"Hey, Renji. Let's watch this movie."
"…We saw that already…"
"Tsk-tsk. That was part one. This is the second part!"
"Hmm… I've read the manga. Anyway… The manga's more interesting..."
"Ooh!! Renji, you do get it! As expected of my son! But—you're wrong!"
"Eeh…?"
"Sure, the manga's better in terms of art and tension, but!! There's a bit of story that's exclusive to this movie! It's crucial to the saga!"
"That so…?"
"Yep, that's why. Let's just watch this one okay! Pleeassseeee!"
"If you say so, dad..."
-1 and half hour later-
"Wait... Dad... what's the difference...? Isn't the story exact same as the manga...?"
"What are you saying?? Didn't you see it!?"
"...Which one...?"
"That part! the part before they go to war!!"
"...That part...? Where they talked behind the king...?"
"No!"
"Then... what's part is new to this movie…?"
"That part! the day right before they trash talked the king!"
"Hmm...?" Renji seems to struggle to see what his father meant. So, His dad, half-frustrated and half-excited, rewind the movie to the exact moment he talked about.
"This!! this is the important part!"
"...They just... eating together...?" Renji tilted his head in confusion as he can't read much into the scene.
"You see, that's the neat part! in the manga, they just cut straight to the war and the king being defeated in the next war. But here! It shows the king still enjoying a meal with his family!"
"...He likes the foods?"
"Hehe, of course the food's probably good, it's a castle."
"Hmmm...." Renji still didn't quite understand about what part of it worth the hype.
Then his father walked over to the shelf and pulled out the manga, he opened to the page around where the live action scene is still paused on the screen.
"Wow damn... no matter how many times I see it, manga sure has very different feel to it… the art... the panels... the soul!! Right, Renji!!!"
"Yeah… the picture is cool…"
"Wait, that's not the point, Here, look Renji..." His father pointed to the one of the panels. "You just saw the king's final moments before his death at the end of the war. And the way it's drawn, it makes you think: 'The king died because of his arrogance.'"
"..." Renji listened intently while furrowed his brows, while his father continues.
"But in the movie... you can see that the king is actually reluctant before this turning point. He enjoyed the time with his family... together... with nice dinner at the table..."
"I see...?" Renji scratched his hair, processing slowly at something he didn't quite understands.
"As if... we get to see a new perspective... and perhaps the king's real feeling..."
"By the way…dad... you just spoiled the story..."
"Ah."
"…I should've just read the manga till the last volume by myself…"
"You hurt me son! Reading together is much more fun!!"
"It's fun if you're not spoiling two pages ahead of where I'm reading…"
"That's called live discussion!!"
Then a teasing female voice echoed the room from afar. "Hey, honey, you should listen to Renji. Otherwise your obnoxious habit's gonna get him hate you…"
"No! you guys just teaming up now!"
"Heh..." Renji's mother smiled with warmth, at the sight of this simple moment in a small living room.
Renji's father and mother argued playfully, at worst, it's just looked like a sweet lover's quarrel. Meanwhile, Renji reached out for the next manga volume on the bookshelf. He opened it, and, sure enough, the story had just reached the part his father had spoiled.
He still didn't get what his dad meant about the king's last meal. But at least the sword fight and epic battle on the next page was really cool, he thought. Renji smiled as he turned the pages of the worn out, beloved manga in his hands.
--------
That was one of the memories Renji replayed in his mind last year—when he was five years old.
Now, he's sitting, staring at the reflection of his own face on the black-yellowed screen of an old LCD TV—turned off, not playing anything whatsoever.
The only sound he could hear was his mother's quiet sobbing beside him. And he'd been asking the same question again and again for a while now.
"Mom… where did he go…?"
"…"
A long silence, accompanied only by her cracked weeping. Until finally, Renji heard an answer—for the first time today.
"Renji… forget that useless man…"
"Why?"
"He ran away!! Abandoned us!"
"…Will he… be okay?" Renji asked in a weak voice, his eyes stared void between his feet.
"That man always—ALWAYS! I swear, he was never there when I needed him most!"
"…Will he come back?" Renji asked again, softer.
"I forgave him! AGAIN AND AGAIN!!"
"…Did I do something wrong…?"
His eyes felt hot and wet, though he wasn't quite crying.
"I HATE THAT MAN!!"
"…"
His mother seemed stuck in her own pool of emotions. None of Renji's questions were truly answered. She just kept cursing the man—his father who was already nowhere to be found in this house.
--------
"Renji… I'm going to the supermarket to buy some stuff. Can you stay in the house?"
"...Yes, Mom..."
"Please… don't make me worry, okay? Just stay in your room while I'm away. Can I believe you?"
"Okay..."
Renji hadn't question it at first. Listening to what his mom told him made her smile anyway, and he thought that was a good thing.
...Nothing to do...
He could feel how quiet his empty house was. He walked around inside—through the kitchen, and finally to the living room where the bookshelf stood in the corner. His hand goes for a book he'd already read, to re-read it.
And on a whim, he picked up one he'd never touched before, and bring it to his room. As he read absentmindedly, the question kept resurfacing.
Where did dad go...?
Renji couldn't fathom it. The day his father disappeared without notice, without any change. He still remembered his dad being the same bubbly, happy man who loved reading manga with him, who always watched movies together with innocent hype. But then he gone.