4 Chapter 4: I hope to tell you the truth someday

POV Hori san

I pick up Souta from his kindergarten. "What are we having for dinner sis?" Souta asks as we walk on the street, holding my hand "Hmm… what would you like?" I ask "Omelette rice" He says without hesitation. "Ehhh… but you had those yesterdays" I say. "Your omelette rice is delicious sis, I want them today too" he says stubbornly. "I wonder if Katsura would like it" I think out aloud. "Is nii san coming to play today?" Souta asks with wonder in his eyes. "I don't know about playing, he needs to catch up on his studies too" I say. 

I spot Yuki and the others on the other side of the crosswalk. I don't want to face them now. I don't want to let them see this side of me. Kids my age don't do household chores and take care of their brothers like this. I avoid eye contact, but they don't notice me anyway. I look different outside school uniform, in casuals. My hair is tied back and I am definitely wearing less makeup.

"Souta don't run" I say as he lets go of my hand and starts to run when our house is in sight. I see Katsura standing in front of it, the same familiar figure. He had changed from his school clothes and was in jeans and a white t-shirt. He has a plastic bag in his hand, from a cake shop. And his school bag on his back. He turns towards me "Hey I was early" he says apologetically.

He recognised me instantly. I wonder that's probably because he saw me outside school before, and Souta is with me. He is very hard to miss. Souta runs towards him and wraps him in a hug "Nii san you came to play" he says. Katsura smiles widely "Yes. How could I ever refuse your gracious invitation" he says jokingly.

I unlock the door and we all go in. It was too hot outside, we definitely feel more relieved. "Who wants some cake" Katsura announces. "me me.." Souta chimes in instantaneously. They walk towards the kitchen together "So, what flavour do you want?" I could hear him say as they go in. He feels so much at home, almost as if he knew us since forever. Souta also talks to him like he is his real big brother. I feel something rush up in my heart. Ever since Kyoske left, Souta had never been this light hearted. I look at Katsura as I enter the kitchen, He is smiling at Souta probably joking about something. He looks so elegant and well mannered. I almost forgot about the other stuff. Then my eyes fall on his crutch and the other things come back. His scarred body float in front of my eyes. I try to shake it off. I should be thankful to him. Everyone has their own problems. "Hori san.. Hori san can you hear me?" I finally hear him. I had gone in so deep that I couldn't even hear his question. "What ?" I ask "Souta already picked chocolate so you are supposed to pick between vanilla and strawberry" He says.

 "I will take the strawberry then" I say "So its vanilla for me" He says. We eat the cake it was delicious. "Where did you get it from?" I ask. "The Miyamuras. They have a shop opposite to my apartment, and they are my next door neighbours" He says.

"Oh, I know them, they have a son, he is in our class. Did you meet him yet?" "No I haven't, I have been meaning to introduce myself, but I cant figure out how…" He says. "Nii san lets play" Souta asks.

"Sure sure, just let me do this final thing" he says, "Hori san, can you take a look at my notebooks and check them if they cover the stuff I missed this term. I made them approximately based on the common syllabus, but I have no idea if something extra was done. The principal asked me to take the schoolwork from my peers. I really don't know anyone apart from you, so could you please help ?" He asks taking out his notebooks from the schoolbag. He had this cute look in his eyes, like Souta when he wants something. "Sure, I would be happy to help, just leave them with me" I say. "Thanks, I really appreciate it" He says, then he and Souta leave, probably to play video games in his room. I don't think a teenager and a kid can Hang out per se, but he seemed excited enough to entertain Souta. That was nice of him

After they leave, I take his notebooks and go to my room, I bring out my own notebooks and start to take a look. He had them arranged subject wise. His handwriting was a bit untidy, but his notes were well arranged. They seemed like notes taken from various books. Sometimes I found stuff that even I didn't have. Meticulous. That's how I would describe it.

