The sun didn’t just enter Aiko’s room; it cut through the heavy, velvet curtains like a judge’s gavel, exposing the emptiness of a life lived in monochrome.

"Aiko! Aiko!"

Her father’s voice boomed from the hallway, stripped of affection, replaced only by the cold efficiency of a man who viewed his daughter as a duty, not a person.

Aiko opened her eyes. The familiar ache in her stomach—a quiet, burning reminder of her countdown—flared. She didn’t move quickly. In this house, rushing was for those who had somewhere to go.

She found her father in the foyer, his luggage already waiting. He didn't even turn around as she descended the grand staircase.

"I’m heading out," he said, checking his watch. "I won’t be back for a week. The staff knows what to do. Take care of yourself."

*Take care of yourself.* A phrase he said like an instruction manual, not a goodbye. Aiko just nodded, her fingers gripping a piece of fruit, her mind already drifting to the silence that would swallow the house the moment the door clicked shut.

Later, in the suffocating quiet of the balcony, Aiko sat with her diary—the only thing that knew her secrets. Then, the sound of heels clicking on marble. Mina.

"Aiko, you’re rotting away in here," Mina said, her tone a mix of pity and frustration. "Let’s go out. Just for today. Before I get married and leave you to this... this mausoleum."

Aiko’s eyes darkened. "Marriage doesn't mean you have to stop being my cousin."

Mina went still. The air grew heavy, thick with the unsaid truth of their distance. Mina tried to shake it off, forcing a bright, desperate smile. "Forget that. Come on, we’re getting you a phone. No more excuses. You need a life outside these walls. You need... to be a person."

That night, the screen of the new phone felt like a portal. Aiko lay in her massive, cold bed, the blue light of the screen illuminating her pale face.

She scrolled through reels—the chaotic, messy, vibrant world she had never dared to touch. And then, he appeared. Haruto. He was sitting on a wooden bench in a park, singing softly, his eyes closed, clearly enjoying the simple rhythm of his own life.

She tapped the heart. She pressed 'Follow.' It was the first act of defiance she had ever committed.

The next morning, the notification chime was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard.

*Request Accepted.*

*He replied to your story.*

Aiko sat up, her breath hitching. She read the name: **Haruto Tanaka.**

She sent a simple heart.

**Haruto:** *What are you doing?*

She bit her lip, a shy, tentative smile ghosting her features.

**Aiko:** *Just lying in bed. What about you?*

### The Tension: The Question

Days bled into nights. Their messages became a lifeline, a secret garden only they could enter. But tonight, the air was different.

**Haruto:** *Aiko, tell me about yourself. I want to know more about the girl who takes pictures of flowers but never shows her face.*

Aiko stared at the cursor, blinking steadily, like a heartbeat.

*If I tell him who I am,* she thought, her eyes misting, *he’ll see the chains of my family’s name. If I tell him how much time I have left, he’ll look at me with pity—the one thing I can’t bear.*

Her hands trembled. She typed a single sentence, erased it, and stared into the dark.

The Fujiwara Estate.

The air in the living room was thick, suffocating. While her brother, Ren, sprawled on the sofa with a phone in his hand, Aiko sat rigid in an armchair, flanked by parents who viewed her future as a logistical problem to be solved.

"We’ve decided," her mother said, her voice devoid of warmth. "You’re moving to your aunt’s house."

Aiko’s gaze didn’t flicker, but her hands tightened on her skirt. "I can live alone. I don’t need anyone. If you’re leaving Japan, leave me in *this* house. I’ll stay here."

"Daughter, try to understand," her father sighed, rubbing his temples. "Ren has already graduated, but your studies are ongoing. We can't drag you abroad."

"I never asked to go with you," Aiko whispered, her voice sharp as glass. "I’m saying I won’t live under someone else’s roof when I have my own."

*Slap.*

The sound echoed off the high ceilings. Aiko’s face turned to the side, her skin stinging.

"Mind your language," her mother hissed. "They are family. Mina will be there. You are a child—you cannot be left alone."

Aiko turned back, her eyes cold, dry, and terrifyingly steady. "And is it 'family' to abandon your own daughter? How can you be so heartless?"

Ren finally looked up, his expression one of tired annoyance. "Aiko, just accept it. It’s for the family."

Aiko looked at him and offered a small, broken smile. "Fine. But don’t pretend this is 'for us.' It’s for *you*."

After few days.

Mina’s house.

Mina eating fruits looking at Aiko from down to up.

Mina : hey whats your name i didn’t knew that i have cousin too.

Mina’s mom: Eat fast and go to school.

Mina look at Aiko and replied you will he fine here….( she is about to complete her words but Aiko interupt saying “ where is my room and i want completely clean room”)

Mina smiled and whispered she is so brat.

Mina’s mom look at mina and gave a sign to shut up.

Aiko’s new room was smaller, humbler. When she entered, she didn’t unpack. She just stood by the balcony, watching the street, feeling like an exotic bird trapped in a cage that didn’t fit.

That night, sleep refused to come. The silence was different here—it felt intrusive. She pulled out a diary, the ink flowing onto the page like a confession.

A sharp knock broke the silence. Her aunt stepped in, already looking annoyed. "Aiko, good morning. Are you not going to school?"

Aiko didn’t look up from her book. "Teacher will come here. Private lessons."

Her aunt let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Your parents didn't tell you? You're enrolled. You're going to a real school, and Mina is your senior. Put on the uniform."

