It sounded as though the doorbell was gradually increasing in volume from behind her bedroom door as Karin woke up from a long, yet restless night's sleep. In her groggy state she has difficulty telling it apart from her alarm at first, but as soon as she hears Coco barking, she knows it's the doorbell. Even from upstairs, she can hear her mother greeting their guest in a sweet voice reserved for people who weren't her eldest daughter.

Every Saturday, their neighbor, Miss Sakamoto, was invited over to their house for breakfast and tea. The whole neighborhood knew her as the weird plant lady, because rain or shine, you'd see her out in her front yard rearranging or planting the newest addition to her garden for maybe the hundredth time, or giving some poor neighbor grief because they weren't doing a good enough job of maintaining the flowers they'd carelessly stuck in their yard. She was a middle-aged woman with two married children, recently divorced from a husband of 20 years, and had way too much time on her hands. Karin couldn't stand her. Regardless of how she felt, however, Karin's mother had befriended the woman and gone as far as inviting her into their home, if not for any other reason but to be first in line to hear whatever gossip the divorcee had collected that week.

That obnoxious doorbell ringing is still sounding in Karin's ears, and she wishes to the gods that she could simply go back to sleep. Last night had been amazing in terms of art productivity. She'd scanned some of her latest sketches to her computer after work and gotten started on even more ideas for her ever-growing portfolio online. The process had lasted all night but Karin didn't mind. She was really proud of the mountain of used sketchbooks in one corner of her childhood bedroom and of the even larger digital gallery saved on her computer. Even the poster above her bed was a print-out of one of the first drawings she'd posted online that had gone viral; A girl wearing a gown made of stars that formed the backdrop of space, and a slew of planets and galaxies shaped as tears dripping from the girl's heavy-lidded eyes making up the universe. Most of her drawings revolved around women and some fantastical or supernatural setting, and Karin was thankful to see so many strangers online be so drawn to her ideas.

Drawing was her favorite thing to do in the whole world, and as long as she had that then she felt like she could navigate through just about anything life threw at her. But right now, she really had to try to get back to sleep, at least until she had to go to work later that afternoon. Karin pulls her covers over her head and tries to do just that, but then she hears loud voices from some morning talk show coming from the TV downstairs, and her mother and Miss Sakamoto laughing like they'd witnessed the funniest thing in the world, and she has no such luck.

Then someone starts knocking on her door and Karin wants to cry.

"Hey, sis, you awake?" her sister's muffled voice asks. "Karin?"

Karin was the oldest of the Hanazawa children at 22-years-old, her sister, Sumire, is 18-years-old, and Coco, (the Shiba Inu dog their parents had replaced Karin with while she'd been away) is 3-years-old.

When Karin doesn't answer, Sumire bursts into her room.

"Get out," she mumbles with a hoarse voice.

"I need to borrow your shorts. The ones with the white stripe?"

"Why...?"

"So I can wear them over the ones I'm wearing now. You know how mom gets about skin-tight clothes."

Karin hears her sister aimlessly shuffle through her dresser drawers and she rolls over so she's able to face her. Sumire has workout clothes on and her long brown hair up in a ponytail. She wears a bright pink sports bra beneath a white tank-top, her favorite worn-out sneakers, black biker shorts, and carried a Mint-colored sports bag Karin had given her for her 15th birthday. Sumire was as athletic as Karin was artistic. She played in Raira Academy's female volley ball team all three years and got a scholarship to a Tokyo university where she was currently majoring in business.

As her older sister, Karin was genuinely proud of Sumire for being the family's golden child. Her sister was everything that she wasn't, and she exuded a type of strength that Karin could only ever dream of possessing. It was because of this that Karin often joked she was adopted because she didn't have any interest in math or business like Sumire and their father did, or had the athleticism their mother possessed back when she'd played tennis in high school, but Sumire never played along. She's always expressed her amazement of her big sister's art skills and still held onto drawings Karin had drawn for her as a kid. Once, to Karin's horror, Sumire had even smuggled one of her sketchbooks into her 6th grade class and showed it to all of her teachers and friends. She'd been furious and utterly humiliated by the act, but when Sumire looked at her with stars in her eyes and told her how much everyone had loved it, Karin couldn't help but forgive the little thief.

