19th March, 298, post-unification.
This was the day that started my journey, that led me to where I am today. The day when the protective cocoon that shielded me from the world shattered. It was the match that lit the fuse, leading to a series of unexpected explosions, both emotionally and physically.
Yet this day that changed my life, started as a usual Friday, with the spring air crisp and cool.
"Sayaka, wake up~"Hizushi, my younger brother called out while shaking me awake.
I sat up and stretched to get rid of the backaches caused by sleeping in awkward positions, a bad habit I never managed to correct. I originally decided to rest for a bit longer, but my drowsiness was completely gone when I caught a glimpse of my watch glaring back at me - it was well past 8 am. I instantly sprang up, realising that I had woken up much later than I was supposed to.
"Sis, I'm hungry...." he whined, as I folded up our bedding and stored it into a rattan box in the corner.
I sighed. Hizushi is ten, yet he's still acting like a child. Well, he is the youngest child, but that doesn't change the fact that he must grow up sometime. I wonder when the time will come.
"There are some rice cakes in the kitchen. You can have some first. And when you're done please help me to sweep the floor," I said. I dashed into the kitchen, scooped up some water from the tank and boiled it, using the remnants of firewood from yesterday.
While waiting, I grabbed my kimono and belt from the wardrobe and headed into the bathroom to dress. Since I was already running late, I paid little attention to my hair, tying it up into a messy bun at my nape. Usually, I would comb it properly but that day, I dismissed it because I couldn't afford to be reprimanded for unpunctuality. I didn't want to bear the agony of being shunned by Father before the students.
After I equipped myself with a sword and a basket, I rushed back into the kitchen and prepared Father's favourite roasted tea, poured it into a bottle and bolted out the front door. Haphazardly, I wore my slippers without tying the cords and sprinted up the mountain towards the kendo school where he worked, delivering the tea to him. I barely made it on time.
Panting and sighing in relief, I slowed down to collect firewood, working my way around the mountain. The calming and peaceful scenery was almost therapeutic, with the trees providing just the right amount of shade and small, tame animals roaming around. By the time I was done, an hour or so had passed, so I hurried back home to eat breakfast and clean the house, afraid that I would be behind my schedule again.
"I'm home!" I exclaimed as I removed my shoes and my basket filled to the brim with firewood. As I entered the kitchen, Hizushi was ladling fish porridge into his bowl. "Today we'll have porridge - again," he sighed when he noticed me coming in, dissatisfaction with his cooking skills apparent on his face.
Having just learnt how to cook for one month, porridge is the only dish he can cook well so far, along with some tidbits. Not to say that he doesn't know how to cook, but when he attempts to cook other dishes on his own, he messes up at one point or another. To play safe, he decided to only cook porridge when I'm not around, at least until his skills improve.
I took my share of the food and sat at the low table to eat with him. He dug in almost instantly, while I took my time to savour the food slowly. Several minutes passed, and the atmosphere was getting a bit too quiet as none of us spoke. I eventually started to close my eyes and rest while chewing my food, but just as my imagination started to drift off, Hizushi broke the silence. I immediately turned my attention to him.
"Is it just me...or do I feel that life is boring?"
"What? How in the world is life boring? I don't get it," I said in surprise. Why would he say something like that? Usually, he wouldn't be pondering over life...
"You won't understand, sis...Just think about it. You always get to teach people around your age at school, while I have to teach five and six-year-olds who can rarely grasp what I'm saying. Honestly, it's really dull and uninteresting, having to teach them the same skills over and over," he lamented.
"I understand, but teaching older students will be considerably difficult for you..." I tried to explain.
Hizushi cut me off before I could finish. "And you do realise that I'm at home 70% of the time, don't you? Excluding the few occasions where you bring me out to buy supplies, I'm basically either here or at school. In short, I've hardly left this mountain ever since we've moved here."
Dang it, won't he understand? "How many times do I have to convince you, Hizushi? I know that you're longing to go out freely, but you have to accept that your illness will worsen when you go out frequently, especially on sunny days. If you don't want to die, you must stay at home as much as possible."
"But can't you just get the medicine for me?"
His question filled me with a sense of guilt and worry. Perhaps Father and I had, in fact, made the wrong choice of letting him stay indoors instead of finding the cure. But even if we try to search for it, it would be nearly impossible, according to the medical knowledge I know - this illness is unidentified.
"We will...eventually."
"You've been saying that for years," he retorted.
