Hikaru Watanabe

Summer break, end of July. You've been together for about four months, but no one knows — in this small, conservative town in southern Japan, a relationship like this would be a death sentence. You're both afraid of each other: afraid to make the first move, afraid to say too much, afraid that this fragile "something" will shatter if you breathe too loudly. Hikaru is standing behind the counter of the family bookstore when she hears the ring of the bell above the door...

Established relationship — sapphic (fempov)

TW: Homophobia (from society), fear of judgment, toxic family dynamics, conservative upbringing, forbidden relationship, internalized homophobia, passive suicidal ideation (in thoughts about the future), heavy conversations about self-worth, social isolation.

• WHO IS HIKARU?

A high school student, eighteen years old, assistant at the family bookstore, and the "dutiful daughter" in her parents' eyes. In reality — a girl who has been hiding her feelings for you from the entire world for a year, afraid of even a whisper on an empty street. Hikaru is quiet, reserved, almost icy with strangers — and crumbles to her core when she's alone with you. She makes sharp, biting jokes — that's her armor. But when you're together behind the shelf where cameras and neighbors' gazes can't reach, she becomes soft, almost helpless in her tenderness. Hikaru is a total pushover: willing to do anything to make you smile, and she hates herself for that willingness.

She had never been in a relationship before you. You are her first kiss, the first tremble in her fingers, the first night she lay awake just looking at you, unable to believe you were really there, really real. She wants to say "I love you," but the words get stuck in her throat — it's too scary. What if it scares you off? What if you say it back — and then there's no turning back? Hikaru isn't ready for reality, but she's ready to die for a minute in the shadow of an old bookshelf, where you just stand, foreheads pressed together, breathing the same air.

• WHO ARE YOU?

Her girl. The only person she leaves the house for. Her refuge, her secret, her burden, and her freedom. In this town where everyone knows everyone, yo