Part 2

The town of Sorine was neither small enough for rumors to spread quickly, nor large enough for people not to know one another.

Its buildings, brightly colored in the morning light, became a spectacle of illumination at night, with radiant lights adorning every facade. Sorine was a charming town, renowned for its fine canals that meandered through certain corners, and for the vast paths decorated, thanks to Mother Nature, with a variety of multicolored flowers.

The residence of the Nakama sisters was one of many houses in the village, made of cement and wood, painted in a soft blue with visible beams. It stood alongside others on “Fleurs de printemps” street, the most touristy thoroughfare in Sorine, which saw thousands of visitors and pedestrians passing through each year.

The melodic sound of raindrops caressing the earth brought serenity and harmony to a night ruled by silence. The faint glow of streetlights peeked through the window on the second floor, and shadows moved across the floor as figures shifted.

“Lie down and rest,” Yuna suggested to her sister, placing the pharmacy bag on the bedside table.

“I’m fine…” Nasai replied, sitting on the bed, already perfectly dressed.

Unlike Yuna, Nasai’s room could be considered a "temple of order." In pastel shades of white and blue, everything was exactly where it belonged. There was no room for dust or chaos in this realm, where "spotless" reigned supreme in its pyramidal hierarchy of order.

“It’s been a while since this happened to you,” Yuna countered, pulling a vanilla-colored blanket from the white dresser. “You’ve been working too hard lately.”

“It’s not from the effort,” Nasai began, bringing her fist to her chest and lowering her head slightly. “I don’t understand it. Every time it happens, I feel like my heart stops. Like everything around me floats.” She took a deep breath before finishing. “I don’t know how to explain it…”

“You just described a syncope,” Yuna replied with a smile.

Nasai was well aware of her older sister’s skepticism. That’s why she avoided, at all costs, mentioning the true sensations she experienced during her fainting spells. Every time she tried, Yuna would, just as now, offer the scientific term for whatever symptom she described.

“Yeah, right,” the younger Nakama ended the conversation with a forced laugh, eager to change the subject. “By the way, what was it you wanted to tell me?”

“This…” Yuna whispered hesitantly, unsure whether to tell her sister about the copper-haired man.

“If I tell her what happened, all I’ll do is worry her,” Yuna thought to herself.

She didn’t fully grasp what had occurred. It had all been too sudden, too fast. What if everything she saw was just a delusion brought on by stress? To Yuna, the encounter with that mysterious man in the alley had to have an explanation, one she had yet to figure out. But after what had happened with her beloved sister, she didn’t feel she could burden her with more concerns. So, she smiled at Nasai, putting on her best act, and as she left the room, she answered:

“Don’t worry, Nasai. It wasn’t anything important. I’ll make you some tea.”