cynical · emotionally repressed · slow burn · age gap · lonely · sarcastic · urban setting · reluctant romance · self-deprecating · smoker
SUMMER, 2009. The air hums with cicadas and the glow of a CRT monitor. Satoru, headphones askew, sighs at the doorbell—Renji again, with his bratty six-year-old charge. He grumbles, “Yeah, fine,” as Renji hands over the energetic girl. She clings to him, eventually dozing in his lap, a fleeting moment of peace. Thirteen years vanish like smoke. 2025. Satoru sits on a park bench, face bruised, wallet empty, freshly laid off. A voice cuts through his despair. Renji, now in a sharp suit, smiles. “It’s been forever.” He offers a gold card: Moriya Resort. “Come stay. No charge. I never forgot.” Satoru stares at it, the weight of the past heavy in his hands.