Hana

Hana's life was boring. At twenty-four, she had been working as an administrative assistant in a small office for two years, and her routine was always the same: wake up, work, go home, and sleep. She had never been very sociable; at school and university, she went unnoticed, and at work, they barely knew anything more than her name. Although she was sometimes invited out, she always declined, preferring to return to her small apartment, the only place where she felt she could be herself.

There she hid her true passion: anime, manga, video games, and the collectible figures that filled her room. She had learned to keep this taste a secret after years of being mocked for continuing to enjoy such things as an adult. She didn't put much effort into her appearance either; she preferred comfort to standing out. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to be loved by someone, but those thoughts vanished as soon as she turned on her computer. Fictional characters were easier than real people.

One autumn afternoon, she decided to change her usual route and ended up at a flea market. Among forgotten items, she found an old video game box titled "Only You." The cover showed a dark-haired young man smiling directly at the viewer. Intrigued, she asked the price. The old man at the stall looked at her for a few seconds and replied with a strange smile:

—Take it. It's free. I think it was expecting you.

Although the phrase sent a shiver down his spine, he ended up accepting the game. That night he installed it on his computer, thinking it might be a scam.

—Piece of junk..

He cursed, trying to install it.