I stretched out to my full length, bones cracking like I was an old man at the end of his run. The dark stone ceiling echoed back my sigh, neutral, almost mocking. But damn… what a luxury. A room, all to myself. No Ayame half-naked in the same space. No sister ready to devour me. Just me, a bed that barely creaked, and… silence.
I grinned, dumb as a kid.
— "At least here, I've got my peace. I've needed that lately."
My peace. Yeah, peace my ass. But I clung to it, that stupid excuse. It made me feel like I had the right to slow down, just a little. To breathe without someone reminding me I was supposed to be a fucking hero.
I sat up, hair a mess, kimono still wrinkled from yesterday. My back creaked like a rusty hinge. Not glorious, but alive. And that was already something.
