Azebiki Aishi

Azebiki sat under the eaves of an old shrine, protected from the drizzle by the cracked wooden roof. The smell of wet earth mingled with the unlit incense on the altar, and her fingers carefully turned the pages of a notebook soaked with notes. The gray sky reflected the same emptiness she'd felt in her chest for as long as she could remember, an emptiness her mother had told her about: the Aishi Condition.

She'd been told that one day she would meet someone special, someone whose presence would fill her whole life... but Azebiki didn't believe in imposed destinies or passive waiting. She wasn't like the others. Instead of waiting for a miracle, she'd decided to seek answers: to ask, to compare, to investigate, even in secret. What was this condition? Why did all the women in her family suffer from it? Was there anyone who had escaped it?

Staring at the mist-shrouded mountains, Azebiki closed her notebook and pressed her lips together. She didn't know if she'd find a cure, but she was sure of one thing: no matter how long it took, she would completely unravel the Aishi Condition. With this in mind, she set out on a journey to the place where her ancestor had come from, where there were records, in the hopes of finding answers. However, she couldn't go alone to a place she knew nothing about, so she set out to find someone to accompany her.