Katsuko parted ways with Jun when they reached the corner of their block. They lived on the same one but on opposite sides. Haruki had already left them since his home was up a block that they had passed so they ended up walking together for a minute or two. Instead of choosing to keep walking with her he chose to go around the block the shorter way since her way was the longer one.
Katsuko hummed the rhythm of her song with her hands in her jacket pockets. The weather was getting warmer now that the first semester was slowly reaching the end. The heat was slowly increasing, irritating her. She was not a heat-type of person. When her apartment got closer, she reached up to her collar and ripped off the red bow of her uniform before tucking it away into one of her blazer's pockets followed by a lazy way to open her blazer, letting the breeze blow it back. There was a slight pep in her stride.
She felt very proud today.
When she got to her apartment, she quickly went up the stairs to reach the second floor. Katsuko lived in a normal looking apartment. She lived on the second floor out of the total four. When she got to her door, she twisted the doorknob to check if it was unlocked. It was. That slightly made her mouth arc, she went in and easily slipped out of her school shoes and just pushed them to the side with her right foot. She could hear something frying in the kitchen. As soon as the front door closed behind her, she could hear her mother greeting her with a simple 'hi'.
Katsuko took that as her cue to see her mother in the kitchen, "Hi, mommy!" she greeted with a grin.
"How's school?" her mother asked, glancing over her shoulder once when she sensed her. "Good." Katsuko dropped her bag on the chair in the kitchen and peeked over her mother's shoulder. She was already salivating at the sight of the food in the giant pot.
She was cooking one of her favorite meals. Shrimps with slices of beef along with some bok choy to accompany the noodles that resembled cumian ones that were coated with a certain amount of soy sauce. It was based off of Yakisoba but with her mother's touch to it. It was her mother's Yakisoba.
"That's for supper?" Katsuko asked eagerly even though she knew the answer.
"Yeah, I decided to make it for tonight while doing some grocery shopping."
Katsuko let out a small 'yay' before taking her seat where her bag was.
Her mother stopped stirring in the pot to go to the sink. When she saw her daughter sitting there while grabbing the opened bag of chips on the table, she quickly reprimanded her and told her to change out of her uniform and put her bag away before she did something. This was something that Katsuko's mother had been telling her to do for a while now. Ever since Katsuko entered middle school, she would often just stay in her uniform as she was too lazy to change out of it. Her mother needed to remind her to change out of them since she had to alternate between the sets of uniforms she had for school. It was better to keep them in an unwrinkled state. This habit came from her usual routine during elementary school. Since there were no uniforms back then Katsuko's mother never said anything.
"Hm!" Katsuko made a sound as if she realized something. She chewed the chip in her mouth while moving to reach for her bag that she placed on the floor. "I got something back." she pulled out a purple transparent folder, the one where she tucked away papers from school and some drawings. She laid it flat on the table and pulled out a set of stapled papers on the left side.
"Here." Katsuko told her mother with a neutral expression on her face. Her mother eyed the paper and then dried her hands with the cloth hanging on the handle of the oven. She took the paper from her daughter and looked at it.
Katsuko let a smirk appear on her lips when her mother laughed with an look of disbelief on her face. "Wow! 98?!"
"Top of my class too." the girl shrugged with the same smirk. Her mother let out an impressed laugh. "Good! Very good."
The praise made Katsuko pull the silliest and exaggerated smile which only made her mother laugh again. Ever since she started middle school, Katsuko had made great efforts to earn herself extremely good grades. For as long as she could remember, her grades were very low in elementary school. She would be passing subjects with her ass above the fire or even barely so. She wasn't even sure how she climbed up all the six years, she was certain that she must have at least failed at some point. It certainly was a mystery. It was all fun and games back then, not caring one bit about the work or the homework. She could even remember that one time she easily skipped a whole math question without a second thought in an exam because she didn't know the answer. Her teacher confronted her about that one and offered to teach it to her again since she was understanding, saying that it was not because she didn't understand the question that she skipped it. She skipped the question because she didn't know how to do what the question what the question was asking her. Two different things.
However, it seemed like the switch within her finally began turning the gears, she was no longer neglecting her studies. Now, she was passing with flying colours, much to her two friend's astonishment as they were both in the same boat as her back in elementary school. Katsuko had confidently secured her spot at the top of the class with no one coming close to her. Honestly, it made her feel like a damn queen.
"So," Katsuko stood up and gathered her things together. "You'll buy me the game I want after work?" she asked innocently with puckered lips.
"Yeah, okay. We'll see."
"You promised! We agreed that if I got a good grade then I could get it!" she said over her shoulder before walking back to her room.
With all these amazing grades she was getting back, she might as well make more deals with her mother if she wanted something.
She left her door open as she undressed in the darkness of her room. "By the way, where is dad?" she asked loudly.
"He went to go meet up with a friend of his nearby." her mother replied with the same volume.
Katsuko didn't say anything after that, she just put on her house clothes. Her father's absence was to be expected. Compared to her mother, she didn't not see her father during the day. He was gone the early mornings to go to work to avoid traffic. He worked at an industrial valve manufacturing company, a pretty good company with many benefits according to her mother told her. Her father was also a car fanatic. He worked as semi-independent car dealer with a legit one. Her mom worked as caregiver, meaning she had her own flexible schedule and would usually be the one who Katsuko would see most of the time during the day.
Still, Katsuko couldn't help but notice how absent he was this week compared to usual.
…
…
…
Katsuko cursed herself while speeding walking to the bus stop. She was a little off her daily routine. After leaving the house, she already made it halfway across the second block before realizing she never put her homework back in her folder last night. She wasn't about to show up without it and get in trouble with Suzumura. She had to dash back home, up the stairs and search for the papers in a panic. She didn't even take off her shoes before entering either. When she got it, she walked with haste to try and make up for the precious seconds and minutes that were wasted.
The bus stop wasn't exactly close that's why she was rushing. She wanted to catch the same bus she usually took to school.
When she rounded a corner, she let sucked in a breath before stumbling to the side while nearly jumping out of her skin. When she regained her footing, she looked down and shot a glare at the person crouching in front of the pole with a small vase with two flowers in it.
"The hell?! Kurosaki?!"
Ichigo looked up at her. "Oh. Hey, Hiragi." he held up his free hand since the other was holding a flower. "Didn't expect to see you here so early."
Katsuko cocked her to the side. "Uhh… that's my line. What are you doing crouching here?"
"Just paying my respects." he waved the flower lightly.
"Oh," Katsuko straightened her head. "You knew the person?" she scratched her cheek with a finger.
"Sort of." he rubbed the back of his neck.
Katsuko felt a little bit embarrassed for interrupting his moment. It was her turn to rub the back of neck awkwardly. She glanced at the pole for moment before quickly turning her gaze away, not wanting to seem weird in front of him. She lowered her hand and started walking around Ichigo.
"Well, you do what you need to do. I'm going to head school."
Ichigo turned his head, following her figure. "Sure, I'll see you there."
Katsuko waved her hand before continuing her brisk pace but faster now that she wasted a few seconds thanks to her little run in with her classmate. Every damn second and minute counts.
