Reminiscent // KUNIKIDA DOPPO ||

Prologue

I am a man who has been impacted by four people in my life. Who I am, who I ought to be, it has all been sculpted together by those people. It started with my father, my brother, an old classmate, then someone who I now consider to be my coworker.

My earliest memory was not a happy one, but that's most likely the reason why I remember it. I recall it impacting how I had innocently seen the world as a young, naïve child. I had been with my father, sitting at the bridge that hovered over a small lake in my hometown, Chōshi. He had been teaching me how to fish for the very first time, which is something he had been urging me to do with him. I had never wanted to though, considering all the times he was willing to teach me, were times that my primary school friends would go out and explore the woods.
This time, however, my father had practically forced me to go with him. I finally caved in, and my friends had left without me. It wasn't something that I was planning, but I didn't particularly mind considering how much I looked up to my father; at the time at least. I remember tightening my grip on the handle of the fishing pole and staring to the edge of the forest that was near the lake. The very forest my friends were playing in.

We arrived at the bridge in the early afternoon and remained very late into the evening. I remember at some point I began to be so agitated from not catching a fish that I wanted to leave and go to the forest with my friends. My father, however, told me to stay, so I did.

Once the sun laid itself to rest for the night, and the sky became dark, we remained. There was a full moon that night, so lighting a lantern for us to see was unnecessary. I had been waiting for something to grab onto my hook but to no success. My father, on the other hand, had caught a lot of fish. I truly did not know how the man did it, so I was impressed.

The clouds had floated under the moon, blocking the light it had given us. My father went to his lantern, lighting in. The river ahead of us was now an abyss.

"Papa."

"Yes, Doppo.

"There's an odd stench.." I plugged my nose with my available hand, disgusted by the smell.

"There may be some dead fish in the water, or perhaps a dead animal is nearby. It's just the circle of life, Doppo." My father said, putting his pole down and taking out his liquor bottle.

My face finally lit up when I felt something tug on the hook. "Papa!" I had called him, beginning to feel my heart beating fast.

"I see, now turn that knob, and let's see what you got." I nearly made myself lightheaded from nodding up and down continuously. Once I focused once more, I began to turn the knob, carefully. The clouds above began to shift away from underneath the moon, slowly giving us more light.

My eyes widened, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. The moonlight let us see the lake ahead, and I could feel my insides going inside out.

"Just some floating dead fish Doppo, show me what you got on your hook there."
    
I nodded, turning the knob more until what I caught was right in front of me.

That

Most

Definitely

Was

Not

A

Fish

***
   
That night, my friends went too deep into the forest. They had gotten lost, and while trying to find their way back, a group that called themselves a cult found them. The way they would kill their victims was always the same. The victims would typically be young children, around the ages of 4 to 7 years old. They would take the child, cut off their arms and legs, then throw them into the lake where they would then drown. Nobody knew why they did what they did, and it remained a mystery.