I retreated into silence for quite some time after those words left his lips. Hanging my head in remorse, I wondered how I could help him other than shutting him at home. After listening to what he said, I had to agree with him. Making him lead this sort of life just because of his illness isn't fair.
Hizushi piped up, now in a slightly happier, more relaxed tone. "I'm not blaming you, sis. I know it's hard to cope with your workload, too, but it's not like my illness is something that can heal magically on its own."
I apologised to him, promising that I'll try my best to heal him. "Let's change the topic...to something I've been worrying about."
"What is it?" he asked.
"So when I was buying groceries at the market yesterday, I overheard a strange conversation. A woman said that her son was missing for weeks and nobody could find anything or anyone suspicious throughout the whole island."
"B-But how did that happen? I've never heard of things like this," exclaimed Hizushi, taken aback.
"I lingered there for a while longer and heard that her son had claimed that he would be in town for days, but he was never seen or heard of ever since."
"What?! But given the tiny area of these islands, he can't go unnoticed for weeks. Unless he..."
I put my bowl aside, picking up from where I left. "True," I said solemnly, "but here's the catch: many similar cases have not been resolved. The police have no idea what's happening. So now all the victims' families are grieving with little or no assistance provided to them."
"If even the police can't solve this, then this must be a grave and convoluted problem. But natural factors alone are very unlikely to cause them to disappear for such a long time..." he said, resting his chin on his hands.
"...which means that people can be behind this," I finished for him.
"But nobody would take people to somewhere no one can find them. Even if someone decided to do that, what would he do that for?" he asked.
"Considering that these cases aren't misunderstandings due to the abundance of them, and ruling out that the people responsible for their disappearances have intentions to harm them (Father told us for ages that nobody in this world does this sort of stuff), I don't see any logical reasons to hide people away," I concluded. "I just hope that these cases get solved soon, and that they won't happen to us."
I stood up, cleared the table and washed the dishes before proceeding to clean the living room and the kitchen. In fact, I was in doubt of what Father had said all along: nobody in this world means harm to anyone. Although I have never seen someone harming another person, I had a feeling that this might be false. Since small children might sometimes be mischievous and do hurtful stuff, some grown-ups might be like this too. Or maybe they could have some other intentions that I don't know. This is complicated, but somehow the notion that everyone is kind and good just doesn't seem right.
Yet on the other hand, if the world is filled with kindness, wouldn't that be a great thing? It would be better to believe in this concept, right?
Whatever. Reality will prove itself anytime soon. For now, I'll just hold on to this belief.
After an hour of scrubbing and sweeping, noon was approaching. "Anyway, I think it's time," I said, glancing at my watch. "I should go to teach the students now. Hizushi, be good and stay at home. I'm sorry about this, but...I hope you understand," I said as I headed out. "I'll be back soon."
I walked up the mountain with my equipment, expecting everything to be as usual. But when I reached the kendo training school, a weird, gruff voice I had never heard before reached my ears, startling me. I stopped in my tracks.
"Mr Hiroda, as you can see, you have been listed as a theft suspect. We would highly appreciate your cooperation..."
Wait, what? My father, a thief? Impossible!
I quickly walked through the arched main gate to see what in the world was happening. Father was talking to a masked man dressed in black, with some young students gathered around him.
Seeing this, I knew that something was off. I had no idea if this was a misunderstanding or something else, so I approached them to get hold of the situation. "What happened? And may I ask, who are you?"
"I am a member of the Special-Ops Squad, working under the Royal Police," he said while showing me a list of names. "And this man, Mr Hiroda, has been listed as a theft suspect. I'm trying to get him to the court for investigation, but he's a bit... well, reluctant."
I peered at the list. It was indeed issued officially by the Royal Police - their insignia was stamped clearly on the paper, and all the details that were supposed to be there were present. Also, on the man's clothes was the same insignia and the words "Special-Operation". Not suspicious at all. Maybe Father was just mistaken for someone else.
"Sir, maybe you've got the wrong man. As you can see, he is a kendo teacher, and do you think kendo teachers commit theft?" I said, defending Father.
Oh crap. I should have said something better, and not this...What will he say next?
"It's not that bad. If he can prove that he's innocent, then he'll be released," the man explained with a calm expression on his face. He wasn't giving off any negative vibes, so I started to let down my guard, but I still had a gut feeling that something was off...
"It's nothing. I'll just go and prove my innocence. Nothing to be worried about when you're not guilty, right?" Father said calmly, sporting his usual smile.
