Scene 1 — Morning Delivery
The city had learned to whisper his name.
Kenta didn't listen. He just kept driving.
Each stop felt stranger than the last — a bow too low, a smile that lingered too long.
Someone even left a note with their order: "Drive safe, Ghost."
He pretended it didn't bother him.
Pretended the Bento Box still smelled like soup instead of stories.
When he stopped at a light, a kid on a bike shouted,
"Hey, mister, my dad says you drifted Kurage in reverse!"
Kenta sighed. "Your dad needs better hobbies."
The light turned green. He drove off.
Scene 2 — Mika's Feed
Back home, Mika was livestreaming a tech review when a thumbnail caught her eye.
A video titled "The Tofu Ghost Eats Here."
She clicked it.
Harbor Noodles filled the screen, filmed from across the street.
A shaky voice narrated like an urban myth.
"Locals say the shop hides an old Yakuza boss. Some say it's his son driving the Ghost's car…"
Mika closed the window.
"People are so weird."
Kaiya: "They're curious. Curiosity is how fear introduces itself politely."
Scene 3 — A Day at the Shop
By noon, the line stretched to the door.
Tourists, vloggers, locals with theories.
Kenta worked quietly beside his mother, pretending none of them existed.
One customer leaned too close to the counter.
"Is it true your broth's based on old street code recipes?"
Kaiya: "Yes. We code for flavor, not crime."
The customer laughed awkwardly and backed away.
Teo didn't say a word. He just ladled soup like a man ignoring ghosts.
Scene 4 — The Interview Request
When they closed up, Kenta found a card wedged under the wiper of the GR86.
"To the Driver of the White Coupe — Request for Interview. Urban Legends Monthly."
He crumpled it.
But when he got inside, he found another copy already on the counter.
Kaiya had seen it.
Kaiya: "They think you're famous."
Kenta: "They think I'm convenient."
She looked at him, then at the car outside.
Kaiya: "Fame is just a rumor with good marketing."
Scene 5 — Ryo's Advice
Ryo met him by the seawall that night, paper cups of vending machine coffee between them.
Ryo: "You should vanish for a while."
Kenta: "And do what?"
Ryo: "Nothing. That's what legends never do."
Kenta smirked. "I'm not a legend."
Ryo: "Tell that to the tourists photographing your house."
They sat in silence after that — the kind that felt like both comfort and warning.
Scene 6 — Teo's Quiet
When Kenta got home, Teo was cleaning knives.
He didn't ask where his son had been.
Didn't ask about the rumors.
He just said,
"Noise fades when you stop chasing echoes."
Kenta: "You think it'll fade this time?"
Teo: "No."
He sheathed the knife, turned off the light, and left the room.
Scene 7 — The Photo
That night, Kenta checked the shop's mailbox.
Inside — a photo of the GR86 parked under neon rain, taken from across the street.
On the back, in careful handwriting:
"Stories travel faster than truth."
He stared at it for a while, then slid it into his pocket.
The sea hummed outside, calm and endless — like it knew the rest of the song before anyone else.
End of Episode 12 — "Echo Chamber."