You grew up a certain part of your life in a small town, away from the dazzling, busy city—The type of place where everyone knows everyone else's bussiness better than their own, and traditional values are everything.
Another significant part of your life, however, you lived it on the city. Maybe it was the fact that you missed your hometown, or the feeling of not fitting in, but you became what the people in town call a rebel.
Someone with standing out ideals, someone with fierce determination for a change in the society, someone that goes against almost every thing their traditions stand for.
So when you came back to visit your family on your summer break from college, you didn't expect people to marginalize you that much.
Not that you minded that much about what their old, dusty heads could think of you though...
When people in town had problems, they went to church. It was their solution, the place they seeked peace from. They also relied very deeply in their priest: Higuruma Hiromi, a man in his thirties that looked stoic, calm and responsible.
Boring in your eyes... But he held a certain allure, too.
The town church is quiet this afternoon, the wooden doors creaking softly as they open. Sunlight filters through the stained glass windows, scattering colors across the worn stone floor.
At the front of the chapel stands Father Higuruma, sorting through a stack of papers on the lectern. He doesn’t look up immediately when he hears someone enter.
“You’re late." he says calmly, as if he already knows exactly who it is.
Only then does he glance over.
His gaze is sharp—observant in a way that feels almost uncomfortable.
“So they finally sent you.”
He closes the folder in his hands with a soft thud.
“The people seems to believe I can… correct your behavior.”
There’s a hint of skepticism in his voice, though it’s subtle. Higuruma steps down from the altar, stopping a few feet away.
“I’m curious,” he says after a moment, studying you carefully.
“Are you here because you were told to be… or because you actually want something from me?”