Cursed Love: Illness 1: Asylum (2)
Chapters (5):
Cursed
Illness 1: Asylum
Illness 2: Sacrifice
Illness 3: Monster
Redemption
Illness 1: Asylum
Kazunari did not meet any of the Four on his way down, even Masaki who had left and not returned. Although he wanted to head straight to his dorm room to sleep off the sudden fatigue that weighed on him, he thought better and made a trip to the infirmary.
Inside the office, the nurse baffled him. She asked for the name and hospital of his doctor.
“What for?” Kazunari asked.
She answered as if telling him an obvious condition, “I can’t do anything without the permission of your private doctor.”
Kazunari did not have one, and remembering that the Headmaster had for some reason wanted to keep his background a secret, he waved aside the nurse’s request and asked for the first-aid that couldn’t be denied him. After his head had been wrapped in a bandage, he dismissed the notion of going all the way back to his dorm room and instead took one of the beds lined against the wall. Before he climbed into bed, the nurse stopped him.
“May I see your student I.D., Star?”
Irritated, Kazunari questioned again, “What for?”
“All students are required to fill out a form. The school wants to keep record of who and how many students have come in. I thought I’d save you the trouble and fill the form for you while you rest.”
Kazunari felt inside his pocket for his wallet. His hand discovered nothing except the smooth satin lining of his pocket. Cold realization washed over him that he could have dropped his wallet in Sho’s room during the molestation. He revolted against returning to that room, but his wallet had important information that he couldn’t leave in the hands of Sho Sakurai. He had to retrieve his wallet and before Sho found it first, if he hadn’t already done so.
To the nurse, he said, “I forgot something. I’ll return to fill out the form.”
Because she had been given no right to physically stop a Star, he staggered out of the infirmary.
* *
He had the worst luck in the world. Not only was he the victim of an arrogant bastard, he had to be a clumsy fool. As he clenched his teeth and raced through the school to the East Wing, he hoped he reached the room before any of the Suns returned.
Again he pushed open the double doors and tried his waning luck. He looked into the circular chamber. Fortune was not on his side. Masaki lounged on a couch with a manga and looked up at his intrusion. Upon catching sight of Kazunari, Masaki offered a dazzling smile that both disarmed and baffled Kazunari.
Masaki gestured to his own head. “I hope it’s nothing serious.”
Taking his friendly tone as an invitation, Kazunari stepped in. At least, he should be relieved that only Masaki had returned. He politely bowed to the Sun as a quick form of acknowledgement and then without explanation went straight for the second door underneath the arch of the stairs. The door unlocked, he turned the handle easily and peered through the crack to see if Sho might be on the other side.
“What are you doing?” Masaki asked.
“I won’t bother you. I just have to get something that I dropped,” Kazunari answered. At finding the room beyond empty and left in the same state as he had found it, he entered. He jumped onto the king-sized mattress and turned over everything that he could.
Masaki followed and watched him from the doorway. “I can help you. What did you lose?”
Kazunari hesitated to reveal the identity of his important missing article. Ignoring Masaki’s question, he unceremoniously threw the rumpled bed-sheets he had pulled up back down. Instead of his wallet, a small silver key fell from the cloth. He palmed the key, but frustrated by his missing wallet, he did not care to examine his find. Behind him, he sensed Masaki come up beside the bed. He gave in and turned to confess his loss. Just then, the Sun slammed into him and trapped Kazunari’s body down under his own, also effectively knocking the breath out of his lungs. Kazunari struggled as Masaki easily threw the bed-covers over them. Feelings of betrayal surged through him. The kindness had only been a facade. Kazunari opened his mouth to bite the arm trapping him down, but he froze when he heard the still hoarse voice of a person that chilled him to the bones.
“I’m sorry to have disturbed you. Were you taking a nap?” Sho asked.
“I was tired from the extra lessons this morning.” Masaki’s sounded too nervous and his hold on Kazunari tightened in warning. Kazunari did not need the reminder. He understood Masaki’s intentions. He’d hold his breath if he had to. He could only hope the Sun would do his part and not give them away with his terrible acting.
“I thought Auntie was going to wait until you graduated,” Sho said.
“She decided it couldn’t hurt me to be taking some extra lessons now. She didn’t want my uncle to become too complacent as the proxy chairman.”
“If you ever need help with your lessons, or with anything at all, you know I’m always free to help you.”
“Thank you.” Kazunari squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for deliverance from Sho. He heard Masaki pause and felt him draw in a breath. “Did you need anything?”
“Well,” Sho started and Kazunari heard a metallic jangle, “I have to get these cuffs off so Jun can treat my wounds, but I lost the key in here somewhere. It must have fell out of my pocket. Have you seen it?”
Fuck, Kazunari inwardly cursed, appalled to realize he had dropped the key when Masaki had pushed him down. He had found the key Sho needed and lost it and now Sho would search for it.
“Er... Um....” Masaki sounded with uncertainty and Kazunari knew they were doomed.
“Sorry, but it’ll only take a moment,” Sho said and his voice neared.
Kazunari reviewed his only two options: stay where he was like a dumbass and wait for Sho to find him or take Sho by surprise and run. He chose the latter option.
“Get up for a bit,” Sho said.
Masaki stuttered, “B-but--”
Kazunari clamped his teeth down on the arm holding him down. Masaki shrieked and jerked his arms into the air. Kazunari was up and out of the bed in that instant. While Sho flinched back in confusion and surprise, Kazunari rushed out the door. He barely avoided colliding with Jun who had been waiting in the larger room and had come to see why Masaki had screamed.
“Don’t hurt him!” Kazunari heard Masaki shout behind him and he did not know whether Masaki addressed Sho or Jun or even him. He did not hesitate and was out the door in ten seconds. No footsteps followed him as he flew down the corridor of the East Wing as if the death hounds were on his trail.
* *
He dived into bed and slept through the rest of the afternoon.
In the middle of the night, intense nausea woke him and he vomited all over his bed-sheets and pillow. Exhausted and his head spinning, he left the mess where it was and rolled onto the floor, curled up, and went back to sleep. He skipped school the next day, the day after, and the day after that and slept most of the time. To his relief and somehow dismay, no one came around to ask after him. He figured the cowardly faculty tried to stay out of their students’ private lives as much as possible and he didn’t have to wonder about his classmates all of whom he felt no attachment for and vice versa.
His one and only visitor during the worst of his headaches was Mr. Kagawa who came to check on him after the first night and found his dirty sheets. Mr. Kagawa called the maid in to change the sheets and graciously cleaned the vomit. All the while he worked, he listened calmly and attentively to Kazunari’s enthusiastic mumbled cursing of the Four Suns until Kazunari tired from the effort it cost him. The janitor made only one comment and warning at the end.
“The Ohno, Aiba, and Sakurai corporations are just as corrupt as their heirs. You shouldn’t waste time trying to understand anything they do.”
Kazunari agreed in a sickly murmur before falling asleep.
After his only confidant Mr. Kagawa left, the rest of his week went undisturbed. He expected to delve back into his studies the same way he disappeared, unnoticed, but he was surprised when at the end of his well-rested week, he answered the knock at his door and faced a large well-built man. The man’s physical strength exuded even through his black suit. He nodded to Kazunari and gave him a card. Kazunari read the invitation to meet Satoshi Ohno in the small courtyard near the East Wing for lunch on the dot.
“It’s in five minutes,” Kazunari noted.
“I shall be your escort,” the bodyguard said with a bow.
“It’s in five minutes,” Kazunari repeated, dropping the card.
“We’ll have to be on our way.”
Kazunari slammed the door shut and turned back to his room. He pulled off his t-shirt and reached for a clean one just as the man’s fist shattered through his door and scattered splinters of wood everywhere. The man reached around and unlocked the knob before letting himself in. A gaping hole remained where he had punched through.
“My young master doesn’t like to be kept waiting,” the bodyguard warned, but despite the underlying threat in his statement his expression remained passive.
Kazunari took a deep calming breath. He noticed that despite a few harmless scratches on the bodyguard’s knuckles, the man was uninjured. “Your young master will be paying for that,” he declared, holding both his fear and anger under amazing control.
The man seemed unperturbed. “Are we ready to set off?”
Kazunari was not in the mood to be following the whims of a spoiled prince, but he was not stupid enough to reject Satoshi’s invitation. He turned his back on the bodyguard, tugged on a t-shirt, shrugged into a weather-beaten winter coat, and pulled on a ragged baseball cap before he impatiently waved the man towards the door.
* *
A table for two and large parasol had been erected in the center of the courtyard. Four bodyguards stood guard at each end while Kazunari counted a few more watching from the perimeters of the grounds. It was the first time he’d witnessed such precaution for a student even though he’d been told of Satoshi’s eccentricities. Satoshi sat in the midst of all of this, the focus of their attention, and didn’t seem to mind. The Sun leaned over something on the table and concentrated on his activity. As they neared, Kazunari saw that he was drawing in a sketchpad. He did not look up when Kazunari reached the setup until after a few minutes of silence had passed. Satoshi glanced up, finally noticed him, and gracelessly waved him to the seat opposite. As he seated himself, Kazunari glared at the bodyguard who had rushed him and who had wordlessly melted into the background.
Satoshi pored over his sketchpad again, but he asked, “We’re having fish today. Do you like fish?”
Kazunari shrugged. He wished he had something to distract himself. He stared at the top of Satoshi’s head and made a few insignificant, meaningless observations. In his boredom, he touched his forearm and unconsciously rubbed at his scar through his coat. Immediate relief from boredom came in the form of a party of chefs and servers making their way across the courtyard to them. A number of other men set up a cooking apparatus and counter a few meters from their camp where the chef and his assistants went to work. A waiter came up to the table with a wine bottle and three glasses. He served them wordlessly, bowed, and retreated like the rest of the staff. One of the guards stepped up to take the third glass. He savored the wine then nodded and stepped back, handing the third glass for a server to take away. Only once this was done did Satoshi pick up his own glass.