Ichigo turned his attention back to the pole in front of him. "Sorry, that was my friend. You were saying something about a dog?"
A young girl with black pigtails and bright brown eyes smiled at him. She was a spirit, something that only Ichigo could see.
"Right! I saw this dog and he was like… sniffing in my direction! I think he could see me." she said, excitedly while waving her arms. This made Ichigo smile a little. "Really? I didn't think dogs could see spirits…"
"Me too. But I'm pretty sure he could since he was kinda looking at me." the little girl giggled. "He was very cute." she looked down at the flower in his hands, a small smile gracing her innocent features.
This wasn't the first time that Ichigo was interacting with this young spirit. From their conversations, he could tell that she felt very lonely since no one could see her. When he first met her, she was super ecstatic and told him that she was glad to finally talk to someone before bawling in front of him.
"Mister, can your friend see me too?"
"Uh, I don't think so. Why?"
"… That's a shame." she pouted. "I really thought someone else could see me… it looked like she could. I was getting all excited again…"
Ichigo quirked up a brow. "What do you mean?"
The girl frowned and put a finger on her chin. "… It looked like she moved to avoid running into me…"
There's no way Hiragi can see spirits too, Ichigo thought while watching the spirit try to wrack her mind over whether or not Katsuko could see her.
There's just no way.
…
…
…
Katsuko steadied her breathing as she approached the bus stop. She missed her usual bus, but it wasn't really an issue. In fact, it was probably still going to be early when she got there. She was just too punctual. She stopped next to a girl who was in line and brought out her phone and started to get busy while waiting for the bus. She was scrolling through her playlist while reaching in her pocket for her earphones. Her phone had to be tucked away since she needed to untangle the wires, not wanting to drop it or something.
While she slowly undid the mess of wires, she couldn't help but think back to when she ran into Ichigo.
She frowned.
…
…
Katsuko's eyes widened when she came around the corner. There was something there. It was cloudy and a little foggy. Her eyes had no idea what they were seeing. She just knew that something was there. Whatever it was scared her. She stumbled to the side to avoid running into the figure.
She spotted Ichigo crouching down there which helped her shift her attention away from it. Like always, she turned a blind eye to the unknown.
…
…
…
Been a while since I saw something like that. I thought they were gone for good…
Katsuko couldn't help but feel uneasy from the experience like she always did.
It was nearly lunch time, Suzumura was wrapping up whatever she was teaching the class while Katsuko simply sketched on some paper she brought from home. She was barely listening. This habit of drawing in class was something that she was pretty sure started somewhere back in the third or fourth grade. She couldn't stand listening to the teachers talk since it made her feel so bored. She always ended up drawing original anime characters to the point where she'd get so absorbed into it.
The bell chimed.
Katsuko quickly started putting her things away when she heard her classmates around her rummaging around to put away their things. Her drawing was neatly tucked away into her folder and she put away her things in her bag. When she finished cleaning up her desk, she grabbed her lunch and started making a beeline for the door. She seriously needed to go to the bathroom.
...
...
...
After doing her business, she walked off to her usual spot until she heard her name being called. She looked to the left and then the right to try and located the person who called her. Then she looked behind her. Near the entrance of the school, just in front of the gates, was her two friends with Ichigo. It seemed like Haru was the one who called her since he had his hands cupped around his mouth. He waved her over when she was just staring at them with a hand up, asking him what he wanted with her movement.
Obviously, there was no hesitation when she dashed over to them.
After the incident, Haruki and Jun decided to make the effort to approach Ichigo since their friend kept trying to prove them wrong. It really didn't take them that long to discover that Ichigo was actually a decent person. This brought relief to Katsuko since she didn't have to deal with them ganging on her with their biased opinions ever again. They would actually make conversations with him if they had the chance. The two of them were slowly becoming casual friends with him just like her.
Ichigo's bullies didn't dare show their faces in front of Katsuko and her friends again, not with the orange haired boy's threats and Katsuko's threat of getting the police involve with a single video. Like she assumed, she didn't want the police involved them for reasons she didn't know about. They got the message. They never tried to get Ichigo through other people.
"Wanna go walk?" Haru grinned while pointing his thumb at the gates. "You could use this time to move around, y'know? Get in that exercise."
Katsuko gave him a look. "Calling me lazy?"
"Duh, that's what you are."
Katsuko chuckled before walking past him and lightly poking his side, causing him to jerk away. Jun took the lead and started walking. Haru quickly slipped between Ichigo and Katsuko and took his spot next to Jun, leaving the two behind with each other.
She didn't show it but she was very happy that she got to spend her lunch time with Jun and Haru for once. Her fingers diligently unwrapped her sandwich from its wrapper after tucking her juice box into the blazer's pocket. "Hey, Ichigo… where's your lunch?" she asked after noticing that Ichigo just had his hands in his pockets.
He looked at her. "I forgot it at home since I was in a rush to leave." He said with a frown. "I woke up later than usual…"
"You don't have an alarm or something?"
"It broke." Ichigo sighed and looked ahead.
"What?" Katsuko chuckled. "Did you hit it too hard while turning it off?" she asked with a laugh.
"Threw it at someone." He corrected with scowl which made cease her laughter and slowly turn her head to stare at him in confusion.
"… I won't ask who you struck with it. But anyway, you're going to buy lunch at the convenience store then?"
"Yeah," he pointed at the two boys in front. "These guys caught me in line at the cafeteria and just dragged me along with them, saying the store has better food." He said, making Jun throw him a thumbs up.
"What? It's true." Haru defended. "They sell food appropriate for lunch."
"So, that's how you guys are fattening up these days." Katsuko deadpanned.
"Hah?" Haru stopped walking and turned to give her a look. "What do you mean fat?"
Katsuko scoffed and stopped walking to give him a condescending look. "Ya'll are eating chips and stuff for lunch. That's not lunch… that's a recipe to get fat with junk food, dumbass." she lightly patted his stomach with the back of her hand.
Jun was never the type of student that would bring his own lunch to school. She didn't remember a time where he was eating something other than school food. She knew that Haru brought lunches to school back then. Nowadays, lunch was comprised of a simple snack with a beverage from the local store.
Jun shrugged. "It does the job." he pointed out, standing next to Ichigo who just chose to watch the two interact while looking amused at the way Katsuko just switched out of her quiet self. "Besides, we don't eat like fourteen bags. We buy those small ones."
Katsuko shrugged. "I'm just saying. I'm older than the two of you so I gotta look out for you."
Haru scoffed. "Suuuure. Keep talking. I'm older than you."
"Yeah, right!" Katsuko resisted the urge to grin while waving him off dismissively.
Haru looked back at Ichigo and shook his head, he pointed a finger at Katsuko like as if she was dirty. "She doesn't know what she's talking about. She's dumb." He then yelped when she smacked him behind the head. "Ow!"
Haru scowled and rubbed the back of his head. "So mean."
"You're the dumb one here." she leered.
Ichigo turned to Jun. "Hey, do they sell onigiris there?"
