Imagine a person...
Cold. Hollow. Like an empty shell.
My name is Ayano Aishi. I'm eighteen years old.
And for as long as I've known myself, I remember always feeling... empty.
Like an unfinished puzzle.
Like a black-and-white television screen, frozen and lifeless.
When I was little, I visited many hospitals. Saw many doctors.
They tried to fix me — poked and tested, asked questions I couldn't answer.
But in the end... I overheard the truth:
They couldn't figure out what was wrong with me.
And from their observations, I would never be normal.
It always felt like something inside me was missing.
This hollow feeling shaped my entire life.
I couldn't feel anything else. No matter what.
My world was always cold... dark... and silent.
And I... was trapped inside it.
My family tried to explain it to me when I was young, but I never understood.
As the years went by, I began to see the difference.
Other kids smiled, cried, shouted in anger — they felt things.
But I... I never did.
All I ever felt was emptiness. A dull, aching incompleteness.
My father desperately wanted to help me. He tried so hard.
But my mother... she wasn't like him.
She didn't seem worried.
She told me that she was just like me when she was young.
And that one day, I would meet someone who would make me feel whole.
Someone who would awaken the part of me that was missing.
But my father refused to listen.
He didn't want magic or hope — he wanted a normal daughter.
He wanted to fix me with everything he had: toys, trips, gifts, smiles.
None of it worked.
I never felt joy.
But for the first time in my life, I felt pity — pity for him.
This broken, helpless man who just wanted to see me happy.
So I started to fake it.
I pretended to smile. Pretended to be excited.
And he believed it.
He was happy.
We looked like a normal family.
But I think... deep down, he always knew I was acting.
School was worse.
Other kids could sense something was off.
They avoided me. Mocked me. Bullied me.
They pulled my hair, ripped my notebooks, shoved me in the hallways.
It was painful — not physically, but something deeper.
I realized that if I wanted them to treat me like a normal person,
I had to become one.
So I studied them. Copied them.
I learned how to laugh on cue.
I showed concern when someone was hurt.
I joined clubs, invented hobbies, made small talk.
I became a mirror — reflecting what they wanted to see.
Eventually, the bullying stopped.
People started to accept me.
But none of it was real.
Every word I said, every smile I gave, every tear I faked — all of it was a performance.
And inside... I felt absolutely nothing.
This went on for years.
And the older I got, the more I began to ache.
I wanted to feel something. Anything.
I tried everything I could.
I chased guilt, shame, regret — even fear.
But no matter how far I went, no matter how extreme I became...
Nothing worked.
I was still empty.
Still broken.
And then...
I met him...
It was just another ordinary school day.
Like always, I wandered the hallways before class — no destination, no purpose.
Lost in my cold, gray world.
I heard nothing but the hum of silence inside my mind.
Then suddenly — impact.
I bumped into someone and fell to the floor.
Pain shot through my hip. I rubbed it instinctively.
Taro:
"Oh! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!"
I looked up.
He was leaning down toward me, hand extended.
And the moment our eyes met...
Something inside me shattered.
Colors.
Heat.
Sound.
My world, once dull and lifeless, burst into motion.
I felt like I was breathing for the first time.
He looked concerned. His voice soft.
His eyes were... warm.
I couldn't look away.
He was different. So different.
Unlike anyone I'd ever met.
I took his hand.
He helped me up.
Taro:
"That was a hard fall... You're not hurt, right?"
I couldn't speak.
All I could do was nod.
I didn't want to let go of his hand.
There was something magnetic in his touch.
Something right.
He smiled awkwardly, apologized again, picked up his book... and walked away.
And without thinking...
I followed.
I didn't know where he was going.
But my feet moved on their own.
I had to know more.
I had to learn everything.
Who he was. What he liked. What made him smile.
I walked to the end of the corridor...
And then I saw him.
With... a girl.
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[End of Chapter 1]