Tired of watching said thief struggle, Karin reluctantly reaches for her glasses on the bedside table. "They aren't in my underwear drawer, genius."

"But that's where I keep mine."

Karin sighs and sits up. "They're in the bottom left drawer."

Sumire opens a drawer but only finds shirts. "Where?"

"I said on the bottom left side."

"Mine or yours?"

"Both our lefts are the same," Karin snaps.

Sumire laughs. "I know. I'm just joking." She cheers when she finally finds the pair of shorts and slips them on right there. "Do you mind if I borrow a sweatshirt, too?"

"Might as well."

As her sister starts digging through her closet, Karin hears the pleasant jingle of Coco's collar before she bounds into her room and immediately joins her on the bed. Since her return, Karin's spent the majority of her time at home in her room behind a closed door, opening it only to the jingle of Coco's collar or Sumire's voice. Coco nestles with her in the covers and furiously wags her tail as Karin scratches the golden fur between her pointy ears. Now that the energetic pup was here, any chances of getting back to sleep were pretty much gone.

Karin drops her head and lets out a half-hearted sigh when Coco licks her nose. "Sumi, can you do me a favor and make me some coffee?"

"Aw, why me? Can't you make it yourself?"

"I would if the neighborhood parrot wasn't downstairs. If I hear her brag about her dumb daughter moving to Germany one more time I think I'm gonna set my head on fire."

Sumire shakes her head slowly but smiles. She looks around the room as she slips on one of Karin's sweatshirts and is drawn to the abundance of items on her desk. There's art reference materials covered to the brim with tabs on each page, leather-bound sketchbooks and graphite pencils scattered around a large art tablet placed in front of the monitor, along with candy wrappers, three empty ramen cups stacked into one another, and an extra large mug stained with repeated servings of coffee sitting on top of a spattered mouse pad. If it weren't for the cute anime figurines surrounding her desk, people would probably think the desk belonged to some middle-aged office worker.

"Mom's going to be real mad if she sees you eating up here," Sumire remarks. It was a known rule that food and drinks weren't allowed anywhere upstairs, but Karin's trips into the kitchen have been fairly limited as of late. She's gone as far as taking shifts at the restaurant to avoid being home during meal times, and microwave meals like ramen were her go-to during the night when it was less likely she'd cross paths with their mother. She's been saving money like crazy, so stockpiling on ramen, candy, and drinks have been the only splurging she's done with her paychecks. If it weren't for the free meals that came with her job, Karin would've probably died of malnutrition a long time ago.

"Mom's always mad," she says, rolling her eyes. "And you're one to talk. I seem to remember a certain someone stashing candy in their closet somewhere? Or was it under the bed?"

Sumire makes a little noise of shock.

"And when was the last time you did your laundry? You wouldn't be in here borrowing my stuff if you had any clean clothes to wear."

Sumire sticks out her tongue noncommittally and smirks. "Okay, okay, I'll make you your damn coffee. But what am I supposed to tell mom?"

She shrugs. "If they're watching TV then she probably won't even notice."

"Fine. But I'm replacing your cup with one that isn't rooted to the spot." She twists her mouth as she lightly taps the mug's handle but lingers at her desk to keep examining her drawings. She points to one of a woman with small bat wings growing out of her head. "Whoa, this one's pretty neat. It's weird but it kinda works."

"Thanks. I was thinking of making another one with bird wings to make a set."

"How do you come up with this stuff, sis?"

Karin smiles and scrunches her eyebrows. "I don't know. I just do?"

"I'm glad you're still drawing," Sumire tells her, and Karin can tell that she means it when her voice alone plays with her heartstrings. Sumire doesn't have to say it, but she knows. She knows how utterly devastated her older sister was to have to return home. Not only had Karin failed, but she'd failed at doing something she loved, and Sumire could tell better than anyone how broken it had left her.

Karin wasn't the affectionate type, but her younger sister was the only person in their family who's ever taken the time to really look at her art - to care, and Karin adored her for that. But Sumire never went against their parents the way Karin did, and whenever they'd use her sister's achievements to belittle her, Karin was resigned with being their target. She liked to think that by directing all of their hostility toward her that it had given her sister the room to grow into the confident young woman she was today, even if it did end up causing an emotional distance between the two of them. Sumire was great at sports, could dance without worrying about what others thought, and could make friends with just about anyone, but because of their skewed upbringing, they couldn't develop the type of relationship where they could be honest with one another. Not about things that were so deeply personal. Not about things that mattered.

