[Year: 2014 | Ren: 7 y/o (Grade 2) | Haruto: 8 y/o (Grade 3)]
At dinner, Haruto talked about the upcoming class field trip to the science museum.
Ayaka listened attentively, asking questions, smiling at his excitement.
Ren stayed quiet.
He was rereading the invitation.
Gifted Program. Private testing. Optional parental involvement.
Too clean. Too early.
After dinner, while Haruto watched TV, Ren sat by the window. The moonlight reflected off the envelope's edge like a blade.
What kind of child gets selected like this?
What kind of test had he already passed without knowing?
He checked again.
The letter wasn't from his homeroom teacher.
It was signed by someone else.
Dr. Shunji Mikami
Educational Advisor – Shizuoka Prefecture Development Board
Ren memorized the name.
The next day, while pretending to read at the school library, he searched the public terminal.
Mikami had no articles. No research papers.
Not even a faculty listing.
Suspicious.
At recess, he asked Haruto, "Do you know anyone named Mikami at your school?"
Haruto thought for a second. "No. Why?"
"Just curious."
Later, Hinata caught up with him. "What were you looking at on the library computer?"
Ren blinked. "Nothing."
"Liar," she said, but softly. "You were looking up someone, weren't you?"
Ren didn't answer.
Hinata smiled again. "I think you're like a book I haven't finished yet."
He tilted his head. "That doesn't make sense."
"It will," she said. "Eventually."
That night, Ren wrote a new line in his notebook:
Dr. Shunji Mikami = unknown variable.
Monitor further.
Then he looked out the window again.
The man in black was back.
This time… he waved.