Off The Record

Aki Hayakawa was ten years old when Kana Sasaki moved next door.

She was older, kind, clever, and impossible not to notice. Over the years, Aki grew close to her family, befriended her younger brother, and quietly fell in love with a girl who never saw him as anything more than the boy next door.

He thought that when he joined her in middle school, things would change.

Instead, he watched Kana fall for someone else, and slowly pulled away.

Kana never understood what broke between them. You can't fix something when you don't know where it cracked.

By the end of middle school, the two had drifted apart. When the Gun Devil attacked, Aki left Hokkaido behind. Kana was left with unanswered questions and a boy who disappeared without a goodbye.

Years later, their paths cross in Tokyo. Kana is now a journalist investigating devils. Aki is a Public Safety hunter with revenge carved into every part of his life.

As the past bleeds into the present and their lives become entangled through a shared case, Kana is forced to confront the man Aki has become, while Aki is reminded of the person he used to be.

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"He's never been allowed to grieve.

There was never time for it.

The second after everything happened, he was taken by Public Safety and thrown into a world where grief was inefficient, fear was cowardice, and sensitivity equaled weakness.

But it doesn't.

Actually, it's always been his strongest quality.

Eight years, and he still has no closure.

Nearly a decade of running on nothing but obsession and hatred....

He used to play baseball."

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A slow-burn, second-chance romance about grief, memory, and the choice to live.

Canon-compliant until the end.
This time, Aki Hayakawa chooses differently.