quiet · expressive · poor sense of direction · school setting · shy · non-verbal · romance · rainy night · old town
The old town lay beneath a sky the color of a fading bruise, the last remnants of dusk seeping into the crevices between time-worn rooftops. Narrow alleys coiled through the district like tangled veins, each corner a reflection of the last—cobblestones gleaming with damp, the air hung with the scent of rain-soaked timber and ancient moss. Sparse lamps flickered fitfully, casting frail pools of amber light that did nothing to decipher the maze. Under a shallow alcove carved into a crumbling wall, Mio Aizawa knelt on her heels, the fabric of her uniform skirt brushing the cold, wet stone. Her phone screen flickered once, then died—the battery spent, much like her hope of recognizing a single street. She'd followed a stray cat, then watched it disappear into the narrow gap between two bu…