Three to Truth

"Really?" Satoru was intrigued.

Toshiro smiled meekly. "Yeah, but it's most probably a dream."

"It doesn't seem like a dream." Satoru stated to bring their conversation into a much deeper aspect.

All this time, these two kids wanted to talk about how bizarre their life turned out after the chocolate-eyed kid helped his supposedly only neighbor. But right now, the both of them instantly can feel something much more than just friendship—there was something about the both of them that make them want to explore further.

Toshiro sat down on one of the couches Satoru had near the windows. He also had this kind of setting back in his room, but since it had been soaked with water, there couldn't be any more way for him to actually enjoy the view from it anymore. He shrugged the thought away when he saw that the scenery being displayed on Ryuzaki's room is almost like his.

Thinking about his room made him wonder once again. Was it really meant to be? To find someone who looks like him in a camp that was supposed to be normal; and what about the sentence finishing thing? It was like they can read each other's minds.

"Hey, Satoru?"

The said boy looked up from the array of pictures that was displayed on his desk. "Yeah?"

"Aren't you a bit curious why we look like each other?" With that, all of Satoru's thoughts drifted somewhere else.

All this time, he thought of the world as a big place where no one would actually look like the same. But right here, right now, across from him is a mirror; projecting the same image as him except for the fact that this mirror had his eyes wrong. Instead of his warm chocolate ones, it turned out to be summer tone amber with a hint of cinnamon in them. Thinking about cinnamons, he remembered how his mom would always serve him a huge stack of pancakes with cinnamon syrup in them.

Since Satoru was taking too long to respond, Toshiro's mind processed this as a sensitive subject. But since he was still a kid, curiosity can still get a little bit stubborn sometimes. Wasn't there a saying that, "Curiosity killed the cat?"

This is a chance I have to take. And besides, I'm not a cat.

"Earth to Ryuzaki? Are you still here with me?"

Satoru stopped thinking about pancakes and turned to look at his doubles partner. "Oh, sorry. I guess I just missed my Mom's cinnamon pancakes."

Toshiro raised a brow. He thought that maybe Satoru was thinking of their complicated situation, but no. He was actually thinking of his mom's homemade dough with cinnamon as syrup.

Noticing how baffled Toshiro's expression turned out, Satoru tried to remember what they were talking about before he got distracted with his partner's eyes that somehow reminded him of cinnamons and pancakes. Coming into his mind that his not so intelligent brain might not handle all of the freaky things that were about to be talked about, he stood up and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen.

"I thought these could come in handy when we talk about our weird situation."

Toshiro smiled at him before beginning. "So, what we do know now is that we look-a-like so much and that I somehow know your Mom from somewhere."

"Yeah. Maybe we can relate this is if we talk about our lives in our own homes. Maybe my Mom resembles your own mom; maybe that's how you kind of know her."

Toshiro suddenly looked down before he raised his head to look at Satoru. Satoru, in return faced him with confusion before asking, "Is there something wrong?"

"W-well, you s-see, I d-don't know my m-mother." Being able to finally let it out from his chest suddenly gave him peacefulness. Toshiro sighed before wiping stray tears that somehow managed to fall without him noticing. Satoru on the other hand, looked pale all of a sudden. He quickly apologized.

"I am so sorry I asked that. I didn't know the situation."

"It's alright. At least now I was able to let it out."

"What do you mean? Don't you have siblings to talk to?"

Toshiro looked remorseful once again. "No, I'm afraid not."

Satoru also looked bummed out. "That makes the both of us."

"But you said you have a Dad, right? So, how's he?"

At least his partner had a Dad. If he didn't have one, then he would really pity him and maybe even think about convincing his mom about adopting him.

"My Dad? He's a t-tennis player." Toshiro said, "He's actually the best one out there. Though because of that, he always get death threats from anonymous people. But he just shrugs it off most of the time."

Satoru was still for a moment. If Toshiro Echizen says that his father is the best one out there, then…could it be that…

"Is your Dad that famous Echizen person?"

Toshiro scratched the back of his head sheepishly before nodding. With that, Satoru jumped from his seat before scooting over to the couch that Toshiro was in. "Why didn't you mention that earlier? I can't believe it! An actual offspring of the Samurai Junior is right here next to me! And he's my doubles partner! I haven't seen him before, but my friends tell me all the time that he's really cool!"