He checked for poison, Kazunari guessed and he thought once more that Satoshi’s paranoia was beyond normal. To attack someone in the middle of such a sunny afternoon on school property seemed impractical. It was Sasaki’s duty to secure their safety anyway and he was an efficient man, even if intolerable.
Satoshi looked up again and scrutinized Kazunari as if seeing him for the first time. His sleepy brown eyes lingered on Kazunari’s heavy attire. “Are you cold?”
“I don’t like the Sun,” Kazunari murmured.
“Then how do you go out?”
Again, Kazunari just shrugged.
“Why do you hate the sun?”
“I don’t hate it. I just don’t like to be burned.”
“So you get sunburned easily?”
Kazunari downed his drink in three large gulps and leaned back in his chair. The liquid burned uneasily in his stomach. He wasn’t used to drinking, but he hid his discomfort and stared Satoshi down. “What do you want? Why did you call me here?” He indicated the East Tower and its large window, which he now knew belonged to the circular chamber that overlooked the very courtyard they were in. “Is someone up there? Am I some novelty to be pointed and stared at by you Four?”
Satoshi did not express offense by his anger. Kazunari watched as one of the other bodyguards stepped up to the table and placed something in between them. As if they were Ohno’s own hands and feet, Kazunari thought. He leaned forward to see what the man had placed in front of them. He had to blink a few times before he was convinced he was staring at his own wallet. He snatched at it and examined the contents. It was as he had last seen it; his meager money and information were still inside.
“Why do you have this?” he asked, his tone accusatory.
Satoshi pursed his lips sulkily. “I found it in Masaki’s pet room. I didn’t steal it.”
Relief washed over Kazunari. He reminded himself that Satoshi wasn’t Sho or Jun. Kazunari carefully stowed his wallet away. “You could have returned it to me earlier. I might have had need of my wallet.”
“I haven’t been to school in the last few days,” Satoshi explained.
“Your bodyguard found my dorm room,” Kazunari pointed out. “You could have sent it with one of them.”
“They aren’t an extension of me,” Satoshi murmured, averting his eyes. “They just go wherever I go.”
Satoshi refused to look up again and Kazunari knew he wished to change the subject, so he did. He asked again, “Why did you invite me here? If it was just to return my wallet, you didn’t have to go this far. I know you don’t like me.”
Satoshi immediately raised his eyes again. “No, that’s just Sho who doesn’t like you and he’s battling with his sickness right now so he won’t bother us. You didn’t tell anyone about Jun and me so I’m not going to hurt you, and Masaki said we should be nice to you.”
“So you thought you’d try,” Kazunari finished, not quite pleased to know the Suns weren’t about to do as he wish by leaving him alone. He preferred negligence over them showing him any kindness.
Missing the implication of Kazunari’s flat tone, Satoshi flipped over his sketchpad to present his sketch. An animated Jun, wearing a grin Kazunari couldn’t imagine, was sketched onto the white paper. Satoshi ran gentle fingers through the image. “What do you think?”
“Uh…” Kazunari hesitated. “Nice.” He watched as Satoshi happily turned the pad back around and flipped over a new leaf.
Satoshi said without looking up from his work, “Ohno is the biggest group in Japan, you know, and the Matsumoto group didn’t want to be swallowed by a much larger corporation. That’s why Gramps had to adopt Jun into the Matsumoto family. Jun is… Jun is no longer an Ohno.”
Kazunari dwelled on the revelation. “But he’s still your brother.”
Satoshi agreed. “Jun is my brother. He’ll always be my brother.” All of a sudden, he gifted Kazunari with a charming smile. “You understand.”
“It’s not that hard,” Kazunari replied, sitting back in his chair uncomfortably aware that he didn’t quite understand Satoshi’s motive. He wondered if he were speaking to a child.
“Let’s be friends,” Satoshi blurted.
“Declaring we’re friends don’t make us friends,” Kazunari replied.
Satoshi pouted again. “Then how can I be your friend?”
Kazunari wrinkled his brows. “You have to be a friend. Act as a friend. It takes longer than just a few minutes of talking to each other.”
Satoshi smiled again. “Then I’ll show you that I can be your friend. I’ll be your first friend. Tell Masaki that I’m first.”
“Why do I have to tell Aiba anything?”
“Because he told Sho that he’d protect you and he warned Sho to leave you alone. He’s your champion.”
Kazunari’s heart thumped, annoying him. He blinked at Satoshi. “Why would he do that? I don’t need protection.” He pushed back his chair and stood. “Why can’t you all just leave me alone? If none of you will tell me what my mother did, or what your fathers did, then I don’t care. I’m already so tired of you all and I’ve barely been here a month.”
“I’m sorry,” Satoshi said, again averting his eyes.
“What for?” Kazunari stressed, his anger getting the better of him again.
Satoshi dropped his pencil and fidgeted with his hands. “For what Sho did. For what your mother did. For what our fathers did to her. I just wanted to be your friend.” He ended with a mumble.
Slowly, Kazunari’s anger ebbed away. He felt empty and exhausted. He fell back down into his chair and sighed. “If you’re afraid to tell me, then show me where I can find the truth.”
“Will you be my friend if I do?”
Kazunari nodded.
Satoshi’s hands stopped fidgeting. “Tell Masaki that I’m first.”
Kazunari evaded the statement and asked, “Where can I find out more about my mother?”
Satoshi blinked away before meeting Kazunari’s gaze again. “The health records. You can look there, too.”
“The what?”
“The health records for the infirmary,” Satoshi said. “You can look there.”
* *
Kazunari had no reason to doubt Satoshi whom he considered the least calculating of the Suns and so he took steps accordingly.
He first had to find out where the older health records were kept. In the infirmary, while dutifully filling out the long overdue form for his first appearance there, Kazunari engaged the nurse in small conversation. She was happy to follow his chatter and he strategically steered the conversation towards the location of the old files. Pleased to at last have the attention of a Star, she gave the information away unknowingly. When he went as far as to ask for the key to the basement, she did not even bat an eyelash as she gave away the identity of the owner of the master-keys. The nurse instantly pointed out Assistant Sasaki.
Kazunari knew Assistant Sasaki could never be found in his office. The man was an infamous busybody who roamed the school looking for troublemakers he could rat out to the Headmaster, the Suns being no exception. In contrast, he often made it a point to run into Kazunari and pretend interest and concern all the while mildly insulting the wealthier students, which made him all the more contemptible. All Kazunari had to do was wait for him to establish that coincidence again and somehow take the keys. Kazunari wasn’t quite prepared to take him on, but the opportunity to steal the master-keys from Sasaki suddenly presented itself and he did not hesitate to take advantage of it.
In the busy commons during lunch hour just after Sasaki caught up to Kazunari and fawned over him again, Jun happened to pass through on his way elsewhere. A crowd immediately gathered around him. Both Kazunari and Sasaki were caught up in the storm. After a moment of struggling to break away, Kazunari realized this was his chance to swipe in undetected. He squeezed his way to an overwhelmed Sasaki’s side, felt for the set of keys the Assistant proudly displayed on his belt, and unhinged the set. He met with Satoshi, asked for copies of the keys, then threw the original set into a corner of the commons for the janitors to find.
Satoshi returned to school a week later with the finished copies, but he refused to hand them over. “If I knew you were really going to look for the files, I would have asked Sho to get them for me. He knows where to find them and who to bribe to do the job for him.”
“I don’t need Sakurai for anything,” Kazunari snapped.
Satoshi did not take offense at his tone. “It’s dangerous, Nino. The basement is like a maze. I’ll get the files for you. Just please, don’t go down there,” he implored.
“I found a map of the building,” Kazunari told him. “It was in one of the old school books Sakurai had not removed. I’ll do fine.”
“Then I’ll go with you,” Satoshi said.
“Not with your hoard of bodyguards.”
“They have to come with me.”
“Then you don’t have to come,” Kazunari finished and he took the keys from Satoshi without much effort. At the glum look on Satoshi’s face, he sighed and added, “Thank you. You’re a good friend, Ohno.”
Satoshi finally smiled and nodded.
* *
He left some time in the late evening before midnight. He had learned from overhearing the adventures of his classmates that the security guards did not stop students wandering the school at night as long as they flashed a student I.D. On his way across the courtyard, he even saw a few girls in skimpy dresses disappear into shady limos escorted by a few security men. The efforts that his peers took to conceal their immodesty during the day did not feature at night. He and they ignored each other as he made his way to the commons.
The map Kazunari carried showed several routes to the basement, but all were blocked with only one exception; the route located in the janitor’s closet. He left a wedge in the door so he could easily return. Beyond the door was a set of stone cold stairs. Tucking the keys safely into his pocket, he uneasily made his way down to the lowest floor. As he walked through the dark underground corridor and the shadows closed in, sudden fear washed over him. He wished he had thought to bring a pocket-knife. He only carried a flashlight and a map aside from the keys. If only he hadn’t been so adamant and had allowed Satoshi to accompany him. To his relief, the light from his flashlight showed that he was about to reach another door, although what lay beyond made him afraid. He approached it tentatively, then a body flung itself in front of him.
Kazunari shrieked, threw the only thing solid he held, his flashlight, at the creature and ran back the other way. He scrambled in darkness to go back, all the while screaming until his lungs burned. Strong arms wrapped around him and trapped his own to his side. He couldn’t see, couldn’t move, and even now the creature was breathing hot breath down his neck. Words cracked through the fiery red fear in his mind.
“Ninomiya! It’s me: Aiba Masaki! It’s just me!”
What if it was only lying? What if the demon wanted to trick him and when he turned around he would be lost forever?
His decision was taken away from him when the strong arms turned him around and placed his hands on its face. Kazunari touched warm human flesh. Dimly, he made out Masaki opposite him looking both scared and concerned. Relief flooded Kazunari and with it came a few tears. Embarrassed, he struggled to free himself from Masaki’s hold. To his dismay, Masaki’s grip tightened.
“Why are you here? You scared the living hell out of me!” Kazunari hissed and once again tried to free himself unsuccessfully. Masaki had a death-like grip on his wrists and refused to let go.
