May 31, 2024
Kei Fushimiya's Perspective
(Narrated by present-day Kei)
People like to believe there is a specific moment when a family falls apart.
They imagine shouting. Violence. Tears.
But in reality, collapse is usually quiet.
A sentence.
A glance.
A realization.
That day was when I understood the Fushimiya family had never truly been a family to begin with.
---
May 31st, 2024.
The rain had stopped only an hour earlier. Water still slid down the car windows in uneven trails while my father drove through Tokyo with one hand on the steering wheel.
I was thirteen at the time.
Old enough to notice hypocrisy.
Too young to understand the scale of it.
My father suddenly spoke without looking at me.
"You know your mother is currently in Tokyo. She'll be attending the graduation as well as a few colleagues of mine."
His voice was calm. Too calm.
I stared outside the window.
"As if I care," I answered. "Neither me nor Aoi have seen her in years. You expect us to welcome her like nothing happened?"
Silence.
Then my father sighed lightly.
"You can be as stubborn as you want, Kei. But if you don't change, you'll become a disgrace to this family."
Typical.
Everything with him eventually came back to the family name.
"Your great-grandfather founded the Fushimiya business," he continued. "They called him a genius. He even rivaled that American scientist… Albert Einstein."
I didn't respond.
Honestly, I couldn't care less.
Dead geniuses had nothing to do with me.
My father continued anyway.
"Look at your brother. Look at your cousins. They're accomplishing things. Your cousin Sakura is only twenty-one and she's already a professional psychiatrist."
I kept staring outside.
The city passed by in blurry reflections.
I remember thinking that people loved comparing children to each other as if humans were products on shelves.
Eventually the car slowed to a stop.
We had arrived at Sakura's house.
She was already waiting outside in a long black coat, standing beneath the cloudy sky with her arms crossed. The moment she entered the car, I noticed the expression on her face.
Hatred.
Not toward me.
Toward my father.
"Well," my father said smoothly, "it's been a while, hasn't it, Sakura?"
She ignored him completely.
Instead, she turned toward me and smiled warmly.
"Hey, Kei."
I looked away after a few seconds.
At the time, I didn't understand why Sakura treated me differently from the rest of the family. Looking back now… she probably pitied me.
The car became silent again.
Eventually my father spoke once more.
"I understand you two haven't seen Aoi in years. The school limits outside interaction after all."
Sakura finally looked at him.
"Let's just hope he doesn't turn out like you."
For the first time during the drive, the atmosphere became genuinely tense.
But my father didn't react.
He simply kept driving.
That irritated me more than anger would have.
---
Eventually we arrived.
The school towered above us like some kind of monument built to worship intelligence itself.
At the time, I only found it mildly interesting.
I never imagined I would one day walk those same halls myself.
That irony still amuses me.
We entered the auditorium shortly afterward.
The place was enormous. Rows upon rows of seats stretched beneath golden lights while graduates stood near the stage in pristine uniforms.
I ended up sitting away from my father and Sakura.
To my left sat a blond foreigner with sharp eyes.
To my right sat a young man who looked too exhausted to belong in a place like this.
I ignored both of them initially.
The ceremony began.
Certificates were handed out. Speeches were made. The audience clapped mechanically whenever expected.
Then the principal stepped toward the microphone.
"Before introducing this year's valedictorian," he announced nervously, "I would like to say that due to… certain circumstances… I will be stepping down from my position."
I noticed something strange immediately.
Fear.
The principal looked afraid.
More specifically—
He looked directly at my father when he said those words.
I frowned slightly.
The principal continued.
"Additionally… a student has recently been arrested for illegal activities and will be dealt with appropriately."
The audience murmured.
I didn't care much.
At the time, it just sounded like another school scandal.
Then the principal finally announced the valedictorian.
"Aoi Fushimiya."
The entire auditorium erupted into applause.
I looked toward the stage.
Aoi walked forward calmly.
