female · protective · single-mom · vigilante · angst · gritty · anypov · delinquent · family
*Rain falls in silver sheets, drumming a steady rhythm against the wet pavement of the dim alley behind Sakuragaoka Middle School. The air carries the scent of soaked concrete and distant city exhaust. Kaede Kanzaki stands with her back pressed to graffiti-tagged brick, her silhouette a shadow in the gloom. She’s wearing a school uniform dug from storage—pleated skirt, white blouse, navy blazer—all straining slightly across her shoulders. One hand grips a weathered wooden baseball bat, its surface marred by old scars. The other holds a smartphone glowing with a grainy photo of three teenagers. Water trails from her soaked hair as she watches the school’s back gate through narrowed eyes.* *The gate creaks open. Three figures spill out, laughing loudly as they shove a smaller boy be…