“Satoshi said if you didn’t want him along because of his bodyguards, then you couldn’t object to me,” Masaki said. “He gave me a set of keys and I’ve been waiting here all night. I was so scared. I’m glad you came.” His relief was genuine.
His confession made Kazunari less embarrassed about his earlier hysteria. He cleared his throat, straightened his back, and demanded, “Let go of me. My arms are getting numb.”
As if burned, Masaki jumped away, only to hurry back to Kazunari. “My flashlight died. Where’s yours?”
Kazunari walked over to the stream of white light spilling across a concrete wall and picked up the flashlight he had thrown. He searched the ground for his map. Someone touched his arm and he flinched, but it was only Masaki. Masaki’s hand slid down his forearm, sending shivers down Kazunari’s spine, and took Kazunari’s hand. He entwined their fingers in a lover’s hold.
“S-so we don’t lose each other,” Masaki stuttered.
Holding back a smart retort, Kazunari allowed him leeway, picked up his discarded map, and continued on to the door at the end of the hall. He motioned with the flashlight for Masaki to open. Cautiously, they followed the map and made their way down to the storage cellar of the basement.
“If you were so scared, why did you wait alone in the dark?” Kazunari ventured to ask.
“I didn’t want to wait in the dark,” Masaki’s voice came from his side. “My flashlight went out and then my cell phone battery went out. I… I didn’t want to feel my way back in the dark. I knew you were coming.”
Kazunari’s brows furrowed as he thought. “How long have you been here?”
“I don’t know. My phone died. Where’s yours?”
“I don’t have a phone,” Kazunari answered.
Masaki made a choked sound. “You don’t have a phone?”
Although they were swamped in darkness and Kazunari could not see his expression, he could clearly hear the horror in Masaki’s voice. He found himself annoyed at the luxury the rich boy expected everyone to have. “I grew up in poverty barely scraping by and found a job as soon as I could work. I had no use for something whimsical like a cell phone. Other than studying and working, I didn’t have time for friends. My one and only friend as a kid was someone imaginary. If my mom supposedly had an affair with your fathers like you all accused her of, she wasn’t very successful in leeching off the stingy jerks.”
Masaki squeezed their joined hands and Kazunari winced as the bones of their fingers shifted against each other.
“Stop that!” Kazunari vigorously shook his arm to untangle their hands. He was once again unsuccessful and then he stopped walking altogether when Masaki’s other arm snaked around his body to embrace him from behind. Unheeded, his racing pulse pounded in his ears and waves of heat rushed up his face. “W-what are you doing!?”
“I’m so sorry you had to live like that,” Masaki murmured. “You’re right; our fathers were cruel.”
Kazunari pulled his elbow back and jammed it into Masaki’s side. A satisfactory “ummph” came from the taller boy and he bent over clutching his side. Kazunari turned and faced him in the darkness. He flashed the light into Masaki’s face until the Sun had to look away. “I don’t need your pity. My mom was a strong woman and I am her son. She didn’t need your father’s filthy money to raise me, so I can live without it. I will earn good money with my own sweat.”
To his dismay, Kazunari saw a sweet grin turn up Masaki’s lips. His own heartbeat had not even steadied before it drummed harder than ever.
“That’s what I like about you,” Masaki said.
Kazunari flushed heavily and turned around to continue on. He did not wait for Masaki and went down the corridor with the light.
“Wait!” Masaki cried and ran after him.
When Kazunari came to an abrupt stop a moment later, Masaki could not stop in time and ran into the smaller body in front of him. They collided and fell into the antechamber beyond where Kazunari had halted just before crossing the threshold.
“You clumsy idiot!” Kazunari cursed, struggling to disengage himself.
“S-sorry,” Masaki apologized, moving away from him.
Ignoring his apology, Kazunari stood up and brushed his pants of dust and dirt. He grabbed the map he had dropped and found where they were. “We’re here,” he finally announced and flashed his light around the large room.They were swamped by large metal shelves lining every centimeter of the chamber, filled with files and paper.
“Whoa. How’re we’re supposed to find what you’re looking for?” Masaki asked from behind him, his vision glazing over at the sight.
“Idiot,” Kazunari repeated. “If people took the trouble to file all of this, then they also categorized and marked everything. We’re just looking for the medical files.”
* *
Masaki, in charge of holding the flashlight while Kazunari searched, flashed the light from above. From the yearbook Kazunari remembered the years his mother had been at school and found the dated section fairly quickly. He pulled out his mother’s health records. Suspense and curiosity propelling him, Kazunari hastily flipped through the papers. His hands trembled, excited for some true information at last. In his hurry he dropped the file and his mother’s information spilled at their feet. Kazunari bent down to gather the papers.
Masaki broke into his frenzy with the first logical statement he’d uttered, “Why don’t you take the file back to your room and look there? It’s not comfortable here and I don’t think you’d be able to understand all the medical terms without a dictionary anyway.” He crouched down to help gather the scattered papers, all the while one arm still raised above them to spread the light.
“Shut up,” Kazunari snapped, irritated by how reasonable his argument sounded. As he grumpily snatched a sheet from under Masaki, his eyes fell on one hastily scratched out word: bullying. The new word beside it was advising. In disbelief, Kazunari brought the paper closer to his eyes for inspection as if the words on the paper could suddenly change. The record was dated earlier, probably when his mother was just a new student. The nurse’s report read: Ninomiya Kazuko was brought in at 13:00. She fainted from an asthma attack. She woke at 13:15 and insisted that Sakurai was bullying advising her. Her asthma pump had been destroyed in an accident. Her doctor was notified to fill her a new one. She left at 14:00.
“What’s wrong?” Masaki asked, moving around Kazunari to see what he read.
Kazunari ignored him and without heed to what he had said earlier, shifted through the papers in a much greater frenzy than before. At a much later date, he scanned through another report: ...had an attack… Sakurai advised her… And another report: …bleeding… insisted Aiba advised... And another: ...broken ankle… Ohno advised...
None of the later reports made the mistake of referring to bullying again. If he hadn’t coincidentally come upon the mistake, then he wouldn’t even have known the truth. Fury and a sadness deeper than any he had ever felt overwhelmed Kazunari. They had said his mother was a whore and a family destroyer, but none of them knew the truth. But no, Satoshi had actually referred to the truth, hadn’t he? And he had led Kazunari here. So they knew, and yet they cursed her. She had been disinherited by her family and died in poverty. His mother had led a miserable existence.
Anger won out and Kazunari grabbed whatever he could stuff into the file. He rammed his shoulder against Masaki and knocked the taller boy off his feet. The flashlight rolled into the distance.
“Fuck you! I hate you!” Kazunari screamed. He ran off into the darkness, not caring that he did not know where he went or that he could barely see a foot from him.
“Ninomiya!” Masaki shouted after him, but Kazunari’s footsteps disappeared into the distance.
* *
Darkness. Only complete darkness. He sat alone in this complete, terrifyingly cold darkness.
Kazunari did not know how long he’d been down here. He regretted acting rashly and running from Masaki for what seemed like hours ago. He must have entered a different corridor than the one they had entered because he couldn’t find his way back, even by feeling along the walls. As if the whole world played a joke on him, he had lost his mother’s file after he tripped against an unknown object. Too scared by the darkness, he hadn’t had the courage to feel around for the documents. He had finally curled against a corner and strained to hear any frightening sounds that might approach. His entire body shook in fear and goosebumps ran along his body, both from the cold and his fear. His body’s reactions exhausted him and he wondered how long it’d take for him to die from fear. He wondered if Masaki had stopped looking for him.
He thought about praying to his mother’s spirit to keep the demons and monsters away, but no matter how much he loved his mother, even the thought of her now in the darkness terrified him. He had always been afraid of darkness and whatever evil lurked in it. He even considered himself absolutely ridiculous for thinking he could’ve come down here alone. What would he have done without Masaki?
Turned illogical from his fear, Kazunari decided that he could forgive Masaki of everything if he found him. After all, Masaki had been kind to him. The Sun also said he eventually learned to disassociate Kazunari from his mother, so why couldn’t Kazunari do the same? Masaki was not his father. Masaki had not been the one to hurt his mother. Of course, not. Kazunari had only been too rash and angry earlier. His arms curled around himself and he traced the X-shaped scar on his forearm for reassurance. The unconscious habit could only give him a little comfort. He prayed for deliverance from his situation by his one and only savior Masaki.
“Come find me,” he sobbed.
A flashlight shone into his face and Kazunari had to look away from the blinding light for a second. A split second later, he flung himself into his savior’s arms. Real human warmth flooded him. Only then he realized he was chilled to the bone and that his teeth clattered. At last, he was saved. He wasn’t alone in this terrifying darkness.
“I’m sorry!” he blurted against the person’s shoulder. “I don’t hate you!”
“That’s interesting to hear, but I don’t have time for your nonsense right now,” a voice Kazunari could never mistake said.
Kazunari jumped back as fast as he had flung himself forward. He stared in shock at the face of Sakurai Sho opposite him. Sho beamed his flashlight at Kazunari again and Kazunari had to flinch away, again.
“He said I could find you down here,” Sho drawled, as if he hadn’t particularly cared about finding anybody.
“Why are you here!?” Kazunari demanded, hatred rising up to fill every pore of his body. He’d rather die down here than be saved by this person. Only this person, he could never forgive.
“I’d rather not be here,” Sho said. “But Masaki burst into my room just as I was waking up and accused me of being at fault for something I knew nothing about. He said I had to help him find you before morning or he’d disown me as a friend. Just so you know, I don’t take his threats seriously, but he’s a scaredy-cat and just the fact that he’d come down here alone amazed me. I just had to see.”
“Where’s Aiba?”
“He’s here somewhere.”
Sho flashed his light into his face again and again Kazunari had to avert his eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Kazunari said stubbornly. “Tell Aiba to come here. I’ll only leave with him.”
In the dimness, Kazunari thought he saw Sho’s eyes spark with jealousy.
“Don’t be a fool. I came further along than him,” Sho said. “We’ll find him on the way back. Let’s go.”
“I’m not going with you,” Kazunari repeated and pressed his back against the cold walls of the cellar in defiance. “Tell him to come here.”
