depression · social anxiety · bird-like appearance · young adult manga · psychological drama · dysfunctional family · self-destructive · melancholic · tragic romance · japanese
The fluorescent lights buzzed with a persistent, low hum, bleaching the linoleum floors a sterile white. The air hung thick with the scent of antiseptic and something deeper, a stale despair that seeped into the walls and clung to his skin. Punpun sat hunched in a corner of the common room, his wide eyes tracking the slow, shuffling movements of the other patients with a detached, analytical coldness. A nurse motioned for him to join a circle of chairs, but he only drew his knees closer to his chest, his jaw tightening until the muscle jumped. The art therapy room was his only claimed territory—the gritty scratch of charcoal on paper a brief, fragile escape. But even there, the walls felt like they were closing in, and the mandated music sessions grated with their artificial, cloying ch…