A/N: Happy Easter, everyone (if you celebrate it, that is!)! Whether or not you celebrate the holiday, you have it to thank for this chapter because I'm home for the holiday so I can post because I can only do so when I'm at home. (:

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has review, faved/alerted, or even just bothered to read this far! I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. (:

Anywho, this story is starting to wind down; that being said, there are still a couple of chapters to go after this one. (: ...But this time, I won't be telling you to play detective; finally some answers! I know a few of you had ideas on what's going on, so be sure to let me know if you had it right!

Enjoy! (:

Chapter Seven
Through a Mirror Darkly

Houtarou stared at the screen in front him, breath caught in his throat. He remembered; he had found the key buried within his own memories. And this is where it had led him: the city's Hall of Open Records.

But never in a million years would he have thought that his guess would be correct. He had come for reassurance – to reassure himself that he was insane to think such things – not to find out that his insane reasoning had actually produced the truth.

"You're not even a part of this family; you were adopted!"

"Okasan! Aneki is being mean!"

"I am not. I'm just stating the truth."

"Tomoe, stop antagonizing your little brother."

Only now, as he stared at the computer screen, did he realize that she had never denied his sister's statement. Back then, he had thought she was just being a cruel older sister…

But now he knew that her words were actually the truth.

He was the son not of Oreki Akihiko and Ikeda Midori but of Kurosawa Kohei and Oreki Reiko – and an illegitimate son at that. What other possible explanation could there be for his birth certificate to still state his surname as Oreki? If they hadn't married, and his father hadn't had any interest in him, then it would make sense for him to take his mother's surname. And, at least to him, it was obvious that his father hadn't had any interest in him; why else would he be living with someone else's family?

But if he had no interest, they why was he trying to get Houtarou back?

And why was his 'father' trying to keep him away from his real father?

Even though he had the answer he'd been looking for, it only brought more questions. The question of whom they were running from still didn't answer why they were running.

What else were they hiding? What did they stand to gain from posing as his parents?

He stood up, closing the screen he had open at the same time. Now that he knew the truth, they couldn't hide anymore. He was going home, and he was going to get every answer to every question he had, and he would not let up no matter what they said. Now that he knew this much, they couldn't easily hide the rest.

He didn't bother to announce his return as he stepped through the door of the house. Out of habit, he slipped off his shoes at the door, but after that he immediately sought his parents who were both conveniently in the kitchen. They both looked up as he entered, but he cut off whatever it was his 'father' was about to say.

"We need to talk."

His 'mother's' smile instantly turned to a frown at his tone and the expression on his face. "What's wrong, Houtarou?"

"I'm sick of being lied to. I want some answers, and I want them right now. I'm not your son, am I? I'm your nephew. My parents are Kurosawa Kohei and Oreki Reiko. I'm guessing my real mother was your sister, Uncle Akihiko. Am I wrong?"

Akihiko looked down at the table with a sigh. "I don't know how you came to that conclusion, Houtarou," he spoke quietly. "But nevertheless, it is true. Gomen'nasai."

"If you think apologizing now will make anything better –!"

"It was for your own good."

"You keep saying that, but you haven't told me why!" He didn't care that his voice was rising steadily in volume; he didn't get truly angry often, but he certainly was now. "Don't you dare say that and then keep lying to me!"

Akihiko reached over and pulled out the chair beside him at the table. "Sit down. The story isn't a long one, but… Please."

Houtarou warily moved forward and sat down in the offered chair. Several moments of silence passed, the ticking of the clock the only indication that time was still moving forward.

"We – your aunt and I – never approved of my sister's choice of a fiancé. He seemed nice enough, but there was just something about him that made me anxious. When Reiko told me she was pregnant, I was even more furious since they weren't planning on wedding for over year at that time. She had said previously that he didn't particularly want kids – at least not right away – so I was honestly worried that he would leave her alone with his child.

"And that was exactly what happened. As she came closer to term, they argued more and more frequently. On more than one occasion, he had tried to convince her to have an abortion. Thankfully, she never agreed, but a month before she was due, she came to our door, sobbing and clutching for dear life onto the note he had left for her. He was gone, and he was never coming back.

"Well, that month passed, Reiko living with us since the house had belonged to Kurosawa and he had sold it right out from under her. But… There were complications with the delivery. You made it through, but Reiko died soon after. The hospital wanted to try to contact your father, but I refused. He had already shown that he wanted nothing to do with you. So we talked it over, and decided to take you in." He paused. "We never meant to keep this a secret from you forever, Houtarou. We wanted to wait until you were old enough to understand, but then it got a bit more complicated than that.

"A few years after you were born, he contacted us, wanting to take you back. We flat-out told him no. You can imagine that he wasn't happy, and a few days after the phone call he showed up at our door, this time demanding for us to return you to him. Again, we said no. You were too young to remember, but we moved soon thereafter. And again when you were eleven for the same reason. And now, again. For the exact same reason. Because he wanted you back, we were afraid to tell you the truth. We were afraid you would choose to live with him, even though I'm sure it's not your best interest he has in mind."