At times like this, all Karin could really do was turn to Coco to keep her eyes from watering.

"What else would I be doing?" Karin says dismissively. "When I'm not working, I'm drawing, and when I'm not drawing I'm coming up with more ideas for drawings. It's all I've really known."

Sumire looks at her, but without missing a beat she nods and smiles. "That's true. Just try not to lose too much sleep over your pretty art. You'll scare away all the customers if you show up to work looking like that everyday."

She scoffs. "I do not."

Sumire laughs gently as she walks toward the door. "Ugh, yeah, you probably do. Those bags under your eyes could suffocate a toddler. And sis, you've really got to start tidying up your room. I thought I saw something move on your desk just a minute ago."

Karin does her best to keep herself from smiling but fails. "You little brat. I bet your room smells like used gym socks."

"If you go into my room I'm not making you coffee," Sumire sings as she walks out.

Karin sits there for a while, smile on her face, scratching Coco's belly.

She didn't go back to sleep after Sumire delivered her coffee, and she was exhausted. Truly and utterly exhausted, but happy. She managed to finish one of last night's drawings and was able to post it online before dragging herself to work. It's been getting all sorts of notifications and comments from her followers throughout the day and she was thankful. Even when Karin had to wait tables on 3 hours of sleep, she knew that she could always count on her fans to never let her hard work go unappreciated. Seeing all of their praise and sweet comments now during her lunch break was a real confidence booster.

Deciding to act on her optimism she sends a message to Azuki. The two of them have been messaging each other nonstop for the past 2 months since reconnecting, and it's really helped diffuse any of Karin's doubts about their friendship since being separated for so long. It was honestly the most fun Karin has had in years, and she was super stoked to have her best friend back in her life again. She had Sumire to thank for that, of course, so she'll have to add that to the ever-growing list of favors she owed her younger sister since returning home. Doing her laundry would probably make the little snot more grateful, but Karin hoped it wouldn't have to come to that.

Azuki, who hadn't had much interest in college to begin with, lost motivation all together after discovering her boyfriend of 6 months had cheated on her and dropped out of school before the end of the first semester. Azuki insisted he wasn't the main reason for her decision but Karin could tell that he'd inevitably been the trigger. Like Karin, Azuki was currently living at home with her parents but had been able to find a job as a barista in a cafe in Ikebukuro.

Karin: Hey Azuki, if you ever wanna visit me at work I'll give you a discount (u v u)

Azuki: Aw thanks lol

Karin: no prob. Just don't be telling everyone cuz I can't give everyone discounts（⌒▽⌒）

Azuki: Who am I gonna tell Karin? How many friends in common do we have? lol

Ouch, Karin thought. Way to rub it in.

Karin: truuue

Azuki: I'll make sure to publish it in the news paper lol

Karin: lol plz no ( ਊдਊ)

Azuki: ew what is that face?

When they went to the arcade last weekend, Azuki had jokingly suggested the two of them find a place to rent together so that they'd finally be free to really enjoy their 20s, but Karin couldn't help but quietly make up excuses to decline. Whether she liked to admit it or not, Azuki had become a bit of a party girl after high school. Azuki would drunk text Karin more often then not most nights after she'd get home from work, and would invite her to mixers and bars and all sorts of clubs. Karin wished she could take her up on her invitations at least once, but after taking a quick glance at her social media, it didn't take long for Karin to realize that Azuki was still hanging out with at least two of the same girls from their old circle of friends. Well, girls who'd sit at their lunch table in high school and were technically Azuki's friends, but Azuki would always insist that that made them her friends too, though Karin knew that that really wasn't the case. And she would rather avoid them at all costs then be forced to deal with that mess again.

