Prologue:
"The room was warm, but the air hung heavy with unspoken words. A faint scent of vanilla from the flickering birthday candles teased their senses, blending with the nostalgic hum of an old record player spinning a tune from long ago."
Four faces glowed in the candlelight—Hikari Tanaka, Ren Yamamoto, Sora Fujimoto, and *Aki Nishimura—their smiles bright yet faintly strained. Aki wiped frosting from her cheek, laughing softly as Ren straightened a tilted decoration. Hikari adjusted the banner overhead: "Happy Birthday, Haruto."
"Do you think he'd like it?" Hikari asked, her voice lighter than it had been in years.
Ren, always the voice of reason, gave a small nod. "He'd probably say the frosting was uneven. And then eat half the cake himself."
That drew a quiet laugh from Sora as she gazed at a photograph resting on the table—the five of them during high school, arms slung over shoulders, frozen in a moment of pure joy. Her thumb brushed over Haruto's face, a bittersweet glint in her eyes.
The silence stretched, interrupted only by the faint crackle of the candles. Aki fidgeted with her drink, glancing away. "Feels strange, doesn't it? Doing this without him."
"Strange?" Hikari's voice cracked, and she forced a laugh. "It's more than strange, it's—" She stopped herself, swallowing the words.
Ren spoke up, quiet but firm. "He wouldn't want us to mope. This is for him. Let's celebrate the way we always did."
They lifted their glasses, their smiles returning, though tinged with an ache no one dared to voice. The air was filled with soft laughter, shared memories, and lingering gazes at the empty seat that once belonged to Haruto. But as the candles flickered and the shadows on the wall grew long, one question loomed, unspoken: "What really happened to him?"