pretend the argument had solved everything. They agreed that the locked room would no longer be treated as a forbidden place, and Kenji promised to tell Yuki about important decisions that could affect their shared future.
Yuki, in turn, promised not to treat every unanswered question as proof of betrayal.
Neither promise was a magical solution.
They were simply a beginning.
Chapter Nine: The Project That Belonged to More Than One Person
Over the next few weeks, Kenji began telling Yuki more about Aiko and Hana.
He described Aiko’s love of gardening and her habit of buying books faster than she could read them. He told her about Hana’s sharp wit, her impatience with unfairness, and the way she could turn an ordinary family dinner into a debate about almost anything.
Yuki listened without trying to compete with memories she could never share.
Sometimes Kenji laughed while telling a story.
