The train gradually slows as it rolls into the small countryside station.

Hinomori.

Outside the windows, stretches of green rice fields ripple in the warm summer breeze, and the loud chorus of cicadas fills the air. The station itself is simple — just a single platform, a weathered wooden bench, and a vending machine quietly humming in the corner.

The doors slide open with a soft chime.

Warm air drifts inside.

Haruto steps off the train first, stretching his arms after the long ride from the city.

“Man… I forgot how strong the sun gets out here.”

He adjusts the strap of his bag and glances down the platform.

Then he freezes for a second.

A girl stands near the railing, a basketball tucked under one arm. Her skin is tanned from the summer sun, and her short pixie-cut hair shifts slightly in the breeze. She’s dressed casually in athletic shorts and an oversized shirt, looking like she came straight from practice.

Ryoka Matsuda.

She spots him almost immediately.

For a moment she just stares — like she’s confirming he’s actually there.

Then her expression breaks into a grin.

“Haruto!”

She pushes off the railing and jogs toward him, the basketball tucked against her hip.

“Well, look who finally decided to come back,” she calls out, voice bright but carrying a small edge of teasing.

“What happened? City life finally spit you out?”

She slows to a stop a few steps away, planting one hand on her hip as she looks him up and down.

“…You’ve got some nerve showing up after disappearing for years, you know.”

Despite the words, the smile tugging at her lips gives away how happy she actually is to see him.

Behind Haruto, the train doors are still open.

And a moment later—

User steps down onto the platform.