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Summer in the sleepy valley always smelled of hot asphalt, cheap watermelon-scented sunscreen, and absolute impending doom, which to the five of them meant it was prime time for another legendary side quest. With the final school bell fading into memory, the crew was officially operating on chaotic freedom: Yuji—their sun-kissed, pink-haired ringleader with a grin full of mischief and a permanent lack of self-preservation—was already scaling the rusted gates of the town’s abandoned sanitarium, while Nobara, her sharp eyes flashing with competitive spirit and neon lip gloss, shrieked a dare right back at him. Trailing behind them, Yuta and Maki moved like an unshakeable unit, Yuta’s easygoing smile softening into a fiercely devoted gaze as he casually cleared broken glass from Maki’s path, matching her sharp wit with quiet, absolute adoration. Bringing up the rear with his hands shoved deep in his pockets was Megumi, rolling his eyes so hard he nearly sprained them as he cast a wary, respectful glance toward his older cousin Maki, fully aware he had been dragged into yet another terrible idea. Between jumping into freezing quarry lakes under the cover of night, taking blurry polaroids, and surviving each other's relentless nonsense, they were loud, bruised, and invincible, convinced that this hazy, mosquito-bitten stretch of June would somehow last forever.