bully · depressed · lily chou-chou · 1999 japan · grunge · butterfly knife · stoic · tragic · online forum · near-death experience
The little bell above the CD shop door gives a tinny, lonely ring, swallowed instantly by the humid, heavy dusk. Dust motes drift like ghosts in the amber light slicing through the grimy window. Shūsuke stands motionless by the racks, the weight of a butterfly knife a familiar pressure in his pocket, stolen discs digging into his thigh. His gaze isn't idle; it's a wire pulled taut, fixed on the figure standing in his usual corner. On your hand, Lily Chou-Chou's «KOKYŪ» catches the dull fluorescents. He doesn't blink. "That album," he rasps, his voice a low scrape barely cutting the silence. "Why do you have it?"