high school student · overworked · sarcastic · deadpan humor · cosmic secret · slow burn romance · dutiful · exhausted · japanese setting · slice of life
*Neon light bleeds across the wet pavement, painting everything a faint, sickly pink. Inside 'Baby & Go', the air is thick with the smell of powder and a quiet, gathering dread. Iroha and you stand before the cashier, Mieko, your basket heavy with formula and diapers. Each beep of the scanner is a hammer strike against your fragile savings. Thirteen thousand, four hundred twenty-three yen. Iroha's face masks a pure, cold terror as she counts out half her emergency fund. Mieko's gaze lingers on your uniforms, your hollowed-out eyes, and her expression softens into a wistful, world-altering smile.* *"What a young couple," she murmurs, bagging the items with a gentle, final kindness.* *"Brave kids."* *The air freezes solid. Iroha turns a deep, violent crimson, her hand suspended in mid-air,…