Dad Morishige

Discoveries

I had stayed in his room for a long while. I didn't notice it happen, but I felt my knees suddenly hit the floor.

"Why... Why did this have to happen?!"

Tears began flowing, and my face felt tampered with. I rarely cried, but I couldn't control myself. I cried for about half an hour on my knees before standing up.

His room was still clean and neatly organized...

He had a space on his desk for his photo album, containing pictures he took himself. I walked towards it and grabbed it.

"...What the...?"

When I first opened the book, there were a few pictures he had taken with himself and his friends. There was one entire group photo--even his teacher was in it--and I noticed something strange.

Some faces didn't show up, but were completely blackened: Sakutaro's, Suzumoto's, his teacher's and the face of another girl I didn't personally know.

Their faces came back, and it frightened me to the point where my hands shook and the book fell to the floor.

"Ah-ahhh... T-that... What happened?"

Calm down, Seishirou. It was only your imagination.

After I regained my composure, I picked the book up again and slowly examined each individual photo...

Sakutaro was only in some of them, but I know the ones he wasn't in... he took himself.

He loved photography almost as much as he loved acting. Sometimes, I would come home from work late at night and notice him editing photos he took to make them even better.

I never asked him anything about his photography, though. He always seemed so engrossed in what he was doing... I didn't want to interrupt him.

I noticed one photo with him and Suzumoto, at school before one of their productions. Sakutaro was dressed as some biker, I think, and Suzumoto was nearly matching him--just holding a script in her hand.

After closely examining it, I realized they both looked younger, and that Sakutaro was only an inch or two taller than her.

Hmm... they were in middle school when this was taken.

Sakutaro wrote captions underneath each photo, and this one said:

My very first show! How exciting! How did I manage to get the lead role? Maybe it's because of my new friend, Mayu Suzumoto. She always encouraged me, even when we didn't know each other well...

Then, there was more written in a different color.

Update: It's been years since I've taken this picture. Mayu hasn't changed, but I have... I've just gotten taller. I look at this picture every night. It comforts me... like she's right here next to me. I... I think something else inside of me is changing, too, but I don't know what it is. I've been wanting to talk to her about it, but I am afraid. How do I approach it? Hmm... Perhaps I'll ask her randomly in conversation, as to not bring it up too suddenly...

The update ended there, and I couldn't read anymore captions. I closed the book and sat on his bed.

"...Until today, I never knew how fondly Sakutaro took to her... Probably because I'm always at work, and I rarely saw him. I... I tried to spend time with him. I was... I was worried about his health, but... he was so fragile. I didn't want to bother him too much... and I thought he never liked me to begin with..."

I started crying again, and my tears soaked the mattress beneath me.

"I'm so sorry, Sakutaro... I'm so sorry... If I could bring you back and have a second chance, I would..."

An idea suddenly came to me, and it reassured me.

"...Maybe I can. And maybe I will!"