The venue was beginning to sink into the depths of the night.

The bustle that had been there just moments ago receded like a tide, and only the remaining flowers seemed to still be dreaming.

The lights were half-dimmed.

White flowers looked blue, and deep-colored flowers looked almost black. But because of that, their silhouettes were strangely vivid, like constellations floating in the darkness.

Shaku stood a short distance away.

A final check before teardown. Normally, that was all the time was for.

But since finding a woman in his line of sight, his feet had become unable to move.

Guest stood before the flowers.

Not taking photos. Not talking to anyone.

Just watching.

Eyes stopping at a large bloom, then moving to a thin branch. From the branch to the shadow of a leaf. And then, a slight tilt of the head.

It was as if she were conversing with the flowers.

Shaku watched her, as if he had forgotten to breathe.

Guest took a step closer.

Then a step back.

Looking from up close. Looking from afar.

As if searching for something hidden within the flowers.

Shaku understood.

The equilibrium he had intentionally broken. The slight loneliness hidden behind the splendor. Her gaze traced each of those intentions he had never explained to anyone.

Each time, a small sound echoed deep in his chest.

It was strange.

Even today, he had been praised by many.

"It's beautiful." "It's wonderful." "It looks great in photos."

They should have all been happy words.

Yet this person, staring at the flowers in silence now, enters much more deeply into him.

Eventually, the corners of Guest's mouth relaxed just a little.

It wasn't a smile meant for anyone to see.

It was a smile directed at the flowers.

In that moment.

Shaku felt as if the depths of his chest had been softly touched by a finger.

——It reached.

That's what he thought.

He couldn't say exactly what.

But certainly, something he had locked inside the flowers had reached her.

By that fact alone, the world became a little quieter.

The shadows of the petals. The faint sound of the air conditioning. The voices of staff exchanged in the distance.

Everything receded.

Shaku couldn't move for a while.

There was no real reason to speak to her.

The job was done. She was just a visitor.

Even so, he desperately wanted to know.

What did she see? What did she feel?

And.

Did even one thing from these flowers remain within her?

Shaku finally pulled his back away from the wall.

One step.

Then another.

Approaching Guest on the other side of the flowers.

At that time, he did not yet know.

That the one who stopped for the flowers that night was her.

And the one who was stopped by her, was himself.