"I think so? Pretty sure I saw a shelf full of them."
Ichigo turned away from the childish banter. "Alright, let's go."
Jun and Ichigo started leaving the two behind, causing the two cease their playful argument and quickly catch up to them.
…
…
…
When they got their food, they took the long way back which allowed them to pass by a little park. Katsuko hopped on top of a short wall and walked on it like it was a tightrope, minus her arms being perpendicular to her body. She already finished her food and drink while the three boys were eating their food and talking about whatever boys talk about. She wasn't really engaging in the conversation but she didn't mind, it was alright just being close to them while they still acknowledged her presence.
Katsuko stretched her leg to reach the other wall that was a few feet away. Ichigo, who was walking near her, glanced at her before looking ahead.
"Jun." she said when she made it to the other side. "Do you want to come over today?" she asked out of the blue.
He shrugged. "Sure. Haru, you wanna come?"
"Okay, but I'm not staying long."
"That's fine." Katsuko said while hiding her small smile. Her body teetered to the side when she lost her balance. Seeing her flail, Ichigo took a stride to reach her side and pushed his arm toward her, trying to help her get balance again by lightly pushing her. She ended up holding onto Ichigo's forearm and shoulder to keep herself upright. Her little flail earned her a few laughs from Jun and Haru which was responded with a look of embarrassment.
"Nice." Ichigo said sarcastically. "Get down from there before you smash your face on the concrete." he said after moving his arm away.
"Okay, okay…" Katsuko said sheepishly before hopping off the wall.
"Hey, Kurosaki." Haru suddenly said. "You want to come to Katsuko's house with us?"
Ichigo wasn't expecting that question. It seriously came out of nowhere. He just stopped chewing his food (which he nearly choked on) and stared at Haru, eyes wide with surprise and confusion. Jun was also staring at him, wondering what his answer would be. Ichigo opened his mouth but nothing came out.
Katsuko eyed him curiously when she noticed how stiff he became when the question came up. "What are you thinking about?"
Ichigo whipped his head in her direction. "N-Nothing!" he quickly said, a little flustered.
She gave him a skeptical look. "Uh-huh. I'm guessing you never went to a girl's house before." Her words made him stiffen once more.
Haru whistled. "Big bad Ichigo too shy to go to a girl's house? Never thought I'd see that."
Ichigo's face turned a little red from that comment. "Sh-Shut up!" he managed to spit out, causing Haru to laugh at his face. He glared at the shorter boy.
"All we actually do there is hang out. Just relax and have fun and stuff." Jun informed while casual sipping from his juice box. "Pretty simple stuff."
"And eating all my damn snacks." Katsuko huffed before crossing her arms.
"Good freaking snacks." Jun replied, making Haru cackle.
A place to relax and socialize. That was Katsuko's home for the three of them. They'd sit in the living room or stay in her room and play with the electronic devices she had. They would watch anime, eat and perhaps study if they were motivated (not like they'd be able to get anything done). These moments together were cherished as one of their favorite pass times. A peaceful and simple time together. And now, Jun and Haruki were willing to let someone else into that space.
Ichigo scratched his head. "Maybe next time." He said after a few seconds passed. "I actually have something to do after school. Thanks though."
"Karate?" Katsuko guessed.
"Yeah."
"What the?! You take karate classes?!" Jun exclaimed, baffled.
"No way." Haru gaped. "You don't look like someone who takes karate."
Sensing Katsuko looking at him, he turned his head and saw her grinning. "Told you." she shrugged.
Katsuko tucked her key in her pocket after unlocking her front door. She held the door for her two friends behind her who eagerly followed her inside her home. Haruki made a beeline for her room after setting down his bag in her living room, saying something about he was going to grab a soda from her small fridge.
"Haru! Get me one too!" Jun shouted while moving to sit on her couch.
"Mkay!"
Katsuko went to her room and found Haru reaching for her 3DS on her headboard. She gave him a skeptical look. "I thought you were getting a soda?"
"I did." Haru grinned he held up the two soda cans. "I downloaded a spider-man game demo last time I came here."
"You did?" she watched him unplug the console from its charger.
"Yeah, and I'm gonna play it!" he said before exiting her room and joining Jun in the other. She could only shrug with a small grin before shutting her door and locking it. She undressed out of her uniform and got into some comfy house clothes. She was wearing dark pink silk pants, a black t-shirt and a loose blue sweater as she left her room and joined her friends in the living room. When she arrived, Haru was the first to look at her, he paused.
Katsuko, who was carrying a water bottle, looked at him weirdly as she sat on the other couch that had a single seat. "What?"
"You going jogging?" Haru chuckled, making Jun crack up next to him.
"Shut up." Katsuko rolled her eyes. She grabbed her bag from the side and pulled out her transparent folder while Jun grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. When he put the remote down, he shot up from his seat before leaving the living room for a few seconds. Judging by the sound, he was looking for a bag of chips to eat. He found it. He came back with a bag that wasn't even open yet and sat back down.
"Oh," Jun pulled out his school agenda, which could be considered a binder at this point considering how much paper was stuffed in between the pages. The sight of it always made Katsuko and Haru laugh since it seemed like it was getting bigger and bigger every time they saw it. One day, it was going to be a sneeze away from exploding and it's going to be hilarious.
"Can you help me with this?" Jun asked while showing her his math homework. "I didn't really get what the teacher was saying."
Katsuko raised an eyebrow. "Help or do?"
"I mean, you can do my homework—"
"I'm helping."
Haru started pulling out his homework since he was in the same class as Jun. "Hey, can you help me too?"
"Nah, you stick with spider-man." She said without batting an eye with a wave of her hand.
"What the hell?! Help me too! Look, I'll put the game down!"
"Hell no." She moved closer to Jun to look at his homework. The youngest of the group just laughed quietly while shaking his head. He opened the bag of chips and started munching.
"Come on, don't be like that." Haru frowned.
"NAH."
Her adamant decision made Haru stare at her. He put his homework on the table with a huff and leaned back on the couch to drink his soda silently. "Fine. Be that way." He said, clearly not pleased by the unfair treatment. Jun gently nudged the side of her head with his elbow as a way of telling her to quit playing around with him. Katsuko reached behind her and grabbed a pillow and then chucked it at him playfully with a dead expression, causing him to somewhat shriek in horror while he held his drink away from the couch.
"If I spill this on your couch it's on you!" he warned.
"If you spill it on my couch while being a clumsy idiot, I will end you and you will face my mom later." Katsuko said with a straight face which made Haru sweat drop. There were two things that were scary in this house; Katsuko and her mother. Of course, he'd be scared of her mother if he did something bad in their house. He'd be scared of Katsuko who is known to be quite cold hearted and threatening when she got mad (cold hearted was actually pretty normal for her sometimes)... he's seen her angry before and he's glad that she doesn't lash out as much as she used to.
The girl then motioned him towards her and Jun lazily. "Now show me what the hell you don't understand." she drawled.
Katsuko helped them with their homework. When she was done helping, they tucked away their homework in their bags.
For now, it was time to forget every thing and relax.
