Saki sat by the riverbank, the gentle sound of water flowing beneath the bridge providing a peaceful backdrop to her reading. Her fingers lightly traced the pages of The Lord of the Rings, absorbed in the world of hobbits and ancient lore. A warm breeze stirred her hair, and for a moment, everything was perfectly serene—until movement on the other side of the bridge caught her attention.
A girl was crossing, her pink hair catching the sunlight like silk. Saki blinked, her focus wavering as she stared, entranced. This girl was... stunning. With fair skin and a figure that was impossible to ignore, she seemed almost ethereal. Saki quickly realized her eyes had lingered too long, her heart pounding with the sudden embarrassment. She fumbled with her book, pulling it up to her face, pretending to read.
Please don't notice me, please don't notice me, Saki mentally chanted as she flipped random pages.
To her relief, the girl passed by without a second glance, continuing on her way. Saki exhaled sharply, lowering the book and feeling a strange mixture of disappointment and relief.
"Who was that?" she wondered. Same uniform, so definitely a freshman… but why hadn't she noticed her before?
Her excitement fizzled out almost as quickly as it had sparked. What was she thinking? Even if she met her, what would she say?
Before she could dwell on it further, a familiar voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Saki!"
Turning, she saw Kyoutarou sprinting toward her, his blond hair bouncing with each step. He stopped under the shade of the tree, panting heavily.
"I finally found you," he wheezed, leaning against the trunk. "What are you doing out here? I had to ask around just to track you down."
Saki raised her book. "Reading."
Kyoutarou blinked. "Uh-huh. And why not the library?"
Saki hesitated, glancing at the peaceful riverbank. "The library's… too crowded."
Kyoutarou sighed dramatically, shaking his head.
"Kyou-chan, did you need something?" she asked, trying to steer the conversation away.
"Yeah! Let's go to the cafeteria." He grinned brightly, as if he had the most brilliant idea in the world.
Saki furrowed her brow. "Why?"
"The ladies' lunch special looks amazing today!" He flashed a thumbs-up, utterly serious, before mandhandling Saki towards the cafeteria.
Saki stared at him. "You dragged me out here… for a lunch special?"
Kyoutarou beamed. "You know me!"
Carrying the ladies' lunch special through the bustling cafeteria, Saki could feel her patience wearing thin. She wove her way through the crowd, scanning for Kyoutarou's unmistakable blonde hair, which always stuck out like a sore thumb.
"Here!" Kyoutarou's voice rang out, followed by a wave that nearly knocked over someone's tray.
Relieved to have spotted him, Saki hurried over and unceremoniously dropped the tray on the table with a heavy thud.
"Here's your ladies' lunch," she grumbled, watching as Kyoutarou's face lit up like a child at a candy store.
"Thank you ~," he sing-songed, immediately digging in with the enthusiasm of someone who hadn't eaten in days.
"I can't believe you dragged me to the cafeteria just to get this for you." Saki crossed her arms, her annoyance evident.
"But look at it! The ladies' lunch looked especially tasty today," Kyoutarou said, not even bothering to slow down as he shoveled the food into his mouth. His words came out muffled between bites, and Saki couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
She watched in mild amazement as he ate, each bite disappearing faster than the last. For all her irritation, she could feel it slowly dissolving as Kyoutarou practically inhaled the food, looking far too happy for someone eating cafeteria fare. It was hard to stay mad at him when he was this… well, predictable.
"Kyou-chan, don't use me like that," she said, the soft reprimand more a formality than anything else. Her voice lacked any real bite.
Kyoutarou, however, didn't seem to hear her—or he simply chose not to—continuing to scarf down his meal without a care. Saki could only sigh as she watched him.
"You were really hungry, huh?" she asked, incredulous at the speed of his consumption as the last bite disappeared into his mouth.
"Yeah," Kyoutarou said between chewing and swallowing the final bite. "I didn't eat breakfast, and someone decided to go read in a weird spot by the river, making me search everywhere."
"I didn't know you were going to look for me," Saki said defensively. "Besides, I haven't seen you since you said you found the girl of your dreams and were planning to confess?"
At this, Kyoutarou's expression shifted. A blissful, faraway look crossed his face, and he let out a weird, gleeful laugh that only made Saki feel secondhand embarrassment.
