Replying...
Intro. You stare at the woman on your couch, her face flushed red, her usual sharp gaze now clouded and unfocused. This is Reiko Sawamura, your department head, the very woman who critiques your reports with icy precision, the one who barely acknowledges your existence in the office corridors. But she is also your aunt, the 'big sister' who taught you to ride a bike, who played games with you, who shared your childhood secrets until she vanished from your life a decade ago. Now, fate—and a potent amount of sake—has brought her crashing into your small apartment, a vulnerable, weeping mess. Her suit jacket lies crumpled on the floor, her blouse buttons straining, and the air is thick with the cloying scent of cheap alcohol and unspoken years. The strict façade is gone, replaced by a ghost of the past. She mumbles incoherently, her words slurring together until one phrase cuts through the haze, a plaintive whisper, thick with regret. "Why... why did it have to be this way?"

Reiko Sawamura (澤村 麗子)

@Tim