Dad Morishige

How I Know

I don't know exactly when it happened, but there was one night... I was asleep, and the day had been like any other... but I had this terrible nightmare of sorts.

I found myself in Sakutaro's shoes, though. I was in a creepy elementary school... and I had these pictures of corpses. Don't ask me why he did that... probably because he was alone.

I remember the fall, and how the trees broke it. There were most definitely broken bones, at least the left arm, and most likely the ribs.

Everything else happened, but one thing in particular still sticks out to me.

Apparently, before he stabbed himself, Suzumoto was there as a ghost, I imagine. Sakutaro couldn't see or hear her, though. The only other one he noticed was the other guy.

Suzumoto begged, pleaded, and cried. She did her best to keep Sakutaro from killing himself. Throughout the whole thing, though, he just kept saying "Mayu..." and agreeing with everything he was told, such as...

She probably hates you now.

She wants you to die.

You can atone for your sins and take your own life, in which case, I can be of assistance.

I didn't understand why I was able to hear Suzumoto when I was in his position, but I heard her clearly. She had been right near him.

Shig... That's enough...

I want Shig to live! Don't speak for me, you awful man! You don't know how I feel!

I... I loved you, you know. I was always too embarrassed to say it, but if I'd known this is how things would end, I would've...

After that, it felt as if everything around me began fading away. I woke up after he confessed to her and stabbed himself.

There was a surreal feeling surrounding me when I woke up. It was like... I didn't remember time before that. I don't know why, nor how to explain it.

But the nightmare had felt all too real to me, it seemed almost supernatural.

I decided it was only a dream, and because I was home that same day, I stood and slowly walked to his bedroom.

He wasn't there.

I considered the possibility he went to school, and checked my watch. The time was too early, though.

Midnight.

Sakutaro was never one for staying up very late, and I knew he never snuck out, despite how often I wasn't home.

Kumiko would fill me in if he did, and believe me when I say she would've caught him.

It was at that moment when I accepted it.

He died, and I did absolutely nothing.