“Better hurry home—Kaoru’s still waiting for me there…”
Aina Saiten, dressed in a suit, had graduated from university a year ago but was already showing signs of reverting into a corporate drone.
After work, she sat listlessly on the train heading home.
But the thought of Kaoru Hoshitani waiting for her at home brought a spark back to Aina’s tired eyes, filling her with renewed energy.
Though they were five years apart, Aina and Kaoru had been childhood friends since their families were neighbors.
Four years ago, when Aina received her Notification Letter from The University of Tokyo and was about to leave their Little Fishing Village for the Big City, she was shocked to realize that a flutter of feelings—those unique to a woman for a man—had quietly taken root in her heart for Kaoru, who was just beginning to show signs of blossoming into a young man.
Back then, their age gap was more than just five years: Aina was already an adult, while Kaoru was still a shy boy in his middle school Uniform, his figure yet to fill out.
Yet after living two years in the dazzling, fast-paced, and often cold international metropolis that was Tokyo, witnessing its noise, indifference, and constant competition, Aina found herself longing all the more for Kaoru back in her hometown.
In her memories, that boy was as pure and untouched as the first snow in the mountains, like a natural spirit wandering between sea breeze and forest.
Finally, that summer vacation, Aina returned home, and the boy in her memories was now dressed in his local high school Uniform.
Kaoru seemed transformed—tall and graceful like bamboo after rain, his features refined and handsome.
His eyes retained the purity of youth but carried a unique charm that balanced innocence with the hint of maturity, making it impossible for Aina to look away.
At the moment of their reunion, watching the boy smile shyly at her in the sunset glow, the dam of reason Aina had built inside collapsed with a crash, unleashing the tide of long-suppressed emotions.
She could no longer hold back and, on a star-filled night, finally confessed her hidden feelings to him.
To her delight, Kaoru admitted that he had also developed feelings for his childhood “older sister,” and they became a couple.
After another two years of long-distance relationship, upon Aina’s graduation, Kaoru—who hadn’t pursued university and had average grades—was invited to Tokyo, and they began living together.
From the start, Aina told Kaoru that she brought him to Tokyo to give him a better life, and that she would handle the work and money matters.
Kaoru, naturally trusting Aina’s words as a University of Tokyo graduate, had spent the past year mostly as a homemaker.
But recently, Kaoru seemed to have sensed something and told Aina several times that he wanted to find a job to help share her burden.
Indeed, Aina’s stress had been mounting. Although she graduated from The University of Tokyo, she hadn’t found a satisfying job.
After paying the mortgage and their living expenses, her salary barely left anything extra.
She felt she hadn’t fulfilled her promise to give Kaoru a better life, and felt both guilty and angry at herself for not being capable enough.
Kaoru noticed Aina’s mood shifts and guessed the reason behind them, so he suggested finding a job to contribute to the household finances.
Aina knew Kaoru meant well but felt her pride was hurt and initially refused.
After Kaoru asked many times, their last conversation nearly turned into an argument before Aina finally relented and agreed to let him find a job that wouldn’t be too exhausting.
Last night, while holding Kaoru in bed, Aina heard him say he had found an Izakaya near their home, and the Landlady had agreed to hire him as a waiter.
Though her feelings were mixed, Aina knew Kaoru was doing this for her, so she said nothing more.
In truth, Aina’s reluctance to let Kaoru work outside stemmed from a deeper fear.
Kaoru, who grew up in a Little Fishing Village on Kyushu’s coast, had no idea that his beauty and the pure, innocent aura he constantly emitted made him dangerously conspicuous in this city where human desires ran rampant.
When Aina once took Kaoru by plane to Tokyo, she only stepped away briefly to use the restroom, leaving him outside with their luggage.
If she hadn’t returned in time, a woman with dyed yellow hair was just about to lure the innocent boy away.
During the few days Aina took Kaoru around Tokyo, she could clearly sense the sticky, unpleasant gazes of passing women fixed on him.
Because of this, Aina worried whenever she wasn’t around. To avoid any trouble, she insisted Kaoru stay home as much as possible.
Though it might have seemed harsh for a young man barely stepping into adulthood and the world.
But… Aina did it all for Kaoru’s own good.
Lost in thought, Aina’s phone suddenly rang.
She thought it was Kaoru sending her a message from home, so she unlocked her phone.
But there were no unread messages.
She wasn’t bothered, about to swipe the screen to turn it off, when her gaze suddenly froze.
On the home screen was an app icon she had never seen before.
It was extremely simple: a bright yellow background with a neat white clock symbol in the center, looking like a common reminder or schedule management App.
Below the icon was the clear App name—“The Countdown.”
[Did Kaoru install this for me? Hopefully it’s not some kind of reminder for every little anniversary…]
The app looked so official that Aina didn’t suspect anything bad. She rarely visited strange websites anyway, so she guessed Kaoru had put it there.
Without overthinking, she tapped to open it.
The app’s interface matched its icon—utterly minimalistic, almost crude.
The main screen was pure white with just a few lines of black text, printed in a cold, standard font, without any decoration or images.
Yet these few dull lines struck Aina like an icicle frozen in an instant, piercing her heart with brutal coldness.
Her pupils contracted sharply, her breath caught, and the hand holding the phone trembled uncontrollably.
Her fingertips grew numb, and she nearly dropped the phone onto the grimy train floor from sudden weakness.
The app’s main page boldly displayed:
Time remaining before your boyfriend Kaoru Hoshitani is taken away
———
One hundred days