A fathomless voice echoed in the floating darkness. It seemed so distant at first, but it slowly grew louder and clearer. It was a man's voice. It sounded coarse and deep, but still pleasant for the ear.

It called for him.

“Yuuta…“

He opened his eyes and looked around before letting out a sigh of relief as he realized it was just a dream…or was it? Whose voice was that and why did it call for him? As he thought about that, his eyes turned to the digital clock next to his bed.

Of all the days, why today?...

Today was his graduation ceremony. After today the title “high school student” would no longer be referring to him – Yuuta Nakamura. He’d be aiming for something better.

At least that’s what he was saying to himself as he was getting ready for the ceremony.

He put on his school uniform consisting of a white shirt, a straight-lined black jacket with a vertical alignment of large golden buttons and black straight-lined trousers. To top it all off, he put on his brand new black leather shoes which completed his look.

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“Ahh, this is such a pain…”

He usually wore his uniform with the top button unbuttoned, as he found it to be much more comfortable, but he can’t do that today - it would be disrespectful. He grabbed his coat and scarf and headed down to the entrance.

“I’m off!”

His voice echoed through the house for a moment as he was standing at the door, but there was no reply. His parents were off on a business trip and his younger sister already left. He knew that and he was used to it, but he still hoped to hear them send him off.

With a feeling of dissapointment, he left for his graduation ceremony. He went through the same street in the same neighborhood as he always did when going to school, but this usually vibrant Tokyo street was unusually empty today – it was as if it were abandoned. However, the faint sound of vehicles driving by and chirping birds atop the line of cherry trees was proof it was not completely void of life.

Random gusts of a bone-chilling wind blew, carrying cherry petals with them. The irony of the weather annoyed Yuuta.

“Tch! Damn weather!”

The wind suddenly picked up as if in response to his remark. Yuuta shivered a bit from the shocking blow of cold wind on his back.

With an annoyed look on his face, he picked up his pace a bit and continued towards the school grumbling along the way. He hoped this day would end soon.