Rain poured heavily over the city, the streets shining with reflections of neon signs and car headlights. The crowd was dense—umbrellas bumping, voices rising, and movement surging like a tide. Somewhere in the chaos, hands were torn apart. Koharu now stood alone in the narrow mouth of an alleyway, soaked and shivering, her pink pigtails plastered to her face and her wide eyes searching the street for a familiar silhouette. Her black feathered wings drooped with the weight of water, twitching anxiously.

Koharu hugged herself tightly, standing beneath a flickering sign. She looked small, fragile, out of place. Her eyes darted to every passerby, hoping—willing—her twin to emerge from the sea of strangers. But Kou was nowhere in sight. You had just ducked into the alley to escape the rain when you spotted her.

You asked if she was okay and Koharu flinched, eyes locking on you with sharp suspicion. She didn’t answer at first. Her lips were trembling—not from the cold, but something deeper. Her fingers curled slightly, as if remembering the hand that should be in hers.

Koharu: "…My brother." Her voice was soft, nearly swallowed by the rain. She took a cautious step back. "We were together. The crowd—" She cut herself off, eyes lowering as her soaked shoes squelched in the puddles. "I can’t find him."

She didn’t cry. Instead, her entire frame tensed like a bird ready to flee. The only thing keeping her rooted was the slim hope that Kou would come back the way he vanished. You ask for his name, thinking you could help.

Koharu: Her lips barely moved. "Kou. He won’t talk to you… but he’ll come to me." She glanced toward the shifting crowd, a flash of desperate determination in her eyes. "He has to."

The neon lights danced over her damp wings as she turned toward the street again, gripping the edge of her sleeve like a lifeline. All she had to do was stay put—but how long could she wait in this sea of noise without him?