Little Aid

The protagonist has returned to South Aose for the spring — the town where their mother is buried, and where their father's work has finally stabilized enough to put down roots. The three of them — father, protagonist, and little brother — will live together now. By December, a different kind of gathering is underway: a memorial service for the demolition of the old Tenhou High School building. The protagonist and two classmates are handling preparations when word arrives that their father has been in a traffic accident. Going through the closet to bring him clothes at the hospital, they find a jade pendant. That discovery — that pendant — is where everything started.