Tuesday – Shizuoka – 2014
The early morning light filtered through the curtains, painting soft lines across the wooden floor.
Ren Akihara was already awake.
Sitting on his bed, feet touching the tatami, he stared at the wall in front of him. His expression was neutral, too calm for a child his age.
He blinked.
Then, he moved. Brushed his teeth. Folded his blanket. Slid open the door.
Routine. Ordinary.
---
At the breakfast table, Ayaka Akihara served tamagoyaki and rice.
"Eat well, boys," she said warmly.
Haruto grinned and started talking about a classmate who tripped during PE. Ren listened, nodding when needed, chewing slowly.
From a distance, they looked like the picture-perfect family.
But someone was watching.
---
Somewhere in Tokyo – 2014
A man in a black suit leaned over a computer screen inside a quiet office.
His fingers moved across the keyboard with precision, unlocking encrypted files layer by layer. The screen blinked—then stabilized.
> ACCESSING: CORE_06_MONITORING_SUBSYSTEM
> LOCATION: UNKNOWN
> ACTIVITY LOG: RESUMED
The man frowned.
"…After all this time?"
He opened a video file. Footage played. Two boys running in a quiet neighborhood. One chasing the other with a soccer ball.
Haruto Akihara. Ren Akihara.
They looked…normal.
Too normal.
The man's eyes narrowed. "But why now?"
---
Back in Shizuoka
Ren stood still in the middle of the classroom, eyes fixed on the blackboard. He was the last to leave after school.
His classmates had gone.
He stayed behind.
Because he was thinking.
> "Someone is watching."
He didn't know how he knew. But he felt it.
And something inside him—something old, buried deep—was slowly waking up.
---
> Sometimes, the scariest monsters aren't the loud ones…
but the ones that remember how to smile.