"Yup, I found a treasure trove of beauties... ku ku ku..." His eyes sparkled as if he were living in a dream.
Saki sighed again. Her friend's over-the-top reactions were a constant source of amusement—and exasperation. She gave him a light poke on the shoulder to pull him back down to Earth.
"Have you confessed yet?" she asked gently, knowing full well Kyoutarou's less-than-stellar track record when it came to romance.
"No, not yet," Kyoutarou admitted, but then his eyes lit up as if he'd just had the greatest revelation of all time. "But I've got the perfect plan to win her over now."
Saki raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"I'm learning mahjong!" Kyoutarou declared with a flourish, as though this were a groundbreaking strategy.
Saki blinked. "Mahjong?"
Kyoutarou deflated a bit at her lackluster response. He had clearly expected more excitement. "You know, I was expecting you to be more... interested. It's mahjong, Saki!"
Saki gave a noncommittal shrug. "I'm just really not into mahjong."
Her response seemed to trigger something in Kyoutarou's brain. His eyes narrowed slightly as if he were analyzing her every word. "Wait a second… you know mahjong?"
Saki looked at Kyoutaro like he said something wrong.
Kyoutaro immediately changed his question, "Do you play mahjong?"
Saki looked at him for a moment before she gave a soft sigh and replied, "No, Kyou-chan."
Kyoutarou studied her face for a few seconds longer, then seemed to decide that her answer was sufficient. He leaned back in his chair, satisfied. "I see... well, that's too bad. It's a great game! Maybe if you tried it, you'd get into it."
Kyoutaro's words were unheard and Saki was already back to her book.
She never joined the Kiyosumi Mahjong Club. In that year's prefectural tournament or the next, there was no Kiyosumi Mahjong Club.
Time had passed quietly, and Saki now found herself living the life she had always hoped for: normal, peaceful, and unremarkable. She worked as a librarian at a local public library, a job she adored. There was a quiet satisfaction in being surrounded by books all day, their familiar scent greeting her every morning. The scent of paper and ink, the soft rustle of pages being turned—it was a world she had immersed herself in, one that didn't ask much from her in return.
Her days followed a predictable rhythm: she would arrive early to organize the shelves, help the occasional patron find what they were looking for, and spend the rest of her time reading or managing the book returns. She was good at her job, though it wasn't demanding. It suited her perfectly. The library was a place where she could disappear into the background, blending in with the shelves and stacks of novels. Here, she didn't have to think about anything beyond the simple task at hand.
Saki was contently manning the library, deeply engrossed in The Midnight Library, when something in her peripheral vision caught her attention—a flash of pink hair. It was an unusual color, striking against the subdued tones of the library. Her eyes instinctively followed the movement as a woman stepped through the door.
The woman was dressed in a well-fitted suit, exuding elegance and confidence with every step she took. Her hair, soft and silky, gleamed under the library's dim lighting, and her graceful demeanor made her stand out even more. Saki couldn't help but stare, her gaze trailing after the woman as she moved through the aisles.
There was something familiar about her. The pink hair, the air of effortless beauty—it tugged at a memory that Saki couldn't quite place. Her heart began to beat faster, a strange feeling of recognition mingling with curiosity.
She blinked, forcing herself to look away, but her thoughts remained distracted. Saki's fingers tightened around the edges of her book; the plot of The Midnight Library now completely forgotten. The woman moved with purpose, scanning the shelves as though she knew exactly what she was looking for.
The woman's pink hair shimmered as she reached for a book on one of the shelves, her fingers brushing the spine delicately. The way she moved was almost mesmerizing, her presence commanding attention without even trying.
Before Saki realized what she was doing, she had already put her book down and stood up. She walked toward the aisle where the woman stood, her heart pounding with every step. As she got closer, the woman turned slightly, her eyes meeting Saki's.
Saki felt her breath hitch in her throat as she look at the woman's eyes—clear, bright, and filled with intelligence.
The woman smiled, a polite and distant expression, but something in her gaze flickered.
Saki swallowed hard, her mind blank as the woman spoke. "Excuse me, could you help me find a specific book?" Her voice was soft, pleasant, and professional.
Saki nodded, her words caught in her throat. "Y-yes, of course. What are you looking for?"
