Chapter 1: Prologue

A large local park caught my eye, and I planted my foot on the ground, bringing my bike to a stop.

My body was naturally drawn toward the park, now bathed in the orange glow of the sunset.

“Come to think of it… was it around this time of year?”

My memory drifted back about eight years—back to when I was a third-grader in elementary school.

That was the day I saw a certain girl crying right here in this spot.

Standing before the pond, its surface shimmering under the setting sun, the faint images of her and my younger self seemed to materialize before me.

“I don’t wanna say bye-bye to you, Sora… I really don’t want to…”

She grabbed my sleeve, pleading with me, her face a mess of tears. But back then—no, even now—there was nothing I could do to make her stay.

Yua Yushiro. Because of her parents’ circumstances, it had been decided that she would move from here in Saitama to Tokyo.

Going from Saitama to Tokyo isn’t actually that far by train, but to our kid minds back then, it felt like a distant land we couldn’t easily reach.

I put my hands on her trembling shoulders and crouched down slightly to look her in the eye.

“I won’t let this be goodbye. I’m gonna get bigger, and manlier, and then… I promise, I promise I’ll come for you, Yua!”

“Really? You won’t forget me? You’ll come for me?”

“Like heck I’d forget! And then, when we’re both grown-ups and meet again…”

…Let’s get married.

As if waking from a dream, the two young children vanished from my sight.

Looking back, that might have been the shining peak of my life so far.

I’d be too embarrassed to say something that cool now even if you tore my mouth open, and I don’t even have anyone to say it to anyway.

I’m currently a second-year in high school, turning seventeen this year. Even though I’m only a year or two away from technically being an adult, my manliness is completely losing to my third-grade self.

In this state, I couldn’t face Yua even if I wanted to. Not that I could—I don’t have her number or social media, so I have no way of contacting her.

“Sigh… I wonder where she is and what she’s doing.”

She was shy, but always so cheerful around me. Small and a bit of a crybaby, but she had a cuter smile than anyone else in class. I bet she’s grown up to be even cuter in the time we’ve been apart.

“Well, the slot for ‘marriage partner’ is still wide open, at least.”

That said, a verbal promise made by elementary schoolers is practically meaningless.

She’s probably forgotten all about me by now. Even if she does remember me, there’s no way she remembers the promise… let alone intends to keep it.

After all, it’s not like I’m seriously trying to fulfill that promise at this point, either.

The reason I don’t have a girlfriend isn’t because I’m saving myself for marriage with her; it’s simply because I’m not popular.

Where the hell did I go wrong?

I had lost the confidence I definitely possessed in elementary school, and now I couldn’t even talk to girls properly. I, Sorato Tsuzuki, had turned into a pathetic guy still clinging to the springtime of his youth from years ago.