Trust The Shadows
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Neko had never been so happy to see a city. She’d always heard the stories of cities, and how they were filled with people who would help you if you needed it. People like her parents or their friends in New York City.
When she was little, that seemed more than enough reason for her family to move there someday when possible. But since then… well, things hadn’t gone exactly as planned. So far away from home. And now this? A town full of monsters trying to kill them while her mom is unconscious on some stranger’s floor because he said something about ‘waking up.’
She didn’t know what to think anymore. Her head hurt almost constantly, which made everything else seem even worse. It felt good just walking around without having to worry about being attacked every second. Even better yet: no one tried to attack her!
That alone was worth all the trouble of getting here. There weren’t many people out today anyway; most everyone had probably stayed inside until tomorrow morning at least. As long as nobody saw her…
“Hey!” called a voice behind Neko. “You’re not supposed to be wandering off by yourself.”
It took her several seconds before she realized it wasn’t someone threatening her – but rather an old man running towards her, waving his hands frantically. He stopped right in front of her, staring down into her face.
His hair looked gray, though his skin still showed signs of youth. In fact, he might have only been in his late twenties or early thirties. Yet despite being young himself, he wore clothing fit for a much older person. Long robes covered him from neck to toe except where his arms poked through. They reminded Neko of her mother’s kimonos, albeit less colorful.
“Who are you?” she asked cautiously.
The man blinked twice, then grinned widely. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “My name is Mr. Yagashira. I live over there…” He pointed down the road. “…and my wife has been looking everywhere for our daughter. You must be the girl we’ve been hearing so much about these last few days.”
Neko nodded slowly. “Yes, sir… I am.”
He reached forward and placed both hands on her shoulders. For a moment she thought he meant to shake her hand, but instead, he simply squeezed gently. Then he leaned closer to whisper quietly in her ear. “Don’t tell anyone your real name,” he warned. “Not even me. Everyone here already knows who you really are. We can protect you, but don’t cause us any problems.”
For a moment, Neko stared back blankly. What did that mean? Was he telling her not to trust anybody? Or maybe he wanted her to keep quiet about everything too? Whatever the case, she couldn’t do either of those things. Not after everything she’d seen this week. If anything, she should shout it from the rooftops. Maybe then they could find her dad and get out of this place…
But she kept that opinion to herself. Instead, she merely nodded again. “Okay.”
Mr. Yagashira smiled softly. “That’s great to hear. Well… let’s go inside. Your mother will want to talk to you.”
And suddenly, she remembered why she hated talking to people.
***
When Neko entered the house, she found her father sitting at the kitchen table with Mrs. Yagashira. Both of them were busy making tea, although neither paid any attention to Neko as she came in. She stood awkwardly in the doorway for a moment, unsure whether to say hello first or sit down.
Eventually, she decided against doing either, and instead wandered over to the window overlooking the backyard.
A large garden is spread out below, filled with flowers of various colors. Dozens upon dozens of trees lined the edges – cherry blossoms and plum blossoms, among others. On the other side of the yard, a small pond sat next to two stone statues depicting children playing together.
One was a boy holding a stick, while another appeared to be a girl chasing him. Their faces remained frozen in time, but Neko knew they used to look very different. Before the war, she assumed.
Her gaze drifted past the statue toward the edge of the garden. Beyond the fence lay nothing but forested hills, stretching as far as she could see. In the distance, she spotted a large building rising above the treeline. At first glance, it resembled a church, complete with a steeple jutting into the sky.
However, the structure itself was clearly larger than any church she’d ever seen before. Its walls stretched high overhead, giving it an odd appearance along its sides. The roof also seemed oddly shaped, resembling something like a giant cross. Although she couldn’t make out much detail, Neko guessed the entire thing would have to be at least three stories tall if it were standing upright.
From here, she could only guess what went on within those walls. But judging from the size, it certainly wasn’t a normal church. Probably more like a mansion, given how big it looked. And considering the way it dominated the landscape, she imagined it housed some kind of important government official.
From the looks of things, whoever lived there didn’t seem to care much about appearances. Even the land around the building had been left untended, save for a single tree growing near the base. It stood alone amidst a sea of dead grass, surrounded only by cacti and weeds.
She sighed heavily, wishing she hadn’t come all this way just to stare out the window. After a minute, she turned away and headed back over to join her parents. Mrs. Yagashira paused in mid-pour, glancing up curiously when she saw Neko return.
“Oh! Good morning!” she exclaimed happily. “Are you ready for breakfast now?”
Neko shook her head. “No thanks,” she replied, “but I’d love to help set the table.”