…
…
…
Haru and Jun went home around 4:50 PM.
The hallways were quiet aside from the constant ticking of the clock in her kitchen.
All the lights, except for the one in her room and the standing lamp in the living room illuminated her house. She was spending her time on the computer making animations with a video editing software she downloaded. It was only when she leaned back to sigh that she glanced at the time in the corner of her computer screen.
Weird… dad is usually home by now.
…
…
…
It wouldn't be until a week later, the last week of May, that Ichigo agreed to tag along with Katsuko, Haru and Jun after school. There was no harm in it and he was completely free after school hours on a Friday. After all, these three were basically the only ones he could confidently call friends since they weren't afraid of him like most students.
To his surprise, Katsuko's house wasn't exactly too far from his house since it was on the other side of the Karasu River. He didn't have to worry too much about the time when it came to heading home. As soon as Katsuko opened the door to her house, she skillfully got out of her school shoes and went straight for her room. Jun and Haru were in the mood to play with Ichigo on Katsuko's playstation which was in her room since they found out he liked an anime that Katsuko had the game of. When she got her house clothes, she went to the bathroom to change.
When she returned, she found Jun and Haru seated in front of the screen one some chairs they grabbed around her room while Ichigo was sitting on her bed against the wall, flipping through a sketchbook he found.
Katsuko internally cringed when she saw him flipping through the pages nonchalantly. She shuffled towards her bed and kneeled on it, and then gave Ichigo a skeptical look. "You found my sketchbook."
"It was right here." he shrugged while pointing at the end of the bed.
"Without my permission." Katsuko frowned, gently prying her sketchbook away. She carefully closed it and set it aside.
"Oh, come on. They're just drawings." he said with a flat tone. "Besides, I've seen some of your drawings already. You've already shown me like two or three already."
Katsuko furrowed her brows and crossed her arms, sitting in a criss cross position. "Yeah, well… these first pages are old."
Her sketchbook dated back to probably her fourth or fifth year of elementary school. If someone were to look at the first pages and then continue flipping until the end, they would notice that something didn't add up. The first drawings were done in a way that looked professional since there was not a hint of erasure on them. The following several pages were different as if someone else was drawing.
Ichigo stared at her for a moment before swiping the sketchbook from her side to continue looking through the pages. She didn't protest. Instead, she moved closer to him and leaned her back against the wall while sitting next to him to look at her old drawings. She looked away when she saw that he opened up her sketchbook on probably the fifth page.
He just snickered and tapped the paper with his finger. "You traced this, didn't you?"
Katsuko twitched.
"… Yeah."
"Figures. I watched this anime with my sisters, and I've actually seen this episode a couple of times too." He revealed with a knowing grin. "What, did you hold this up against the TV and trace it?" he said while holding up the 'illegal drawings'.
Katsuko rolled her eyes. She slammed the sketchbook back on his lap and stuck her finger between some pages further ahead, flipping them over to hide the drawing. "No! And for your information, I printed a picture of the episode… then I placed it on the window to trace."
"And that's like fifteen or twenty pages of—"
"Yeah, yeah." Katsuko cut him off with a huff. "Back in second grade, me and a bunch of my classmates used to draw against the window when the teacher gave us free time. I grew out of that habit anyway." she explained. "I draw for real now!" she told him seriously.
"Geez relax, no need to get all defensive. It doesn't matter. I'm pretty sure we've all done that before." Ichigo said when flipped the pages backwards to go back where was before she took it away. "It's pretty cool that you're good at drawing though."
"Mm." Katsuko didn't show it but she felt happy for receiving his praise. Every time someone who didn't know (or fully know) about her drawing skills would complement her, it just made her feel a bit giddy like a little kid. She would be lying if she said she didn't like the attention.
"SHIT!"
Ichigo and Katsuko jolted when they heard Haru's booming voice followed by his groaning. It looked like Jun just won the match while Haru was trying his best to just… survive.
Ichigo sweat dropped and looked at her, he pointed at the two. "Are they always like this?"
Katsuko sighed with a small smile. "Yeah, pretty much. Some times I have to tell them to shut the hell up when they get too loud, like screaming type loud."
"Geez," Ichigo put down the sketchbook when he spotted a manga book on the drawer. He stretched his arm to grab it. It was one of his favorite manga. "I don't know how you could deal with the shouting every time they come over then. I think it'd get pretty annoying." he said as he flipped the pages.
"Hm, you think so? I think it's fine." Katsuko looked at the screen to watch the rematch between Jun and Haru. "I like having the company in the house." she admitted. "It's usually quiet after school since my parents aren't home until like… five or six, maybe eight. It gets pretty boring and super quiet."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. It sounded to him like she was alone pretty often. At school, she was alone most of the time unless someone showed up to hang around her. She was definitely not the lone wolf type since it looked like she genuinely enjoyed being around her friends. Clearly, she had the choice to stick around Haru and Jun during lunch instead of being alone. He just didn't understand why she didn't do it.
To Ichigo, it seemed like she was pretty lonely.
Jun looked over his shoulder and held the controller limply in his hand. "Kurosaki, wanna play against Haru? I lost."
Ichigo put down the manga. "Sure." He held out his hand while shuffling over to the edge of the bed in order to get up and take Jun's seat. "How do you play this game though?" he asked Haru when he was seated next to him. Instead of telling him, Haru held a practice match to show him the controls. Katsuko had to pitch in every now and then since he kept forgetting to mention a few things.
To Haru's horror, Ichigo already had a solid idea of how to play. The second practice math ended with Ichigo beating the heck out of Haru's character, leaving the boy speechless.
"Wait, wait," Haru laughed to himself while shaking his head lightly in disbelief. "Hooold on. Let's try that again." he said while making a hand motion that translated into 'do over'.
Katsuko and Jun laughed behind Ichigo and Haru. The orange haired boy just chuckled and shrugged in amusement as if to show that he wasn't expecting anything else from Haru. The first rounded ended with Haru barely getting of half of the health bar of Ichigo's character. The second round was reserved for Haru's screaming as if he was the one avoiding getting smacked into oblivion, prompting Katsuko and Jun to burst into fits of laughter. Ichigo found Haru's pathetic attempts at survival ridiculous.
"Stop running!" Ichigo groaned before furiously jamming a button.
Haru let out a shout when Ichigo's character missed his attack by an inch. The boy was standing up from his seat while tilting to the side, laughing. Katsuko reached forward and pushed his shoulders down to get him seated back in his chair only for him to shoot back up when Ichigo defeated his character, knocking Katsuko's hands off him.
"Finally got you, you freaking runner." Ichigo sighed exasperatedly but he had an amused grin on his face.
"Did you see that?!" Haru whipped around and pointed at the screen. "This guy just learned how to play two minutes ago and he whipped my ass!"
Katsuko grinned. "It must be Kurosaki's real life fighting skills seeping into the game."
"That," Jun nodded while pointing at Katsuko, "Or you just suck and get lucky when you beat me." he said nonchalantly next to Katsuko.
Haru gave his two friends a tired look.
"He sucks." Ichigo confirmed.
"Hey!" Haru scowled.
