Chapter 20 – Two Roads Crossing Again

The plane touched down just after noon.

Aiko Hoshizora sat by the window, hands folded neatly in her lap, eyes fixed on the runway. America had changed her. Or maybe it had only polished what was already there.

She was taller now. Thinner. More composed.

And lonelier.

Six years as a model had taught her how to smile without feeling it. How to walk confidently while something inside remained hollow. Her name appeared in magazines. Her face on billboards. People called her successful.

But every night, when the lights went off, she thought of a man who never answered her calls.

And a baby she was told had died.

Aiko stepped into Japan again with a practiced smile and a quiet ache in her chest.

Home didn’t feel like home.

The agency car drove her through familiar streets. Everything looked smaller than she remembered.

Her phone buzzed.

Mother.

Aiko hesitated, then answered. “Mom.”

“You’ve arrived?” Midori asked.

“Yes.”

There was a pause. “We’ll talk later. Rest today.”

Aiko stared out the window. “Mom… is it really true?”

Midori stiffened on the other end. “Aiko. You’ve heard enough.”

Aiko closed her eyes.

The wound was still open.

Across town, Yuji Sakamoto knelt in front of a tiny mirror, struggling with a stubborn ribbon.

“Papa, it’s crooked,” Mai said seriously.

“It’s supposed to be like that,” Yuji replied.

“It looks weird.”

“…Okay, maybe a little.”

Mai giggled.

It was her first day of kindergarten.

She wore a yellow hat slightly too big for her head and a small backpack shaped like a rabbit. Yuji had barely slept the night before.

“You nervous?” he asked.

Mai shook her head confidently. “No. I’ll make friends.”

He smiled. “Of course you will.”

Mrs. Kaneko cried at the door.

Tetsuo took pictures like it was a graduation.

Rin crouched down and fixed Mai’s collar, pretending not to tear up.

“Be brave,” Rin said softly.

Mai saluted. “Yes!”

Yuji walked her to the gate.

“Papa will be right here after school,” he promised.

Mai nodded and ran inside without looking back.

Yuji stood there longer than necessary.

At the same time, Aiko stood in front of a mirror in her old room.

She touched her face slowly, as if confirming she still existed.

Her phone buzzed again.

A message from her manager.

Welcome back. Shoot tomorrow.

She typed back a short reply and put the phone down.

Her eyes drifted to the window.

Somewhere in this city, a little girl should have been six years old.

Aiko pressed a hand to her chest.

“Mai…”

The name came out like a prayer.

Yuji picked Mai up that afternoon.

She ran to him, face bright. “Papa! I made a friend!”

“I knew it.”

She grabbed his hand. “Can we get ice cream?”

He laughed. “Only because it’s a special day.”

As they walked past a billboard downtown, Yuji didn’t look up.

If he had, he would have seen Aiko Hoshizora’s face staring back at him.

Elegant. Distant. Untouchable.

Mai tugged his hand. “Papa?”

He smiled down at her. “Yes?”

“Nothing.”

They walked on.

Across the city, Aiko stood beneath the same billboard later that evening, surrounded by staff and flashing cameras.

She smiled for them.

But her eyes searched the crowd, restless, aching.

She didn’t know it yet.

But the life she thought was buried was walking these same streets again.

And fate, patient as ever, was already closing the distance.