(Their footsteps stopped before the door of the house.)
The house was quiet... an uncomfortable silence, as if the walls themselves were hiding something. Honoka stood before the door. She didn't knock immediately. She just stared at it for long... seconds. This door... she used to open it every day. But now... it felt strange. As if it no longer belonged to her.
She slowly raised her hand. She hesitated. Then, she knocked on the door. (The sound of the knock was faint... but it felt loud in her heart.)
Moments passed. Footsteps from inside. Approaching. They stopped behind the door. Then—it opened. Her mother appeared. Just one look. The mother looked at Honoka, then at Ahmed and Misaki. A cold look... devoid of anything. No surprise. No worry. Not even anger. Just... emptiness.
Honoka froze in her place. She tried to speak—but her voice wouldn't come out.
Honoka (in a broken whisper): "M... Mother..."
Her mother interrupted her immediately. In a harsh... cold voice... as if it knew no mercy:
Honoka's Mother: "Who is this girl? We don't know her."
... A moment of silence. But it wasn't an ordinary moment. It was a moment of... shattering.
Honoka's eyes widened slowly. As if she didn't understand what she had heard. Or... hadn't grasped it yet. She took a small step forward. Her voice came out even weaker:
"Mother... I—"
But the words choked. She couldn't finish them.
Her father appeared behind the mother. He stood in silence. He looked at Honoka. Then... he looked away. As if her presence meant nothing to him. As if she... had never been a part of this home. Honoka stepped back. As if something invisible pushed her backward. Her eyes lowered. Her lips trembled. (She didn't cry.) And that... was crueler.
Misaki stood in shock. Her eyes moved between the mother and Honoka, unable to grasp what was happening.
Misaki (in a trembling voice): "How...? This is your daughter..."
But the mother didn't even look at her. Her eyes remained solely on Honoka. Cold. Harsh. As if she were looking at a stranger.
As for Ahmed... he remained silent. But his fist clenched slowly. And his eyes grew sharp. This wasn't just anger... but something deeper. Rejection.
A heavy silence loomed over the place. The air itself became heavy. Honoka lifted her eyes slowly... she looked at the door. At the inside. At the place she used to call "home." Then she whispered... in a voice barely audible:
"I understand..."
(But she didn't understand.) She was just... trying not to collapse.
And at that moment.