The Enemy Beside Me + The Liar Beside Me (Book 1 and 2)

Entry # 5

Ah, what a day. I sneaked out again to get some sunlight. I may not be a human anymore (I don't know. I'm not really sure. Can you guess for me?), but somehow I knew I had to get some sunlight. I actually feel energised more than I had last week, So I guess...I'm still a human being?  

That doesn't matter. Because something amazing happened. Did you know I can be invisible if I hold my breath? Like this! See? I'm holding my breath and I can't see my hands but my pencil is still writing words.

Okay, that's enough. I wonder if I still can be felt though. The more I discover something about my newfound ability, the more I think I am a ghost. And yet ghosts don't hungry, do they?

Wait, I think I'm forgetting something. Oh, that's right! I did promise that I would tell you about my best friend. Oh, my heart is filled with love just thinking about him. He's my brother from another mother.

Here's the story, and I hope I'll make it short. His parents and my parents were actually friends. Of course, this was before Chichi-sama died, leaving me and Haha forever. Ah, you may have noticed that I called my own パパ [Papa] as Chichi-sama. Too polite? Well, he was a soldier, a General, so he had this big ego. Don't think bad about him though or I'll get upset! He was actually a good father. He even taught me how to use various guns and knives. Could you imagine a toddler wielding a sharp and big knife? Well, I could because I did.

Just like Sofu, Chichi-sama was kind of paranoid. You see, our country had done something awful. And awful doesn't even fully describe how evil our country was. I am not going to detail all of them, because there are a lot (For example, over two hundred thousand Filipino civilians had died during the Battle of Manila. Did you know that?)

You can guess by now why Sofu had built a secret room. He's thinking, what if some of these countries take revenge? It doesn't matter even if he wasn't alive back then.

Oh no. I'm blabbering way too much again. I'm sorry. This is just how I am whenever I'm writing. But you wouldn't hear me talking a lot. Strange, isn't it?

Anyway, as I have said, Declan Anderson's parents and my parents were friends.

Mister Daniel Anderson, Anderson-kun's father, had pleaded with everyone in our neighbourhood to hide them. There had been white people who had illegally entered our border (How they did it, I have no idea) and started hunting down Brown and Black people. These white supremacists chanted that people with dark complexions were a curse and the reason why the war had begun.

At first, my neighbours had tried helping them, but these white people were violent and ready to kill! And kill they did. As far as I know, at least six of my own people had bullets in their heads before these criminals got arrested and hanged as a punishment for their crimes. You see, even before the Great Barricade, our Zone's ultimate punishment is hanging a murderer and sometimes make their family watch. It doesn't happen frequently, but when it does, it surely shocks the whole world. They say it's barbaric for a first-world country to do.

The Andersons, one night, had knocked on each door but yes, because of those white supremacists, everyone had refused to help them. I want to be angry, but I cannot find it in my heart. I...understand their fear. I am really sorry for them. I wish I could have done something. But I was only a week old when that happened.

Finally, they'd reached our house and Chichi-sama immediately took them in as soon as he saw Anderson-kun with them. That's what Ruby Anderson-san had told me. Maybe because Chichi-sama was finally a father then, he knew and felt their desperation to save their only child.

Ruby Anderson-san had even said they were ready to leave, that they only wished someone would take Anderson-kun and keep him safe. But Chichi-sama wouldn't have it. He'd called Haha and together, they had welcomed the three of them. They'd given them food and new clothes. Unfortunately, because the white supremacists were still roaming our neighbourhood, the Anderson family had to live in the secret room.

It's lonely in here, so I understand what little Declan Anderson-kun had felt during their stay here.

Of course, Sofu wasn't happy about this. He said they could get into trouble, but Chichi-sama stood his ground. He said, at least this way, he could amend what our ancestors did. I'm not sure if we are the descendants of Imperialists, but every time Chichi-sama talked about his forefathers' sins, I get the idea that they were war criminals.

My stomach sinks whenever I think about that. I can't believe I'm the great-great-great-grandson of terrible, awful, disgusting people.

I wonder why I am not like them. They say bad genes get to pass down to the next generation. Sofu is a cruel person. But Chichi-sama was not. What if it had skipped him and it got me? Would I, someday, take somebody's life as if it were merely a simple hobby? I'm suddenly feeling cold... I don't want that. I'd rather take my own life then.

Enough about that. I guess I'll just find out someday.

We actually have pictures of Anderson-kun taking care of me as a baby. They said the first time he saw me, he pointed out how my face looked like a mashed potato. Daniel Anderson-san was so embarrassed, he bowed several times, apologising repeatedly. Luckily, my parents had a sense of humour. Yes, even my serious Chichi-sama.

Anderson-kun would later then always cradle me and kiss me, mostly to stop me from crying every time he overdid our playtime. He was a strong child. Both physically and mentally. His father had thought he would be a boxer with how strong his punches were. His strength had doubled thanks to his and my father's training.

Most importantly, every time Sofu was out of town (this was before Oba lived with us), they would help Anderson-kun with his water manipulation ability.

They said he was born with it. The weird thing was, Ruby Anderson-san, during her labour, had no pulse. Daniel Anderson-san had been devastated, of course. She was pronounced dead. Half an hour later though, she took a sharp breath and opened her eyes. It was a miracle, a wonder, they'd said. She'd given birth as if she hadn't had died.

Ruby Anderson-san said it must have been their God who gave her the second chance. I don't necessarily believe in God, or at least their version of God. We don't believe in an all-seeing God, that's just silly, in my opinion. It doesn't matter though. We still go to shrines.

Anyway, you are a hundred-year-old journal, so you do understand, right? You are wise! Otherwise, why would you let yourself be this old if you'd planned to be stupid?

Declan Anderson-kun would later teach me how to control water, but of course, it had been futile since years later, I'd find out that I control air! Does this mean I am stronger than him since air is everywhere? You see, Anderson-kun needs a source of water. But the last time I'd heard, he's learning how to use the water vapour in the air. They'd said it wasn't easy for him and it might take a very long time before he could master it. I believe in him though, he's talented. So I guess we're tied. Unless I deprive him of air! But he's faster and more skilled than me, so maybe before I could do that, he would control the water inside me.

Why am I worrying about that though? We are not enemies and will never be.