A wavy-haired girl is brought to a school for magicians. That day, she meets a bespectacled girl in a dining hall. Hearing her bread was stolen by mean boys, she puts on a strong front and goes to reclaim it, but her magic is not sufficient to finish the job. She is saved by a spiky-haired boy who made impressive use of magic to thwart the mean boys. She tells the boy she could have handled it herself, but he changes the subject and urges everyone to eat.

The three break bread together and become friends. Having been peeled from their families and brought together in this place, each one feels parts of something larger than themselves — almost as if they were starting a new family.

Time passes, and after growing slightly closer to adulthood, the girls learn of the Day of Pledging — a long-held ritual for magicians in which two who are close exchange Avowal Rings. Hearing the explanation from their professor, the students surrender to the butterflies in their stomachs and start attempting to form pairs.

The wavy-haired girl is approached by a number of boys, but rejects them to the last. The spiky-haired boy teases the girl for being cold, and the bespectacled girl chuckles as she watches on. From that day they met in the hall as children, the three were the best of friends. Before the next class begins, the wavy-haired girl asks her bespectacled friend what she thinks of their spiky-haired best friend, but receives a noncommittal response.

The Day of Pledging draws nearer, and a festival is taking place in town. The wavy-haired girl, unable to control her excitement, takes her best friends to see the festival, but her bespectacled friend returns home under weak pretenses, leaving the wavy-haired girl and the spiky-haired boy in each other's company. The girl soldiers on, uncomfortably visiting festival stalls with the boy she holds feelings for. As they make to leave the festival, she confesses her feelings to the boy, only to be rejected — he has feelings for their bespectacled friend.

Her heart broken, the wavy-haired girl is alone.
The bespectacled girl appears before her.
The wavy-haired girl lashes out at the bespectacled girl, angry that she kept her plans to make a pledge with the boy secret from her. In response, the bespectacled girl sets the record straight — she doesn't love the boy. She loves the wavy-haired girl.

The feelings the three held were all knotted up. Unable to accept the truth of things, the wavy-haired girl lashes out at her friend.
"I wish you would both just disappear forever!"

The Day of Pledging arrives.
The names of students who will be paired are called out, one after another.
However, no matter how much time passes the girl's friends are nowhere to be found, so she starts searching the school for them.

In time, she comes across the boy's corpse.
The bespectacled girl has disappeared without a trace.
During the boy's funeral, the girl feels intense regret that her words of anger had become reality.

"I must find her."