Older. Taller. Sharper.
He looked less like my brother and more like a stranger wearing his face.
Then the blond foreigner beside me suddenly spoke.
"So you're his brother."
His Japanese carried a slight accent.
I glanced at him.
"I wonder," he continued quietly, "if you'll become just as twisted as him… and his business partner."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
The man leaned slightly closer.
"I mean the Fushimiyas are all the same."
His eyes narrowed.
"You'll understand eventually, Kei Fushimiya."
I ignored him after that.
At the time, I assumed he was insane.
Now I know he was probably the sanest person in that room.
I turned back toward the stage.
Aoi unfolded a piece of paper.
"Good evening, everyone," he began calmly. "These four years at the N.I.F.L have taught us the importance of trust and unity. Unfortunately, there are individuals within this school who have damaged that trust. Such as the student known as the Puppeteer—"
Then he stopped.
The room became quiet.
Aoi stared at the paper for several seconds.
Then—
He crumpled it.
The sound echoed through the microphone.
Everyone froze.
Aoi dropped the ruined speech onto the floor.
And for the first time in years—
I saw his real expression.
Cold.
Not angry.
Not sad.
Just empty.
"Pathetic," he said.
The audience looked confused.
The principal looked terrified.
Aoi slowly raised his head.
"It's pathetic that you all expected me to repeat such weak-minded nonsense."
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
I turned toward the blond foreigner beside me.
Unfazed.
His ID card was partially visible beneath his coat.
Paul.
That was the name written on it.
To my right, the young man beside me looked horrified.
"What the hell are you doing, Aoi…" he muttered under his breath.
I looked behind me instinctively.
My father was smiling.
Not a normal smile either.
It looked like pride.
Like he had been waiting for this moment.
Then my eyes landed on Sakura.
She looked devastated.
Aoi turned toward the audience again.
"And to my classmates," he continued through the microphone, "the people who attached themselves to me like parasites…"
The audience became restless.
Several teachers stood up.
None of them interrupted him.
Probably because they were afraid.
"You can all disappear."
His voice remained perfectly calm.
Then—
He looked directly at me.
Not at the audience.
Me.
At that moment, I understood something.
I was included in those words.
"No one here truly cares about me," Aoi continued. "You only care about achievement. Status. Results."
His eyes darkened.
"Because I am the Puppeteer."
The auditorium exploded into chaos.
Gasps. Shouting. Confusion.
But Aoi ignored all of it.
"You are all merely cogs within this system," he declared. "You either obey… or get replaced."
Sakura suddenly stood up.
Then ran out of the auditorium.
Aoi dropped the microphone.
And walked away.
Not rushed.
Not emotional.
Just… detached.
Like none of this mattered anymore.
Then something happened that I still remember clearly.
My father stood up—
And applauded.
Slowly.
Proudly.
As if watching his masterpiece come to life.
That was the moment I realized something was deeply wrong with my family.
And that was the day my brother stopped being someone I understood.
---
I ran outside afterward.
First I caught up to Aoi.
I grabbed his arm.
"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded. "Not even you would say things like that."
Aoi looked at me silently.
Then he spoke.
"You don't know anything about me."
His voice was hollow.
"You don't know the sacrifices I made."
Then he walked away.
Leaving me standing there alone.
I remember feeling confused more than hurt.
That was probably the beginning of my emotional detachment.
After that, I found Sakura near the street trying to call a taxi.
"Sakura, wait—"
"I'm done."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"You'll become just like your father. Just like Aoi."
The taxi arrived.
"I really believed this family could change," she whispered. "But I was wrong."
Then she looked at me one last time.
"I refuse to be part of whatever your father is creating."
She entered the taxi.
And left.
That day everything collapsed.
Not suddenly.
Not dramatically.
Quietly.
Like a building rotting from the inside until finally nobody could pretend it was stable anymore.
And the worst part?
At thirteen years old—
I still didn't fully understand what I had witnessed.