さくら

Diary of Wataru

June 3, 20XX

Today, I had a call that Mother has died. We hadn't spoken in months--maybe even a year. I'm numb. It's been so long since I stepped into that small hometown, and now I have to return for the funeral. I've taken time off work and booked a train ticket. Not sure what awaits me when I get there.

June 10, 20XX

Silent funeral. Nobody spoke much to me, perhaps a few neighbors who gave me condolences. Mother's old house is just as I remember it, but something in the air feels queer. While going through her stuff, in the back of her closet, I came across a locked wooden box. Inside were old letters to my "father", unaddressed to me. As far as I knew, my father never existed in our lives. She never mentioned him. Why would she keep these?

June 14, 20XX

I spent the day at the town library. I've been looking into Mother's past, hoping to find something—anything—that could explain these letters. The librarian seemed uncomfortable—an elderly man—when I mentioned Mother's name. These people act as though I am digging my hand into dangerous territory. Finally found a newspaper clipping from decades ago: a disappearance case. Mother's name cropped up in the reports. Apparently some sort of key witness to something that shook the town. No details provided, other than it involves some powerful figure nobody dare speak about.

June 20, 20XX

I tracked down a man named Morishita who claimed to have been well acquainted with Mother. He had first tried dodging, but I pressed the matter; finally, he spilled the beans-or at least half the story. Mother was somehow mixed up with some secret organization that operated from behind the scenes here around town, manipulating key happenings: disappearances, keeping people quiet, controlling the townspeople. According to Morishita, this makes me the baby born under some super watching, destined for this higher purpose.

I can hardly process this. Is he lying? Yet so many things are just indicative of hidden truths I never suspected.

July 2, 20XX

There was another letter in Mother's box, addressed to me directly and sealed separately. I waited days to open it, unsure if I wanted to know. Inside, she had written about an "appointment" set since my birth, a "destiny" linked with that group which ruled her life. My father was one of the key members and disappeared years ago. She had hinted that contact was coming for me soon, with a mission. I am literally nauseated. I never asked for this.

Final lines read as, "They will come for you, Wataru. You must be ready to take your place." I feel used; I feel betrayed.

August 15, 20XX

They called me today. A letter slipped under the door—no return address, no signature, only instructions. It confirmed everything Morishita and Mother's letters hinted at. They described their plan with me as if I was a piece on their chessboard. They want me to carry out tasks that would ensure their influence remains unchallenged. They assume I'll go along with this because it has been set in motion for so long.

August 20, 20XX

I've decided. I refuse. This is my life, not theirs to dictate. I don't care what role they had carved out for me before I could even speak. I'm burning the letter and leaving this place. Let the organization try to twist my arm; I'm done with allowing these ghosts of the past to rule me.

Before leaving town this afternoon, I paid my last visit to the graveyard. In front of Mother's grave, I spoke out loud, "You wanted me to fulfill their agenda, fall into line. I am sorry, I couldn't." Then, I walked away, never to look back.

August 25, 20XX

I'm on the train, heading far from that town. My new life awaits. I never got the whole story-never confronted my so-called father. Maybe that was a risk I couldn't take. Maybe someday they will find me again, but if they do, I will say the same thing: "No." Their secrets no longer weigh upon my shoulders. I choose my path now, free from their invisible chains.