It was 8:00 AM on September 11, a Friday. A student sitting on a train was the notice of everyone . He was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt with black pants and shoes, and he was holding a bento box wrapped with red and gold paper and a yellow thermos. He was looking out the window, gazing at the scene outside as they passed. Why was he their interest? Because he was there every weekend, carrying the same box and thermos and wearing the same clothes. He told no one why he carried the objects, and no-one bothered to ask, just stare and wonder why.
When they finally reached the station, he boarded off and hailed a taxi to the stop nearest to the cemetery, Shi-Doku Cemetery. When he got off, he walked towards the cemetery and saw a middle-aged man standing by the entrance. The man asked him, "Boy, what's that you've got in yer hands? You've been bringing that in here for 7 weekends in a row already, something important you got? Any relatives you have?"
Tenma looked at the man, smiled, and said, "Oh, it's something very important, sir. They're special cakes and offerings I made myself, and yes, I do have relatives in here. In fact, there's four of them in there."
"Four! Aren't you sad they're in here?" He sighed and replied that he was sad that they'd be here instead of being alive with him. "So that's why you came here... " the man pondered. "Well, go on your way then. I'm sure they'd be pleased to see filial piety from their own child. Go in peace, young man." He replied, while smiling. Tenma thought he saw tears forming in the man's eyes.
He proceeded to make his way in until he met a row of gravestones, four in total. He knelt down and started placing the contents of the box one by one on top of the stones. "Red bean cakes for elder sister, rice mochi for younger sister, sugar plum cakes for mother, mooncakes for father."
He bowed his head and then took out a thermos and four cups. "Now, have some of the sweet wine aunt gave me." He proceeded to pour some into each cup and set every cup on top of the gravestones. Lastly, he bowed his head down and proceeded to pray over his family members and relatives. He prayed for their guidance in his daily life, protection from evil spirits, and luck in their afterlife. He thanked them for protecting him so far and payed his last respects before leaving.
He packed up the things he brought with him and started heading for the gate. He was about to greet the man goodbye when he saw that there was no-one there. He was confused, so he asked one of the employees by the gate where was the guard that he saw. The employee looked at him, evidently confused. "What do you mean, young man? What guard? We don't have any guard."
"But did you see a middle-aged man with a gray blazer, white undershirt, and black slacks pass by?" Tenma asked. "Gray blazer, white undershirt..." the employee paled. "What was his hair color?" He asked Tenma. "Um... he had hair that appeared to be graying, with some white and black strands too.." he replied. The employee's eyes widened and he said, "T-that... could you have met him... Tell me, did he have a silver name tag on his chest?"
"Huh? Name tag? Yeah, he did have one. Sir, who did I meet?" The employee put his hands on Tenma's shoulders and said, "Son, you've met him - the legendary senator, and our former director: Fukushu Shidoku. He was the one that inspired us to do our best and excel to our limits in everything that we did. In fact, we honored him so much that we named this cemetery after him. He was the one who kept corrupt people from entering the government for 35 years, can you believe it? And because of that, he has a statue in the plaza that's made out of pure silver.
"He had a daughter, but she was never told that she belonged to a powerful family and she doesn't know where her parents are buried. Her father's last wish was to see her, but he never did. " At this Tenma bowed his head and thanked him for the information.
As he was riding the train back to Tokyo, he couldn't help but think: What did he mean by, 'parents are buried' and 'former director'? When it suddenly hit him that: He was greeted by a ghost. Yes, a literal ghost. Then a question came into his mind: Why did emphasize 'filial piety from their own child' when he talked to him? The answer came to him quickly enough too: It was because he never got to see his child.
Tenma had heard of stories of ghosts remaining on earth because something strong was keeping them from departing peacefully. In this case, it appeared to be the father's love for his child that was keeping him from leaving. Suddenly he felt sad for both the father and his daughter. He felt like it was his duty to find out where she was now and tell her that her father was here and that he longed to see her. But how would he do it?
He'd get information from people on where she was now, and do all he can to reunite them, no matter how hard it was. He felt that the ghost had appeared to him for that exact reason: To reunite them both. As he stepped out of the train, he smiled, with a clear plan of the task that lay ahead of him. He knew that the process would be hard, but he was determined to do everything just to reunite an orphan and her father together. Wasn't he, after all, an orphan himself?
If you were him, dear reader, would you help the father or not? Why? How about if you were the one who lost your parents? Would you help him, or not?