The atmosphere was tense. I could tell Haru was angry just by looking at his face. Whatever, screw it—HOW COULD MY SON KILL SOMEONE? I've raised a monster all these years. Now I'm going to have to deal with the police. Damn it, that little bastard. I was thinking this when—
"I'm really pissed off right now. Honestly, today I just wanted to celebrate your promotion. You were my favorite employee in this place. But you're the father of a bastard who took the life of my beloved daughter. There are even reports of rape. I want you to leave today. In fact, I want you to resign immediately. Your promotion means nothing now."
I ignored about 70% of what he said. In short, he wants to fire me. Am I going to be jobless again? Some kid died—why should I care? Just another kid brawl. My stupid son can do his time in jail, fine. But I had to explain this to the beast standing in front of me. My head was so messed up at that moment, I missed the next thing—
"Get the fuck out!"
I'm not sorry I said it. Haru stood up, walked toward me, raised his fist like he was going to punch me—and then, for some reason, he stopped. The whole thing was so weird. Then he just sent me back to my old workstation. Wait, what?! Is that all a father's grief amounts to? Don't mess with me. If it were me in his place... no, I never even thought about that.
Anyway, I left the room silently like nothing happened. I sat down at my desk. As usual. I started thinking about what I was going to do about my son and the police situation. Strangely, not a single cop called me until I went home that evening. I decided to head home. No buses, same deal with the metro. Construction again. Had to walk the damn road again.
I got home. Took off my stuff. My wife and kids were already there. As usual, everyone was in their own room. Perfect family (!).
"Come out of your room, Kaito! We need to talk. Now."
I had to talk to him before even changing clothes. Totally natural, right? Maybe for you. But I hadn't called him like this in four months. I wish they were like my daughter at work...
That antisocial bastard actually came out of his room. Wait, what? This kind of antisocial kid is supposed to be a killer? You gotta be kidding me. And after killing someone, he just comes home and plays console? I don't buy it. I asked just one question.
"Where are the police?"
He looked at me blankly. Like he had no idea what I was talking about. Then, he said just a few words. First time I'd heard his voice in four months.
"What are you talking about, Dad?"
Was he mocking me? Before I could say anything else, he closed the door. Everything was so strange. Damn it! If the cops do show up, I'll give anything to have them take that little antisocial freak away. Anyway—
"What's wrong, Rei?"
Asked my beautiful wife. I told her exactly what she needed to do.
"Just serve the food, Toe. I'm upset. You don't need to know why, you'll find out soon enough."
She replied:
"You don't look so good. Go take a shower. Food's in the fridge, as always."
That was the problem. Why has it been always the fridge... for five months now? She used to make dinner. Now she always puts it in the fridge. Even breakfast stuff? Is she insane?
Screw the shower. I grabbed some alcohol, leaned back, and stopped thinking. I had to end this. What do you mean "he didn't know," that dumb brat? He must be messing with me. Then I noticed my daughter was watching me. Didn't really care, since she's a ghost anyway.
Night came. Still no police. No court. Nothing. Was that guy lying about my son? This whole thing is so bizarre. Even though it was the middle of the night, I wanted to call him.
"HELLO!"
"Yes, my favorite employee. What do you want from me at this hour?"
"What!?"
"Trying to tell me something, Rei? If you're calling me this late, must be serious. Or did you blow a lot of money again and need to borrow from me? :)"
"Haru—I mean sir, I wanted to talk about what happened today."
"Today? What do you mean? Nothing happened between us today."
"I'm sorry. Goodnight."
"Wa—"
I hung up. Wait a minute? Was everything a lie? Was he messing with me? What the hell is going on?
These kinds of things have been happening for five months now. Again with the damn 5 months. Everyone's turned into NPCs. I started getting drunk. Time to sleep. I realized it's better not to think about this anymore.
When I woke up, my daughter was hugging me. My wife was beside me. Even if I didn't love her much, my ghost daughter still saw me as the most important person in her life. When she was 5, she drew pictures without her mom, only of me, and called me "the world's bravest dad." Sometimes I'd wake up with her beside me. Today was one of those days. I grabbed my breakfast from the fridge and ate, as always. Same breakfast every day. I got dressed and left for work. Another 3 km walk. I started work. Nothing happened. My boss just looked at me, surprised. Not angry, not sad.
"Dad, don't leave me alone."
She said that a month later... My daughter's name is Sakura. I picked it myself. Lately, it feels like she's the only one who understands me. I call the other two teens troublemakers, but at least she treats me like a father. Well, my work daughter is better, but still. Anyway, after she disappeared, I decided to forget her.
Okay, let me explain what's happening. Right now, I'm at my daughter's high school performance. Some kind of show. But it's been 2 hours and there's no one in the hall. No parents, no kids, no teachers. My daughter must be scared—even if she's a ghost. It's super weird. The place is all lit up. But not a single person. I'm not even gonna ask "what's going on?" I don't feel like saying it anymore. So I just took my daughter and went home. What else could I do?
It's been 6 months since these weird things started. Half a year. Everything makes no sense. I've gotten used to these kinds of things.
To be continued...