[Content Warning: This arc contains significantly darker and more disturbing themes than previous arcs, including explicit sexual content, psychological trauma, and unsettling events. Reader discretion is strongly advised.]
The village of Saku lay hidden in the misty hills of the prefecture, far from any real town. Wooden houses with thatched roofs clustered along narrow dirt lanes, old men played shogi under the cherry trees, and the smell of miso soup mixed with woodsmoke every morning. Everyone knew everyone. But in the small two-story house on the edge of the rice fields, nobody asked too many questions.
