Prologue – “Welcome Papa”

Kei Nishima never pictured himself as a husband at twenty-five, let alone a stepfather. But Yui Kanade made everything feel natural. She was gentle, calm and carried a loneliness that matched his own. Her daughter, Touko, was quiet when he first met her. Too quiet. She looked at him with these wide, unreadable eyes, as if she was trying to memorize every detail of his face.

The wedding was small. The three of them took a picture at the shrine gate. Yui smiled. Kei smiled. Touko didn’t.

Still, Kei tried. He cooked breakfast, helped Touko with her homework, even learned how to braid her hair using tutorials at midnight. Little things. Ordinary things.

But Touko’s “thank you, Papa” always felt just a little off.

The house stayed peaceful until the night Kei noticed his toothbrush was wet, even though he hadn’t used it. Or how Touko started switching seats so she could sit as close as possible at dinner. Or how she once whispered, too softly for Yui to hear:

“Don’t worry, Papa. I won’t let anyone take you away.”

Her tone was calm. Too calm.

Kei tried to convince himself she was just attached. Kids can be like that. But the small moments added up. His phone going missing only to reappear in Touko’s room. Her drawings of “Papa and Touko forever” taped behind her closet door. The way she watched him sleep from the hallway at 3 a.m.

Yui brushed it all off with a tired smile.

“She’s just warming up to you.”

But Kei felt something tightening around him, something he didn’t understand until the day he found Touko’s diary hidden under his pillow. And on the first page, written in a shaky hand:

“If Mama ever hurts Papa, I’ll fix it.”

He froze.

Outside the room, the floorboards creaked. Light footsteps approached. Kei closed the diary, heart pounding, but Touko was already standing there, head tilted, eyes bright in a way that didn’t feel human.

“Papa,” she said, “did you read it?”

Her smile never reached her eyes.