Spring had finally come to town in full bloom. The soft sun warmed the streets, painting golden spots of light on the windows and filling the air with the sweet smell of the first flowers.
Sakura petals covered the sidewalks like pink stars. They slipped into the cracks of the pavement, clung to people’s hair, and danced in the wind.

At the bus stop, framed by blooming trees, a noisy crowd of students was waiting. Nicholas stood at the edge, smiling faintly as the sun touched his hoodie. A few petals landed on his shoulder, like tiny letters from another world.

Next to him stood a girl he had never noticed before. The wind played with her light hair. In her hands she held a gray fabric bag,  the same kind as his. For a moment, all the bags seemed identical.

With a screech, the bus rolled up to the stop. The doors opened, and the students rushed inside, laughing and pushing each other as they filled the seats.
Everything was as usual: backpacks on shoulders, headphones in ears, quick movements, light chaos.

Then, suddenly, the bus jolted forward. Everyone swayed. A few bags slipped and flew across the floor like paper boats on a wave. Nicholas felt his own bag slide out of his hands and bump into another one.

“Oops, sorry...” the girl’s voice was quiet, almost lost in the noise.
She quickly grabbed the nearest gray bag, the one with a small book patch. A boy beside her picked up the other bag that had landed at his feet.

The tension vanished into laughter and chatter, into the sound of spring outside. Nobody thought much about it. Nobody, except the playful spring wind scattering the sakura and weaving the first threads of a new story.

When the bus finally moved on, the girl held her bag close, feeling the familiar warmth of the fabric under her fingers.
A few steps behind her, the boy carried his bag by the strap, his eyes wandering to her now and then.

Neither of them knew yet that later, at home, when they unzipped their bags, they would discover something completely unexpected.
Something that would make them look for each other again, among the blooming streets.