Diary

In a hospital in X State, United States

Kato Marumi lounged boredly in the sofa, her feet swinging lazily back and forth as her gaze occasionally fell on the hospital director standing deferentially beside her.

"Grandpa's surgery still isn't over~? It's been seven hours already." Marumi spoke in her cool, detached voice.

"Miss, please be patient."

The director's voice was humble, and he spoke very quietly, afraid of displeasing the girl before him. "The master's surgery is very complicated. The doctors wouldn't dare be careless."

"Fine, fine. Grandpa's health is what matters most."

Though the director smiled ingratiatingly at Marumi on the surface, deep down, his thoughts were another story.

"What a piece of work! Throwing her weight around like this. Ever since I became director of this hospital, people have always been the ones bowing their heads to me!" (Hospital director)

"But I can't afford to let my guard down. Even the governor grovels to these people." (Hospital director)

Suddenly, a voice, alluring yet cold, rang out and interrupted the director's thoughts.

"Were you just insulting me in your head?"

Marumi lazily picked up the coffee before her, slowly rubbing her fingertips against the side of the cup. Her eyelids were half raised, and her gaze drifted lightly over the man. Her tone was calm, yet utterly certain.

The director's brows knitted together. The two completely different voices startled him, and he instinctively straightened up and hurried to deny it, speaking quickly as he tried to clear himself of suspicion. "I would never think such a thing. You've misunderstood."

"What is with this woman?! It's one thing that she can change her voice, but could she actually read minds too?" (Hospital director)

As soon as he finished speaking, their eyes met without warning.

Marumi's eyes were calm and clear, her expression composed and assured, as though she had already seen straight through his petty, dirty thoughts. She didn't look away. Her poised presence pressed down on him, and even a silent glance carried an invisible weight.

She didn't rush to speak. She took a small sip of coffee and watched the director in silence.

Gradually, the composure the director had barely managed to maintain crumbled. His pupils contracted, and his gaze instinctively tried to dart away, but her eyes held him fast.

The director's Adam's apple bobbed repeatedly against his will. His fingertips curled uneasily at his sides, and the candor he had deliberately put on vanished without a trace.

Guilt and unease spread across his face. Unable to withstand even a brief standoff, he finally lowered his eyes first, abjectly. He stared at the floor, not daring to look up again, his whole body tense and awkward, even his breathing growing unconsciously shallow.

All the casual warmth had now disappeared from Marumi's gaze. She neither grew angry nor furrowed her brows; she simply studied the director before her as if he were an ordinary object.

Her calm gaze held a faint, elusive cruelty, like a slaughterhouse butcher's familiarity with death. It seemed she had already decided the director's fate.

"Knock, knock, knock."

A steady knock broke the silence in the room at just the right moment.

Marumi's butler, Xiao, entered.

"Miss, the things you asked for have arrived."

At those words, Marumi's expression instantly turned sweet and lively. Her tense features relaxed, and the frightening pressure vanished.

"Uncle Xiao, you're finally here! I've been waiting for you for ages."

As she spoke, Marumi trotted over to Xiao. Her voice was light and sweet, and she looked every bit the charming, adorable girl.

"Sorry for the wait, Miss. Please forgive me." As he spoke, Xiao bowed and offered her the book with both hands.

"It's all right. Let's see what my brother wrote in his diary."

Marumi returned to the sofa and sprawled over it, flipping through the pages at high speed.

Seizing the opportunity, Xiao gestured for the director to leave. The man, relieved, hurried out and closed the door behind him.

Marumi read at an astonishing speed. It was less like reading and more like flipping through the pages at random.

Xiao, standing nearby, was used to this sight. As the butler who had been by Marumi's side since she was born, he knew she had a photographic memory.

"The earlier parts aren't interesting. The important bit is here."

Marumi spoke curiously, pointing to a passage.

Xiao stepped forward and, after seeing what Marumi was pointing at, read it aloud in a quiet voice.

"Last night, it rained really hard, and my diary got soaked. Mother is gone. When I got up this morning, she wasn't there. Does she not want me anymore?"

"This diary really does have water damage, but..."

Marumi spoke to herself as she began reading aloud part of Satsu's diary.

"Three days have passed, and Mother still hasn't come back. The toilet at home seems to be clogged, and it smells awful. I've never unclogged a toilet before. I don't know if I can do it."

"Mother still hasn't come back. I'm slowly accepting the fact that both my father and mother don't want me anymore. I need to do some spring cleaning today. There are suddenly a lot of mosquitoes in the house."

"No! No matter how much I clean, the house is still a mess! I'm done cleaning! Ever since Mother left, my life has been a mess!"

"There's someone else in the house! I saw it."

"Ah!!! I'm going crazy. That person watches me sleep every night from outside my bedroom door. I talk to him, but he doesn't answer."

"He finally answered me. He said my father and mother are waiting for me. I'm going to find them!"

"After this, the diary stops for almost half a month. He does start writing again later, but not at the earlier rate of one entry a day, and the contents are even stranger!" Marumi said, then continued reading from the diary.

"This place is pretty nice, clean and tidy. It seems the original owner was a rich young man. The most urgent thing is to get used to the surroundings as quickly as possible. This diary should be able to help me."

"Whoa! Does it have to be this scary? It seems like there's a ghost here! And the original owner seems to have been crazy. I have a terrifying theory about the truth behind his mother leaving."

"I've been investigating for several days, and my theory must be wrong. The whole house is clean and tidy. Nothing like the filthy mess described in the diary has appeared."

"The neighbors around here don't look at me strangely either, and there haven't been any reports of murders on the news. I think the original owner went crazy after being abandoned."

"I've decided to go to that school—Tokyo's Advanced Nurturing High School. My new life starts there!"

Marumi closed the diary and looked at Xiao. "What is this supposed to be? The script for a horror story?"

"This really is Young Master Satsu's original diary. You can rest assured of that."

Marumi was silent for a moment, then said, "You know what's really going on, don't you?"

"I know some of it," Xiao replied.

"Then let me guess what's behind all this."

Marumi sat upright and slowly explained what she believed the truth to be.