Niekawa Mizuki, haunted by her elder brother's mysterious abandonment, struggles with feelings of loneliness and betrayal, often questioning where she belongs. Years after her elder brother's departure, Niekawa Mizuki avoids going home one day. Instead, she sits at a lakeside pier, where she encounters one of her troubled classmates, Irwin, who is shunned and bullied. After a tense, silent exchange, Niekawa Mizuki returns to her village only to discover a horrifying massacre, blood, and bodies of her clan members everywhere. Overwhelmed by fear and dread, Niekawa Mizuki rushes home, her hands trembling as she prepares to confront an unimaginable tragedy.

Where should I go? This is the question I have always asked my elder brother. Ever since he made an impossible choice to keep me alive that day, I didn't understand why he did that in the first place, and he wouldn't tell me the reason. He left the village many years ago and hasn't returned home yet. "Soon, soon," he said, but he repeatedly lied to me. I waited for a response daily, even if I never received one. I was home alone again tonight. I recalled when I shouted for him to hear me from the balcony as he was leaving that night when the moon was full, but every time he heard me calling for him, he ignored me like always. Where should I go? Where should I even go? You love me, but wouldn't face me. Is that love or hate?


Chapter 2 - In the Space Between Love and Departure