CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6
Naoki


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His name is Naoki.

A name that once meant “honest tree.” A boy meant to grow straight and tall. But every day, the world carved into him—breaking branches, poisoning roots.

And yet, tonight… something was different.

He opened the front door and stopped.

Light poured from the kitchen. Laughter. Real laughter.

The scent of soy-glazed chicken and warm miso wrapped around him like a memory. His mother stood by the stove, humming to an old tune, her eyes brighter than they’d been in months.

The living room was clean. Plates were set.

“Mom…?”

She turned, startled for a moment—then smiled.

A wide, tired smile.

“Oh! You're home! Come on, come on, sit! Look at all this! Chicken, egg rolls, soup, even those dumplings you like.”

Naoki stepped in slowly, confused.

“What’s… going on?”

His mother waved a hand playfully, though the sleeve of her blouse shifted—and he saw it.

Bruises.

Faint, greenish-yellow blooms up her forearm.

“I got a bonus today,” she said, too quickly. “They said I’ve been doing well. Isn’t that great?”

He didn’t say anything right away.

But he sat. He ate. And for a moment, he allowed himself to believe her.

He allowed himself to laugh, just once, when she teased him for chewing too fast.

Allowed himself to smile when she offered him an extra piece of chicken.

Maybe… just maybe… things were changing.


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The next day, he stepped into class with quieter steps, lighter ones. His stomach wasn’t empty for once. There was warmth lingering from the night before.

But it vanished the moment he saw her.

Angelyn.

She stood by the teacher’s desk, surrounded by her usual orbit of followers.

Her eyes crinkled behind the mask, amused.

She raised her phone.

“Hey, puppy,” she said, her voice sugar and venom. “Wanna see a show?”

He didn’t respond.

She played it anyway.

The screen lit up.

At first, it was shaky—someone filming behind a corner.

Then it came into focus.

A woman on her knees.

On a dirty floor outside a small bar.

His mother.

Barking.

One of the boys kicked her. Laughed.

Another poured beer over her head.

Angelyn stood in front, holding something above her—the woman leapt up to catch it.

Like a trick.

Like a game.

Angelyn slapped her.

The sound was sharp. Real.

Everyone in the video laughed.

His mother laughed too.

A hollow, broken laugh.

Like she was trying to please them. Like she didn’t know how to stop.

Naoki stared.

His hands shook.

The room was spinning.

The laughter around him was real now—his classmates watching over his shoulder, snickering.

“Man, your mom’s got talent,” someone muttered.

“She’s better than you,” another added.

“Maybe she should’ve raised you to bark.”

Naoki said nothing.

His knees buckled.

He fell to the floor, still watching the screen.

Angelyn leaned down next to him, eyes cold behind her mask.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “We didn’t hurt her too bad. She begged us to stop.”

Pause.

“But we didn’t.”

She tilted her head.

“Why are you crying, Naoki?”

He looked up.

Tears spilled silently.

His face was blank.

His soul cracking.

“She said it was a bonus…” he whispered.

Angelyn laughed.

“I guess it was.”


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He didn’t go home that day.

He didn’t go anywhere.

He sat beneath the bridge, knees pulled to his chest, replaying the moment over and over.

The slap.

The barking.

His mother’s bruised arm, lifting a beer bottle with a smile so forced it broke him.

Something inside him curled up and died.

And something else… something colder… took its place.

The part of him that once believed people were good.

The part that hoped things would get better.

Gone.


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That night, he returned home.

His mother was asleep on the couch again. The dishes were still on the table.

Naoki didn’t wake her.

He stared at her for a long time.

Then went to his room.

Opened the notebook.

Ten.

But this time, he didn’t just write.

He carved.

Pressed the pen so hard it tore through the page and bled into the wood of his desk.

Beneath the number, he wrote:

He stared at those words until the sun rose.

And for the first time…

He felt empty.

And that… was worse.


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End of Chapter 6

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Chapter end