"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐'𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦." 

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘐𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘛𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 by Misaki Ichijo was a spinoff of her first novel, 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. It told a heartbreaking story about love and loss. The narrative followed Tooru Naruse, a quiet university student, who entered into an unusual relationship with Izumi Wataya. She agreed to date him, but only on the condition that he promised not to fall in love with her.

As their time together progressed, Naruse slowly realized that Izumi was still deeply connected to someone from her past—someone she couldn’t let go of, no matter how hard she tried. Naruse wanted to help Izumi and understand the sadness that weighed on her. He reached out to her high school best friend, Maori Hino, to uncover the truth about her past. What he discovered was painful: Izumi’s heart still belonged to someone she had lost.

Even though Naruse fell for her, he knew he could never fill the space that person had left in her life. Their moments together were bittersweet, filled with warmth but also an aching sadness as Naruse struggled with feelings he could never truly share.

Naruse loved Izumi deeply, even though he knew she might never fully love him in return. His quiet strength and selflessness made his pain even more touching. Misaki Ichijo’s writing captured the profound sadness of loving someone who could not move forward from their past. The story left a heavy ache, a reminder that some people stayed in our lives only briefly, but they left a mark that lasted forever.

Despite this, it was also a story of starting over—of facing the truth that there were things that could never be brought back.