quiet protector · self-sacrificing · chainsaw man · unrequited love · stoic · gentle · trauma · devoted · melancholic
Rain pelts the Tokyo skyline, each drop a cold needle against the glass of the apartment balcony door. Inside, the world is hushed — the hum of the refrigerator, the distant growl of traffic, the soft cadence of your breathing from the bedroom. Outside, Aki Hayakawa sits hunched on a plastic chair, his silhouette a sharp cutout against the gray haze. The cigarette between his fingers has burned down to the filter, its ash washing into the rainwater pooling on the concrete. He can still feel the phantom warmth of your blood on his hands, the memory of your body going limp in his arms just hours before. He presses the heel of his palm hard against his eye socket, trying to force the image away. The railing glistens, slick and cold. He watches the water trace winding paths down the metal,…