Truths

"Araki-kun...? Araki-kun?"

At that moment, I was too focused to notice that our next-door neighbor, Hamari-san, who was standing beside me, called out to me. As soon as I realized she was calling me, I turned my face towards her and looked into Hamari-san's expressionless, lifeless eyes with my pale gaze.

"I'm truly sorry for your grandfather, you know better than anyone that he was a wonderful person. The same goes for your grandmother; I hope she recovers soon."

While she mentioned my grandfather, my eyes briefly glanced at a frame hanging on a coffee table across from where I was sitting. It contained a picture of my grandfather, captured forever.

Today, everyone invited here has gathered to complete the funeral proceedings shortly after my grandfather's passing. Although everyone thinks he died due to his illness, the only ones who know the real truth are my grandmother, who is currently in a coma, and me.

...

That day, when I entered the house, I had inhaled a strong smell of blood that was intense enough to make me cover my nose and scrunch up my face. Overwhelmed with worry, I even forgot to take off my shoes and rushed towards the room where the scent of blood was coming from. As I quickly opened the sliding door, I noticed my injured grandmother and grandfather lying on the floor, causing me to feel as if my blood was draining from my body.

It was the first time I had seen someone in such a bad condition, covered in so much blood. Without even being able to ask what had happened, my grandmother immediately told me that I needed to call an ambulance and pointed to the rotary phone hanging from the table inside the room.

It was evident that something out of the ordinary had occurred. With my grandfather lying face down, I couldn't assess his condition properly, so I quickly ran to the phone and dialed the emergency number to call for an ambulance.

I'm not sure how much time we had until the ambulance arrived, but as I approached my grandfather to check on him, my grandmother informed me that he had already passed away. My hands and feet trembled with fear and helplessness as I stood by his motionless body.

"What... What happened here?" I managed to ask, the only question I could utter. Upon hearing my question, my grandmother, weakened by severe blood loss, fainted. I immediately grabbed a cloth and began applying pressure to her severe wound to stop the bleeding.

Even though the sound of the approaching ambulance could be faintly heard in the distance, they were on their way. Please, grandmother, hold on...

...

"Akari-kun, since your parents have passed away, we will take care of you from now on. You still remember us, right?"

The story of my encounter with my grandparents, my grandmother and my grandfather, began when I was just 4 years old. When my parents lost their lives in a car accident, it was my grandmother who found me at the funeral and told me that they would be my new family from then on.

Early the next morning, after gathering my belongings at our home, we set off on a journey in my grandfather's car. The place we went to was the renowned Tatsuya Shrine in the region. The shrine carried my grandfather's surname as it belonged to him. It was located right in the backyard of our house. My grandfather and grandmother warmly welcomed the people who came here to pray and hosted them with great hospitality.

No matter how many years passed, my grandfather always told me with a smiling face that I should welcome people warmly, but I could never succeed. I had lost so much in this life that I couldn't smile anymore. I have started to forget how many times I was beaten by my grandfather for this reason.

...

And today, I'm on the verge of losing my last remaining family... They say that the chances of my grandmother surviving are still very low, as her condition remains critical in the eyes of the doctors. I can no longer bear to hear the voices of the people next to me, who keep telling me to stay positive in life.

I wish these funeral affairs would end quickly and everyone would go back to their own homes. I don't want to hear any more unnecessary condolences and empty words.

As the hours passed unnoticed, people slowly began gathering their belongings to return to their homes. Some of them placed their hands on my head and offered their condolences before leaving.

Now, only our next-door neighbor, Hamari-san, was standing beside me.

"If you ever need anything, please knock on my door. I can help you in any way."

"Thank you, Hamari-san, but could you please leave me alone for now?"

"Alright then, Akari-kun. Once again, my condolences for your grandfather."

After Hamari-san left as well, I found myself alone in the large living room of the big house. The smoke from the extinguished incense was still lingering in the room. I pulled my knees up to my face and tried to cry. I didn't want to hold back my tears and let them flow freely. I can't remember crying this much before, but I truly feel a sense of loneliness deep within my heart.

I wiped away the last few tears and, using my right hand for support, I stood up from the tatami mat on which I had been sitting. I gathered the extinguished incense and placed them in the kitchen trash bin.

As I finished cleaning the living room, evening was approaching. I sat on my knees in front of the frame with my grandfather's picture for a while, having a short conversation with him, and then closed the door of the living room. I made my way to my own room, preparing to sleep.

After everything that happened today, I don't want to go to school tomorrow... There's nothing I can do about it, I've come this far, nearing the end of middle school. I just need to endure a little longer, and it shouldn't be a problem.