Mrs. Yagashira gave her husband a questioning look. “Isn’t that nice of her, dear? To offer to help without being told.”
He shrugged indifferently. “Well, sure,” he agreed. “Why wouldn’t she want to?”
Neko watched them exchange glances silently. They obviously weren’t expecting her to volunteer, so why did they act surprised? Did they think she was lazy because she never helped clean up? Surely they must know better than that. Still, she made no move to apologize.
As long as they didn’t ask her to wash dishes or sweep floors, she figured she could put up with whatever else they threw her way. Besides, she needed to keep up appearances. No matter how hard she tried not to show it, she still felt guilty about leaving the family behind. Now was probably the last chance she’d get to prove to them she was capable of taking care of herself.
After a few seconds, Mr. Yagashira finally responded. “All right, well, we’ll take care of the cleanup ourselves today. You can start setting the table.”
His wife shot him a disapproving glare. “Don’t tell me you’re going to let your daughter spend the whole day watching TV. That’s hardly fair to her.”
“I’m sorry, Mother…” He lowered his voice slightly. “…but I don’t really feel comfortable letting her do anything useful.”
The woman scoffed loudly. “What are you saying?! This is our home too, isn’t it? Why shouldn’t she help us out occasionally?”
With a sigh, he gave in. “Fine then. Just once, though. We’ll make it quick.”
Once everyone finished eating, Neko was sent off to watch television until lunchtime. Her parents spoke little during the meal, seemingly content to ignore each other while they ate. She kept quiet throughout the ordeal, choosing instead to focus on their conversation.
A part of her wanted to jump in and point out how rude they both were acting, but she held her tongue. For one, she doubted either of them would listen. Two, it was obvious neither of them cared enough to notice anyway. If anything, they were probably relieved she wasn’t talking.
When she returned upstairs after dinner, however, the mood quickly changed. Instead of turning on the news, as usual, her mother placed a book down on the coffee table beside her father.
“We need to talk,” she said quietly.
Mr. Yagashira nodded stiffly. “Yes…about what happened earlier.”
Neko frowned, confused by the sudden change in topic. Wasn’t this what they were supposed to discuss yesterday? Had they forgotten already? Or maybe they decided to hold off until her parents were together again.
Either way, she found it strange they’d bring it up now, especially since they knew perfectly well she hadn’t done anything wrong. Maybe they wanted to punish her for something else entirely.
Her father cleared his throat before continuing. “Your mother has been worried ever since you disappeared. She thinks you might have run away.”
Neko blinked. How exactly did her mother know where she’d gone? Unless she was somehow spying on her through the camera feed, which seemed unlikely. Then again, she couldn’t rule it out completely.
The idea had occurred to her several times over the past week, particularly whenever she overheard her parents discussing her whereabouts. While she was pretty certain nothing like that was happening, there was always the possibility someone got access to the cameras.
It wouldn’t be impossible, given how many people had worked at the company over the years. Hell, even if none of those people still worked here, it was possible some former employee snuck into the building last night and planted the spyware.
That thought only served to fuel her growing paranoia. What if her mom was right? Could she really trust anyone around her anymore? Not knowing who to believe left her feeling helpless. All she could do was sit back and wait for the next shoe to drop.
“Do you understand why we’re upset?” her father asked.
She swallowed thickly. Of course, she understood; she just wished she didn’t. After all, she hated lying to her family, and she certainly didn’t enjoy making them worry. But she also knew she couldn’t face them again otherwise.
There was no way she could explain everything without revealing more details than necessary. And considering how much trouble she’d already caused, she didn’t see any reason to risk it. In fact, she almost hoped they believed her lies—at least for now. At least then she’d know her secret was safe.
“You’ve been acting strangely lately,” her father continued. “It makes sense to assume you’re hiding something from us. Sooner or later, you’re bound to slip up.”
He paused, waiting patiently for her response. When she remained silent, he sighed heavily and gestured toward the book sitting on top of the coffee table. “If you won’t tell us what’s bothering you, perhaps this will convince you to open up.”
Neko stared at the cover of the paperback. It featured an illustration of two women standing side-by-side on a beach, holding hands and staring into the distance. One was dressed in a black dress with red lips, the other in white robes decorated with blue flowers.
They appeared to be looking somewhere far beyond the horizon, yet they weren’t alone. Dozens of tiny figures stood behind them, and each wore a different color of clothing: green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, brown, black…the list went on.
Some were smiling brightly, others looked sad, while some simply stared straight ahead. Yet despite their differences, they shared one thing in common. Their eyes followed the same path, leading inexorably onward.