Azuki was admittedly one of the most popular girls in their whole grade, so it came as no surprise to Karin when her friends would get weirdly possessive of her and upset after discovering she'd made friends with the nerd who loved drawing anime characters all over her notes. Drawings that Azuki loved by the way, because the funny and gorgeous and popular girl that was Azuki was also a big fan of manga and anime boys, and that made her all the more awesome in Karin's book. If her dumb friends weren't so caught up in appearances and whatever dumb social ladder they were climbing, maybe they would've been able to bond with Azuki over all the nerdy things they were so busy ridiculing and that she'd been forced to live a double-life to enjoy.

Toyoguchi Azuki was her best friend who everybody seemed to like more than her, but she was fine with that. As long as she had Azuki and her followers online, Karin could care less.

Ayano bursts into the break room with Hina then, giggling like crazy over something stupid one of the chefs had probably told them again. Karin does her best to ignore them from her seat at the table in the middle of the break room as she awaits Azuki's reply, then opts to look at more incoming notifications of her drawing.

The table suddenly shakes as Ayano hops up and places her butt directly across from Karin. Hina's giggle becomes obnoxiously loud despite the hand covering her mouth and Karin can feel her eyes on her. She looks up then and finds herself being watched by both Hina and Ayano, who's looking directly over her shoulder at her.

"Um, do you mind?" Karin asks.

"Not really," Ayano shrugs, sending Hina into another fit of giggles. Karin rolls her eyes, which seems to be the wrong move because Ayano twists her body until one of her arms reaches across the table and she's looking down at her. "You know your phone's been vibrating like crazy in your locker the whole day, right? Don't you think that's super inconsiderate of you to do when everyone's just trying to relax during their break? Yuri-san said she thought she was gonna go crazy because of how annoying it was and even left to eat her lunch in her car instead."

"She actually did that?" Hina blurts out.

"Yeah! I've never seen her so pissed!"

Karin watches as Ayano throws her head back and laughs. She wasn't quite sure how things had gotten this bad, but ever since that customer had called her out those 2 months ago for giving her the evil eye, Ayano's become more bold about expressing her dislike of Karin and only seemed to be getting worse by the day. Where Karin was quiet and mostly kept to herself, Ayano was loud and never failed to make any of their other coworkers laugh. She sucked up to the manager whenever she had the chance and spoke to all of the chefs in a way that would give any grown adult cavities. Even Hina, who Karin had gotten along with moderately fine before, had become one of Ayano's stupid tools. Everyone seemed to think she was a welcome edition to the restaurant except Karin, who found her vindictive personality too alike to those who'd bullied her behind Azuki's back. The only thing making the whole situation a thousand times worse was the fact that Ayano was so much younger than Karin, but even that seemed to inflate her ego.

Whenever she'd talk down to her like this, Karin's entire body would begin to shake and the lump in her throat would always refuse to go away. It was silly, Karin knew, but she just couldn't help but be reminded of the bullying she's put up with in the past, and she hated herself all the more for it. She was older now, she's matured, she had people online who admired and looked up to her so why did she continue to feel so small? Whether Ayano was telling the truth about her cellphone or not hardly mattered at all. Who the hell did she think she was to treat her like this? This brat was really beginning to get on her last nerve and if she didn't get her stupid ass out of her face right now, she-

"Hanazawa," the manager shouts as she slams open the break room door, "What are you still doing in here? Your break ended ten minutes ago!"

Karin's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets as she checks the time on her phone and bumps her hip against the table as she bursts out of her chair.

"Can you please stop fiddling with your phone and come do the job I'm paying you to do? The dinner crowd's lining up out the door because of you right now." Just as Karin mutters apologies and goes to put her phone away in her locker, Ayano whispers something to Hina that makes her laugh. "Couldn't you girls have reminded her?"

"Isn't it senpai's job to remember her own schedule?" Hina asks innocently. "She's older than us after all."

"Good point. Ayano-chan, what are you doing on the table?"

"This is the best spot for the air conditioning, Yuri-san," she says, swinging her legs like a kid at a playground.

The manager snorts and shakes her head. "Then just move the table you silly girl."

"I can? Yay, thanks Yuri-san! You're the best~"

Karin misses a near collision with Ayano as she jumps off the table and bolts out the door with the manager at her heels. "Hanazawa, you aren't a child anymore. Do I really have to talk about phone etiquette in the workplace with you too?"

Somewhere behind her, Karin swears she hears a roar of laughter.