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"Oh, isn't it too early?"

The next morning, Klaus waved at Aoi with a slice of bread in his mouth. He'd known that Aoi would come over by seven-thirty, but this time, she was waiting for him at the front door. They would go to school together every morning.

Had she eaten breakfast already?

"I'm always early," Aoi responded calmly. "Come on, Klaus. Eat faster."

"Aoi, it's still quite early, isn't it? Come here and have some sandwiches."

Grandma motioned for the girl to sit next to her. Immediately, she obeyed. Even for the expressionless girl, an invitation from an elderly was hard to reject.

"What's the rush?" Klaus asked Aoi as he put on his shoes. The girl in question bit her lip slightly and ran a hand over her bangs.

"Aren't you curious?" she said.

"Of what?"

"That prank letter. You must be dying to find out who sent it, right?"

"Well..." Klaus scratched his head. "I am, but it's not like I can just ask anyone at random and make them confess. Hey, did you write this? Of course, they would run away if I choose to do things this way. Besides, I'll forget about it sooner or later."

The duo left through the front door and began walking down the streets. The spring season was near, so the cherry blossom trees near the sidewalk the two were walking could be seen preparing to bloom. Klaus unzipped his schoolbag in his hand and pulled the white letter. He was merely trying to assuage the butterflies in his stomach.

After taking a good look, he slid the letter in his schoolbag smoothly.

"There's quite a lot of people today," Aoi commented.

"Well, this place is always bustling with people early in the morning. And we're already at the school gate. I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're hopeless. Look, those are students from our middle school. Why are they grouping like that?"

Klaus poked his head into the school-uniform-wearing crowd of people. It appeared that these students were girls, most of them, and they were fawning over someone standing in the middle of the sidewalk. A celebrity?

The girl receiving all this attention exuded a soothing aura and wore a pleasant smile on her face. She had her blond hair tied into a ponytail. From a single glance, one would think this girl came from abroad.

"Oh, an exchange student?" Klaus muttered. A strange sense of deja vu hit him when he focused on her, which was peculiar. He'd never met her.

"Her bow is blue. She's a middle school student like the rest of them," Aoi spoke out disinterestedly.

"Hmm?" Even though the shouts and girlish cheers had drowned their conversation, the blond girl noticed these two immediately. More specifically, she had her gaze directed towards Klaus.

She raised her right hand to silence the crowd.

"Hm?"Klaus stared at the blond girl as well, and after a few moments, he felt a throbbing pain in his head. Huh? It happened too sudden that he groaned from it unexpectedly. Aoi's eyes opened wide.

"Klaus...?" Mouth agape, the blond girl took a few steps back, turned her head, and pushed her way through the crowd.

"Miss Tsujihara?"

"Wait for us, Tsujihara!"

The crowd quickly dispersed and followed behind the blond girl obediently as if they were ducklings.

"Klaus!" Aoi supported him as he shook his head from the pain. What exactly had happened? It was as if someone had hit him with a metal baseball bat.

"Did someone hit me with a metal baseball bat?"

"This is no time for your stupid joke. Are you okay? Do you need to go to the nursery office?"

Aoi had a worried expression on her face, a rare one at that. Usually, even when she was around Klaus, the girl showed little to no emotion.

"I'm fine, I guess. A-anyway, who was that girl?"

Klaus could've sworn he heard the blond girl said his name? It was strange that she knew him since they'd never met before. The more he tried to recall back the event that had transpired before him minutes ago, the pain intensified. No, he didn't have to think about this.

"I'm fine, really," Klaus repeated when he saw Aoi looked at him with such a rare emotion expressed visibly.

"If you say so..."

○ ○ ○

That night, Klaus had a dream.

Amid the downpour, one small boy ran across a narrow street.

He had an umbrella with him, carried from home after watching the weather report before he left. With it, the rain barely drenched his school uniform. He gripped his umbrella's handle tightly, resisting a sudden gale blowing against him.

"Freda, I'll be home before you know it. I have the medicine for your fever right here," he mumbled, almost a deadened whisper.

The dark-haired boy turned around a corner and made his way around the neighborhood. It was a typical Japanese residential area with narrow streets that seemed like any cars would be stuck if anyone tried to drive across.

He was only thinking of getting back home as soon as he could to tend to his ailing sister. After all, he had procured medicine for her after school ended that day. A thin smile appeared on his face when he imagined his younger sister's face. Clasping the small plastic bag in hand, he adjusted his school bag slung over his shoulder.

"Just a few more... Yup."

