Chapter 1:
The fine
The Invisible Man and the Girl Who Saw Him”
Five year old Kenji pressed his small hands against the cold glass of his bedroom window. Down below, children were chasing each other across the park lawn, their laughter rising like bubbles in the quiet afternoon.
“They’re so lucky,” he whispered, voice thin in the empty room. “My parents lock me in this big room all alone… while they save the world.”
His mother and father both in the police were rarely home. The house was large, clean, and silent. Kenji’s only window to the world was that pane of glass. That day, he cried without making a sound. Tears were the only thing that didn’t feel locked up.
Seventeen years later, Kenji had perfected the art of being unseen.
He was 22 now, but it felt like life had faded to gray. He rode the bus sitting in the “Elderly Only” seat, headphones on, gaze hollow. No one scolded him. No one even seemed to notice.
People looked through him like he was glass.
He’d long ago given up on having a purpose. He just… existed. Floating.
One bright afternoon, lost in an intense mobile game with his online friends, Kenji wandered without looking up. In one hand, a bag of salt and vinegar chips. In the other, a cold bottle of melon soda.
He stepped through the large wooden gate of Tsukuyomi Shrine without reading the sign:
RULES:❌ No Food❌ No Phones❌ No Loud Noise
He crunched a chip. Drank from the bottle. Cheered quietly at a victory in his game.
Elderly visitors and a few students praying or meditating shot him annoyed glances but no one said anything. He was just… background noise.
Then a shadow fell over his screen.
“You’re breaking at least three rules, you know.”
He looked up.
A girl about his age stood there, arms crossed. She wore a simple shrine maiden uniform hakama and hanten but she had a modern energy, an unshrinelike sharpness in her eyes.
Kenji blinked, pulling one earbud out. “Huh?”
She pointed toward the gate. “The sign. No food, no phones, no noise. You’re doing all three, stupid.”
He just stared. No one talked to him like that. No one talked to him at all.
She held out her hand. “That’ll be a 2,000 yen fine.”
He fumbled for his wallet, still half in his game. “I… didn’t see the sign.”
“Clearly.” Her lips twitched. Not quite a smile, but not a frown either. “You were too busy winning, I guess.”
As he handed over the money, his fingers brushed hers. For the first time in years someone touched him. Someone saw him.
Their eyes met.
She didn’t look at him with pity or anger. She looked at him… normally. Like he was a real person who’d done something dumb, but still a person.
Then, she smiled. A real one. “Next time, read the sign before you bring chips into a sacred place, okay?”
Kenji couldn’t speak. He just nodded, his chest doing something strange beating.
As she walked away, he stood there, the game forgotten, the soda warm in his hand.
For the first time since he was that little boy in the big room… someone had noticed him.
End of Chapter 1: So now ill Kenji find his purpose again?
“They’re so lucky,” he whispered, voice thin in the empty room. “My parents lock me in this big room all alone… while they save the world.”
His mother and father both in the police were rarely home. The house was large, clean, and silent. Kenji’s only window to the world was that pane of glass. That day, he cried without making a sound. Tears were the only thing that didn’t feel locked up.
Seventeen years later, Kenji had perfected the art of being unseen.
He was 22 now, but it felt like life had faded to gray. He rode the bus sitting in the “Elderly Only” seat, headphones on, gaze hollow. No one scolded him. No one even seemed to notice.
People looked through him like he was glass.
He’d long ago given up on having a purpose. He just… existed. Floating.
One bright afternoon, lost in an intense mobile game with his online friends, Kenji wandered without looking up. In one hand, a bag of salt and vinegar chips. In the other, a cold bottle of melon soda.
He stepped through the large wooden gate of Tsukuyomi Shrine without reading the sign:
RULES:❌ No Food❌ No Phones❌ No Loud Noise
He crunched a chip. Drank from the bottle. Cheered quietly at a victory in his game.
Elderly visitors and a few students praying or meditating shot him annoyed glances but no one said anything. He was just… background noise.
Then a shadow fell over his screen.
“You’re breaking at least three rules, you know.”
He looked up.
A girl about his age stood there, arms crossed. She wore a simple shrine maiden uniform hakama and hanten but she had a modern energy, an unshrinelike sharpness in her eyes.
Kenji blinked, pulling one earbud out. “Huh?”
She pointed toward the gate. “The sign. No food, no phones, no noise. You’re doing all three, stupid.”
He just stared. No one talked to him like that. No one talked to him at all.
She held out her hand. “That’ll be a 2,000 yen fine.”
He fumbled for his wallet, still half in his game. “I… didn’t see the sign.”
“Clearly.” Her lips twitched. Not quite a smile, but not a frown either. “You were too busy winning, I guess.”
As he handed over the money, his fingers brushed hers. For the first time in years someone touched him. Someone saw him.
Their eyes met.
She didn’t look at him with pity or anger. She looked at him… normally. Like he was a real person who’d done something dumb, but still a person.
Then, she smiled. A real one. “Next time, read the sign before you bring chips into a sacred place, okay?”
Kenji couldn’t speak. He just nodded, his chest doing something strange beating.
As she walked away, he stood there, the game forgotten, the soda warm in his hand.
For the first time since he was that little boy in the big room… someone had noticed him.
End of Chapter 1: So now ill Kenji find his purpose again?
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