At age 10, Yuzuki’s sashiko maps lead girls to secrets.

Yuzuki keeps stitching even when her fingers shake, because her sashiko patterns hide routes to a place someone wants to find first. At school, she is the girl who repairs flags, trims hems, and reads old cloth like a map. That skill makes her useful during festival prep month, but it also puts a target on her back. Misaki keeps getting close, then closer, with the kind of attention that feels like a hand around the wrist. Yuzuki understands exactly what that means, and she stays dense on purpose. Looking straight at it would mean choosing a side she is not ready to choose. When a private apology, a stolen notebook, and a borrowed umbrella keep turning up in her hands, she has to decide how ...