The seasons slowly changed in the hills of Northeast India.
The mornings became warmer, and the mist that once covered the valley began to disappear earlier in the day.
Life around Arin moved quietly, almost the same as always.
School.
Volleyball practice.
Sketching at night.
Nothing extraordinary ever happened.
And Arin was used to that.
His Instagram page remained small, but it slowly grew.
Thirty followers became forty.
Forty became fifty.
Most of the people who followed him were other young artists who enjoyed drawing anime characters.
Sometimes they exchanged simple comments like:
"Nice line work."
"I like the eyes you drew."
Arin didn't talk much, but he always replied politely.
For him, these small interactions felt meaningful.
Every night he uploaded another drawing.
Sometimes it was just a quick sketch.
Sometimes he spent hours carefully shading the hair and eyes.
And sometimes… the girl he drew looked strangely familiar.
Soft expression.
Calm smile.
Hair moving gently in the wind.
Even Arin didn't fully realize why his characters looked like that.
Meanwhile, in Japan, Hina's life continued moving quickly.
Her popularity kept growing.
Every new video gained thousands of likes.
People loved her cheerful personality and her relaxed, natural style.
But fame had a strange side that most people couldn't see.
Not every comment was kind.
Some people criticized her voice.
Some complained that her content was repetitive.
Others said things that made no sense at all.
At first, Hina tried to ignore those messages.
But sometimes, late at night, she read them by accident.
And they stayed in her mind longer than the positive ones.
One evening, after finishing a long day of filming, Hina sat on her bed scrolling through comments on Instagram.
Thousands of messages moved past her screen.
Compliments.
Questions.
Random jokes.
But mixed among them were a few negative ones.
She sighed quietly and placed her phone beside her.
Being loved by thousands of strangers sometimes felt strangely lonely.
Back in Northeast India, Arin didn't know anything about Hina's difficult moments.
For him, she was just a bright person on the screen.
Someone whose smile made the evening feel lighter.
One night, while finishing another sketch, Arin checked his Instagram notifications.
He blinked in surprise.
99 followers.
He stared at the number for a moment.
Then refreshed the page.
100 followers.
Arin leaned back slightly in his chair.
It wasn't a big number.
For most people, it meant nothing.
But for him, it felt like reaching a small milestone after months of quiet effort.
He smiled faintly.
"Thank you," he murmured to nobody in particular.
A few days later, something unexpected happened.
Arin uploaded a drawing of a girl standing under falling petals.
The background was simple, but the character's expression looked soft and peaceful.
After posting it, Arin closed the app and continued with his homework.
Hours later, when he opened Instagram again, he noticed something unusual.
One of the notifications said:
"Your post was shared in a story."
Arin frowned slightly and tapped the
notification.
Another small art account had shared his drawing and written:
"I love the calm feeling in this art."
Arin stared at the screen quietly.
It wasn't a famous account.
Only a few hundred followers.
But it was the first time someone had shared his work.
For a moment, Arin didn't know what to feel.
He simply looked at the drawing again and smiled softly.
Maybe… his art really could reach people.
Even if it was only a few.
Later that night, as usual, Arin opened Instagram and visited Hina's page again.
Her newest video had already reached thousands of views.
She was smiling and walking through a brightly lit street somewhere in Japan.
The city lights reflected softly in her eyes.
Arin watched the video quietly.
Then he left another simple comment.
"Your videos always feel peaceful."
He pressed send.
Like always, the comment disappeared into the endless sea of messages.
But Arin didn't expect anything different.
For him, it was just another quiet night.
Another sketch waiting to be drawn.
Another distant star shining somewhere far away.