Volume 2: Chapter 15 – The Scratched-Out Name
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[Scene: Kenta's Expanded Room - Morning]
(Three weeks after the beach. Kenta sits at his desk, staring at the sketch of the girl. Sui and Yui are beside him.)
Sui: "Kenta-kun, we can't just stare at it forever."
Kenta: "I know."
Yui: "We need to DO something. Search properly."
Kenta: (looking at them) "You're still willing to help?"
Sui: (grabbing his hand) "We promised."
Yui: (grabbing his other hand) "Together, remember?"
Kenta: (quietly) "Together."
Sui: "So where do we start?"
Kenta: (thinking) "Old photos. School records. Neighborhood archives."
Yui: "That's... a lot."
Kenta: "I have a spreadsheet."
Sui & Yui: (in unison) "OF COURSE YOU DO!"
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[Scene: Kenta's Childhood Home - Afternoon]
(They're at his mother's house. Small. Modest. Full of memories.)
Mother: (surprised) "Kenta! Girls! What a surprise!"
Kenta: "Mom, I need to see old photos. From when I was little."
Mother: (curious) "Photos? Why?"
Kenta: "I'm looking for someone."
Mother: (softening) "The girl you mentioned on the phone?"
Kenta: (nodding)
Mother: "Come with me."
(She leads them to a small closet. Boxes stacked. Dusty.)
Mother: "Everything from your childhood is in these. I couldn't bear to throw anything away."
Sui: (touched) "That's so sweet..."
Yui: (also touched) "A mother's love..."
Mother: (smiling) "Go through them. I'll make tea."
(She leaves. They open boxes.)
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[Scene: Searching Through Memories]
(Photos. Drawings. Schoolwork. Toys.)
Sui: (holding up a photo) "Kenta-kun! You were so tiny!"
Kenta: (looking) "I was seven there."
Yui: (holding another) "And here! With us at the park!"
(Three children in a sandbox. Sui. Yui. Kenta.)
Kenta: (staring) "Three. Always three."
Sui: "Maybe it really was just us."
Kenta: "No. I remember her. The flower. The kiss."
(They keep searching. Box after box.)
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[Scene: The Discovery]
Yui: (pulling out a small album) "What's this?"
(It's a class photo. Kindergarten. 20 children. Smiling.)
Kenta: (scanning) "Sui. Yui. Me."
Sui: (pointing) "There's a girl here... but her name is scratched out."
(Kenta's heart stops. A girl with long dark hair. Big eyes. Sitting in the corner. Smiling softly. But where her name should be—scratched out. Deliberately.)
Kenta: (voice shaking) "That's her."
Yui: "Are you sure?"
Kenta: (touching the photo) "The eyes. The hair. The way she's sitting. Alone. Even in a crowd."
Sui: (reading) "Everyone else has names. But hers..."
Kenta: "Someone scratched it out. On purpose."
Yui: "Why would anyone do that?"
Kenta: (thinking) "To hide her. To make her disappear."
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[Scene: The Back of the Photo]
(Kenta turns it over. Handwriting. Faded.)
"Kindergarten Class. 2014."
(Beneath it, a list of names. All the children. But one name is scratched out here too.)
Sui: (squinting) "I can almost read it... there's an 'A'... then 'k'... 'a'..."
Yui: "Akari? Akira? Akane?"
Kenta: (frustrated) "Too faint."
Mother: (entering with tea) "Find something?"
Kenta: (holding up the photo) "Mom, do you remember this girl?"
(Mother takes it. Studies it. Her face changes.)
Mother: (quietly) "Oh."
Kenta: "You remember her?!"
Mother: (sitting down slowly) "I... I think so. There was a family. In the neighborhood. They moved away suddenly. When you were seven."
Sui: "Moved away?"
Mother: "Yes. In the middle of the night. No goodbye. No forwarding address."
Yui: "That's... strange."
Mother: "There were rumors. Nothing concrete. But people whispered."
Kenta: "Whispered what?"
Mother: (hesitating) "That they were hiding from something. Someone. The father was... afraid."
Kenta: (processing) "Afraid of what?"
Mother: "I don't know, baby. I never found out."