Sho gritted his teeth. “I don’t have time for this. It’s almost midnight. You’re coming with me.”
He stuffed his flashlight into a pocket and reached for Kazunari, but Kazunari was already prepared for him forcibly exerting his own way. Physical violence, as Kazunari predicted, was Sho’s only way of enforcing anything. So he did not feel any qualms about responding the same way. As soon as Sho stepped towards him, Kazunari jumped on one foot and kneed him in the stomach. Sho doubled over and Kazunari used that moment to grab the flashlight and trip Sho so he fell on the hard ground. Kazunari stepped away then turned and childishly stuck his tongue out at the Sun. He showed his middle finger.
“Fuck you. Your father destroyed my mom’s family. I’ll never forgive you.” He ran with the flashlight. Sho shouted after him, but he did not stop. He did not hear any following footsteps and a sense of glee spread throughout him. The sweetness of revenge propelled him and he did not turn back. He left Sho in complete darkness.
Kazunari ran along the wall, guided by the light, until he came to the antechamber from before.
“Ninomiya?” he heard Masaki call from somewhere in the room accompanied by a halo of soft white light.
“I’m here!” Kazunari replied, a smile turning his lips as a sense of freedom filled him.
The answer that came was full of relief. “Ninomiya!”
Masaki and he found each other in a section of the shelves. Kazunari only just barely held back from flinging himself into Masaki’s arms as he had done to Sho earlier. But Masaki didn’t think twice and ran into him. As they came together, he wrapped Kazunari into a tight embrace and almost pulled Kazunari off his feet as their bodies meshed. This time, Kazunari did not fight against his strength. Truthfully, he didn’t even hate it. He even found the masculine scent of Masaki, mixed with the dust of the antechamber, intoxicating.
Exhilarated by his daunting revenge, Kazunari said against his chest, “I’m sorry for earlier. I don’t ha--” The sound of rings set off around them and interrupted him.
Masaki suddenly set Kazunari on his feet again and pulled out a phone.
“I thought your battery died,” Kazunari commented.
“This is Sho’s phone,” Masaki absentmindedly answered as he turned off the alarm and looked at the time. Five minutes before midnight. He addressed Kazunari worriedly, “Where’s Sho?”
Disappointed, Kazunari blinked warily. They could’ve enjoyed the moment a bit longer without bringing that demon up. He averted his eyes and gripped the flashlight in his hand. “I don’t know.”
Masaki did not notice the extra light and grabbed his hand, pulling him along the way Kazunari had come. “We have to find him! It’s almost time! I shouldn’t have forced him down here if I knew it’d take so long to find you!”
Kazunari vehemently pulled himself from Masaki’s grasp and they stopped walking as their hands came apart. “All right! We’re going back to look for him, but you don’t have to rush me.” He wasn’t going to leave Sho down here anyway, but he’d at least feel better if Sho was left alone in that darkness a bit longer. To his surprise, Masaki turned to stare at him with wide, terrified eyes.
“You don’t understand! We’re out of time!”
“He didn’t have to come if he was so afraid of a midnight curfew!” Kazunari shouted at him, irritated.
Blood curdling shrieks exploded through the basement. Kazunari had never heard such terror before. He leapt to Masaki’s side and clung to the Sun in fear. His whole body shook as the shrill shrieks continued in outbursts throughout the darkness. Masaki pulled him off without a thought and ran towards the source of the wordless, horrific cries.
“Sho!” he screamed.
It took a moment, as Masaki’s light went further away, for Kazunari to process what Masaki has said. Sho? Those frightening screams belonged to Sakurai? His body still shaking, Kazunari stumbled along after Masaki. It couldn’t be that he had taken his revenge too far? As the shrieks continued, dread mixed with fear in Kazunari’s heart. He had meant no real harm. He had never wished Sakurai to die, but the screams sounded just like that; a well of deep, aching agony.
He ran with his light aimed ahead and knew he had found Masaki and Sho when he saw Masaki’s flashlight rolling in the distance and two dark bodies writhing on the ground. Kazunari aimed his flashlight. The circle of his white light captured the sight of Masaki struggling to pin Sho down. Masaki only had hold of Sho’s one arm and leg. The other half flailed and knocked into him. Sho fought back with incomprehensible strength.
“S-sho, i-it’s me…” Masaki sobbed, tears spilling from his eyes, down his cheeks, and dripping down onto his mad friend. Even as he cried, he tried his best to hold an uncontrollable Sho down. He looked straight at Kazunari despite the flashlight and cried, “H-help me…”
Kazunari dropped his flashlight in that instant. He ran forward and threw himself on top of Sho’s other side. Together, he and Masaki were able to pin Sho’s arms behind his back. When Sho banged his head against the ground, they had to hold his head down as well. Masaki fished handcuffs out of Sho’s pocket and cuffed his, what Kazunari recognized as, bruised and barely healed wrists together. They tied Sho’s legs together with Kazunari’s t-shirt and stuffed Sho’s mouth with Masaki’s to stop his screams.
For a very long time, they held Sho down until he tired and they tired and he finally stopped fighting. He continued to writhe, so they sat on him and stopped him from hurting himself.
Kazunari did not think throughout the entire exhausting ordeal. His mind remained blank, but beside him Masaki cried the whole time. Again, Kazunari did not know how much time passed while they waited in the almost darkness. At a certain point, Sho’s taut body underneath their combined weight finally relaxed. Shortly after, Masaki carefully turned Sho on his back, uncuffed Sho with the silver key from his pocket, untied his legs, and ungagged him. He did not hand Kazunari’s t-shirt back. Instead, without asking for permission, he threw the t-shirt over Sho’s face. He felt into his pocket and handed his wallet to Kazunari.
“If you flash my I.D. at security, none of them will ask anything, even about him,” Masaki said, his voice strangely hoarse from his tears. “So, help get him on my back so that I can carry him back.”
* *
They lay Sho in the second room, the one adjacent to the soundproof room. Although they were exhausted, Masaki did not rest or leave. He found a first-aid kit and tended to Sho’s wounds despite the bruises that were already forming on his own face from the knocks he’d received earlier. Although he did not ask for help this time, Kazunari joined the effort.
In the silence, Masaki suddenly spoke. “Satoshi told me you already know about our illnesses.” Before Kazunari could deny it, he continued, “But it still must have shocked you to see it live. Me, too. The first time I saw it, I was twelve. It was by accident. Sho caught his illness at eleven and they still did not know how to deal with it then. Sho doesn’t like people to see him like this, that’s why he came up with his asylum. In his house and here he erected that cursed room you see there. So no one can hear or see him. He always carries handcuffs. Sometimes, he takes medication to knock himself out before it happens and so his hands can heal. But he can’t always take medication because he becomes tolerant and addicted to the drug.”
“What is his illness?” Kazunari asked.
Masaki discarded the soaked cotton balls in his hand and took a roll of bandages to wrap around Sho’s wrist. “Sho loses his mind. Everyday; when the sun is at it’s highest point in the sky and the night is at it’s latest, in whichever part of the world he is in. That’s why it usually happens at noon and midnight. So twice a day, he goes mad. It’s the cruelest punishment for someone who values his mind. That’s also why he hates you.”
Kazunari’s head bobbed up at the last statement. “What did I do to him?”
Masaki shook his head. “Not you. You thought I didn’t know what was written in your mother’s files? All of us do. Our fathers bullied your mother when she was a student here and they especially thought it was funny that she’d get asthma attacks whenever they neared her. So my mother told me, all our mothers did, that when you were born your mother cursed us. We have our illnesses and they attack our weaknesses because your mother wanted to take revenge on us.”
Kazunari jumped off the bed and stepped away from both Masaki and an unconscious Sho. “I didn’t know about any of this. I… I only thought your fathers hurt her.”
“But I don’t hate you for it,” Masaki turned to watch Kazunari and assured him. “Unlike Sho, I figured it was our fathers getting what they deserved. By hurting us, their children. I don’t even blame your mother.”
Kazunari’s gaze took in Masaki and Sho again, but this time also the entire scene in its entirety. He remembered the few glimpses he had had of his mother’s medical records at the infirmary. He could not imagine what pain and misery his mother had gone through, but he had heard Sho’s suffering first-hand. He had seen Masaki’s tears. He had sat through one hour of horror. His revenge on Sho had been cruel, but many times less crueler than this. Frustrated and overwhelmed, Kazunari threw the swabs he had in his hand at Masaki. They floated to the floor airily.
“Are you saying you accept it? That you deserve to be suffering for what your fathers did? That Sakurai should be hurting everyday? It’s not justified! None of us are at fault! Medicine and medical practices are improving every day! You all can afford special doctors! You can try--”
“We’ve tried!” Masaki fell off the bed as well and faced Kazunari with his own frustration. “I’ve gone through more tests than you can count! I’ve always been treated like an exotic creature! Nothing’s worked! We can only give up! We’re freaks! You think there’s anything in the world that can cure Sho!? You think Satoshi and Jun can be cured? You think there’s a cure for what I have? We’re all sick!”
As Kazunari watched, tears started to stream down Masaki’s already bloodshot eyes. He clenched his fists as he grounded out, “We’re ill. We can’t be cured. Until I die. Until Sho dies. Everyday, twice a day, Sho will go crazy.” He tried not to snivel, but broken sobs escaped from his lips. “I’m sorry for what my father did to your mother.”
Kazunari did not know why he did what he did next, but his body moved of its own will. He stepped back to Masaki and wrapped his arms around the taller Sun. He pulled Masaki’s head down until it rested on his shoulder. While Masaki sobbed his heart out, sadness crushed Kazunari once more that night. Slowly and gradually, the mystery around his parents and the Four Suns had begun to unravel, and every thread only revealed pain and suffering. He hated that his mother had suffered, that the Four Suns were now suffering from their fathers’ sins, and that Masaki’s heart broke every time. Masaki’s tears hurt him as well.
“Maybe,” he started in a whisper and the enlightened thought took hold, “if my mom and our fathers started all of this... maybe resolving all of it is the secret to curing your illnesses.”
