Even if it rains, or if I get stepped on, I want to bloom proudly where I’m planted. Like you shine on that stage. Next spring, I want to see you again. The next time we meet, I will be stronger than I was.

Checkmate happened and spring did not come as she hoped.

After that fateful performance, Leo no longer seemed like the radiant musician and idol Maru had admired. His once joyful presence on stage, the light that shone through his performances, was replaced by something darker. Fear, sadness, and anger clouded his expressions, and it was clear that he was deeply hurt.

"From the wickedness of weakness," Leo chose to 'end his own life.’

Maru, who had only ever known him as a fan, didn’t understand what had happened behind the scenes to cause such a shift. The Checkmate performance had been her first glimpse of the cracks in his facade, and it left her confused and worried. She continued attending his shows, hoping to see the spark of joy return, but each time she found herself wondering more.

"What happened to you… in a place where I can't see the side of you other than on stage?"

One day, Leo was no longer there. Knights, the idol unit he led, performed without him. The once complete group appeared with only three members, “the king” absent from his throne. Rumors spread that Knights was going on an indefinite hiatus.

Maru felt lost. Watching Leo’s performances had given her a sense of purpose, a path forward when she felt directionless. Now, without him there, she didn’t know where to turn. But something inside her refused to give up.

Her heart whispered to her, urging her to take a step forward, even if the path was unclear. She resolved to find Leo—not as a fan seeking an idol, but as one lost soul searching for another.

“I set out to find you, just like you found me back then,” Maru thought as she made her way to Yumenosaki Academy. “I don’t know why, but something inside me whispered that finding you might help me rediscover the part of myself I’d lost along the way.”

With the help of her cousin Hokuto, Maru found her way to Yumenosaki Academy, enrolling in the producer program. She didn’t know what to expect, but she felt a strange sense of determination. She wanted to meet Leo—not the idol on stage, but the person behind the brilliant performances, his own music.

What Maru didn’t know was just how deeply Leo was struggling. Locked away in his room, he had withdrawn from the world, neglecting himself. He spent his days forcing himself to write songs, even though inspiration eluded him. The music that once came so naturally now felt out of reach. Frustrated and despairing, Leo pushed himself to the brink, biting his arm until it bled, desperate to feel something—anything—that could bring back the spark he had lost.

Leo wasn’t just losing his music; he was losing his soul. Unseen and unheard, his pain festered in silence. And yet, unknowingly, Maru was on her way to him, driven by the hope that finding him might help them both find their way back to themselves.