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Chapter 2: The First Page
The next day, the rain had faded, leaving only a damp breeze that carried the scent of the sea and damp earth. Gray clouds still lingered overhead, but the sun tried to push through, casting weak, silvery light over the rooftops of Hoshikawa.
Kaito arrived early at his bookstore. He didn't know why, exactly—he rarely opened before nine, and customers weren't in the habit of arriving until well after ten. But today felt different. His thoughts were filled with the image of the girl on the bench, her hair tangled with rain, her voice like a whisper in a dream.
He walked the narrow aisles of Ocean Pages, trailing his fingers over book spines. A mystery, she had said. One with an ending.
After a few minutes, he pulled down a worn paperback—The Silent Hour, a quiet, haunting detective story where the investigator solved the case not with brilliance, but with compassion. The ending was bittersweet, but complete. Healing, in a way.
He slipped it into a brown paper bag and scrawled a short note on a scrap of stationery before folding it inside:
"For someone who sees the world in silence—
I hope this story keeps you company.
– Kaito"
The day passed slowly. He served two customers, both regulars, and reorganized a shelf that didn't really need organizing. His hands moved, but his mind was already walking the cliffside path, already hearing the waves.
By the time the light began to dim again, he was on his way.
The bench stood empty when he arrived.
For a moment, he simply stood there, heart dipping just slightly. Maybe she wouldn't come. Maybe yesterday had been a flicker of something fleeting, a moment already gone.
But then he heard footsteps.
She appeared from the far end of the park, her coat a little drier, her walk unhurried. Her expression was unreadable, but she paused when she saw him waiting there, book in hand.
"I wasn't sure if you'd be here," he said.
"I always come," she replied, sitting down on the bench like she was returning to an old ritual. "I don't always want to. But I do."
Kaito sat beside her this time, leaving space between them, just enough.
"I brought you something," he said, offering the paper bag.
She took it, fingertips brushing his. For a while, she didn't open it. Then, without a word, she pulled the book from the bag and turned it over in her hands like it was something precious.
"The Silent Hour," she read aloud, voice soft. "Sounds lonely."
"It is," he said. "But not hopeless."
A faint breeze passed between them. Her fingers traced the edges of the cover, slow and deliberate.
"I used to read a lot," she murmured. "Before."
Kaito didn't press. Instead, he looked out at the ocean with her, letting silence fill the space without pressure.
Finally, she said, "Aira."
He turned toward her, surprised. "What?"
"My name," she said. "You brought me a book. I thought… you should know."
Aira.
He smiled, the name settling comfortably in his mind.
"Nice to meet you, Aira."
She didn't smile, not quite, but her lips twitched slightly, like the memory of a smile was trying to return. She opened the book and flipped to the first page. Then she stopped and looked at him.
"You wrote something," she said. "In the note."
"A little," Kaito said. "I hope it wasn't too much."
She didn't reply. She just folded the note carefully and tucked it inside the front cover like it was something to be kept.
Then she began to read.
Kaito stayed there, beside her, watching the ocean. He didn't need words. Not tonight.
Sometimes, the first page is just the beginning of healing.
And sometimes, it takes only a single act of kindness to begin rewriting someone's story.
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