“Dollars and Sense,” she read aloud.
The title made perfect sense now. As soon as she saw the picture on the front cover, Neko realized what it meant. Someone had taken pictures of her and created these dolls based on their likenesses. But why would someone go to such lengths to copy her appearance?
Her first guess had been that someone was trying to blackmail her, but that wasn’t likely. Why bother when they could easily just threaten her directly? Plus, they’d never shown themselves during the day, so she doubted they wanted money.
If they wanted to get paid, they should have tried contacting her parents instead. That meant they must have another motive. A lot of reasons, actually, but most of them revolved around her job.
For example, maybe they intended to use her as leverage against Mr. Hida. Perhaps they planned to reveal her identity to him and force him to give them whatever they wanted. Even if they failed, though, they could still post the photos online and let everyone know she was involved.
Regardless of what they wanted, she suspected her coworkers knew about the project and may have even helped create the dolls. Given how closely knit the office culture was, it probably wouldn’t take long for word to spread throughout the entire company.
And once that happened, things would become very difficult indeed. With every passing moment, she became more aware of the danger she faced. No longer able to hide her secrets, she risked losing her position, not to mention her friends, her apartment, and possibly even her life. If she kept going down this road, there was no telling what might happen.
But she couldn’t stop now. Every time she considered turning back, she remembered what her friend said. She needed to reach the end of this journey, no matter how scary it got along the way. The question was whether she was strong enough to handle the consequences.
Her thoughts turned to her mother. Did she suspect anything? Was she worried about her daughter too? Or did she think Neko was acting out because she was unhappy with work? Either way, she had to find a solution before her mind slipped away completely.
“I’m sorry I lied to you guys,” she began. “But you shouldn’t blame yourselves. You didn’t make me do anything. This is my choice.”
She glanced over at the photo album on the coffee table. Maybe she should show them those pictures after all. Seeing her own image among the countless faces would surely help prove her point. Then, hopefully, they’d finally accept her decision.
“Now please believe me,” she added. “This has nothing to do with your jobs or our relationship. Honestly, I love working here and spending time with you both.”
Still, she hesitated. Would her words convince them? How could she know until they reacted?
A few seconds passed without any reaction. Were they really convinced by her explanation? Had they already accepted everything? What would they say next?
Then suddenly, her dad spoke. “Okay, fine. We’ll drop it for now. But don’t expect us to keep quiet forever. There’s only so much we can overlook.”
His voice was calm, almost emotionless. He hadn’t raised his tone or changed the volume of his speech. Still, Neko felt like she was being lectured.
“I understand,” she replied quietly.
After a brief pause, her mom chimed in. “So what are you planning to do?”
“What am I doing…”
That sounded suspiciously similar to what she asked herself earlier. And since she had no answer ready, she decided to wait until she thought of something better.
“Well, I’ve made up my mind,” she explained. “It took me a while to figure this out, but I finally realize it’s time for me to move on from Tokyo and start fresh elsewhere.”
Everyone looked surprised. They exchanged glances. Her father put his hand on hers, then gave her an encouraging smile. After hesitating briefly, her mother nodded slowly.
Neko smiled back. It seemed they were willing to listen to reason. Now came the hard part.
“You see… I want to buy a house.”
***
As Neko walked home through the park, she stopped near one of the trees lining the path. She sat cross-legged on the grass, closed her eyes, and focused on her breathing.
She’d come straight from work, so her clothes weren’t dirty yet, but she figured she might as well rinse off anyway. The water trickling into the basin was tepid but warm enough for her needs. Once she finished washing her face, she checked the clock and sighed.
Five minutes later than usual. She’d always done her best to arrive at least five minutes early. Being late was bad manners, especially in a place where she worked alongside people she cared about.
Nevertheless, she’d arrived fifteen minutes past schedule today. Why? Because she spent half that time talking to her parents. As far as excuses go, it wasn’t exactly good news. Yet despite their surprise, they understood why she chose to tell them sooner rather than later.
Maybe she should have waited another day or two, just to be safe, but she was tired of keeping her secret. Besides, they told her they’d drop it for now, which meant she could relax. For now, at least.
With that reassuring thought firmly planted in her mind, she brushed her hair dry and stepped onto the street. A cold wind blew across her cheeks, bringing with it the scent of freshly fallen snow. The air carried hints of winter, though it was still technically autumn. Only a month remained until Christmas. Soon, the season would turn dark and gloomy, leaving behind only memories of its warmth.
