Green plums cannot become lovers.

"Okay, okay, I'll go out, I'll go out."

An and Subaru stood up, patted off non-existent dust from their skirts, turned back at the door, said "Hurry up," and then closed the door.

Her light footsteps echoed down the corridor, tap-tap-tap, like a string of beans scattered by the wind.

An and Asuka sat in bed, staring at the closed paper door for two seconds, then lowered their heads and smiled silently.

The commotion was quite loud, especially early in the morning.

An and Tian Tong, who had been up for a while, heard footsteps and laughter in the hallway from the kitchen, and the corners of their mouths slowly curved up.

When An and Asuka finished washing up and came to the living room, everyone was already sitting at the dining table.

Anwa and Tendo sat in the main seats, with Akane Kousaka to her left and Subaru to her right. All three had picked up their chopsticks, but none of them took a bite, as if they were waiting for someone.

Am I late?

An and Asuka sat down in the empty seat, feeling somewhat ashamed. He didn't know why, but he had woken up much later than usual today.

I must have slept too soundly last night, so soundly that I even missed my alarm.

"No." Anhe Tiantong shook his head slightly and pushed the plate of salted vegetables in front of him toward him. "I was just too happy and got up too early."

"Alright, let's eat."

Akane Akasaka picked up her chopsticks, breaking the brief silence of their wait.

The meal was enjoyed by everyone.

An and Subaru moved their chopsticks the fastest, their movements swift and decisive as they picked up food. She ate and talked, pausing with her chopsticks in the air as if conducting a conductor waving a baton.

"By the way, Subaru, when does your school start?" Anwa Tendo put down his soup bowl and asked casually.

September 10th.

The date made An and Asuka pause for a moment.

He put down his chopsticks and looked up at An and Subaru. Most high schools start on September 2nd or 3rd; he had never heard of a school starting on the 10th before.

"Aren't you envious?" Anhe Subaru caught the momentary look of confusion on his face, raised his chin even higher, and let his ponytail swing in a smug arc behind his head. "I went to a performing arts school, you know."

An and Asuka nodded; he really didn't know that.

He only knew that she was in a band called "Thornless," but he didn't know that she attended a performing arts school or what else she was studying besides music.

Is a performing arts school a vocational high school? I don't think so.

Breakfast ended in a relaxed atmosphere. Afterwards, An and Asuka chatted with the old man for a while before preparing to leave.

"Grandma, I'm going back now."

"Okay." Anhe Tiantong didn't try to stop her, she just nodded. "Be careful on the road."

Her tone was completely different from last night. Last night, there was a hint of unease hidden in her anticipation, but today that unease had vanished, replaced by a sense of grounded contentment.

An and Subaru followed behind him, saying as they put on their shoes, "I'll go too, I'll hitch a ride."

The three people walked out of the courtyard. The morning sun slanted down from above, spreading a layer of pale golden light on the asphalt road.

The morning glories by the roadside were still in bloom, their petals glistening with dewdrops in the sunlight, like a handful of shards of glass had been scattered on them.

In the car, An and Subaru sat in the back seat, leaning forward with their hands on the back of the front seats and their chins resting on the back of their hands.

"Asuka, it's okay if you stay longer next time."

She looked at his profile, smiling broadly.

"Don't be shy, just make yourself at home."

An and Asuka paused for a moment, their gaze falling on the roadside trees rushing past the window. The edges of the leaves were already turning yellow, trembling slightly in the wind like a flock of butterflies about to leave the branches.

"...We'll see when the time comes."

He nodded, his tone ambiguous, but there was no hint of refusal in his voice.

Akane Akasaka gripped the steering wheel, glanced at the smiling girl in the back seat through the rearview mirror, and her lips curved slightly.

This silly girl doesn't even know that the boy is her brother.

However, she was too lazy to say anything; the sooner these things are exposed, the less interesting it is. The day she slowly discovers it herself, her expression will probably be quite amusing.

"By the way, Asuka, do you have anything planned for this morning?"

An and Subaru changed their posture, leaning back in their chairs with their legs stretched out and their toes tapping rhythmically on the footrest.

"Why don't you come with me to see my band? Everyone's really interested in meeting you."

I have something to do this morning.

An and Asuka's answer was crisp and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.

An and Subaru were not defeated by this answer. Their eyes did not dim at all; instead, they shone even brighter, as if someone had added fuel to the fire in those two purple lights.

"And what about the afternoon?"

"We'll see..."

"Then it's settled. I'll come find you this afternoon."

"Hey."

"Please, please, just say yes."

An and Subaru clasped their hands together, raised them in front of their faces, opened their eyes wide, and pouted their lips slightly, exuding a strong aura that said, "If you don't agree to my request, I'll keep staring at you like this."

"I have something important to say!"

She added a sentence, as if afraid he would think she was just being silly.

An and Asuka glanced at her in the rearview mirror.

The girl's hands were still clasped together, her nails painted with light pink nail polish, which shimmered slightly in the morning light.

"...Alright then."

He finally gave in and let it go.

"yeah!"

Anhe Mao lightly punched the seat in the back, making a muffled thud. Her smile burst from the corners of her mouth, like a flower suddenly turned on.

Akane Akasaka said nothing, simply gripping the steering wheel, her gaze fixed ahead. An old jazz piece, its origins unknown, played from the car stereo; the saxophone's languid, drawn-out sound echoed through the car like a slowly drifting balloon.

