Unfinished Song

Prologue: The First Goodbye

Mitsuki stood at the doorway of her uncle's house, gripping the strap of her bag so tightly her fingers ached. The familiar scent of home old books, faint traces of incense, and the lingering aroma of dinner wrapped around her, grounding her for a moment.

She had grown up here. Every corner of this house held a memory. The late nights spent practicing guitar in her room, her uncle's quiet presence as he listened from the other side of the door. The afternoons with Aya, sprawled on the living room floor, laughing over songs they wrote but never finished.

Now, she was leaving it all behind.

Her uncle sat on the couch, his face unreadable. Kanna stood near the entrance, waiting, her car parked just outside. The moment felt stretched, fragile, like a single note held too long before the inevitable silence.

"You're really going," her uncle finally said. Not a question. A statement.

Mitsuki swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yeah."

A long pause. Then, with a small nod, he said, "I always knew you would."

There was no anger in his voice, no disappointment. Just quiet understanding-the kind that made her chest ache even more.

She turned toward the hallway, half-expecting Aya to appear, to stop her, to say something that would make this easier or harder. But the house remained still. Aya wasn't here. Maybe that was for the best.

Mitsuki took a deep breath, stepped outside, and didn't look back.