It was so simple, so unpretentious, that only he could have thought of it.
Cursed
Illness 1: Asylum
Illness 2: Sacrifice
Illness 3: Monster
Redemption
Illness 1: Asylum
Kazunari did not meet any of the Four on his way down, even Masaki who had left and not returned. Although he wanted to head straight to his dorm room to sleep off the sudden fatigue that weighed on him, he thought better and made a trip to the infirmary.
Inside the office, the nurse baffled him. She asked for the name and hospital of his doctor.
“What for?” Kazunari asked.
She answered as if telling him an obvious condition, “I can’t do anything without the permission of your private doctor.”
Kazunari did not have one, and remembering that the Headmaster had for some reason wanted to keep his background a secret, he waved aside the nurse’s request and asked for the first-aid that couldn’t be denied him. After his head had been wrapped in a bandage, he dismissed the notion of going all the way back to his dorm room and instead took one of the beds lined against the wall. Before he climbed into bed, the nurse stopped him.
“May I see your student I.D., Star?”
Irritated, Kazunari questioned again, “What for?”
“All students are required to fill out a form. The school wants to keep record of who and how many students have come in. I thought I’d save you the trouble and fill the form for you while you rest.”
Kazunari felt inside his pocket for his wallet. His hand discovered nothing except the smooth satin lining of his pocket. Cold realization washed over him that he could have dropped his wallet in Sho’s room during the molestation. He revolted against returning to that room, but his wallet had important information that he couldn’t leave in the hands of Sho Sakurai. He had to retrieve his wallet and before Sho found it first, if he hadn’t already done so.
To the nurse, he said, “I forgot something. I’ll return to fill out the form.”
Because she had been given no right to physically stop a Star, he staggered out of the infirmary.
* *
He had the worst luck in the world. Not only was he the victim of an arrogant bastard, he had to be a clumsy fool. As he clenched his teeth and raced through the school to the East Wing, he hoped he reached the room before any of the Suns returned.
Again he pushed open the double doors and tried his waning luck. He looked into the circular chamber. Fortune was not on his side. Masaki lounged on a couch with a manga and looked up at his intrusion. Upon catching sight of Kazunari, Masaki offered a dazzling smile that both disarmed and baffled Kazunari.
Masaki gestured to his own head. “I hope it’s nothing serious.”
Taking his friendly tone as an invitation, Kazunari stepped in. At least, he should be relieved that only Masaki had returned. He politely bowed to the Sun as a quick form of acknowledgement and then without explanation went straight for the second door underneath the arch of the stairs. The door unlocked, he turned the handle easily and peered through the crack to see if Sho might be on the other side.
“What are you doing?” Masaki asked.
“I won’t bother you. I just have to get something that I dropped,” Kazunari answered. At finding the room beyond empty and left in the same state as he had found it, he entered. He jumped onto the king-sized mattress and turned over everything that he could.
Masaki followed and watched him from the doorway. “I can help you. What did you lose?”
Kazunari hesitated to reveal the identity of his important missing article. Ignoring Masaki’s question, he unceremoniously threw the rumpled bed-sheets he had pulled up back down. Instead of his wallet, a small silver key fell from the cloth. He palmed the key, but frustrated by his missing wallet, he did not care to examine his find. Behind him, he sensed Masaki come up beside the bed. He gave in and turned to confess his loss. Just then, the Sun slammed into him and trapped Kazunari’s body down under his own, also effectively knocking the breath out of his lungs. Kazunari struggled as Masaki easily threw the bed-covers over them. Feelings of betrayal surged through him. The kindness had only been a facade. Kazunari opened his mouth to bite the arm trapping him down, but he froze when he heard the still hoarse voice of a person that chilled him to the bones.
“I’m sorry to have disturbed you. Were you taking a nap?” Sho asked.
“I was tired from the extra lessons this morning.” Masaki’s sounded too nervous and his hold on Kazunari tightened in warning. Kazunari did not need the reminder. He understood Masaki’s intentions. He’d hold his breath if he had to. He could only hope the Sun would do his part and not give them away with his terrible acting.
“I thought Auntie was going to wait until you graduated,” Sho said.
“She decided it couldn’t hurt me to be taking some extra lessons now. She didn’t want my uncle to become too complacent as the proxy chairman.”
“If you ever need help with your lessons, or with anything at all, you know I’m always free to help you.”
“Thank you.” Kazunari squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for deliverance from Sho. He heard Masaki pause and felt him draw in a breath. “Did you need anything?”
“Well,” Sho started and Kazunari heard a metallic jangle, “I have to get these cuffs off so Jun can treat my wounds, but I lost the key in here somewhere. It must have fell out of my pocket. Have you seen it?”
Fuck, Kazunari inwardly cursed, appalled to realize he had dropped the key when Masaki had pushed him down. He had found the key Sho needed and lost it and now Sho would search for it.
“Er... Um....” Masaki sounded with uncertainty and Kazunari knew they were doomed.
“Sorry, but it’ll only take a moment,” Sho said and his voice neared.
Kazunari reviewed his only two options: stay where he was like a dumbass and wait for Sho to find him or take Sho by surprise and run. He chose the latter option.
“Get up for a bit,” Sho said.
Masaki stuttered, “B-but--”
Kazunari clamped his teeth down on the arm holding him down. Masaki shrieked and jerked his arms into the air. Kazunari was up and out of the bed in that instant. While Sho flinched back in confusion and surprise, Kazunari rushed out the door. He barely avoided colliding with Jun who had been waiting in the larger room and had come to see why Masaki had screamed.
“Don’t hurt him!” Kazunari heard Masaki shout behind him and he did not know whether Masaki addressed Sho or Jun or even him. He did not hesitate and was out the door in ten seconds. No footsteps followed him as he flew down the corridor of the East Wing as if the death hounds were on his trail.
* *
He dived into bed and slept through the rest of the afternoon.
In the middle of the night, intense nausea woke him and he vomited all over his bed-sheets and pillow. Exhausted and his head spinning, he left the mess where it was and rolled onto the floor, curled up, and went back to sleep. He skipped school the next day, the day after, and the day after that and slept most of the time. To his relief and somehow dismay, no one came around to ask after him. He figured the cowardly faculty tried to stay out of their students’ private lives as much as possible and he didn’t have to wonder about his classmates all of whom he felt no attachment for and vice versa.
His one and only visitor during the worst of his headaches was Mr. Kagawa who came to check on him after the first night and found his dirty sheets. Mr. Kagawa called the maid in to change the sheets and graciously cleaned the vomit. All the while he worked, he listened calmly and attentively to Kazunari’s enthusiastic mumbled cursing of the Four Suns until Kazunari tired from the effort it cost him. The janitor made only one comment and warning at the end.
“The Ohno, Aiba, and Sakurai corporations are just as corrupt as their heirs. You shouldn’t waste time trying to understand anything they do.”
Kazunari agreed in a sickly murmur before falling asleep.
After his only confidant Mr. Kagawa left, the rest of his week went undisturbed. He expected to delve back into his studies the same way he disappeared, unnoticed, but he was surprised when at the end of his well-rested week, he answered the knock at his door and faced a large well-built man. The man’s physical strength exuded even through his black suit. He nodded to Kazunari and gave him a card. Kazunari read the invitation to meet Satoshi Ohno in the small courtyard near the East Wing for lunch on the dot.
“It’s in five minutes,” Kazunari noted.
“I shall be your escort,” the bodyguard said with a bow.
“It’s in five minutes,” Kazunari repeated, dropping the card.
“We’ll have to be on our way.”
Kazunari slammed the door shut and turned back to his room. He pulled off his t-shirt and reached for a clean one just as the man’s fist shattered through his door and scattered splinters of wood everywhere. The man reached around and unlocked the knob before letting himself in. A gaping hole remained where he had punched through.
“My young master doesn’t like to be kept waiting,” the bodyguard warned, but despite the underlying threat in his statement his expression remained passive.
Kazunari took a deep calming breath. He noticed that despite a few harmless scratches on the bodyguard’s knuckles, the man was uninjured. “Your young master will be paying for that,” he declared, holding both his fear and anger under amazing control.
The man seemed unperturbed. “Are we ready to set off?”
Kazunari was not in the mood to be following the whims of a spoiled prince, but he was not stupid enough to reject Satoshi’s invitation. He turned his back on the bodyguard, tugged on a t-shirt, shrugged into a weather-beaten winter coat, and pulled on a ragged baseball cap before he impatiently waved the man towards the door.
* *
A table for two and large parasol had been erected in the center of the courtyard. Four bodyguards stood guard at each end while Kazunari counted a few more watching from the perimeters of the grounds. It was the first time he’d witnessed such precaution for a student even though he’d been told of Satoshi’s eccentricities. Satoshi sat in the midst of all of this, the focus of their attention, and didn’t seem to mind. The Sun leaned over something on the table and concentrated on his activity. As they neared, Kazunari saw that he was drawing in a sketchpad. He did not look up when Kazunari reached the setup until after a few minutes of silence had passed. Satoshi glanced up, finally noticed him, and gracelessly waved him to the seat opposite. As he seated himself, Kazunari glared at the bodyguard who had rushed him and who had wordlessly melted into the background.
Satoshi pored over his sketchpad again, but he asked, “We’re having fish today. Do you like fish?”
Kazunari shrugged. He wished he had something to distract himself. He stared at the top of Satoshi’s head and made a few insignificant, meaningless observations. In his boredom, he touched his forearm and unconsciously rubbed at his scar through his coat. Immediate relief from boredom came in the form of a party of chefs and servers making their way across the courtyard to them. A number of other men set up a cooking apparatus and counter a few meters from their camp where the chef and his assistants went to work. A waiter came up to the table with a wine bottle and three glasses. He served them wordlessly, bowed, and retreated like the rest of the staff. One of the guards stepped up to take the third glass. He savored the wine then nodded and stepped back, handing the third glass for a server to take away. Only once this was done did Satoshi pick up his own glass.
He checked for poison, Kazunari guessed and he thought once more that Satoshi’s paranoia was beyond normal. To attack someone in the middle of such a sunny afternoon on school property seemed impractical. It was Sasaki’s duty to secure their safety anyway and he was an efficient man, even if intolerable.