The boy went into another corner in the neighborhood. His sister had a concerning fever on that day. Without thinking much, he had gone to a pharmacy by himself while their parents were busy at work.

If they find out that he went outside during this weather, all alone, he would surely be reprimanded for it.

"...Huh? Why is she..."

He slowly halted in front of a girl about his age. This girl was crying—her face covered by her dainty hands.

With no umbrella nor rain jacket, this girl cried to her heart's content despite the downpour. More importantly, what was she doing by herself outside of her house's front gate?

"...What are you doing?" Klaus asked, albeit haltingly.This dark-haired girl didn't notice him and kept on crying and crying. The boy wasn't in any place to do a thing about this situation. In a way, he felt slightly timid around the crying girl because it seemed like she was badgering him to comfort her.

Even if this wasn't the case, the boy was stumped to think about any other possibilities.

"Y-you'll catch a cold if you don't take cover." Klaus's expression froze as the girl's wail got louder, and he timidly tried to talk to her. The girl didn't respond. The boy's voice got muffled by the rain, so he had to speak louder to get this keening girl's attention.

Should he hand over his umbrella?

The boy wasn't so positive as to think he would get his umbrella back if he did let the girl borrow it. After all, she might be someone from outside the neighborhood. Perhaps she was lost.

Without thinking much, the boy placed a hand over her shoulder, and she flinched.

The boy gave the girl his red umbrella. These two met each other's gaze for a moment before the girl took the umbrella without hesitating. He'd managed to assuage the girl's sadness with his offer, even if it was merely a scant amount.

However, the girl suddenly shook her head and shoved the umbrella's handle back into the boy's hands.

"Don't be silly. You'll get sick if you stay like this!" The boy berated her. He was genuinely worried, even though he was supposed to tend to his sister's need.

Surprisingly, the girl had stopped crying. She held the umbrella's handle gingerly in her hands.

"Thank—"

The boy continued to run back to his house before the girl could say her thanks. Without his umbrella, he could only use his school bag to protect himself from the downpour.

"..."

This girl continued to look at him until he had turned into yet another corner. Even when he had left her sight, she continued to look in the direction he went with drooping eyes. A foreign feeling stirred inside her chest.

As thoughts swirled in her mind, the young girl's small hands clutched the umbrella's handle.

"He's that one..."

The raucous rain muffled her soft-spoken words; as if the droplets of water, and rumbling clouds, would engulf her entire being.

Afterward, tiny pinpricks of sunlight dotted the gray sky, and as it tore through the clouds, a thin smile appeared on the girl's crestfallen countenance. It would not be far-fetched for one to say her heart previously bereft of positive emotions was slowly, but steadily, filled with rising hope.   

○ ○ ○

"...That dream again."

Klaus rubbed his temples and took a sitting position. Opening his eyes slowly, he wanted to wash his face and continued sleeping, but it turned out he was someplace else.

The wooden planks underneath gleamed a warm color and environing him were dozens of bookshelves. He was supposed to have woken up from his bed. Where was this? Was he still dreaming?

He looked up at the high ceiling and caught sight of winding staircases leading to the first floor. Bright chandeliers lit up the place, so he had no problem trying to grasp where he had ended up.

"...A library."

He could feel his heart thumping loudly against his chest. Cold sweat appeared on his skin, making him uncomfortable.

"...I have to get out of here."

With long strides, Klaus made his way to one side of the library and found a large double wooden door. Yes, an exit! Elated with this finding, he leaned against the door and brought down his weight to open it.

"Ughh... It's not budging!"

He was trapped. This fact couldn't be any clearer to him. With a loud sigh, he turned around to find another way to escape the place, but just then, a golden light flashed before him.

"What?" By the time Klaus realized it, he was sitting on a luxury couch, bookshelves forming a circle around him. Sitting on a golden chair ten feet away, an elderly in a red dress looked at him with a smile. Her dress had different shades of red lazily daubed on it.

"Hey, what's happening!?"

His body wouldn't move, and he couldn't stand up much less ran away from that weird woman. He must still be in a dream!

Slowly, the woman lifted a thick green book with an intricate golden pattern on its cover with one hand. This book unconsciously caught Klaus's attention, and he read the title on the cover.

"...We are a family, aren't we?"

He felt a throbbing pain in his head.

"This is an unexpected encounter, isn't it?" said the woman. "It must be fate that decided this course. Your destiny must be waiting for you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Freda. You've met her."

"...?!"

"Hehe, this is also an unexpected encounter for both of you. You might have realized it, but things might get interesting from here on out. Be prepared, Klaus Weber. Then, until we meet again."