Soft piano music echoed through the air, carrying with it fragments of faded memories.
Haruto (narration):
I always thought high school would be different...
A fresh start.
But the pain just... followed me.
---
[Flashback — Middle School]
Bully #1:
"Hey freak! Still drawing those dumb monsters in your notebook?"
Bully #2:
"Oops! Did I just spill water on your bag again? Clumsy me!"
(Laughter fills the hallway. Haruto is shoved hard into a locker.)
Airi (firmly):
"Stop it already. He hasn't done anything to you."
Bully #1 (mocking):
"Aww, his little girlfriend's here to save him again."
(Haruto keeps his head low. His hands tremble. His eyes glisten with quiet tears.)
Haruto (narration):
Every day was the same.
The punches, the whispers... the pity in Airi's eyes.
I hated being seen like that. But more than anything...
I hated myself for being too weak to stop it.
---
[Transition — High School | Two Years Later]
The school bell rings. Students flood the halls. Haruto walks alone, quietly.
Haruto (narration):
Maybe here, things would change. New people. A new me.
(A group of students bump into him intentionally.)
Bully #3:
"Still quiet, huh? You're boring, Haruto. Maybe we should give you something to cry about."
(They shove him to the ground. Laughter erupts again.)
Airi (rushing in):
"Enough! He's done nothing to you!"
Bully #3:
"Tch. Why do you care so much about this loser anyway? You're wasting your time, Airi."
Haruto (narration):
Two years... and nothing changed.
Not even Airi could stop them.
I hated how helpless I was.
And worse... I hated that she kept getting hurt for me.
---
[Later That Night]
(Rain taps gently against the window. Lightning flashes faintly.)
Haruto lies awake in bed, staring at the ceiling.
Haruto (narration):
But that night... something changed.
I had a dream. No — it was more than a dream.
It was... a memory.
---
[Dream Sequence — Underground Chamber]
(A dim chamber. Faint golden light seeps from a wooden box atop a stone pedestal.
The walls are carved with ancient, spiraling symbols.)
A deep, echoing voice fills the chamber...
Mysterious Voice:
"When the time comes, you'll know.
Follow the memory.
The light will guide you.
You were never ordinary, Haruto.
The world just made you forget."
(Haruto slowly walks toward the box, drawn forward like a moth to flame.)
---
[Haruto Awakes — Night Silence]
(Haruto jolts upright in bed. The rain has stopped.)
Haruto (whispers):
"That place… it's real."
"I know where it is."
---
[Secret Journey — Late Night]
(Haruto slips on a jacket and quietly leaves the house.
Under the cover of darkness, he crosses the backyard toward an old, abandoned shed.)
(Behind broken floorboards... his hand finds a hidden trapdoor.)
Haruto (narration):
My grandfather's voice echoed in my head like it never left.
I had to know what was hidden there.
(With a lantern in hand, he descends into the darkness below.)
---
[Underground Chamber — Reality]
(The same chamber from his dream. The box sits silently at the center, glowing faintly.)
Haruto:
"What is this...?"
"Why does it feel like it's calling to me?"
(He reaches out, hands trembling. The lid creaks open.)
A burst of radiant light explodes outward — swirling gold and blue, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Haruto (shielding his eyes):
"What... is this?"
---
TO BE CONTINUED...