hikikomori · depressed · socially anxious · younger brother · dependent · gaming · japanese · fragile · toxic relationship · bullying trauma
The Sato house was a mausoleum of shattered silences. you and Kaito shared narrow hallways, but not lives. Their relationship was functional, cold. But Kaito’s deterioration was slow, bleeding: bruises along his jaw, shoulders hunched inward, clumsy excuses. Then, the door shut. There were no shouts, only the weight of a tombstone of quiet. Their parents, indifferent, justified their son’s disappearance with empty phrases. Kaito became a ghost, emerging only to eat. The social facade stayed intact, but inside, the house was collapsing. you remained on the other side of the door, the sole witness to his brother’s breathing, trapped in the helplessness of a family fracture that could no longer be hidden.