Aiko: don’t you know that teacher will come to give me lecture privately.

Auntie laughed.

Auntie : aiko your family didn’t told you, didn’t they? From now you are going to school and Mina will be your senior in the school.

Get ready your uniform is here.

Aiko: i am not going school and if you don’t know let me mention i don’t like crowded area.

Auntie: but you need to because you live with us and you need to do what i will say.

End of the discussion just wear it and come down other wise it will be not good for both of us.

After a moment.

Mina and her mother is sitting in the living room.

Her mother exhaling the cig rates .

Mina: Mom why is she like this introvert or spoil brat.

Her mother didn’t replied.

Aiko came in her uniform.

Auntie: Mina make sure to be with her.

Mina rolled her eyes and replied i am not her servant mother just give her personal bodyguard.

Aiko: i don’t need anyone and also not you.

Aiko

And mina goes in the school.

Mina didn’t really talked with her.

Mina walked ahead, not bothering to check if Aiko was following. "This is my last year," Mina said without turning around. "Don't embarrass me. And show some respect."

Aiko walked behind her, a ghost in a uniform, completely invisible to the bustling students. She was an island in a sea of people.

Days goes on.

Mina is busy with her own life while aiko is silenced in school everytime.

Not with friends not with family not with anyone.

One day

The atmosphere shifted the moment the door clicked shut. Three girls stood by the mirrors, their eyes fixed on Aiko’s expensive watch, her pristine uniform.

"I heard you’re a rich brat," the leader said, blocking the exit. "We’re hungry. We need money."

Aiko didn't flinch. She looked at them as if they were scenery. "You think I’d give you money just because you asked? Don’t talk to me again."

She tried to brush past, but a hand grabbed her shoulder, spinning her back.

"Who do you think you’re talking to?" the girl sneered. "We aren't your family."

Aiko’s eyes flashed with a sudden, icy fire. "And thank God for that. If you were my family, you wouldn't be here begging for pennies."

"Did your parents only teach you how to spend money, not manners?" the girl spat.

Aiko took a step forward, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Don’t. Drag. My family. Into this."

"What will you do? Cry? Or are you going to beat us?" The girl laughed, her friends joining in.

"I don't do animal abuse," Aiko said calmly.

*CRACK.*

The slap landed hard across Aiko’s cheek, sending her stumbling back against the cold tiles.

When the slap landed on her face, she didn't even flinch; she just stood there, motionless.

One of the girls sneered, "What’s the matter? Can’t even flinch, you rich brat?"

Aiko looked at the girl with sharp, icy eyes.

The girl laughed, taunting her. "What, are you going to return the slap?"

Aiko stood up straight, her voice steady and chillingly calm. “Who am I to slap you? All these actions Explains that what kind of person you are”

All the girls went silent, staring at her, unsettled by her cold composure. Aiko watched their faces, then turned and walked out of the washroom.

At night, Aiko stood in front of the mirror, staring at her own face and thinking about the day's incident. She wasn't crying, and she wasn't saying anything; she was just watching her reflection.

She started writing in her diary, then eventually fell asleep.

Day by day, she started getting sicker. Some days she would vomit.

Sometimes, there was blood when she wiped her mouth.

Slowly, she began to lose her appetite, but she didn't tell anyone.

Her aunt noticed the changes in her body weight and her lack of appetite.

Auntie: "What’s happening? Are you not happy living with us, or are you ignoring us intentionally?"

Aiko didn’t reply. She slowly walked toward her room again. Her aunt ran after her and knocked on the door.

Auntie: "Open the door, Aiko. You aren't here to live alone. We are all here, yet you’re pretending to be an invisible person."

No voice came from inside Aiko’s room.

Mina came home from outside and asked, "What’s happening, Mom?"

Auntie: "Aiko is acting weird lately."

Mina: "Just leave her alone," she said, heading upstairs.

But her aunt sat in the living room, deep in thought.

The next morning, Aiko didn’t come out of her room. The day passed, and she still didn’t emerge. Mina didn’t care, but her aunt kept knocking on the door.

A week passed, and she hadn’t eaten anything. Mina asked her mom, "Is she really going a whole week on an empty stomach?"

Auntie replied, "No, she is eating late at night. I always put dinner in the fridge, and when I check in the morning, I see empty plates. She’s ignoring us; something is wrong. I’m assuming she might be drinking, too."

Mina: "Mom, then you should talk to her late at night."

Auntie: "I can’t. You wouldn’t understand."

Suddenly, the sound of a glass breaking came from Aiko’s room. Her aunt ran to the door, knocking frantically.

Auntie: "Enough is enough, Aiko! Come outside right now! Don’t push me!"

Mina: "Aiko, don’t be a child! Come outside and act like a woman!"

Aiko opened the door and stepped out.

She was wearing a white dress, her skin looking pale and plain. Mina and her aunt looked at each other, shocked.

Mina: "You’re losing so much weight."

Mina’s phone rang, and she stepped away to answer it.

Auntie: "What is wrong with you? Do you think we are just like your parents, letting you do whatever you want? This is your last warning, Aiko. If you want to live here, live like we are all family."

Aiko looked at her and replied, "I don’t count you as my family, and who are you to mention my parents?"

Auntie slapped her.

Mina heard the sound and rushed back inside.

Aiko remained silent and walked back into her room.

Mina: "Mom! Why? Why are you being like this? Oh my gosh!"