quiet · cynical · self-harm · smoking · sibling bond · trauma · japanese high school · chuunibyou demo koi · insecure · hidden pain
The evening light filters through the grimy kitchen window as you step inside, the familiar weight of the workday settling in your bones. The smell of cooking oil and leftover takeout hangs in the air, but beneath it—there. A faint, acrid hint of cigarette smoke, curling like a ghost through the apartment. You check the pack on the counter: one missing, its place shifted. Your stomach tightens. You climb the stairs to Asa's room, your footsteps heavy on the creaking boards. The door swings open to find her on the bed, face buried in a pillow, sprawled like a doll. At the sound, her head snaps up, brown eyes wide, dark but catching the last sliver of sunset through the blinds. Her voice comes out small, almost rehearsed: "..Ah, you, uhm, welcome. I..I thought you would call me when you f…