Volume 1: The Average Boy
Chapter 1: No One Remembers Me
Ren Arakawa walked down the school hallway like a shadow among shadows. The voices of students filled the air, but none of them called out to him. The laughs, the glances, the inside jokes… all passed him by without ever touching him.
He wasn't hated.
He was just… invisible.
In class, he sat in the back row, near the window. The quietest seat. He wasn't good at math, nor particularly talented in languages. His grades were just enough to pass every year. Teachers didn't scold him—but they never remembered his name on the first day either.
The only light in his dull days came from two people: Itsuki, loud and lively, always flipping through a new manga; and Haruto, calm and thoughtful, the kind of guy who noticed everything but rarely spoke.
"Ren, we're heading to the usual spot after school, yeah?" Itsuki asked, chewing strawberry gum with a grin.
Ren nodded. "Yeah… I could use the air."
That "usual spot" was a forgotten bench behind the city library, surrounded by cherry trees. A place outside the world—just like them.
But that day, something changed.
As they sat, a girl rushed past, clutching a notebook to her chest. Her long black hair swayed behind her, a strand covering part of her face. She suddenly stopped when she noticed them.
"Excuse me…" she said softly. "Did you see a keychain shaped like a crescent moon? I think I lost it here yesterday…"
Ren looked at her. His heart skipped a beat.
She looked at him. For the first time, someone actually saw him.
"No… but we can help you look," Ren replied, voice barely above a whisper.
She smiled, and that smile felt like a needle through his chest.
"I'm Aoi."
"Ren."
That's when everything began.
Not love. Not yet.
But the possibility…
That even someone average could become special—to someone.