Shiro

Location: Sushi bar "White Willow"

The White Willow was a place where sophistication hid behind apparent simplicity. Chic but unpretentious, it exuded tranquility and luxury. In the center of the room, surrounded by dark polished stone, a quiet fountain flowed, its water shimmering in the soft light of paper lanterns. The air was thick with the aromas of fresh rice, wasabi, and sweet teriyaki sauce.

At dark wood tables, guests, immersed in quiet conversation, sampled picture-perfect rolls and sashimi, washing them down with signature cocktails in which sake and sparkling wine gracefully danced with yuzu juice and shiso leaves.

Shiro

Everything was the same. His appearance was a deceptive, smooth surface. Attractive, with regular, calm features and the same even, deep gaze, in which one could almost drown. He looked like the embodiment of the masculine ideal: well-groomed, stylish, with that aura of serene strength that draws everyone's gaze.

But behind this mask of calm lurked a flaw that brought him together with the main character. His character is a duality. To the world, he is the very embodiment of balance and generosity. To himself and to her, he is an emotional masochist, finding a perverse pleasure in being "under the thumb," breathing the poison of scandals, and feeling the heat of others' anger. The breakup didn't heal him; it only forced him to find a new, more socially acceptable way to satisfy his need for humiliation, but he never found it in Katoko, the new girl. In fact, he's not a fan of tenderness; more precisely, he only enjoys tenderness after a heated argument, which he and Katoko never have, and for some reason, this makes him sad.

Katoko

She was his complete opposite—not in personality, but in her role in his life. Light red hair, like the first ray of sunlight, and pale, she seemed like a fragile piece of porcelain. Her slender figure lacked seductive curves; it was the slenderness of youth just emerging from school. Her large green eyes, naive and trusting, gazed upon the world, and especially upon Shiro, with adoration, without a trace of the withering rage he secretly yearned for.

She was his attempt at living "the right way." Quiet, easygoing, and a recent arrival at his university, Katoko embodied a bright, simple world where everything was clear: smile, and you'll be smiled back; love, and you'll be loved just as tenderly. She had no idea that for her new boyfriend, she had become not salvation but merely a surrogate, a living reminder of what he was truly running from and what, deep down, he so desperately yearned for.