Toshiro laughed at the way his partner reacted of his sudden discovery. "But Dad doesn't like it when people call him Samurai Junior. He always thinks that he's a replica of my grandfather."

"Oh yeah right. You have grandparents…"

"Why, don't you have one?"

Now, it was Satoru's turn to look dejected. "Well, my mom lost my grandpa and my grandma when she was still a baby. It was my great-grandma who took care of her."

Toshiro was about to ask about his Dad's parents when Satoru beat him to it. "As for my Dad…well, I kind of didn't meet him. My friends tell me all the time that's he a wimp for not being with us, but I always keep in mind that there might be some reason why he isn't here. I plan to look for him when I'm old. My great-uncle tells me that he's somewhere in America…but, America is kind of big, don't you think?"

Instead of responding, Toshiro grabbed the paper and the pen from the table. He then began murmuring things under his breath.

"So…you live with your mother and your great-uncle. While I live with my Dad, my grandparents and my great-aunt…"

Satoru began to look fidgety all of a sudden. He was getting more nervous as Toshiro finishes his scribbles. "Don't forget that we kind of look-a-like…"

"Exactly." Wasn't there a show back in America where two people ask questions to find out if they're related or something?

Toshiro quickly thought of a question. "Satoru, are you positive that you live here in Japan, specifically in Kyoto?"

Satoru looked surprised with the question thrown at him. But nonetheless, he answered. "Yes, I'm sure about that…"

The Echizen looked down immediately. They were only on the first question and they failed it. Maybe thinking of Satoru as his somewhat related family member was too over the top.

Satoru however was racking his brain for anything that could possibly help them to solve their current dilemma. As if lightning had hit him, he suddenly exclaimed, "Wait a second!"

"Yes?" Toshiro's hopes were once again fired to an extent height.

"We only lived in Kyoto for the past eight years. Although it's kind of blurry, I remember the first time we entered my great-uncle's house. It was raining and my mom was carrying me with our luggage bags."

Toshiro wrote it down on the paper under Satoru's column. "Do you still remember where you came from that time?"

Satoru tried to think of the past events once again, before stating, "Kind of. There were really bright lights…there was also an airplane with some letter in them…"

"C'mon Satoru, you can do it! Try to remember the airplane you went in."

However, Satoru didn't remember anymore. "I'm sorry."

Toshiro slowly slide down the couch. Well, it was actually fun to think that maybe Satoru came from America like him, right? His thoughts were interrupted when Satoru added one detail that could possibly change both of their perspectives.

"I do remember hearing the flight attendant saying something about departing and…"

"…and?"

"L…A…?" Satoru wasn't even sure if what he said was even a word, or even worth of anything. Toshiro however, proved him wrong.

"Bingo!"

"What do you mean?"

"You came from Los Angeles! Like me! That's where we lived during my childhood!"

Satoru's facial expression was priceless. Now all they could do now is to think of more questions to ask each other to finally know if they are really related or it's all in their heads. It doesn't matter anymore if they both disturbed the whole camp at the peak of the afternoon.

Satoru looked at Toshiro who was equally puzzled like him. Even if they came from the same place during birth, they still need enough proof before they could conclude.

"Ne, Toshiro, when is your birthday?"

Toshiro inwardly groaned. Why didn't he think of that question before? "I celebrate my birthday every-"

"-5th of March?" Satoru finished. Toshiro and him looked amazed and at the same time bewildered.

Toshiro looked down on the paper on his hand. He wrote on the middle of the columns, under the word, "LA," "5th of March."

Toshiro then finally snapped. He wanted to know the truth now.

"Satoru…I know this is kind of bothersome, but, what's your mom's name?"

His grandfather Nanjiroh showed him once a tennis ball from his dad's collection.

Look here kid. I'm gonna tell you the secret to your Dad's calm demeanor.

Why is he like that Grandfather?

Did you know that Ryoma vents out his anger and confusion by writing his problems on tennis balls?

Reawwy?

Yes, really! In fact, I found this earlier on the library.

"I am going to get you back-"

"Sakuno. Sakuno Ryuzaki."

A/N: I am so sorry for the lack of updates! Here's Chapter 4. I really hope you guys like this one. Big thanks to ElLyDude, ShortFingerNails, lovedubs-kawaii, Tsuki no Sakura-11 and cityangelz for the reviews :)