🇯🇵 Japanese Title:
彼女が約束した場所
Kanojo ga Yakusoku Shita Basho
The Place She Promised
🎯 Theme:
The torn ticket stub leads Hana, Yuki, and Ren to an old, closed-down observatory far outside the town—not the one they visited before, but an older, forgotten building buried in forest overgrowth.
Ren recalls visiting it as a child with his sister. At the time, he didn’t understand why she insisted on going there alone at night. Now, he wonders if Aika was already leaving messages for the future.
Inside, they find a dusty viewing room—and taped beneath a seat, an envelope.
It contains:
- A photograph of three girls stargazing (one is Aika, much younger)
- A sketched map of constellations not matching any known chart
- And a note:
「この地図は、“心の星座”だよ。」
(This map shows the constellations of the heart.)
📍 Setting:
- Overgrown trail through pine forest
- Crumbling mountain observatory
- Dust-covered star theater with cracked projector dome
- Sky turning pink as twilight settles in
- Flashbacks of young Aika sneaking out with a flashlight
📚 Vocabulary
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 観測所 | かんそくじょ | observatory |
| 地図 | ちず | map |
| 秘密 | ひみつ | secret |
| 星座盤 | せいざばん | star chart |
| 約束 | やくそく | promise |
🗣️ Useful Phrases
| Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ここが、彼女の“約束の場所”…？ | Is this… the place she promised? |
| どうして、こんな地図を残したんだろう？ | Why would she leave a map like this? |
| 普通の星図じゃない。 | This isn’t a normal star chart. |
| これは、心の中にある星なんだ。 | These are stars that live inside the heart. |
| 子どものころ、姉がよくここに来た。 | My sister came here often when we were kids. |
💡 Grammar Focus
| Grammar Point | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 〜ような気がする (feels like…) | 約束を思い出させるような気がする。 | It feels like it’s reminding me of a promise. |
| 〜てある (has been done intentionally) | 椅子の下に手紙が貼ってあった。 | A letter had been taped under the seat. |
| 〜ことになる (end up…) | 結局、ここにまた戻ってくることになった。 | We ended up coming back here after all. |
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🎥 Dialogue
[Scene: The observatory dome, echoing with footsteps. Hana finds the taped envelope.]
Hana (holding it up):
「これは…彼女の字だ。」
(This is… her handwriting.)
Ren (flipping through the map):
「でも星の形が、どこにも合わない…」
(But these constellations don’t match anything.)
Yuki (quietly):
「“心の星座”…って書いてある。」
(It says, “constellations of the heart.”)
[They look up—stars beginning to emerge.]
🧭 Closing Note:
As they leave, Hana draws the constellation map into her journal, adding one new star of her own—next to Aika’s.
📘 Next Tease:
Back in town, a local history teacher pulls out an old astronomy club yearbook photo. Three names are written under it. One of them:
Aika Renjou.
But the others are missing.