Near the main performance corridor, Sana Matsumura and her friend catch up with Sakura before she can leave. Sana Matsumura carries the repaired costume over one arm, keeping its clean seam visible.
Sana Matsumura
Yamamoto, wait. You should be there when we return this. They need to know who fixed it.
Students stream past beneath the corridor’s bright windows. Sana Matsumura’s friend stays beside Sakura with the folder tucked to her chest, while Sana Matsumura watches the approaching crowd.
Rika Fujimoto, a petite first-year girl with a neat black bob, pale skin, and a blue ribbon at her collar, hurries toward them in a rehearsal skirt and cardigan.
Rika Fujimoto
Excuse me. Are you Yamamoto? I heard you repaired the lead costume. May I ask you to look at mine too?
The question carries across the corridor. Two students slow near the noticeboard, and another glances from Rika to the costume in Sana Matsumura’s arms.
Sana Matsumura
Rika, this is Sakura Yamamoto. She’s the one who fixed it, so ask her directly.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get away from the scene
“Overwhelmed, not used to this much social interaction all at once, Sakura panics, not even excusing herself before running away”
FAILURE (Terrible Agility, rolled -4)
The question, Sana’s insistence, and the watching students crowd together too quickly. Sakura’s breath catches, and she turns sharply toward the corridor.
She runs without excusing herself. Her shoulder clips the noticeboard, jolting the folder from Sana’s friend’s arms as papers scatter across the polished floor.
Rika Fujimoto
Wait, Yamamoto. I didn’t mean to pressure you.
Sakura’s bag snags against the noticeboard’s corner. The clasp gives way, and her sketchbook slides out, landing open beside the scattered committee forms.
Sana Matsumura
Yamamoto, stop. Your sketchbook!
A page of detailed costume designs lies exposed in the traffic lane. Students slow around it, while Sakura reaches the stairwell entrance but cannot leave without abandoning the sketchbook.
Sana Matsumura
Nobody touch it. I’ll get it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Retrieve the sketchbook
− Scene Quest Removed
Get away from the scene
“Sakura wants to go back but her feet won't let her. She runs, trying to put as much distance between herself and the school as possible, only stopping when she's exhausted”
SUCCESS (Good Health, rolled +0)
Sakura turns from the stairwell and runs. Her shoes strike the pavement beyond the school gates, carrying her past the station road and rows of quiet storefronts.
Sana Matsumura
Yamamoto! Wait!
The shout fades behind her. Sakura keeps going, cutting through side streets and residential lanes, her bag thumping against her hip with every uneven stride.
She does not stop at the first intersection, or the next. The school disappears behind apartment blocks, telephone poles, and a long slope lined with vending machines.
Sakura Yamamoto
My chest hurts, and my right heel is rubbing raw.
At last, exhaustion forces Sakura to stop beside a low concrete wall several neighborhoods away. She bends forward, gripping her knees, while her scraped heel burns inside her shoe.
The school is no longer visible or audible. Her sketchbook remains behind, exposed in the corridor, while Sakura stands alone beneath the late afternoon light, breathing hard.