The woman paused for a moment, then replied, "Running from Safety by Richard Bach"
Saki quickly led the woman to the section where Running from Safety by Richard Bach should have been, only to find the spot empty. She frowned, her fingers brushing over the other books around it, hoping the title had simply been misplaced. But after a few seconds of searching, she sighed and turned to the woman.
"I'm sorry, it doesn't seem to be here," Saki said softly, biting her lip.
The pink-haired woman gave her a gentle smile, one that was polite but carried no disappointment. "It's alright, thank you for your help. I'll find something else," she said with an effortless grace, already scanning the nearby shelves.
But Saki wasn't ready to give up. Something about this woman made Saki want to go the extra mile. "Actually," she interjected, "I'm sure we have it. I'll just check the system. Could you please wait here for a moment?"
The woman paused, then nodded. "Of course."
Saki quickly made her way back to the front desk and pulled up the library's inventory system. Sure enough, the book had been recently returned and was still in the pile of returns she needed to reorganize. A small wave of satisfaction bloomed in her chest. She wasn't wrong.
After retrieving the book from the pile, she returned to the woman, holding it out with a quiet sense of pride. "Here you go."
The woman's eyes lit up and Saki was mesmerised at the genuine spark of gratitude in the woman's gaze. "Thank you. You didn't have to go through all that trouble," she said, accepting the book with a graceful nod. "I appreciate it."
Saki felt an odd flutter in her chest at the woman's words, but she quickly pushed it down. "It's no trouble," she murmured, offering a small, shy smile before watching as the woman gracefully made her way to one of the nearby tables and sat down to read.
Saki returned to her desk and picked up her own book again, but she couldn't focus. Her eyes kept drifting back to the woman, glancing over the edge of The Midnight Library more often than she meant to. The woman sat calmly, her elegant posture unchanging as she read, her pink hair falling in soft waves around her shoulders. The sight of her was… distracting.
Saki felt a faint heat rising to her cheeks. She wasn't used to this kind of feeling—this strange urge to keep watching someone. Usually, she preferred blending into the background, unnoticed. Yet, this woman drew her attention like a magnet.
After a few more stolen glances, Saki tried to return her focus to her book, but her thoughts kept drifting, making the words on the page blur together.
Saki gave up on reading and busied herself with rearranging the books and checking the inventory, trying her best not to steal glances at the attractive woman. Time slipped away as she focused on her tasks, the rhythmic sound of pages turning and the faint scent of ink grounding her in her familiar environment. Yet, her thoughts kept straying back to the pink-haired woman, an unshakeable curiosity blooming in her chest.
Lost in her thoughts, Saki was jolted back to reality when she heard a soft voice say, "Excuse me."
She turned and blinked, momentarily taken aback by the sight of the pink-haired woman standing just a few feet away, a friendly smile on her lips. Saki's heart raced, the warm blush creeping back to her cheeks as she realized she needed to address the woman's presence.
"Y-yes?" Saki managed to stammer, her mind racing to formulate a professional response.
"I was wondering if I could borrow this book," the woman said, holding up Running from Safety with an air of hopeful anticipation.
Saki nodded, feeling a rush of eagerness. "Of course! Do you have your library card with you?"
The woman's smile faltered slightly as she shook her head. "I'm new to the area and don't have a card yet."
"That's perfectly fine!" Saki replied, relief flooding her. "I can help you create a library card right now."
The woman's smile returned, her expression brightening at the prospect. "Thank you! That would be wonderful."
Saki gestured for the woman to follow her to the front desk, the warmth of her presence making Saki's heart flutter with a mix of excitement and nervousness. As she pulled up the registration form, she glanced at the woman.
"Do you have any ID on you?" Saki asked, focusing on the task at hand to mask her growing fluster.
The woman nodded and reached into her wallet, pulling out a sleek, embossed card. She handed it to Saki with a polite smile, her fingers brushing against Saki's in a moment that felt electric. Saki's hands trembled slightly as she took the ID from the woman. Trying to ignore the way her heart sped up, she glanced at the name on the ID: Haramura Nodoka.
Haramura Nodoka
What a beautiful name, Saki thought to herself before looking up to meet clear blue eyes.
Note: I have a massive plot bunny that I have to expel and I thought that it is a pretty good idea so yeah here you go. It is currently a one shot but I might expand on it one day, leaning on yes. I was just thinking of butterfly effect.
Still focusing on Serendipity's Bloom.