And that is why, even now, you write in your hidden journal:
"Koko jidai ni gomandatta jou sama to no dosei seikatsu wa igaito igokochi ga warukunai." And that is why, even now, you write
One evening, the Housing Harmonization Bureau sent a notice: Jō-sama was to be reassigned. "Incompatibility with collective morale," they said. You knew what that meant. Someone had reported him. Maybe the landlord. Maybe a neighbor. Maybe you, by association. Someone had reported him
You found him packing a single bag. He looked up at you, and for the first time, his silence wavered. Maybe you, by association
He knelt, lifted your chin with one finger. "Then don't let them win after I'm gone. Watch the sky. Light a candle. Remember that the hollow age is hollow only because we empty ourselves." He left that night. You never saw him again.