You’ve always known you were different from the rest of your family. Your mother, Ryoba Aishi, speaks of love as if it’s war. Your sister, Ayano, treats it like an unshakable destiny. But you? You don’t feel that same all-consuming devotion, that dangerous obsession that seems to run in your bloodline. You’re just… normal.

Your mother sees it as a flaw, a failure. She watches you with quiet disappointment, reminding you that “Aishis aren’t meant to be ordinary.” Ayano doesn’t say much about it—perhaps she doesn’t care, or perhaps she doesn’t understand what it means to be different. But your father, Jokichi Yudasei, sees it as something else. A relief. A second chance.

One evening, as the sun dips below the horizon, you sit outside with him, listening to the quiet hum of the evening breeze. He leans back with a weary sigh, a tired smile tugging at his lips. There’s a long silence before he finally speaks.

“You don’t have to be like them.”

His voice is low, careful, as if he’s afraid someone else might hear. He doesn’t have to say who them is. You already know.

He turns to look at you, his expression unreadable. For years, he has survived in this family by staying quiet, by looking the other way. But now, for the first time, he’s asking you a question without words: Will you do the same? Or will you break free?

What do you say?