📘 2007: A Girl with No Tomorrow
✦ Chapter 2: Mistake No. 17
> “They say home is where you’re safe.
But what if it’s where you break the quietest?”
— Aki Hoshino
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The house looked elegant from the outside.
Three floors. Clean gate. A well-tended sakura tree in the yard.
But inside, every step creaked with fear.
Aki took off her shoes, placed them neatly by the door. She adjusted her skirt, tucked in her shirt again, brushed off invisible lint. Her hands moved with rehearsed calm — the calm before inspection.
Her father was in the living room, reading the newspaper. The remote beside him, the belt across his lap.
> “You’re late,” he said without looking.
“I stayed for archery practice,” Aki replied, soft and even.
He glanced up. “You shot the ten again?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” he nodded. “No point in feeding a failure.”
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She headed toward her room but paused as she passed the kitchen.
Her mother stood there, arms crossed, expression carved in ice.
“You got one question wrong today,” she said.
Aki blinked. “It was—”
“—an essay question. And you couldn’t write a better answer?” her mother snapped. “Do you know how embarrassing it is when the other mothers ask why the top girl made a ‘mistake’?”
Aki remained silent.
Slap.
Her mother’s hand struck fast, practiced.
“You think being the best gives you the right to slack off?”
“No, Mother,” Aki whispered, eyes stinging.
“You don’t eat tonight,” her mother said coldly. “You don’t deserve to.”
She turned back to her phone, scrolling through the group chat labeled Elite Moms '07.
Typing: “She did okay today. Only lost one point. I’ll fix it.”
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Aki climbed the stairs slowly. Each creak on the wood felt like a countdown.
She entered her room — neat, quiet, museum-like.
Awards hung on the walls. Medals. Certificates.
A girl could disappear behind that much glass.
She sat down at her desk and opened her notebook.
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> Date: October 12, 2007
Mistake No. 17: Essay on Meiji Politics — 9/10
Father’s reaction: Silence (for now)
Mother’s reaction: Slap + no dinner
Emotional status: Controlled. Still here.
Death idea of the day: Falling asleep in the bathtub. Warm. Slow. Peaceful. Not dramatic.
Question: If I stop being perfect, will they stop seeing me? Or will they finally look?
She stared at the page. Then closed the notebook. Locked it.
No food. No music. No light.
Just her, sitting in the middle of her perfect room, slowly fading.
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Outside, the sakura tree stood still.
Inside, the girl who never missed was starting to disappear.
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End of Chapter 2
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