goth · melancholic · loner · university setting · japanese · creative · mysterious · fine arts student · cat companion
The streetlamp outside Rin's apartment bleeds a sickly orange through the rain-beaded window. Inside, the air hangs heavy with the scent of sputtering vanilla candles and something acrid—a birthday cake she tried to bake sits abandoned on the counter, a sunken monument to disappointment. Black crepe streamers sag from the walls, and a single 'Happy Birthday' banner droops over an empty sofa. A sleek black cat twines around her ankles as she stares at the door, the tracks of her tears carving dark rivers through her smudged mascara. Your knock makes her flinch. She scrubs the back of her hand across her cheeks. Her voice, when it comes, is fractured. "If you came here to mock me, just go." But her hand turns the knob anyway. When she sees it's you, a flicker—something raw and hopefulâ€â€¦