"So you lied instead?" Houtarou stated quietly. He was still angry to be sure, but his temper had simmered since his uncle was finally willing to tell him the truth. "You honestly thought that was the better option?"

Akihiko finally met his gaze. "You don't know your father, Houtarou. Yes, it was wrong of us to hide this from you for so long, but we only wanted to protect you. Please understand: Biologically you are not ours, but we love you as if you were. We only wanted the best for you. We didn't want to hurt you – we never want to hurt you. Having weighed the options, we simply chose the one we believed would hurt you less in the long run."

"You thought I would never figure out for myself?"

He sighed. "We had hoped. I'm sorry that it had to come out this way. In the end, you still ended up hurt."

The ticking of the clock once again filled the space between them before he finally broke the tense silence. "Sure, it would have hurt had you just come out and told me," Houtarou muttered. "But, to be perfectly honest, I think it hurt more this way, having to find it out on my own, knowing the people I call 'family' are hiding something from me." He stood up, dark bangs falling in front of his eyes.

"Houtarou –."

"I'm done talking about this. You don't trust me to decide what's best for myself. I think I'm old enough now to choose something like this."

"Houtarou, you don't understand what your father is like."

"Then why didn't you just tell me?!" His anger was quickly rekindling. "Did you honestly think I wouldn't listen to what you have to say?! You're the only parents I've ever known! Did you honestly think I wouldn't listen?!" He didn't wait for a reply before turning away from them and retreating up to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Suddenly exhausted, he leaned back against the door, sliding down it until he was seated on the floor. He had definitely used up all of his energy reserves. He was tired and frustrated and even though he had answers now, he still didn't know what to do with them.

Go find your father.

His eyes widened slightly as the inconceivable thought circled his mind. It was logical, in way; after all, how did he know his uncle was telling the whole truth? He wouldn't know if he didn't talk to the man in question himself.

Yet another part of his mind screamed that this was a terrible idea, that he should heed his uncle's warning, that his uncle had his best interest in mind despite lying all of these years.

Houtarou promptly ignored that part.

Standing back up from the floor, he went over to his desk and picked up his cell phone. Unplugging it from the charger, he moved to sit on his bed as he dialed a familiar number. If he were lucky, they would all still be there.

"Satoshi? Are Ibara and Chitanda with you? … Good. I need a favor…"

Houtarou stared out of the bus window at the quickly approaching skyline. It felt like he had been gone forever, but now he was headed back where he belonged. He sighed, not for the first time wondering if he was doing the right thing. But it was too late to back out now.

He wasn't even sure he would want to back out now, anyway. If this was what it took to get the answers he needed, then so be it.

He remembered a field trip once, in elementary school, where his class had gone to a see a cave. Every word, every footstep had bounced off of the walls no matter how quiet they had tried to be. And then, as such youngsters, they had found that it was kind of cool to talk all at once and then try to distinguish the words everyone had said. It was impossible to hear the original sentences in their entirety; everything was garbled at best, completely unintelligible at worst.

Everything he knew – well, it all felt a little bit like that time in the cave. He was sick and tired of the truth echoing around him, the resounding words distorting into the lies he knew. Without knowing what had been spoken into the silence, he would never be able to distinguish the original from the distorted. The truth would always be lost in the echoes.

He lifted his gaze from the window as the bus pulled to a stop. Glancing out the window on the opposite side of the vehicle, he could see Satoshi waiting for him. Taking a deep breath, he descended the stairs, preparing himself to face his best friend.

"I'm surprised you came. Won't you get in trouble for skipping school?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "I could say the same thing for you, Houtarou." He shrugged. "I faked being ill. The only people who will ever know are Chitanda-san, Mayaka, Kurosawa-sensei, and you."

Houtarou sighed. "Let's just get out of here before someone sees us."

"You still owe us a full explanation, you know," Satoshi quipped as he followed his friend away from the bus stop.

"And I'll give it to you once I know," Houtarou countered, not even bothering to turn around. "Once all of this is over… I promise I'll explain, just like always."

"Huh? But isn't that why you're here? You've got it all figured out but you just need to confirm something?"

"Satoshi, have you ever heard the phrase 'through a mirror darkly'?" When his friend didn't answer, he continued. "It means that you can only vaguely see something. In this case, I still can't see much of anything, like I'm looking in a mirror but the only light source is a dim one. I really have no idea what's going on. And that is why I'm here."

"But then why do you want to talk to Kurosawa-sensei?"

Houtarou stopped and turned to face his friend head-on. "Because he can shed more light on the situation; he can expose everything that has been hidden in the shadows thus far. Everything I know, Satoshi, is a just a distorted echo – it's all lies.

"Kurosawa Kohei is the only one who knows the truth."

~Mystery of You~