I checked through all of them really fast. His notes didn't lack anything, if anything, they were more informative than the school ones. I feel really puzzled. On one hand, he was strong and an expert fighter if Souta was to be believed, then there were his injuries, then his nice and polite nature, and finally his eyes. They seemed to carry so much burden, I could see other emotions in them, but mostly when he looked away, what I would see was pain. It was as if he was a puzzle of various traits which generally didn't seem to fit in together, inside one human

"Hey Hori san are you in?" I hear outside my door, breaking my train of thought. "Yeah come on in" I say. Apart from Sengoku no one from school had never been in my room. "Wow. Your room is super clean" he says, amazed. "Its not that clean, I probably don't have that much stuff anyways" He comes inside "Sit on the bed" I say as I rotate my chair towards him. "So, um, …were my notes okay?" he asks with a little apprehension "I am sorry my handwriting can be a bit messy, I-" "It was definitely good" I cut him off "You have more notes on English than Yasuda even bothered to teach us"

He looks a bit relieved; he heaves out a sigh of relief. "oof…. That's one work done" he says. "By the way, Souta left to play with his friends in the park, he should be alright right?" "Yeah sure, he generally goes out alone, apart from that incident, we never had many problems" I say. Then both of us fall quiet, I can see him fidget, he looks around the room, was he uncomfortable? "Hey, do you want something to drink, we have--"

"Do you feel weirded by me" he asks cutting me short. That out of the blue, I didn't expect that in the middle of the conversation. What did I feel about him, he definitely had an air of mystery around him, but would I call that weird?

 No, thinking about it, I look at his eyes, they are not that of a weird person, I think he is the only person, who has shown his true self to me in my entire life , on the surface, I know nothing about him, but his eyes tell everything, his scarred body, his injured leg tells everything I need to know, his manner of speaking, his politeness, the sad smile he sometimes gives, how uncomfortable he feels in public, they all seemed to paint a picture, he was lonely, he was in lots of pain, both physically and emotionally, then I remember him patting my head, one look at my life and he had figured out my problems, he didn't try to butt in, but rather offered his help. No one figured me out like that before, he was thoughtful and insightful at the same time, but he seemed to hold people away, trying to distance himself far away, as if TWO PARTS OF HIM FIGHTING. ONE WISHING TO COME CLOSE, THE OTHER TRYING TO SHY AWAY I don't know the reason why a teenager would be feeling these feelings, but I knew he was going through a lot. "No, I don't, you are definitely not weird, why would you even think that!" I exclaim angrily. He seemed taken aback by my answer, his eyes widen, then they slowly relax, his lips curl up in a cute smile,

"Thanks Hori san, I think I needed that. Its just, I remembered something someone said to me a few months back, looking at you and Souta I couldn't help but feel that I could have come of as very weird, and you after seeing what you saw, you must have had tons of questions, but you never asked once. I have never seen another human do that. Anybody would have called the police that day, but you gave me a chance to explain. And you must have had questions about the scars and bandages on my body, but you held them off, for that I am truly grateful" He says. "Don't believe anyone, who says you are weird…." I pause for a moment. "Souta doesn't trust all adults you know. When I saw him with you, clinging to you, I knew you were trustworthy, it may be naïve of me, but I trust him…. I… I… cant disagree, that I have lots of questions about the nature of those injuries, but I know, you must have a reason to keep them private, so I will not pry. I would let you decide if you would want to tell me someday" I say.

Katsura stays silent for a while, he stares at the floor, thinking. "I want to tell you I do, but I cant, not right now, they are too painful…. The memories... I don't want to go through it again…. Its not fair of me to ask this of you, I know how difficult, it must be to trust me, but could you give me a week, I swear, I would tell you the truth, everything. I would be relieved if you knew everything, though if you still wanted to be my friend after that, that would be entirely up to you."

"You don't need to explain anything you know" I say "No, but I choose to. I think you deserve to know the truth after what you saw" He says with certainty in his voice.

"Wow, it sure got intense huh. Sorry to spring this in you all of a sudden." He says, smiling, he heaves out a sigh. Suddenly a thought strikes my mind.

POV Katsura

I see Hori sans face light up as if suddenly she remembered something. She smiled and said "Zura". Zura, a shortening of my name, which didn't mean anything in particular, I did not understand, what she meant. "Hori san, Its not Zura its Katsura" I try to correct her. "I know, but I like Zura better. I think from now I am going to call you that" she giggles. I liked her laugh. This was the first time I saw her laugh like that. Sweet and innocent. "Well, if you are all set on that idea, I humbly accept the name" I smile.

Zura, a name that stuck to me, changed my soul and the one that shone over the darkness of Katsura Takada and the ghost of Harry Freeman. I am forever grateful to it.