It was a full moon.

  Down by the quiet beach in Usami, Uncle Panda was filming a new video.

  The ocean was calm.

  A shimmering moonlit path stretched across the waves.

  And there he stood, playing The Moonlit Boat,

  with the moon road behind him, painting the scene in silver.

  He played as if Haruka and Star Panda were right there beside him.

  As if he was still playing for her—

  like she was sitting next to him, listening.

  The video came with a message.

  Bamboo Flute Panda’s Diary

  In autumn of 2024, I received a message from a girl named Haruka.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  At first, I thought it was a prank.

  Who would reach out to an old man like me?

  But her music… it was filled with “I want to live.”

  It shook something inside me.

  Playing the flute had always been just for fun… but suddenly, I wanted to be better. Just a little.

  We spoke only once, briefly, in the hospital.

  And yet, she wasn’t just a fragile child fighting a rare illness.

  She was a girl who knew her time was short.

  Had she been healthy, she would’ve walked beneath the cherry blossoms,

  laughing with friends after school.

  But her disease stole even that.

  Still, she resisted. She believed in her gift.

  She released her music into the world—

  as a composer.

  Haruka Hoshino.

  “I think I’ll become a star soon…”

  Those words have never left me.

  Even now, the video comments are full of messages—

  from children, from parents—

  telling me how Haruka’s music gave them hope.

  Like the boat on the moonlit sea,

  her music is reaching people around the world.

  You really did become a star, didn’t you?

  And you’re shining—

  bright in everyone’s heart.

  I’m proud that I got to be a small part of your story.

  And maybe one day, someone somewhere will hear your music and be saved—

  even if they never knew your name.

  So I’ll keep playing.

  Even if I mess up a little—

  I’ll play boldly.

  Believing you’d laugh, just like before.

  And then in May, 2033—

  On the 20th anniversary of Haruka Hoshino’s birth,

  aboard the international cruise ship Ocean Promenade,

  piano and bamboo flute echoed through the grand atrium,

  welcoming travelers from every corner of the world.

  Every time someone played The Moonlit Boat,

  it felt like Haruka was whispering:

  “Music sets the heart free…”

  To this day, the music of Haruka Hoshino

  lives on in hearts around the world.

  The End.