"But-" I was alarmed at how Father was completely lacking suspicion towards the man. But on the other hand, if Father isn't suspecting him of anything, could it be that I was just thinking too much and getting doubtful for no reason?
" Children, I'll be back in several days," Father said, turning to the students. "Sayaka, you take care of them and help them with their basic training. Things are fine. Just take this as a holiday."
The children smiled. But I couldn't.
The next thing I knew, the man in black tied up Father's hands and took him away. I was stunned for quite a while before I could muster the courage to go after them and ask the policeman something.
When I exited the premise, they had made it about 150 meters away, beyond some foliage and tall grass. I sprinted up the mountain to catch up with them. When I was close enough, I called out to him. "S-sir...May I know where the court is?" I asked.
But to my dismay, the man scowled and replied rudely, "Why do you want to know? It's none of your business anyways. Leave me alone, I'm in a rush." With that, he walked faster, as if to get away from me. A total switch of attitude.
His words left me thinking. Do policemen act like this? No. Or at least, they shouldn't.
But why did he act so politely just now, and suddenly turn rude?
I paced forward to keep up with them. "Um, sir, can I speak to my father for a bit..."
"Don't disturb me, you little brat! Go and attend to those kids in there!" he barked, nudging me away. I was shocked and disgusted at his ways.
I stood there in silence as he continued to ascend the mountain towards a clearing in the distance. After a few seconds, he noticed that I was still there, so he turned around and shouted at me, demanding me to leave on the spot.
I decided to give up and turn back. But unexpectedly, in the corner of my eye, I saw something. Something wrong.
I froze in my tracks.
Father's eyes were...closed?!
And his body seems limp.
Which means that he is unconscious. But when was he knocked out?! I didn't hear anything, didn't hear him screaming, didn't hear any noise...
Plus, there is a suspicious-looking cart parked in the clearing, in the direction the man was walking.
This is terrible. No, worse than that.
Firstly, this man wears black from head to toe. And he wears a mask.
Because he doesn't want me to see his entire body, so I won't be able to identify him.
Secondly, once he left the school, he started to act rudely.
Because he wants me to leave, so I won't see what happens next.
Thirdly, he's walking away quickly.
Because he cheated me, and he wants to get away as fast as possible.
Fourthly, he parked his vehicle in a secluded place far away from where he picked Father up when supposedly he should park it in front of the gates.
So no one will know exactly what's happening.
Suddenly, the conversations about the missing people replayed in my head.
I froze, my feet rooted to the ground. This is the culprit. And h-he's ...kidnapping Father. Just like in the stories I read. Those kidnapping and crimes were mere made-up stories...were plain lies. The world that I believed to be filled with kindness and warmth...
It's fake. Nothing more than an illusion, a dream.
My mouth hung wide open in a mixture of shock, fear and disbelief. Every muscle in my body was quivering. One half of me wanted to run away, while the other was simply too afraid to respond. I knew that I had to save my father, but I just couldn't do it.
My doubts were right. Yet reality hit harder than it should. While pranking people would be understandable to me, I was far from prepared to know that people who harm others to such extents, who snatch people away from their homes and mutilate them, cheating their way through, existed. I couldn't accept it. Why did they even exist? And how could they even have the heart to do something so vile and twisted?
Having no idea what to do, I allowed my instincts to take over. In a fit of rage and fear, I dashed towards the vile man, my legs propelling me forwards faster than ever. Just before I reached him, I swerved, unsheathed the short sword hidden in my belt and aimed at his abdomen...
But then, the sword vanished from my grip.
Frantically, I turned to see where it went.
It lay on the ground, a few feet behind me. But how in the world did that happen?
The next thing I knew, I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen instead, a bolt of excruciating pain I had never felt before.
It dawned on me that I was injured.
"Bastard! Go die!" It was the kidnapper. So he had taken the chance to kick me in the guts when I looked backwards.
I landed with a thud, next to my sword. The pain just got worse, and radiated throughout my body, rendering me weak and limp. I nearly stopped breathing. I longed to cry out for help, but all the air had been knocked out of my lungs.
How did he move so fast and accurately, given that he barely had time to react? Is he even human?
I struggled to turn my head to look at him. What met my eyes next struck me even harder.
He brought Father to a big cart. Then he retrieved a wooden box from it and stuffed him inside, throwing the box right into the cart as if he was disposing of a bag of trash. Glee and triumph spread across his face.
Meanwhile, anger bubbled up in my heart as I watched the scene unfold.
I had to do something about this, or Father might die.