The Twin Formerly Known as Hokuto
Chapter One:
For many long years no one ever told him the truth, no one opposed him. Whenever anyone had ever tried to talk to him about it he shunned them. He would ignore them, take Hokuto's hand in his and tell her all about the bad people who spoke of terrible things. Obaa-san hadn't the will to tell it to Subaru. She knew it would break his heart, the innocently pure child he was. It was in Subaru's ninth year she decided the hold over Subaru must be broken soon. She arranged for the meeting.
In his dreams he sees her waving to him, wearing his ceremonial robes. She turns away. A dark figure awaits her beneath the falling petals of a sakura tree. Seishiro, with blossoms in his hair. His hand strikes fast, and she dies.
"Hokuto!" he yells as he shoots out of bed, released from his catatonic state. "Hokuto!"
Obaa-san is there. She lunges at her sixteen year-old grandson as he attempts to run out the door.
"Subaru-san, what is it?" she pleads.
"Hokuto…" is the only reply she gets as he sinks to the floor, tears falling from his eyes.
The phone rings. She leans over and grabs it. On the other end a voice tells her what has befallen. The power of those words are moving.
"You mean…?" The caller concludes it to be true. Obaa-san hangs up the phone and looks at her grandson. He stares blankly at the ceiling. Now is the time to tell him the truth.
Subaru reveals that he is going to drop out of school to catch Hokuto's killer.
"Oh, Subaru," is all she can say. Still, she does not tell him.
It is at the funeral that Subaru finds it all out. No one is there: none of Hokuto's friends or family. It is only Obaa-san and himself. Obaa-san takes his arm and pulls him aside, out of the rain.
"Obaa-san, where is everyone?"
She looks at him with eyes that implore silence. He obeys.
"Subaru," she sighs. "This has gone on for far too long."
Subaru only looks at her, waiting for her to continue.
"Subaru, there is something I've been meaning to tell you, something that I have put off long enough. Your sister, your twin, Hokuto," she stumbles over her words, something Subara has never witnessed. She takes a deep breath. "Hokuto, she…oh Subaru, she doesn't exist!" The last comes out in a rush and Obaa-san tightens her grip on Subaru's arm. "She doesn't exist. She never has."
Subaru gazes blindly at her, and then roughly shakes his head.
"No, no…i-it can't be true."
"I'm afraid it is." Once more she is professional, her answer curt. "I've wanted to tell you for so long."
He shakes his head again and backs away. She reaches out for him.
"Subaru, you must listen."
"I can't. This is a lie. You are lying to me. You must be."
Obaa-san closes her eyes and folds her hands on her lap.
"Then why is there no funeral? Where is her headstone?"
Subaru spins around. Still no one has come. He looks back to Obaa-san, emotions chasing each other across his face.
"Why are we here then if not for Hokuto?" His eyes beg his grandmother to tell him that she had been lying, that this was all just a joke, a cruel joke. It broke her heart to see but she could not back down. Subaru had to know the truth.
"Because I knew you'd never believe me. This is my proof to you." She waves her hand across the empty ritual grounds. His eyes follow. "Where are her friends? Her acquaintances? The family? Where is anybody?"
Still, he refuses to believe.
"Why would I lie to you, Subaru, about something like this?"
He looks wretched; down-trodden and broken. Plaintively he asks:
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I tried. You've no idea how hard I tried. But I couldn't. You were so happy, and you had always been alone. She helped you. But I underestimated the emotional bond between you and her. I should've told you sooner. I know that now."
She lowers her face, not looking at him. "But I did try to help. In a way I did try."
He kneels down in front of Obaa-san, grasping her small hands in his. "How do you mean?"
She gives him a small smile. "I tried to get you to realize it without me telling you myself. I tried, from the shadows, to influence your perspective of reality."
Subaru forwns at her. "Obaa-san, what—?"
"I hired someone. Someone who specializes in illusions. But I never dreamt it was going to end like this. Though now I see I should've expected nothing less of him."
Subaru's skin grew cold. He knew not what his grandmother meant but he had never seen such a desolate look in her eyes. He felt shivers run down his spine. He squeezed her hands rigidly. "Whatever do you mean, Obaa-san?"
Tears glittered in her eyes as she looked at him. She made no attempt to stop them. "Subaru, I'm so sorry." Silence, and then:
"When you were only nine, do you think it was by chance that you met the Sakurazukamori?"