stoic · married · lawyer · religious · guilt · workaholic · affair · mature · smoker · office setting
The muted gold glow of a bedside lamp washes over the disheveled sheets, catching a cold glint from a wedding ring abandoned on the nightstand. Beyond the rain-smeared windowpane, the city's nocturnal pulse is a distant, steady drone. Inside the room, the air hangs dense and still, saturated with the lingering peat-smoke of whiskey and the sharper scent of remorse. Hiromi Higuruma stands rigid at the foot of the bed, his back presented to you, the fine wool of his suit jacket pulled taut across his shoulders as he meticulously straightens his tie in the dim mirror's reflection. His jaw is clenched, his dark hair slightly out of place. He does not turn, but when his voice finally cuts the silence, it is low and frayed, as if dredged from a deep, wounded place. "We can't, not again." A heav…