"There we have it." Katsuko clapped. "You freaking suck."
...
...
...
Time passed fast. The finals of the first semester were also over with it. Ichigo and Katsuko already gave their first part of the assignment before the finals came. That made them more organized than most of their classmates who were slacking off. All that was left was to take it easy and wait for the summer vacation to come. However, just because the finals were over, that didn't mean that the teachers didn't try to get a head start on the material for the next term much to most of the students' annoyance.
However, Katsuko feeling a mix of emotions.
Around the second week of June, Katsuko faced a new reality.
…
…
…
Katsuko's eyes opened slowly in the dark when loud voices pulled her out of her slumber. Loud voices. That's what she heard. It didn't help that they were literally on the other side of the wall she was sleeping next to. She was annoyed. It took some time to fall asleep since she had school the next day, and to be so rudely woken up by her parents' loud conversation. With an annoyed frown, she tossed the blankets aside and left her bed. She swung her door open and marched into the living room where the voices were coming from.
She appeared at the entrance. "I'm trying to sleep!" she said with irritation in her tone. "What's going on?!"
Her mother looked at her with a strained smile, but she could tell it was one that held anger behind it. "Your father has a mistress!" she said, holding up her father's phone. She laughed hollowly. Her father quickly looked at her and shook his head.
"No, no, no. It's not what you think." Her father told her with an uneasy smile on his face, desperately trying to diffuse the situation.
A mistress. Her father?
The irritation she felt left her body so fast. She was left speechless. She couldn't really think of something to say at that moment.
Her mother walked past her, saying something to her father but she couldn't quite register what she said as she was momentarily frozen. Katsuko numbly turned to where her mother was and took slow steps after her. Her mind was registering this new information while she remained quiet. The situation wasn't quite sinking in yet.
Her father was with another woman? How?
She heard her mother screaming at her father while he attempted explain himself. She was saying about how she was going to tell his family back in Hokkaido of his shame.
Since when? Does he not…?
A million thoughts were racing through her mind as she tried to calm her heart. This was no joke. Her father really did…
She saw him attempt to touch her shoulder.
Immediately, Katsuko stumbled backwards with her eyes wide. "Do you not love me and mom anymore?!" those words ripped out of her throat. That was the first thing that came to mind. Why else would he have any reason to ruin the family relationship? Did his own wife and daughter pale in comparison to his mistress? What were they missing that this woman had?
It hurts.
Her father's face twisted and he tried to reach for her again. "Oh, Katsuko. No."
She started crying.
…
…
…
She woke up that morning feeling glum. Her mother tried to cheer her up by laughing at her frown in mirror while she fixed her hair, telling her that she was going to be okay. Her mother even told her to show the world that a father like him would not be able to stop her and that he wouldn't be a reason to fail school, it was another way of cheering her up.
She wondered though if things were going to be okay again.
Katsuko sighed heavily while she sat at her desk, doing nothing but staring into space. She was tired. She realized that now that it was the break. Yesterday, she tried sleeping early for once, but she still ended up sleeping late due to the sudden revelation and the crying-herself-to-sleep. She usually wasn't this tired after sleeping late and waking up early. Perhaps it was the emotional exhaustion that made her tired.
… Is mom okay?
… Probably not.
With another heavy sigh, she pushed her seat back and casually walked to the door in the back of the classroom. She had at least ten minutes to spare, it should be good enough to get some fresh air and just breathe for a minute. When her fingers reached for the handle, it flew open, knocking her fingers rather harshly which made her flinch and hiss. She took a few steps back and looked at her hand with a frown.
"Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there." That was Ichigo's voice. "Oh shit, did I hurt your hand?" he asked when he saw her rubbing her thumb over the backs of her fingers. "Sorry about that."
Katsuko put on a smirk. "Pay for the hospital fee. You broke my fingers you friggin' carrot." She held out her hand.
"Looks like you're fine." Ichigo deadpanned.
"Still, you should give me something for almost damaging property." She wiggled her fingers in front of his face. He just leaned his face away and stared at the digits in front of him. Then he reached for them and gave a light squeeze which served as a warning jest, making her pull her away with a dramatic gasp before grinning a little.
Ichigo just chuckled before walking past her to go back to his seat. As soon as they walked past each other, the grin that was plastered on her face just fell once it served its purpose. She walked in the hallway in search of an isolated area where a window would be open.
She didn't realize how easy it was to switch back to usual self.
Maybe she didn't really care as much as she thought she did.
She couldn't help but feel grateful this event happened after her finals. She'd hate to have her father's selfish actions distract her from something that was important. But then again, she doubted that she'd end up being another statistic. She was always moving at her own pace that rarely tried anything new outside of her comfort zone. She couldn't picture herself skipping school or running away from home, it seemed to extreme for someone like her.
All she could really do is keep a lid on her feelings for now.
It wouldn't be until a week later, on June 16th, that Katsuko would actually talk about it after hearing her mother's suggestion about letting out her feelings. After all, things weren't exactly sunshine and rainbows at home so she was concerned that Katsuko might be suppressing her negative feelings.
Katsuko acted more distant with her father who now returned home on time instead of probably frolicking around with his mistress. It was annoying to constantly hear her father's pathetic attempts at trying to convince her mother that he had stopped seeing her despite the secretive phone calls. Did he really think he was fooling anyone?
There was one time, when her mother was working on the weekend, that her father was talking on the phone on the veranda. Katsuko had placed her phone next to window to record the conversation. It was too bad that she didn't give her father enough credit as he had caught on to it and gently asked her to delete it. Unfortunately, she did. But it didn't make her think other than he was trying to hide the truth from his wife since she reported any suspicious activity to her mother.
It was even more insulting when Katsuko would hear the low mumbling on the other side of her wall at night while her mother took some greatly needed alone time on a walk. Did her father really think she was stupid like him? He wasn't being discreet even if he tried, the bastard. No doubt, she did become quite disrespectful with her father who seemed quite baffled by it. She even started cussing at home, something she would never do out of fear of getting in trouble. Saying bad words at home was like asking for a death sentence.
It was amazing how her father could still drink alcohol everyday at night, having a good time like as if he didn't do anything wrong. It was astonishing really.
He once drove her to school on a rainy day thanks to her mother. Apparently, his affair was going on even during the previous winter. Her mother had looked at him with disdain when she threw a fact at his face. He'd rather go see his other woman while his daughter walked in the cold winter on his day off from work. He could have thought of her first and drove her to school but he didn't.
This somehow made me him take the initiative to drive her to school on his days off, which Katsuko forced herself to go along with since her mother insisted her to go with him. He wished her a nice day at school and asked for a kiss on the cheek. No. Katsuko scoffed and said she'd hate to be mistaken as his mistress before slamming the door shut behind her.
The arguing and the uncomfortable atmosphere at home never deterred Katsuko from keeping her usual personality at school. She was resilient. Was that a good thing? She thought she was doing a good job from keeping suspicion off of her until Haru and Jun asked her if she was feeling okay. She did her best to deny, telling them that she was really okay. She was, she really felt fine at school.