Kenta: (looking at the photo) "Her name. Do you remember it?"
Mother: (thinking) "It started with 'A'... Akemi? Akiko? I'm sorry. It's been too long."
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[Scene: Kenta's Room - Night]
(They're back home. The photo is on Kenta's desk. Next to the sketch.)
Sui: "Kenta-kun... we have a lead."
Yui: "A family who moved suddenly. A name starting with 'A'."
Kenta: "It's not much."
Sui: "It's more than we had yesterday."
Yui: "And we have her face. That's something."
Kenta: (touching the photo) "Someone scratched her out. Tried to erase her."
Sui: "But we found her. We SEE her."
Kenta: (quietly) "Yes."
Yui: "Now we find her name. And then we find HER."
Kenta: (looking at them) "You're both... incredible."
Sui: (kissing his cheek) "For you."
Yui: (kissing his other cheek) "Always."
Kenta: (touching his cheeks) "Two more."
Sui: (grinning) "Search party kisses!"
Yui: (laughing) "Investigation kisses!"
Kenta: (almost smiling) "I love you both."
Sui & Yui: (in unison) "Love you too!"
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[Scene: Kenta's Desk - Late Night]
(Sixteen items now. He adds the scratched-out photo.)
Kenta: (looking at them) "Sixteen."
(He picks up the photo. Studies the scratched-out name.)
Kenta: (whispering) "Who are you? Why did you have to disappear?"
(No answer. Just the silence of the night.)
(He places it down. Joins them in bed.)
Sui: (mumbling) "Kenta-kun... find her..."
Yui: (mumbling) "We will..."
Kenta: (holding them) "Together."
(He closes his eyes. The girl's face lingers. But so does their warmth.)
Kenta: (thinking, last thought) "A... Akari? Akira? Akane? I'll find out. I promise."
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[Scene: The Next Morning - A Clue]
(His phone buzzes early. A message from his mother.)
Mother: "Kenta, I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about that family. I remember now. The mother's name was Suzuki. But that was her married name. Her maiden name was... I think... Tachibana."
(Kenta sits up. Heart pounding.)
Kenta: (typing) "Tachibana?"
Mother: "Yes. She married a Suzuki. But the girl... I think she kept the Tachibana name. It was important to her."
Kenta: (thinking) "Tachibana. A girl with a Tachibana name. Starting with A."
(He looks at the scratched-out photo.)
Kenta: (whispering) "Akari Tachibana? Akira Tachibana?"
(He doesn't know yet. But he's closer.)
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[Scene: Sharing the News]
(Sui and Yui wake to Kenta sitting at his desk, already working.)
Sui: (groggy) "Kenta-kun? It's 6 AM..."
Kenta: "My mother remembered something."
Yui: (sitting up) "What?!"
Kenta: "The mother's maiden name was Tachibana. The girl might have kept that name."
Sui: (eyes widening) "TACHIBANA?!"
Kenta: "Yes. And her first name starts with A."
Yui: (jumping up) "THAT'S A LEAD!"
Sui: (also jumping) "A REAL LEAD!"
Kenta: (almost smiling) "We're getting closer."
Sui: (kissing his cheek) "For the lead!"
Yui: (kissing his other cheek) "For Tachibana!"
Kenta: (touching his cheeks) "Two more. Eighteen total now."
Sui: (grinning) "Lead kisses!"
Yui: (laughing) "Investigation continues!"
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[Scene: Kenta's Desk - Updated]
(Seventeen items now. The scratched-out photo. The Tachibana note.)
Kenta: (looking at them) "Seventeen."
(He picks up his father's astrolabe.)
Kenta: (whispering) "Father... I'm finding her. I don't know who she is yet. But I'm finding her."
(The astrolabe gleams. Like an answer.)
(He joins them in bed. Three together.)
Sui: (drowsy) "Kenta-kun... we'll find her..."
Yui: (drowsy) "Promise..."
Kenta: (holding them) "Promise."
(He closes his eyes. Determined. Hopeful.)
Kenta: (thinking, last thought) "Akari? Akira? Akane? Whoever you are... wait for me. I'm coming."
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End of Chapter 15
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Ready for Chapter 16?