Satoshi looked up again and scrutinized Kazunari as if seeing him for the first time. His sleepy brown eyes lingered on Kazunari’s heavy attire. “Are you cold?”
“I don’t like the Sun,” Kazunari murmured.
“Then how do you go out?”
Again, Kazunari just shrugged.
“Why do you hate the sun?”
“I don’t hate it. I just don’t like to be burned.”
“So you get sunburned easily?”
Kazunari downed his drink in three large gulps and leaned back in his chair. The liquid burned uneasily in his stomach. He wasn’t used to drinking, but he hid his discomfort and stared Satoshi down. “What do you want? Why did you call me here?” He indicated the East Tower and its large window, which he now knew belonged to the circular chamber that overlooked the very courtyard they were in. “Is someone up there? Am I some novelty to be pointed and stared at by you Four?”
Satoshi did not express offense by his anger. Kazunari watched as one of the other bodyguards stepped up to the table and placed something in between them. As if they were Ohno’s own hands and feet, Kazunari thought. He leaned forward to see what the man had placed in front of them. He had to blink a few times before he was convinced he was staring at his own wallet. He snatched at it and examined the contents. It was as he had last seen it; his meager money and information were still inside.
“Why do you have this?” he asked, his tone accusatory.
Satoshi pursed his lips sulkily. “I found it in Masaki’s pet room. I didn’t steal it.”
Relief washed over Kazunari. He reminded himself that Satoshi wasn’t Sho or Jun. Kazunari carefully stowed his wallet away. “You could have returned it to me earlier. I might have had need of my wallet.”
“I haven’t been to school in the last few days,” Satoshi explained.
“Your bodyguard found my dorm room,” Kazunari pointed out. “You could have sent it with one of them.”
“They aren’t an extension of me,” Satoshi murmured, averting his eyes. “They just go wherever I go.”
Satoshi refused to look up again and Kazunari knew he wished to change the subject, so he did. He asked again, “Why did you invite me here? If it was just to return my wallet, you didn’t have to go this far. I know you don’t like me.”
Satoshi immediately raised his eyes again. “No, that’s just Sho who doesn’t like you and he’s battling with his sickness right now so he won’t bother us. You didn’t tell anyone about Jun and me so I’m not going to hurt you, and Masaki said we should be nice to you.”
“So you thought you’d try,” Kazunari finished, not quite pleased to know the Suns weren’t about to do as he wish by leaving him alone. He preferred negligence over them showing him any kindness.
Missing the implication of Kazunari’s flat tone, Satoshi flipped over his sketchpad to present his sketch. An animated Jun, wearing a grin Kazunari couldn’t imagine, was sketched onto the white paper. Satoshi ran gentle fingers through the image. “What do you think?”
“Uh…” Kazunari hesitated. “Nice.” He watched as Satoshi happily turned the pad back around and flipped over a new leaf.
Satoshi said without looking up from his work, “Ohno is the biggest group in Japan, you know, and the Matsumoto group didn’t want to be swallowed by a much larger corporation. That’s why Gramps had to adopt Jun into the Matsumoto family. Jun is… Jun is no longer an Ohno.”
Kazunari dwelled on the revelation. “But he’s still your brother.”
Satoshi agreed. “Jun is my brother. He’ll always be my brother.” All of a sudden, he gifted Kazunari with a charming smile. “You understand.”
“It’s not that hard,” Kazunari replied, sitting back in his chair uncomfortably aware that he didn’t quite understand Satoshi’s motive. He wondered if he were speaking to a child.
“Let’s be friends,” Satoshi blurted.
“Declaring we’re friends don’t make us friends,” Kazunari replied.
Satoshi pouted again. “Then how can I be your friend?”
Kazunari wrinkled his brows. “You have to be a friend. Act as a friend. It takes longer than just a few minutes of talking to each other.”
Satoshi smiled again. “Then I’ll show you that I can be your friend. I’ll be your first friend. Tell Masaki that I’m first.”
“Why do I have to tell Aiba anything?”
“Because he told Sho that he’d protect you and he warned Sho to leave you alone. He’s your champion.”
Kazunari’s heart thumped, annoying him. He blinked at Satoshi. “Why would he do that? I don’t need protection.” He pushed back his chair and stood. “Why can’t you all just leave me alone? If none of you will tell me what my mother did, or what your fathers did, then I don’t care. I’m already so tired of you all and I’ve barely been here a month.”
“I’m sorry,” Satoshi said, again averting his eyes.
“What for?” Kazunari stressed, his anger getting the better of him again.
Satoshi dropped his pencil and fidgeted with his hands. “For what Sho did. For what your mother did. For what our fathers did to her. I just wanted to be your friend.” He ended with a mumble.
Slowly, Kazunari’s anger ebbed away. He felt empty and exhausted. He fell back down into his chair and sighed. “If you’re afraid to tell me, then show me where I can find the truth.”
“Will you be my friend if I do?”
Kazunari nodded.
Satoshi’s hands stopped fidgeting. “Tell Masaki that I’m first.”
Kazunari evaded the statement and asked, “Where can I find out more about my mother?”
Satoshi blinked away before meeting Kazunari’s gaze again. “The health records. You can look there, too.”
“The what?”
“The health records for the infirmary,” Satoshi said. “You can look there.”
* *
Kazunari had no reason to doubt Satoshi whom he considered the least calculating of the Suns and so he took steps accordingly.
He first had to find out where the older health records were kept. In the infirmary, while dutifully filling out the long overdue form for his first appearance there, Kazunari engaged the nurse in small conversation. She was happy to follow his chatter and he strategically steered the conversation towards the location of the old files. Pleased to at last have the attention of a Star, she gave the information away unknowingly. When he went as far as to ask for the key to the basement, she did not even bat an eyelash as she gave away the identity of the owner of the master-keys. The nurse instantly pointed out Assistant Sasaki.
Kazunari knew Assistant Sasaki could never be found in his office. The man was an infamous busybody who roamed the school looking for troublemakers he could rat out to the Headmaster, the Suns being no exception. In contrast, he often made it a point to run into Kazunari and pretend interest and concern all the while mildly insulting the wealthier students, which made him all the more contemptible. All Kazunari had to do was wait for him to establish that coincidence again and somehow take the keys. Kazunari wasn’t quite prepared to take him on, but the opportunity to steal the master-keys from Sasaki suddenly presented itself and he did not hesitate to take advantage of it.
In the busy commons during lunch hour just after Sasaki caught up to Kazunari and fawned over him again, Jun happened to pass through on his way elsewhere. A crowd immediately gathered around him. Both Kazunari and Sasaki were caught up in the storm. After a moment of struggling to break away, Kazunari realized this was his chance to swipe in undetected. He squeezed his way to an overwhelmed Sasaki’s side, felt for the set of keys the Assistant proudly displayed on his belt, and unhinged the set. He met with Satoshi, asked for copies of the keys, then threw the original set into a corner of the commons for the janitors to find.
Satoshi returned to school a week later with the finished copies, but he refused to hand them over. “If I knew you were really going to look for the files, I would have asked Sho to get them for me. He knows where to find them and who to bribe to do the job for him.”
“I don’t need Sakurai for anything,” Kazunari snapped.
Satoshi did not take offense at his tone. “It’s dangerous, Nino. The basement is like a maze. I’ll get the files for you. Just please, don’t go down there,” he implored.
“I found a map of the building,” Kazunari told him. “It was in one of the old school books Sakurai had not removed. I’ll do fine.”
“Then I’ll go with you,” Satoshi said.
“Not with your hoard of bodyguards.”
“They have to come with me.”
“Then you don’t have to come,” Kazunari finished and he took the keys from Satoshi without much effort. At the glum look on Satoshi’s face, he sighed and added, “Thank you. You’re a good friend, Ohno.”
Satoshi finally smiled and nodded.
* *
He left some time in the late evening before midnight. He had learned from overhearing the adventures of his classmates that the security guards did not stop students wandering the school at night as long as they flashed a student I.D. On his way across the courtyard, he even saw a few girls in skimpy dresses disappear into shady limos escorted by a few security men. The efforts that his peers took to conceal their immodesty during the day did not feature at night. He and they ignored each other as he made his way to the commons.
The map Kazunari carried showed several routes to the basement, but all were blocked with only one exception; the route located in the janitor’s closet. He left a wedge in the door so he could easily return. Beyond the door was a set of stone cold stairs. Tucking the keys safely into his pocket, he uneasily made his way down to the lowest floor. As he walked through the dark underground corridor and the shadows closed in, sudden fear washed over him. He wished he had thought to bring a pocket-knife. He only carried a flashlight and a map aside from the keys. If only he hadn’t been so adamant and had allowed Satoshi to accompany him. To his relief, the light from his flashlight showed that he was about to reach another door, although what lay beyond made him afraid. He approached it tentatively, then a body flung itself in front of him.
Kazunari shrieked, threw the only thing solid he held, his flashlight, at the creature and ran back the other way. He scrambled in darkness to go back, all the while screaming until his lungs burned. Strong arms wrapped around him and trapped his own to his side. He couldn’t see, couldn’t move, and even now the creature was breathing hot breath down his neck. Words cracked through the fiery red fear in his mind.
“Ninomiya! It’s me: Aiba Masaki! It’s just me!”
What if it was only lying? What if the demon wanted to trick him and when he turned around he would be lost forever?
His decision was taken away from him when the strong arms turned him around and placed his hands on its face. Kazunari touched warm human flesh. Dimly, he made out Masaki opposite him looking both scared and concerned. Relief flooded Kazunari and with it came a few tears. Embarrassed, he struggled to free himself from Masaki’s hold. To his dismay, Masaki’s grip tightened.
“Why are you here? You scared the living hell out of me!” Kazunari hissed and once again tried to free himself unsuccessfully. Masaki had a death-like grip on his wrists and refused to let go.
“Satoshi said if you didn’t want him along because of his bodyguards, then you couldn’t object to me,” Masaki said. “He gave me a set of keys and I’ve been waiting here all night. I was so scared. I’m glad you came.” His relief was genuine.