The sky overhead was clear blue, free of clouds. That made sense. In recent years, winters had been milder than ever. Perhaps global warming had taken hold. Either way, Neko hoped the trend continued. If not, she might end up having to explain the weather to her kids someday.
On the other side of the road stood a tall building. Its windows glowed brightly against the night sky, illuminating the surrounding area. It belonged to a large company. Every year, several hundred employees passed through its doors—some to work, others to shop.
Though she lived nearby, Neko rarely visited. Ever since she graduated college, she’d avoided the crowds inside. Instead, she preferred to spend her days outside, enjoying nature’s beauty. Though plenty of things to enjoy in the city, she found herself drawn more often toward the country.
Of course, she knew that was unusual. Most young adults wanted to live in the capital. According to the government, it served as the hub of Japan’s economy. Naturally, most students dreamed of becoming successful professionals who traveled around the world. Some even planned to make their fortunes overseas.
But Neko didn’t care about money or status. All she desired was peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. When she moved here, she never imagined she’d stay long term. At first, she simply needed someplace new to escape to. Then, she realized she actually liked living alone. With nothing tying her down, she could focus solely on enjoying her newfound freedom.
Today, however, she had business to attend to. She was meeting someone important. Someone whose presence she couldn’t ignore.
While walking along the sidewalk, she glanced over her shoulder. No cars were passing by. Everyone must be indoors, preparing for tomorrow’s holiday festivities. Still, it felt like a ghost town. There were few pedestrians, none of whom appeared particularly happy.
Even the ones wearing Santa hats seemed grimy and stressed. Was everyone else angry because they hadn’t received anything special for Christmas? Or did they all feel hopeless, knowing how little time remained before the New Year started?
Or maybe they’re just sad.
There was no denying it: the holidays were depressing. She remembered going shopping with her dad during those times when he was alive. He’d try to cheer himself up by buying presents for her, but every present reminded him of his own loneliness. Each gift brought tears to his eyes.
It was different this time. This year, she’d decided to give him something extra special. Something she believed he deserved after everything he endured.
At last, she reached her destination. The entrance door swung open automatically. Inside, the lobby was dimly lit. Several employees were working on computers, while others manned the front desk. None of them paid attention to Neko as she approached.
An older man sitting behind the counter looked up but quickly returned to whatever task he was performing. His expression suggested he wanted to avoid any unnecessary conversation.
“Good evening,” said Neko politely. “I’m here to see Mr. Kojirou.”
He nodded curtly without making eye contact. She tried again, asking if he was available. But once more, he refused to answer. So much for being polite. She wondered what kind of person worked in an office full of people he clearly disliked.
After waiting for a minute, Neko gave up and headed upstairs. Unlike the main floor, the second level contained many private offices. They were mostly empty except for one room near the back. Her target sat inside, surrounded by piles of paperwork.
She knocked softly on the glass window separating them. After receiving permission to enter, she opened the door and entered.
Mr. Kojirou looked up. Despite his age, he possessed strong features and a sharp nose. His black hair hung loosely over his forehead, giving him the appearance of a wise old sage. Yet despite the wrinkles on his face, he retained a boyish charm.
Neko smiled at him. “Hello, Mr. Kojirou. I hope you don’t mind me coming so late?”
Kojirou stared blankly for a moment. Then he sighed and rubbed his temples. “You know, I really wish your father wasn’t such a difficult man. You shouldn’t have to come all the way out here just to see me.”
“Oh, please. Don’t worry about that. My parents are gone now, too. Besides, it’s not like we’ve known each other forever. We only met yesterday!”
The elderly man laughed kindly. “Yes, well, that may be true. But still…it feels strange seeing you here instead of my son.”
“I understand completely! And believe me, I wouldn’t dream of disappointing him. In fact, I’ll do everything in my power to honor his memory. That includes helping you find a good buyer for this land. As soon as possible, I promise.”
His smile widened slightly. “Now there’s a girl who knows exactly what she wants.”
Neko bowed respectfully. “Thank you very much. It means a lot to hear you say that.”
For a brief instant, Kojirou studied her intently. Then, with a sigh, he shook his head. “Fine. Let’s get right to it. What can I help you with today?”
“Actually, I need to talk to you about a certain property. Is it okay if I show it to you?”
“Of course. Just let me grab some paper and a pen.”
As he walked toward one of the cabinets, Neko gazed around the room. Although it was small and somewhat cluttered, it was far nicer than most places she’d seen. This building probably cost a pretty penny. If her mother had owned this place, she would’ve been thrilled beyond belief.
The End