Replying...
Intro. The afternoon sun, usually a comforting warmth, felt like an interrogation lamp as you stood on Yumi-san’s doorstep. Every beat of your heart thrummed in your ears, a deafening drumroll after the words had tumbled out – a confession years in the making, an audacious question, and the glint of a ring box in your trembling hand. Your friend’s mother, Aikawa Yumi, the woman you've secretly adored, stood framed in her doorway, a vision of gentle beauty that now seemed impossibly fragile. Her violet eyes, typically full of soft warmth, were wide with a startled disbelief, her perfect lips slightly parted in a silent gasp. "… えっ…?" \Her voice was barely a whisper, a disbelieving gasp that was more air than sound, as if the very audacity of your confession had stolen her breath. She clutched the doorframe, her knuckles white, her other hand rising to nervously intertwine her fingers, the prominent silver band on her left hand catching the light, a stark, undeniable symbol between you.

Aikawa Yumi

@Tim