Mizuno Katsuo.
1. He moved twelve times by the age of ten.
His shortest stay in one place before the final settlement was a little under two months; the longest was a bit over a year and a half. During those first ten years of life he lived everywhere from the highest places in Hokkaido to the lowest provinces in Kyushu and Okinawa. He met people of different dialects and different experiences, even spent time living next door to a new, foreign family who barely spoke any Japanese and who had a son his age, and though it had been a nuisance to always move at the time Katsuo later realized he treasured a lot of those memories.
2. His father was in the military.
The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, if you wanted to be specific, and he had been since right before Katsuo was born. Katsuo never knew why – never asked. But it was what it was, and though it later turned out to be an unfortunate fact that left Katsuo bitter for years, he never resented his father for it.
3. He was the first in his circle of friends to get a girlfriend.
Which, he realized, shouldn't have been surprising. Kachiroh was a bit too shy to approach people, let alone girls most of the time, and Horio didn't have the self-esteem to even try. His other friends – good though less connected – were either too socially awkward or too wrapped up in their studies to notice, and though it had been the beginning of his second year of high school when it had happened the look of shock that passed across everyone's faces made him flush red in both embarrassment and pride.
4. He was a movie fanatic.
And a closet movie fanatic at that. He adored movies, of all shapes and sizes, but unless somebody brought a particular film up in conversation Katsuo made sure never to talk about it. He was well aware of social boundaries, the least socially awkward of his friends, and while he had a thriving passion for all types of films – horror, animated, adventure, romance, comedy, sci-fi, and more – Katsuo kept this to himself. Unless you saw his bedroom, saw the bookshelf filled movie after movie after movie instead of the usual books, or got into a serious discussion with him about film you would have no idea of his obsession. And he liked it that way.
5. He hated being one of the oldest in his year.
There were years when his birthday actually fell on the first day of the new school year, and it was just an entirely unpleasant experience. Not only was getting homework on your birthday after spending the previous two weeks brain dead just cruel and unusual punishment, but when teacher's found out he was one of the oldest they always seemed to expect more of him. Of course, Katsuo delivered – he wasn't a bad student, and he was in no way going to let the opinions of his teachers bring him too down – but always being expected to know the answer was more than a tad irritating on more than one occasion.
6. He almost lost his mother after his father's death.
She had been all right at first, functional at least, but as the days turned into weeks turned into months she began fading. She spent more and more days locked in her room, remaining in bed and never coming out. The day she had her first hallucinations was the day he finally understood some, just a tiny portion, of what Kachiroh felt his whole life. When she finally came back to them, under heavy medication, she was permanently different and though Katsuo knew neither of his young siblings could tell, the more hollowed look in her eyes followed Katsuo his entire life.
7. He essentially raised his two younger siblings.
His sister Utami, who was six years younger than him, and his brother Seiki, who was nine years younger than him. His father was absent a lot of Katsuo's early life, though he didn't blame him and knew he was doing what he had to for his family, but that left Katsuo as the only older male around. Though his mother was wonderful, she always was a bit airy, and it was Katsuo's job from the moment Seiki was born to make sure all of the chores were done and all of the tasks completed. Despite the fact that it should have, his father's death never affected him in this particular area, and that was a bitter-sweet fact of life that always lingered in the back of his mind.
8. He couldn't stand cats.
And the fact that they owned one only added to his dislike. Sure, they were cute and all, but they would claw up your bedpost without a second thought and ruin your brand new leather school shoes the second you turned away. Yes, they were soft, but they shed everywhere and at least dogs didn't feel the need to sleep on all of your just-washed, just-pressed school clothes. And while dogs could get out of hand barking sometimes, cats were always – always – more needy more often; they meowed whenever they wanted something, pathetic and high-pitched like a disgruntled infant, and ran across the bed to wake you up even if it was an ungodly early hour.
9. Every October third he visited the grave.
He slipped off during that day, whether in the early morning or the late night, and just talked. He wasn't entirely sure if his father could hear him – he had never been overly religious – but he figured it couldn't hurt, and when the pain of the loss was still fresh in him he knew it was a helpful experience.
10. He had settled in an office job to give his kids what he hadn't had.
A father. Though it wasn't an enjoyable job, Katsuo held his nine to five office position without too much complaint. Sure, his butt was sore at the end of the day, his wrists hurt from typing, and as time went on his shirts became less and less pressed every day as his caffeine tolerance became higher and higher, but seeing the faces of his children light up as he walked through the door every night was worth every unpleasant experience.