The car merged into the main road traffic, and the buildings on both sides changed from low-rise residential buildings to office buildings with glass curtain walls. Sunlight bounced on those smooth surfaces, refracting into dazzling white rays.

An and Asuka leaned against the car window, swiped their thumbs across their phone screens a few times, and glanced at their schedules.

I did have something to do this morning.

After all, the game is about to be released, so he needs to help Sister Zhu Yin more.

As for the afternoon... there should be time.

An and Subaru had already started humming a song in the back seat. The melody was intermittent, like the chorus of a song that she had repeatedly hummed over and over again. There were only a few lines in total.

When the car came to a stop in the underground parking garage of Rouge en Rouge, An and Subaru had already jumped out of the back seat, walked around to the passenger side window, bent down, and gently tapped the glass twice with their fingers.

Anhe Feiniao rolled down the car window.

"What time in the afternoon?" Anhe Mao bent over, his hands on his knees, his face so close that he could see the curve of her eyelashes and his own reflection in her pupils.

"I don't know, I'll call you when I'm done."

"Then don't forget in your busy schedule." Anhe Mao straightened up, took a step back, and tilted his head to look at him. "If you dare to stand me up, I'll—"

She thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with any effective punishment, so she just snorted.

"I'll tell Grandma you bullied me."

An and Asuka couldn't help but laugh at her serious yet shameless act.

"understood."

"Then I'm leaving!"

Anhe Mao turned around and walked towards the elevator. After a few steps, she turned back and waved to him. Her ponytail bounced twice on her shoulder, and the hem of her skirt twirled in a shallow arc. Then she turned back and disappeared lightly around the corner at the end of the corridor.

Akane Akasaka turned off the engine, removed the key, leaned back in the driver's seat, and glanced at An and Asuka.

"Your younger sister is much more lively than you."

“She’s not my sister yet.” An and Asuka unbuckled their seatbelts, their tone somewhat teasing. “I doubt she’ll ever acknowledge me as her brother. I have a feeling she’ll have a hard time accepting it.”

After all, she had been an only child for over ten years before I appeared.

Akane Akasaka didn't respond to that, but just smiled slightly before pushing open the car door and getting out.

The two people took the elevator from the underground parking garage to the eighteenth floor.

The sound of keyboards clicking and the occasional ringing of telephones could already be heard in the corridor. A new day had begun, just like yesterday and the day before, but also a little different.

The morning began in this busy manner.

Everything is ready for the game's release.

The server load test has passed, the store pages on various platforms have been approved, and even the few promotional tweets that Akane Akasaka specially arranged were released on time at 8:00 AM. Now it's up to the market to react.

Once the time came, the game was released on various e-commerce platforms.

An and Asuka sat on the sofa in Akane Akasaka's office, a laptop on their laps, the screen displaying sales data from various platforms.

Each time the page is refreshed, the number jumps up a notch.

He didn't count them intentionally, but his gaze kept drifting towards that number.

"How many have been sold?" Akane Akasaka peeked out from behind her desk, holding a newly printed promotional schedule.

"Five thousand copies in less than an hour."

When An and Asuka finished speaking, their tone was relatively calm.

When Akane Kousaka heard the number, she raised an eyebrow, put the schedule on the table, leaned back in her chair, and crossed her hands in front of her abdomen.

"is acceptable."

She spoke casually, as if the number five thousand was nothing to be alarmed about.

But An and Asuka noticed that the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up.

With the reputation built up by the first two works, this result is not unexpected, but seeing the numbers jumping in front of you still feels different.

Behind every sale is a real person who, somewhere, clicked a mouse to buy and started downloading. They didn't know what the game would bring them, but they were willing to spend the money, the time, and the anticipation.

This trust is something that Anhe Feiniao finds even more profound than the sales figures themselves.

When Ichiro Kimura unplugged his phone from the charging cable, the screen showed a battery level of 97%.

He glanced at it, paid no attention, swiped his thumb over the app store icon, and tapped it.

I typed "Clannad" into the search bar and clicked it.

The page popped up faster than he expected.

The game cover has a light blue background with several silhouettes whose faces are not clearly visible. In the middle is a handwritten title with slightly crooked lines, as if the hand was trembling slightly when it was written.

He stared at the title for two seconds, then pressed the buy button without hesitation.

The sunlight outside the window was already high in the sky, squeezing through the gaps in his curtains and drawing a thin, slightly whitish line on the floor. Several reference books were piled on the desk, the top one open, densely covered with text.

Purchasing, downloading, and installing games is a seamless and effortless process.

The game installed quickly, and then he put on his headphones and clicked start.

There are no visuals at the beginning.

Only music.

It's a piano piece with a very light and slow melody, like someone walking slowly in the morning mist, not knowing where they're going, but not in a hurry to find out. There are large gaps between the notes; those gaps are not silence, but another kind of sound.

It was the air flowing, time passing, and something more important than the notes themselves quietly existing in those gaps.

Ichiro Kimura leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

There's something indescribable about this melody. It's not just simple beauty; there are so many beautiful things, most of which are forgotten after you've heard them.

This melody is different; its beauty contains something else, like a piece of sugar melting in warm water. You think it's just sweet, but after drinking it, you find a faint bitterness deep in your throat.

sad.