There were also times where she could feel Ichigo staring at her before asking her if she was alright. Again, she denied and just cracked a joked to prove her claim.
The only thing she was hiding was her situation at home, she didn't feel depressed or anything like that.
Her mother said that it was okay to cry if she needed to, she didn't need to hold it in. But, Katsuko would reply to her mother by saying that she was fine and that she didn't need to cry. But she said that she would try to talk to someone since it was supposed to help.
Thing is, how the hell was she supposed to bring it up? Here she was, walking home with Jun, Haru and Ichigo instead of taking the bus (according to Jun, it wasn't a bad idea to walk home every now and then). If she wanted to talk to someone and maybe vent, it wouldn't be with some random stranger at school who didn't know a single thing about her. They might group her with the general batch of children who've felt the pain of betrayal like her. Nah, that's not for her. She'd rather tell her friends who know her.
Seriously? How was she supposed to bring up the topic?
…
…
She chose to be blunt about it.
"… My dad cheated on my mom." She said randomly when they stopped talking for a moment.
Without missing a beat, Haru's head whipped around. "Oh shit! Wait what?!" he froze in his tracks and gaped at her.
Jun was next, he turned to Katsuko and stared at her, wondering what the heck she just said. Ichigo was the one who spoke next. "What?"
"I said my dad cheated on my mom." she repeated with the calmest expression.
Jun's eyes widened. "Whoa… um." He raised his hand up awkwardly before dropping it down. "I thought you were joking 'cause y'know… you just said it out of nowhere. But seriously?"
Katsuko nodded.
That was the last piece of the puzzle. This was the reason why Katsuko was acting a little strange throughout past week. Their concern for her only grew with this sudden revelation.
"Are you okay?" Ichigo moved closer to peer at her face. "When did this happen?"
"Around a week ago." She said nonchalantly, walking past the guys to continue walking.
"Whoa, whoa," Haru shook his head. "A week?"
Ichigo caught up to her. "You didn't answer the question; are you okay, Hiragi?"
That was the most important question right now. They needed answer.
The girl shrugged and looked up at him. "I feel okay. I mean, I'm not distracted at school or anything… I'm not going out looking for drugs or anything like that."
"Please don't." Jun pleaded with a frown on his face. She looked at him and gave him a knowing grin. "I don't even know where to get them in the first place. Plus, it seems like too much trouble to get them anyway." She said with a laugh.
One time, Jun nearly freaked out when he saw a small bag full of red candy that one of her teachers gave for Halloween. Obviously, he assumed that they were something else since he brought it out and looked at her with a shocked expression, the boy nearly started an interrogation.
"Maybe I'm lacking something as a human being since I'm not totally affected by it." She joked with a small chortle, shrugging in an exaggerated way. "I don't know." She mumbled while flexing her hand for no reason.
Ichigo wondered why he never noticed it until now. Katsuko was a reserved person and she was usually quiet and shy around others unless she was around people she knew. He should have realized sooner that something was wrong when she kept acting odd. When they ate lunch together, she usually spaced out and barely spoke a word, something he thought was natural for her. Her face usually looked so neutral; it would be hard to notice something based on her face expressions. Signs were subtle when it came to Katsuko.
"Maybe I don't really care about it." Katsuko wondered with a hollow laugh.
"I doubt it. If you didn't then you wouldn't be feeling the way you do now and acting all strange at school." Ichigo pointed out.
"I guess…" she shrugged.
"You wanna talk about it?" Haru asked gently, nudging her side with his arm.
She didn't reply right away. Her foot kicked away a tiny pebble. "Sure. And can we stop by the park near our place? I don't really want to go home just yet, that sack of shit might be there."
Jun's mouth formed a thin line when she spat those last words. Haru silently looked at Jun. Ichigo could definitely sense the pent-up anger in that disrespectful tone. He had never seen Katsuko angry before but he knew what stockpiling anger could do. He had gone through a fit one time when he was getting tired of constantly dealing with bullies when he wanted an easy life.
He breathed through his nose and nodded. "Sure, I'm not in a rush to head home anyway."
She told them what happened and how things were going on at home while she sat on her swing. Jun and Haru were next to her with the latter sitting sideways to face her. Ichigo just settled with sitting on the edge of the sandbox in front of her, watching her gently kick some sand like a little child. Aside from the disappointment and anger she felt for her father for ruining the family and for hurting her mother, there wasn't anything too extreme that had to be discussed. They just listened to her vent.
"Oh, and I also crushed his whole box of cigarettes that day." Katsuko remembered vividly, a grin on her face. "It was so funny to see him devastated. His fault for pissing me off with his drunk ass when he kept telling my mom not to go on a walk at night. Geez, like the woman breathe without having to face your lying ass."
"Your fury in a whole grip." Haru chuckled and imitated a crushing grip with his hand. He dropped his hand and leaned his head to the side. "Is your mom okay?"
Katsuko nodded. "Aside from a most likely being hurt emotionally, then she's okay." she sighed. "She's a bit quieter than usual but she still talks to me... She's okay with me but her attitude towards that rat shit changed."
Haru scratched the back of his head when he heard the rather 'affectionate' nickname she gave her father,
Jun dug his school shoes in the sand, stopping himself from swinging anymore. "Look, you just keep doing you. If he wants to throw it all away, that's his choice. But don't let it be a reason to become like some yankee in the streets, okay? Don't get consumed with all that negative stuff and change you."
Jun was a sensitive guy who cared about his friends, and seeing the way she was being nonchalant about the situation made his heart ache. A person like Katsuko wasn't the type to wear her emotions on her sleeve so it made him worry to think that perhaps Katsuko was holding in a lot of pain that she'd rather keep to herself. For now, he would give her encouraging words to keep her head up. The last thing he wanted was to prod at a difficult subject, especially one that just left a fresh wound.
But if he noticed that she was bottling things up, he'll have to confront her about it.
"Yeah, I don't want to have to drag you out of the wrong crowd." Ichigo said with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood since she never once made the effort to smile a little.
"Yeah, that's more than enough reason to not go rogue. I don't want Kurosaki coming after my ass with his karate."
This brought some laughter as they imagined the scenario. Katsuko wouldn't stand a chance against him. When their laughter died down, Katsuko had a small hidden smile on her face while she gazed at the sand below her shoes. Maybe this is what she needed. Maybe she needed respite instead of heading home back where everything felt wrong nowadays. Perhaps this was one of the benefits of talking to someone about one's problems. Venting felt therapeutic.
Haru pathetically attempted to move closer to her by waddling towards her with the swing between his legs. "If you want to talk, we'll be here to listen." He said before slowly trying to sit back down. "Hell, you can hit me up and we'll go curb stomp that woman!" he joked with a laugh before yelping when he lost his footing, swinging backwards. He was holding onto the chains for dear life. The other three watched the comical spectacle. His body tilted in awkward directions before finally crashing.
Haruki ended up on the sand with only one leg on the swing, prompting Ichigo, Katsuko, Haru and Jun to laugh together out loud.
Only Haru would make a joke like that since Jun is such a pacifist. Big fail though, Haru.
