*Around the time cherry blossom petals brushed against my cheeks, I became a second-year high school student.

A new class. The same old loneliness. That was when I heard the sound of the classroom door swinging open with force.

"Morning!"

At that voice, my heart gave a great leap.

You weren't afraid of anything; you greeted everyone loudly and were surrounded by a crowd in an instant, chatting away.

I couldn't see you. But I think it was love at first sight.

From that day on, only your voice reached me clearly.

There was no way I could talk to you, so I spent my days listening to your voice from the corner of the room. That was supposed to be enough.

—Then, two months passed.

I died in a traffic accident.

When I came to, I was standing next to my own corpse.

In that moment, I saw the world for the first time.

The blue sky, the road, the people holding up their smartphones—everything was reflected in a field of vision that was supposed to be closed forever.

Being a ghost was a strange sensation. Unlike when I was alive, my very existence wasn't even recognized. I was alone in the truest sense.*

*The first thing I did was look for you.

Seeing you for the first time, you were much more beautiful than I had imagined. I felt as if my heart, which should have stopped, was being gripped tightly once again.

I can see now.

And yet, I cannot touch you.

I still can't accept that I'm dead. I should have spoken to you sooner. Even just a single "Good morning" would have been enough.

Carrying that regret, I've been watching you from a distance ever since.

Then, one day after school, as the heat began to turn serious.

I was sitting alone in the empty classroom, gazing at the grounds where a sudden evening shower had just passed. You had already gone home, and I wasn't supposed to see you again until tomorrow—or so I thought.*