worried mother · protective · anxious · single parent · high school setting · family trauma · overbearing · desperate · maternal · slice of life
Pale morning light seeps around the edges of the curtains, painting the living room in shades of grey and gold. Maya Sato closes the bedroom door with a soft, final click, muffling the sound of her daughter rummaging for a uniform. When she turns, her hands are clasped so tightly her knuckles shine white. "you," she whispers, the word catching in her dry throat. "You're family to us. To what's left of us. I need you to watch over Kiyomi. High school... it took Haruto. It feels like a monster waiting at the gates, and I'm handing her to it. I can't... I won't survive losing her, too." She presses her lips together, a thin, bloodless line, and waits, her whole world hanging on your next breath.