With that out in the open, Katsuko somehow felt less tense about going home. She didn't want to have to check behind the doors and bathroom curtain just in case her father's mistress was hiding in her house, she felt a bit paranoid about that recently.
The time they spent at the park only lasted for a few more minutes since Haru got a call from his mother to help her with the grocery bags at the nearby grocery store which made Katsuko decide that it was fine to part ways since she was okay. Haru quickly went to the store while Jun, Ichigo and Katsuko took their time walking back home.
They stopped walking when they reached the corner that indicated their parting ways.
Jun move towards Katsuko and hugged her. The girl stumbled backwards a bit. She looked at Ichigo over Jun's shoulder with a startled face. The younger boy of the group patted her back. "Be strong, Katsuko." He said before gently ruffling the back of her hair. "Just hit me up if you want to talk."
From where he stood, Ichigo could see Katsuko's face showing subtle signs of feeling touched at the gesture. Her mouth curved just a bit. She hummed as a sign of acknowledging his words. Jun pulled away and patted her shoulder.
"Bye, take care." Jun told Katsuko and Ichigo as he walked away, waving his hand.
Katsuko and Ichigo stood next to each other when Jun got farther and farther away until he turned at a corner. Katsuko sighed heavily. She turned her head to look at him and found him looking at her.
"I'll see you tomorrow at school then. Thanks for listening today."
Instead of nodding and walking off the other way, he simply stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked past her, confusing her. She just stood there watching him walk in the wrong direction. When he didn't hear the sound of her shoes following after him, he stopped and turned around.
"Come on, I'll walk you home." He said bluntly.
Katsuko narrowed her eyes and formed a thin line with her lips. Her head cocked a bit to the side. "Seriously?"
He sighed. "Just get over here already."
They walked side by side on the way to her house.
"You didn't have to walk me home you know. Your house is not exactly in the same direction as mine."
"I told you; I'm not in a rush to head home."
"Hm… okay."
Then it fell silent. Katsuko couldn't quite find the energy to crack a joke or tease him since she was still taking in the kind words from her friends. It was like she was holding them gently in her hands. They appeared like shinning little crystals that deserved to be treated with care. She felt cared for.
"Hiragi."
Katsuko blinked. "Huh? What?"
"No one is going to force you to open up. It's completely your choice. But if there's ever trouble or something that you need to let out, you're welcome to come to us and talk. Don't bottle up too much." Katsuko stared at him like a child while he looked ahead, eyes round and curious as she listened. "Sure, I don't know you like those guys. But you're my friend so I'll listen when you need to talk."
…
…
…
"Pfft."
"Did you just laugh at me?! I'm being serious here!"
Katsuko grinned before looking away and shaking her head. "Nothing, nothing. I just wasn't expecting that from you. It was kinda funny." she covered her mouth with her fingers.
Ichigo's eye twitched, his face reddened a little. "Oi…"
Her hand moved away from her mouth. "But, thank you…" the girl looked back at him. "Ichigo." A second later, Katsuko's eyes widened. "Oh, shit!" She slapped her hand over her mouth as she felt like she just committed the worst sin. "Sorry! I meant to call you Kurosaki! Sorry." Her eyes were frantically darting around nervously.
Ichigo just waved it off when he saw how nervous she was getting. "Nah, don't worry about it. You can call me Ichigo since we're friends."
"Really?" she slowly lowered her hand.
"What, we're not friends?" he shot back.
"No, I meant… like it's fine to call you er… 'Ichigo'? Like really? Are you—"
Ichigo groaned loudly. "You either call me Ichigo or Kurosaki, it's your choice." He said flatly.
"Oh. Okay." Katsuko said dumbly. "Then, you can call me Katsuko."
…
…
He glanced at her. "You sure?"
Katsuko smirked. "You either call me Katsuko or Hiragi, up to you man."
Ichigo rolled his eyes and looked ahead. "Katsuko, then."
Katsuko unenthusiastically threw her fist up. "First name basis. Let's gooo." She said with a chuckle.
This girl that was walking next to him. He could see that she was not trying to put up a composed front and pretending that everything was fine. She was strong. She did not crumble in face of something that would most definitely leave an emotional scar. There were cracks but it wasn't enough for her walls to come crashing down. He supposed that he should be glad about that strength, it made him worry a bit less.
He cleared his throat. "By the way, do you mind lending me your notes after tomorrow?"
She tilted her head. "How come? And why after tomorrow?"
He rubbed the back of his neck. "I, um, I won't be at school tomorrow since I'm visiting my mother's grave." He finished softly.
This made Katsuko freeze up. The way she heard his voice drop a little at the end of his sentence made her freak out a little. She didn't know if she just crossed a line with her curious questions. She had no idea Ichigo's mother passed away.
"What happ...?" Katsuko's mouth hung open as the words died. She wanted to ask him how she died so she opened her mouth without thinking. Thankfully, she back peddled just in time to stop herself from being an insensitive idiot, she didn't want to bring up an awful memory. Being insensitive was the last thing she wanted to be. Instead, she just chose to pat his arm softly. "Yeah, no problem." She told him. "I wouldn't even mind writing my notes twice."
He shook his head. "No, it's alright. I appreciate it though." He patted her shoulder.
When they reached her apartment, he gave her a small smile. "See you." He lifted his hand to give her short wave.
"Thanks, Ichigo." Katsuko returned his gesture with a quick nod and let her mouth to tug to the right as a way of smiling a little. She turned away and started climbing up the stairs.
Katsuko had a very good memory. She could remember Ichigo's mother as a very kind person whenever she saw her. Whenever the two she bumped into her and her mother outside, she would always have a friendly smile on her face when she greeted her. She could even remember that one time when his mother gave her a piece of candy that she bought with Ichigo. It was apple flavored.
She was really nice.
Summer vacation came. As usual, Katsuko didn't expect anything eventful to happen and she preferred it that way. Vacations were meant to take a break and relax, that was exactly what she wanted to do. She never really went on trips with her family in the first place since they couldn't skip work, it was fine.
But she somehow knew, that deep down, her summer was going to be quite different than the previous summers. It was a heavy sinking feeling that she could not describe. After all, things were not good at home.
With school out, Katsuko was frequently left at home alone since her parents continued to work. She didn't go out unless she had plans with friends, which was very rare itself.
…
…
…
Katsuko flinched when her father, who was sitting next to her, slammed his hands on the table and pushed his chair back. Her mother kept prodding at the subject of his affair at the dinner table since he kept dismissing it and saying it was over with, a blatant lie. Katsuko's just watched her father leave the kitchen with a huff. He grabbed his keys and marched to the front door.
"Come, Katsuko." He suddenly said while putting on his shoes.
Katsuko tilted her head. What the hell? He was telling her to come with him? Out? At night? He's nuts.
The girl looked at her mother and just gave her a bewildered look. Her mother just sighed and shook her head. "Don't listen to him."
He slammed the door behind him.
And came back the next day.
Needless to say, she and her mother had a very good idea as to where he went.