His confession made Kazunari less embarrassed about his earlier hysteria. He cleared his throat, straightened his back, and demanded, “Let go of me. My arms are getting numb.”
As if burned, Masaki jumped away, only to hurry back to Kazunari. “My flashlight died. Where’s yours?”
Kazunari walked over to the stream of white light spilling across a concrete wall and picked up the flashlight he had thrown. He searched the ground for his map. Someone touched his arm and he flinched, but it was only Masaki. Masaki’s hand slid down his forearm, sending shivers down Kazunari’s spine, and took Kazunari’s hand. He entwined their fingers in a lover’s hold.
“S-so we don’t lose each other,” Masaki stuttered.
Holding back a smart retort, Kazunari allowed him leeway, picked up his discarded map, and continued on to the door at the end of the hall. He motioned with the flashlight for Masaki to open. Cautiously, they followed the map and made their way down to the storage cellar of the basement.
“If you were so scared, why did you wait alone in the dark?” Kazunari ventured to ask.
“I didn’t want to wait in the dark,” Masaki’s voice came from his side. “My flashlight went out and then my cell phone battery went out. I… I didn’t want to feel my way back in the dark. I knew you were coming.”
Kazunari’s brows furrowed as he thought. “How long have you been here?”
“I don’t know. My phone died. Where’s yours?”
“I don’t have a phone,” Kazunari answered.
Masaki made a choked sound. “You don’t have a phone?”
Although they were swamped in darkness and Kazunari could not see his expression, he could clearly hear the horror in Masaki’s voice. He found himself annoyed at the luxury the rich boy expected everyone to have. “I grew up in poverty barely scraping by and found a job as soon as I could work. I had no use for something whimsical like a cell phone. Other than studying and working, I didn’t have time for friends. My one and only friend as a kid was someone imaginary. If my mom supposedly had an affair with your fathers like you all accused her of, she wasn’t very successful in leeching off the stingy jerks.”
Masaki squeezed their joined hands and Kazunari winced as the bones of their fingers shifted against each other.
“Stop that!” Kazunari vigorously shook his arm to untangle their hands. He was once again unsuccessful and then he stopped walking altogether when Masaki’s other arm snaked around his body to embrace him from behind. Unheeded, his racing pulse pounded in his ears and waves of heat rushed up his face. “W-what are you doing!?”
“I’m so sorry you had to live like that,” Masaki murmured. “You’re right; our fathers were cruel.”
Kazunari pulled his elbow back and jammed it into Masaki’s side. A satisfactory “ummph” came from the taller boy and he bent over clutching his side. Kazunari turned and faced him in the darkness. He flashed the light into Masaki’s face until the Sun had to look away. “I don’t need your pity. My mom was a strong woman and I am her son. She didn’t need your father’s filthy money to raise me, so I can live without it. I will earn good money with my own sweat.”
To his dismay, Kazunari saw a sweet grin turn up Masaki’s lips. His own heartbeat had not even steadied before it drummed harder than ever.
“That’s what I like about you,” Masaki said.
Kazunari flushed heavily and turned around to continue on. He did not wait for Masaki and went down the corridor with the light.
“Wait!” Masaki cried and ran after him.
When Kazunari came to an abrupt stop a moment later, Masaki could not stop in time and ran into the smaller body in front of him. They collided and fell into the antechamber beyond where Kazunari had halted just before crossing the threshold.
“You clumsy idiot!” Kazunari cursed, struggling to disengage himself.
“S-sorry,” Masaki apologized, moving away from him.
Ignoring his apology, Kazunari stood up and brushed his pants of dust and dirt. He grabbed the map he had dropped and found where they were. “We’re here,” he finally announced and flashed his light around the large room.They were swamped by large metal shelves lining every centimeter of the chamber, filled with files and paper.
“Whoa. How’re we’re supposed to find what you’re looking for?” Masaki asked from behind him, his vision glazing over at the sight.
“Idiot,” Kazunari repeated. “If people took the trouble to file all of this, then they also categorized and marked everything. We’re just looking for the medical files.”
* *
Masaki, in charge of holding the flashlight while Kazunari searched, flashed the light from above. From the yearbook Kazunari remembered the years his mother had been at school and found the dated section fairly quickly. He pulled out his mother’s health records. Suspense and curiosity propelling him, Kazunari hastily flipped through the papers. His hands trembled, excited for some true information at last. In his hurry he dropped the file and his mother’s information spilled at their feet. Kazunari bent down to gather the papers.
Masaki broke into his frenzy with the first logical statement he’d uttered, “Why don’t you take the file back to your room and look there? It’s not comfortable here and I don’t think you’d be able to understand all the medical terms without a dictionary anyway.” He crouched down to help gather the scattered papers, all the while one arm still raised above them to spread the light.
“Shut up,” Kazunari snapped, irritated by how reasonable his argument sounded. As he grumpily snatched a sheet from under Masaki, his eyes fell on one hastily scratched out word: bullying. The new word beside it was advising. In disbelief, Kazunari brought the paper closer to his eyes for inspection as if the words on the paper could suddenly change. The record was dated earlier, probably when his mother was just a new student. The nurse’s report read: Ninomiya Kazuko was brought in at 13:00. She fainted from an asthma attack. She woke at 13:15 and insisted that Sakurai was bullying advising her. Her asthma pump had been destroyed in an accident. Her doctor was notified to fill her a new one. She left at 14:00.
“What’s wrong?” Masaki asked, moving around Kazunari to see what he read.
Kazunari ignored him and without heed to what he had said earlier, shifted through the papers in a much greater frenzy than before. At a much later date, he scanned through another report: ...had an attack… Sakurai advised her… And another report: …bleeding… insisted Aiba advised... And another: ...broken ankle… Ohno advised...
None of the later reports made the mistake of referring to bullying again. If he hadn’t coincidentally come upon the mistake, then he wouldn’t even have known the truth. Fury and a sadness deeper than any he had ever felt overwhelmed Kazunari. They had said his mother was a whore and a family destroyer, but none of them knew the truth. But no, Satoshi had actually referred to the truth, hadn’t he? And he had led Kazunari here. So they knew, and yet they cursed her. She had been disinherited by her family and died in poverty. His mother had led a miserable existence.
Anger won out and Kazunari grabbed whatever he could stuff into the file. He rammed his shoulder against Masaki and knocked the taller boy off his feet. The flashlight rolled into the distance.
“Fuck you! I hate you!” Kazunari screamed. He ran off into the darkness, not caring that he did not know where he went or that he could barely see a foot from him.
“Ninomiya!” Masaki shouted after him, but Kazunari’s footsteps disappeared into the distance.
* *
Darkness. Only complete darkness. He sat alone in this complete, terrifyingly cold darkness.
Kazunari did not know how long he’d been down here. He regretted acting rashly and running from Masaki for what seemed like hours ago. He must have entered a different corridor than the one they had entered because he couldn’t find his way back, even by feeling along the walls. As if the whole world played a joke on him, he had lost his mother’s file after he tripped against an unknown object. Too scared by the darkness, he hadn’t had the courage to feel around for the documents. He had finally curled against a corner and strained to hear any frightening sounds that might approach. His entire body shook in fear and goosebumps ran along his body, both from the cold and his fear. His body’s reactions exhausted him and he wondered how long it’d take for him to die from fear. He wondered if Masaki had stopped looking for him.
He thought about praying to his mother’s spirit to keep the demons and monsters away, but no matter how much he loved his mother, even the thought of her now in the darkness terrified him. He had always been afraid of darkness and whatever evil lurked in it. He even considered himself absolutely ridiculous for thinking he could’ve come down here alone. What would he have done without Masaki?
Turned illogical from his fear, Kazunari decided that he could forgive Masaki of everything if he found him. After all, Masaki had been kind to him. The Sun also said he eventually learned to disassociate Kazunari from his mother, so why couldn’t Kazunari do the same? Masaki was not his father. Masaki had not been the one to hurt his mother. Of course, not. Kazunari had only been too rash and angry earlier. His arms curled around himself and he traced the X-shaped scar on his forearm for reassurance. The unconscious habit could only give him a little comfort. He prayed for deliverance from his situation by his one and only savior Masaki.
“Come find me,” he sobbed.
A flashlight shone into his face and Kazunari had to look away from the blinding light for a second. A split second later, he flung himself into his savior’s arms. Real human warmth flooded him. Only then he realized he was chilled to the bone and that his teeth clattered. At last, he was saved. He wasn’t alone in this terrifying darkness.
“I’m sorry!” he blurted against the person’s shoulder. “I don’t hate you!”
“That’s interesting to hear, but I don’t have time for your nonsense right now,” a voice Kazunari could never mistake said.
Kazunari jumped back as fast as he had flung himself forward. He stared in shock at the face of Sakurai Sho opposite him. Sho beamed his flashlight at Kazunari again and Kazunari had to flinch away, again.
“He said I could find you down here,” Sho drawled, as if he hadn’t particularly cared about finding anybody.
“Why are you here!?” Kazunari demanded, hatred rising up to fill every pore of his body. He’d rather die down here than be saved by this person. Only this person, he could never forgive.
“I’d rather not be here,” Sho said. “But Masaki burst into my room just as I was waking up and accused me of being at fault for something I knew nothing about. He said I had to help him find you before morning or he’d disown me as a friend. Just so you know, I don’t take his threats seriously, but he’s a scaredy-cat and just the fact that he’d come down here alone amazed me. I just had to see.”
“Where’s Aiba?”
“He’s here somewhere.”
Sho flashed his light into his face again and again Kazunari had to avert his eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Kazunari said stubbornly. “Tell Aiba to come here. I’ll only leave with him.”
In the dimness, Kazunari thought he saw Sho’s eyes spark with jealousy.
“Don’t be a fool. I came further along than him,” Sho said. “We’ll find him on the way back. Let’s go.”
“I’m not going with you,” Kazunari repeated and pressed his back against the cold walls of the cellar in defiance. “Tell him to come here.”
