"A Kamen Rider costume?"
Although Tosu Hideo was not a tokusatsu fan, he had still heard of the nationally renowned Kamen Rider franchise.
Coming to the Aokigahara Sea of Trees to commit suicide was nothing unusual, but bringing a tenth-anniversary collector's edition Kamen Rider costume along was simply incomprehensible.
"Amitabha."
Tosu Hideo pressed his palms together and observed a moment of silence for the stranger who had died.
Then he picked up the shovel on the ground.
This was the source of the metallic glint he had seen earlier. Perhaps he could use it to defend himself.
"There's something under the shovel, too. A suicide note and... a letter to his daughter."
Tosu Hideo discovered two letters wrapped in a transparent, waterproof plastic bag beneath the shovel.
One was labeled "Suicide note," while the other read, "To my dear daughter."
Tosu Hideo hesitated briefly, but opened the suicide note anyway.
There was nothing at the scene that could identify the remains, and since the deceased had left a suicide note, he had intended it to be read by whoever found him or by his surviving family.
"How pitiful. How terribly pitiful! Mr. Moribe, how could fate be so unfair to you?"
After reading the suicide note, Tosu Hideo's eyes soon reddened, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.
Mr. Moribe, who had chosen to end his life in Aokigahara, had been an unremarkable middle-aged office worker just like Tosu Hideo. He, too, had married and was the father of an adorable daughter.
Just as Tosu Hideo enjoyed reading and writing mystery novels, Mr. Moribe had remained an avid Kamen Rider fan in his spare time outside his busy job.
But unlike Tosu Hideo, who had a kind and virtuous wife, Mr. Moribe had married the wrong woman. His wife had