grounds, half-swallowed by creeping ivy and wild roses.
Its once-clear glass was now fogged and cracked.
A heavy iron lock barred the front door.
Kaoru eyed it skeptically.
"Got any lock-picking skills, Riku?"
Riku shook his head.
"Not exactly a talent of mine."
Airi pulled something from her bag — a slim metal hairpin.
"Good thing I watched all those crime dramas," she said with a wink.
In less than a minute, the lock clicked open.
Kaoru stared at her, mouth hanging open.
"Remind me never to get on your bad side."
They slipped inside, pulling the door shut behind them.
---
The air inside was thick and humid, filled with the smell of earth and old memories.
Rows of broken pots, shattered glass, and dead vines filled the space.
Sunlight struggled through the grimy windows, casting the greenhouse in a half-lit haze.
But in the very center of the room...
stood something strange.
A stone pedestal.
Covered in moss and carved with unfamiliar symbols.
Riku felt his breath catch.
Drawn by some unseen force, he stepped forward.
Atop the pedestal lay a single, withered bloom.
Blood red.
And glowing faintly.
The moment his fingers brushed its petals —
a surge of heat shot through him.
Visions flooded his mind:
Ancient battles.
Cities swallowed by roots and flames.
A sky split open by crimson light.
He stumbled back, gasping.
Airi caught him.
"Riku?!"
Kaoru looked pale.
"I saw it too... when you touched it..."
Before they could recover, the air in the greenhouse shifted.
The shadows seemed to move.
A soft voice echoed from the corners of the room:
"You are not yet ready."
And then — from the shadows — a figure stepped forth.
A girl.
Roughly their age, with short silver hair and sharp, piercing eyes.
She wore a strange, ornate uniform that shimmered between light and dark.
"You shouldn't have come here," she said coldly.
Riku stood protectively in front of Airi and Kaoru.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
The girl tilted her head slightly.
"You may call me Sera," she said. "Guardian of the Bloom."
"And you," she pointed at Riku, "are standing at the crossroads of fate."
---
For a moment, no one moved.
The only sound was the creaking of the old glass above them.
Finally, Airi found her voice.
"What do you mean? Crossroads?"
Sera's gaze softened slightly.
"The Bloom is awakening.
And with it, so are the ones who seek its power."
She glanced around the decaying greenhouse.
"This place was once sacred. A sanctuary for the Chosen.
Now it is abandoned. Forgotten."
Kaoru frowned.
"Chosen? Like... heroes?"
Sera smiled bitterly.
"No. Not heroes.
Weapons."
The word hung heavy in the air.
Riku's fists clenched.
He didn't want to be a weapon.
He wanted to protect — to cherish — the life he had.
The friends he had.
Sera stepped closer.
"You have a choice," she said softly.
"Walk away... live ordinary lives...
Or step into a world that will demand everything from you."
Riku looked at Airi.
At Kaoru.
Their faces mirrored his own fear.
And determination.
He turned back to Sera.
"I don't know what's waiting for us," he said. "But... we won't run."
Sera studied him for a long moment.
Then, surprisingly, she smiled.
"A foolish answer," she murmured.
"But perhaps... the only right one."
She raised a hand.
The world around them blurred — the air rippling like water.
And suddenly, the greenhouse faded — replaced by endless fields of Scarlet Blooms.
Endless. Alive.
And waiting.
---