Sho gritted his teeth. “I don’t have time for this. It’s almost midnight. You’re coming with me.”
He stuffed his flashlight into a pocket and reached for Kazunari, but Kazunari was already prepared for him forcibly exerting his own way. Physical violence, as Kazunari predicted, was Sho’s only way of enforcing anything. So he did not feel any qualms about responding the same way. As soon as Sho stepped towards him, Kazunari jumped on one foot and kneed him in the stomach. Sho doubled over and Kazunari used that moment to grab the flashlight and trip Sho so he fell on the hard ground. Kazunari stepped away then turned and childishly stuck his tongue out at the Sun. He showed his middle finger.
“Fuck you. Your father destroyed my mom’s family. I’ll never forgive you.” He ran with the flashlight. Sho shouted after him, but he did not stop. He did not hear any following footsteps and a sense of glee spread throughout him. The sweetness of revenge propelled him and he did not turn back. He left Sho in complete darkness.
Kazunari ran along the wall, guided by the light, until he came to the antechamber from before.
“Ninomiya?” he heard Masaki call from somewhere in the room accompanied by a halo of soft white light.
“I’m here!” Kazunari replied, a smile turning his lips as a sense of freedom filled him.
The answer that came was full of relief. “Ninomiya!”
Masaki and he found each other in a section of the shelves. Kazunari only just barely held back from flinging himself into Masaki’s arms as he had done to Sho earlier. But Masaki didn’t think twice and ran into him. As they came together, he wrapped Kazunari into a tight embrace and almost pulled Kazunari off his feet as their bodies meshed. This time, Kazunari did not fight against his strength. Truthfully, he didn’t even hate it. He even found the masculine scent of Masaki, mixed with the dust of the antechamber, intoxicating.
Exhilarated by his daunting revenge, Kazunari said against his chest, “I’m sorry for earlier. I don’t ha--” The sound of rings set off around them and interrupted him.
Masaki suddenly set Kazunari on his feet again and pulled out a phone.
“I thought your battery died,” Kazunari commented.
“This is Sho’s phone,” Masaki absentmindedly answered as he turned off the alarm and looked at the time. Five minutes before midnight. He addressed Kazunari worriedly, “Where’s Sho?”
Disappointed, Kazunari blinked warily. They could’ve enjoyed the moment a bit longer without bringing that demon up. He averted his eyes and gripped the flashlight in his hand. “I don’t know.”
Masaki did not notice the extra light and grabbed his hand, pulling him along the way Kazunari had come. “We have to find him! It’s almost time! I shouldn’t have forced him down here if I knew it’d take so long to find you!”
Kazunari vehemently pulled himself from Masaki’s grasp and they stopped walking as their hands came apart. “All right! We’re going back to look for him, but you don’t have to rush me.” He wasn’t going to leave Sho down here anyway, but he’d at least feel better if Sho was left alone in that darkness a bit longer. To his surprise, Masaki turned to stare at him with wide, terrified eyes.
“You don’t understand! We’re out of time!”
“He didn’t have to come if he was so afraid of a midnight curfew!” Kazunari shouted at him, irritated.
Blood curdling shrieks exploded through the basement. Kazunari had never heard such terror before. He leapt to Masaki’s side and clung to the Sun in fear. His whole body shook as the shrill shrieks continued in outbursts throughout the darkness. Masaki pulled him off without a thought and ran towards the source of the wordless, horrific cries.
“Sho!” he screamed.
It took a moment, as Masaki’s light went further away, for Kazunari to process what Masaki has said. Sho? Those frightening screams belonged to Sakurai? His body still shaking, Kazunari stumbled along after Masaki. It couldn’t be that he had taken his revenge too far? As the shrieks continued, dread mixed with fear in Kazunari’s heart. He had meant no real harm. He had never wished Sakurai to die, but the screams sounded just like that; a well of deep, aching agony.
He ran with his light aimed ahead and knew he had found Masaki and Sho when he saw Masaki’s flashlight rolling in the distance and two dark bodies writhing on the ground. Kazunari aimed his flashlight. The circle of his white light captured the sight of Masaki struggling to pin Sho down. Masaki only had hold of Sho’s one arm and leg. The other half flailed and knocked into him. Sho fought back with incomprehensible strength.
“S-sho, i-it’s me…” Masaki sobbed, tears spilling from his eyes, down his cheeks, and dripping down onto his mad friend. Even as he cried, he tried his best to hold an uncontrollable Sho down. He looked straight at Kazunari despite the flashlight and cried, “H-help me…”
Kazunari dropped his flashlight in that instant. He ran forward and threw himself on top of Sho’s other side. Together, he and Masaki were able to pin Sho’s arms behind his back. When Sho banged his head against the ground, they had to hold his head down as well. Masaki fished handcuffs out of Sho’s pocket and cuffed his, what Kazunari recognized as, bruised and barely healed wrists together. They tied Sho’s legs together with Kazunari’s t-shirt and stuffed Sho’s mouth with Masaki’s to stop his screams.
For a very long time, they held Sho down until he tired and they tired and he finally stopped fighting. He continued to writhe, so they sat on him and stopped him from hurting himself.
Kazunari did not think throughout the entire exhausting ordeal. His mind remained blank, but beside him Masaki cried the whole time. Again, Kazunari did not know how much time passed while they waited in the almost darkness. At a certain point, Sho’s taut body underneath their combined weight finally relaxed. Shortly after, Masaki carefully turned Sho on his back, uncuffed Sho with the silver key from his pocket, untied his legs, and ungagged him. He did not hand Kazunari’s t-shirt back. Instead, without asking for permission, he threw the t-shirt over Sho’s face. He felt into his pocket and handed his wallet to Kazunari.
“If you flash my I.D. at security, none of them will ask anything, even about him,” Masaki said, his voice strangely hoarse from his tears. “So, help get him on my back so that I can carry him back.”
* *
They lay Sho in the second room, the one adjacent to the soundproof room. Although they were exhausted, Masaki did not rest or leave. He found a first-aid kit and tended to Sho’s wounds despite the bruises that were already forming on his own face from the knocks he’d received earlier. Although he did not ask for help this time, Kazunari joined the effort.
In the silence, Masaki suddenly spoke. “Satoshi told me you already know about our illnesses.” Before Kazunari could deny it, he continued, “But it still must have shocked you to see it live. Me, too. The first time I saw it, I was twelve. It was by accident. Sho caught his illness at eleven and they still did not know how to deal with it then. Sho doesn’t like people to see him like this, that’s why he came up with his asylum. In his house and here he erected that cursed room you see there. So no one can hear or see him. He always carries handcuffs. Sometimes, he takes medication to knock himself out before it happens and so his hands can heal. But he can’t always take medication because he becomes tolerant and addicted to the drug.”
“What is his illness?” Kazunari asked.
Masaki discarded the soaked cotton balls in his hand and took a roll of bandages to wrap around Sho’s wrist. “Sho loses his mind. Everyday; when the sun is at it’s highest point in the sky and the night is at it’s latest, in whichever part of the world he is in. That’s why it usually happens at noon and midnight. So twice a day, he goes mad. It’s the cruelest punishment for someone who values his mind. That’s also why he hates you.”
Kazunari’s head bobbed up at the last statement. “What did I do to him?”
Masaki shook his head. “Not you. You thought I didn’t know what was written in your mother’s files? All of us do. Our fathers bullied your mother when she was a student here and they especially thought it was funny that she’d get asthma attacks whenever they neared her. So my mother told me, all our mothers did, that when you were born your mother cursed us. We have our illnesses and they attack our weaknesses because your mother wanted to take revenge on us.”
Kazunari jumped off the bed and stepped away from both Masaki and an unconscious Sho. “I didn’t know about any of this. I… I only thought your fathers hurt her.”
“But I don’t hate you for it,” Masaki turned to watch Kazunari and assured him. “Unlike Sho, I figured it was our fathers getting what they deserved. By hurting us, their children. I don’t even blame your mother.”
Kazunari’s gaze took in Masaki and Sho again, but this time also the entire scene in its entirety. He remembered the few glimpses he had had of his mother’s medical records at the infirmary. He could not imagine what pain and misery his mother had gone through, but he had heard Sho’s suffering first-hand. He had seen Masaki’s tears. He had sat through one hour of horror. His revenge on Sho had been cruel, but many times less crueler than this. Frustrated and overwhelmed, Kazunari threw the swabs he had in his hand at Masaki. They floated to the floor airily.
“Are you saying you accept it? That you deserve to be suffering for what your fathers did? That Sakurai should be hurting everyday? It’s not justified! None of us are at fault! Medicine and medical practices are improving every day! You all can afford special doctors! You can try--”
“We’ve tried!” Masaki fell off the bed as well and faced Kazunari with his own frustration. “I’ve gone through more tests than you can count! I’ve always been treated like an exotic creature! Nothing’s worked! We can only give up! We’re freaks! You think there’s anything in the world that can cure Sho!? You think Satoshi and Jun can be cured? You think there’s a cure for what I have? We’re all sick!”
As Kazunari watched, tears started to stream down Masaki’s already bloodshot eyes. He clenched his fists as he grounded out, “We’re ill. We can’t be cured. Until I die. Until Sho dies. Everyday, twice a day, Sho will go crazy.” He tried not to snivel, but broken sobs escaped from his lips. “I’m sorry for what my father did to your mother.”
Kazunari did not know why he did what he did next, but his body moved of its own will. He stepped back to Masaki and wrapped his arms around the taller Sun. He pulled Masaki’s head down until it rested on his shoulder. While Masaki sobbed his heart out, sadness crushed Kazunari once more that night. Slowly and gradually, the mystery around his parents and the Four Suns had begun to unravel, and every thread only revealed pain and suffering. He hated that his mother had suffered, that the Four Suns were now suffering from their fathers’ sins, and that Masaki’s heart broke every time. Masaki’s tears hurt him as well.
“Maybe,” he started in a whisper and the enlightened thought took hold, “if my mom and our fathers started all of this... maybe resolving all of it is the secret to curing your illnesses.”
It was so simple, so unpretentious, that only he could have thought of it.