At some point during July, those days off also turned out to be a lie at some point. He would leave early at 10 AM since he had business with another car dealer, something her mother found quite suspicious. To prove her suspicions, she had called a taxi and tailed after her father's car. To no one's surprise, her mother found him dropping off the woman at work, proving how much of a liar he was. She confronted him. He still lied, saying he wasn't doing anything wrong but dropping her off.
She would never forget how her mother came home while she was on the computer, laughing pitifully while saying that it was over. Katsuko could only listen from her seat in the living room as her mother talked on the phone in the kitchen. She called one of her employers that treated her more like family. She cried on the phone. Katsuko winced she she heard her mother's voice crack from the emotional pain. It was gut wrenching and terrifying. It made Katsuko grip her sweater's sleeve silently.
Katsuko's heart was beating so fast. She was like a child who couldn't do anything but watch her mother cry. She didn't know what to do. She felt so helpless while her heart broke for her mother who was heartbroken by his constant betrayals and lies. She wanted to cry too.
She was silent on the outside but her inner self was crying, screaming and trashing around. Everything was so out of her control.
Katsuko was keeping a tight lid on her feelings again. But no matter how hard she tried, something was still seeping out. It became very apparent that day that something spilled out for a moment.
Her father came home three hours later after most likely giving her mother some space. He probably knew that she didn't want to see his face right after getting caught red-handed.
The first thing he asked her was 'where's your mom?'.
Are you serious? Why the hell would you want to see my mommy after hurting her?
Katsuko wordlessly pushed the chair back and didn't spare him a glance as she made her way out of the room.
"Hey! Katsuko."
His voice had a sound of authority to it like as if he was demanding some type of respect for her.
Katsuko didn't stop walking but she did turn her head to look at him when she passed him by. She just clicked her tongue and spat out venomously with a neutral face, "Fuck off." before entering her room and slamming the door behind her, locking it.
The month of August was the only time her mother and her got any type of respite. Maybe because he saw the damage he was doing. She didn't know. All she knew is that the arguing and and tension decreased after Katsuko and her mother were able to catch her father with his mistress walking in the park hand in hand.
Her father attended a small gathering of his friends somewhere at night to drink. He was a bit drunk and it didn't help that he was not quite good at handling technology since he didn't hang up his phone when her mother called him to get an update of where he was. Her mother could hear him talking with her and decided to confront him when she was able to find out where he was. They were walking through the park.
Katsuko didn't know what she was thinking when she asked her mother if she could tag along. Yeah, she wasn't thinking. Maybe something inside her wanted her to tag along so that she could be by her mother's side this time… or maybe she wanted to see for herself just how much of a scumbag her father was.
And she did see.
Katsuko stood there in a literal spotlight. She was in the light of a lamppost just watching, like she always did, as her mother yelled at her father who was trying to calm her down by saying that he and his mistress bumped into each other by accident. They weren't doing anything at all. Another fucking lie.
The teen was glaring at the lady who was partly responsible for ruining her family, breathing heavily. So many violent thoughts popped into her mind. She wouldn't mind grabbing that woman's jacket and throwing her down the slope of grass just next to them. She wouldn't even mind grabbing her hair, dragging her around while kicking her legs. She just wanted to hit her.
The nerve of that woman, acting like this did not concern her one bit.
"What the fuck…" Katsuko whispered, trembling.
Her heart was shattering again. Her strong walls were cracking without any sign of reinforcing from her own emotional control.
She saw her mother hitting her dad with the keychain she brought along. He tried to stop her but she just moved away and took the bag he was carrying. It was food from that little gathering he attended. When her mother threw the bag at him, he moved away just in time to avoid getting hit by most of the food in the container that flew open and instead got on the woman next to him. It was right then and there, that Katsuko started crying. The lid she desperately tried to push down just flew off and everything overflowed.
Like that first night, Katsuko heard her father try to reach out to her.
"Aw, no, Katsuko—"
She exploded.
"WHAT KIND OF FATHER ARE YOU?!" she screamed loudly, tears running down her cheeks. "HUH?! WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF FATHER YOU?!"
Her father froze in his spot.
Her mother started pulling her away the moment she pointed at him and started marching over to him. "I'M FUCKING TALKING TO YOU! SPEAK!"
"Katsuko, shh, shh…"
"NO! HE'S A PIECE OF SHIT!" she struggled against her mother who was now holding her back in an embrace and trying to pull her away. Her throat was burning.
"Katsuko, that's enough. Let's go home, now. Okay?"
Even if her mother was acting strong, she could still her the crack in her voice, fueling her pain and rage even further. How dare he hurt someone she loved over and over again. The bastard.
Her mother was everything to her.
"FUCKING AROUND WITH SOME WHORE!" she growled at the woman who still looked like she wasn't being bothered by the situation. Then she looked at her at father with the same glare she gave to his mistress.
Her mother was able to drag her away now that her own strength was failing her due to the emotional pain, leaving her weak. "POOR EXCUSE OF A FATHER!" was the last thing she screamed before she gave up the struggle. They passed by three people who were standing there, letting them pass in front of them. No doubt they heard her screaming. Katsuko numbly allowed her mother to drag her home while she silently continued to cry. Her mother kept a comforting arm around her shoulders while using her other hand to wipe away the tears on her face.
"So now you know." her mother rubbed her side comfortingly.
Know what? How much of a liar he is?
I've known that for a while now…
... It hurts.
It was that night that Katsuko realized how easily simplicity and peace in one's life can be destroyed. It was like having illusion of a happy world being dispelled all so suddenly and having to face the truth that she easily forgot; reality was a world that could be wonderful yet still so painful and cruel. It was like a wake-up call.
She was most likely still living in that illusion until she saw the two in person. It was probably why she figured that she didn't care as much. She was unconsciously turning away from most of the truth, trying to preserve the happy family dynamic that she thought was still possible.
It doesn't take much for that illusion of happiness to be destroyed.
But it was always so fragile to begin with.
It was so fragile and out of her control that she felt so helpless when she faced its broken pieces. She couldn't preserve it completely even if she tried.
All she could do was watch passively and cry.
OoF. OkaYY. This was a long chapter and it was a bit difficult to write near the middle. It really made me sad near the end tho ;_;
I stated in the last chapter that the next chapter will move on to high school life but I might not follow with that plan since I've been tweaking stuff here and there. Who knows. The good news is that we're getting closer to the main storyline and I can't wait!
If you were to pull up the map of Karakura Town, I'd say that Katsuko, Haruki and Jun live around number 7 which is on the other side of the river where Ichigo lives.
Katsuko's mother's name is Nozoko (望子: wishing child) and her father's name is Saizen (紫染: purple dye/paint).
Beck: I'm really glad you're enjoying this story and I appreciate the reviews you're dropping!
GLaDOS2.0: I'm glad you like pacing! I was hoping it wasn't too boring with how slow I thought it was. And regarding Ichigo's personality, yeah I see what you mean I've seen fics where I end up tilting my head with a weird face since Ichigo's personality ends up being a little OOC. I try my best to keep his character in check.
Don't forget to review! I'm looking forward to reading them!
See you in the next chapter!