As I lay in my bed, an unfamiliar silence enveloped me. Normally at this hour, my grandfather would be working in his workshop behind the shrine in the backyard, and my grandmother would have fallen asleep downstairs, leaving the television on. It was so quiet that if I stopped breathing, I could hear the movements of the blood flowing through my veins.

I tried to sleep, but I couldn't succeed. The heat of the summer and the unusual silence in the house prevented me from falling asleep. No matter how much I tossed and turned in bed, I just couldn't sleep.

Moreover, no matter how tightly I closed my eyes, the injured bodies of my grandfather and grandmother appeared before me. If I were to fall into a deep sleep, I was certain that I would constantly see terrifying nightmares involving them.

When I opened my eyes, I tried to figure out when morning had arrived. I must have been tired from crying last night, so I couldn't determine when morning had come. I gathered my bag and put on my school uniform to get ready for school. As I opened the door of my room and descended to the lower floor, the house was still quiet. The lingering scent of tobacco from the living room was still present since the doors and windows were closed.

I took the house key, opened the front door, and put on my shoes. With the morning sun shining on my face, I stepped out of the house and started walking towards school.

Along the way, I encountered other students wearing the same uniform as me, but naturally, none of them greeted me. Some still looked at me with curious eyes as they passed by. When I entered the school and opened my locker to change my shoes with the ones provided by the school, I noticed pieces of paper scattered inside.

"Misery freak!"

"Cursed brat!"

"I wish you were dead!"

I muttered to myself, "Here we go again." I knew who was behind this. As I was about to pick up the pieces of paper and throw them in the trash, I noticed the small notes written on them.

Hmph... I'm not surprised anymore because I've gotten used to these. In fact, I would be surprised if they stopped saying these things to me even for a moment. I walked towards the classroom and as I opened the door and entered, the sound in the class suddenly stopped and everyone turned towards me.

I could hear some whispers circulating in the class. Some were surprised that I still had the courage to come to school, while others questioned why I had come.

"Oi, oi! Look, our Old Akari-kun is here." The person who said this was Yamada-kun, sitting in the back row. It was clear that he was the one who put the notes in my locker.

And the reason they call me old is because of my shiny white hair. Despite trying to pass by without paying attention to Yamada-kun's words, he grabbed my shoulder with his hand and held onto it tightly, pulling me towards him.

My frail body couldn't do anything against his robust and muscular arms, and I was on the verge of falling over. Yamada-kun held onto my shoulders with both hands and let out a devilish grin, then started rummaging through my bag with his right hand.

"Please, stop rummaging through my bag, Yamada-kun." Despite tugging at my bag to prevent him from rummaging, my weak body couldn't do anything. With a single move, Yamada-kun snatched my bag from my hand and started rummaging through it, searching for my money.

"Hey, where's today's allowance?"

"I don't have any allowance today."

"Haa?! You liar, why don't you bring your allowance to school. Let's say you didn't bring it, then where's your lunch, freak?! Are you planning to stay hungry all day? That's why I won't ask you politely again."

"I told you, I don't have my allowance today."

Veins on Yamada-kun's forehead started to bulge, indicating his growing anger, but what I said was not a lie. I really forgot to bring my allowance today, so I would go hungry.

I could feel the other students in the class watching me and Yamada-kun from the corner of their eyes. Some of them might even be aware that I was about to get beaten up by Yamada-kun.

I'm aware of it too. Yamada-kun, who threw my bag to the ground, put his hands around my neck and lifted me up, squeezing tightly and depriving me of breath. With his other hand, he delivered a powerful punch to my stomach. The impact made saliva spray from my mouth.

"I-I'm not lying..."

"Shut up!"

Even if I tried to express myself, it would be pointless. Being weak and bad at communicating with people, I deserved to be bullied. My face was turning purple from lack of air when the teacher entered the classroom, and unwillingly, Yamada-kun had to let me go.

Coughing and struggling to breathe, I glanced at the teacher, but he ignored me and went to his desk, placing his bag on the table and cleaning his glasses with a cloth.

He acted as if he were unaware of what had just happened. After gathering myself a bit, I went back to my own desk, hunching over in pain from the punch, and tried to listen to the lesson.

I rushed out of the classroom, hoping to be the first one to leave during the first break. Yamada-kun, who was chasing after me, stopped as soon as we reached the front of the classroom. I entered the school bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror, gasping for breath.

If only I had the opportunity, I wished I could show Yamada-kun and his friends what they go through every day. I clenched my fist at the sink and struck the mirror with force, but it didn't break.

The mirror may not have shattered, but I ended up spraining and swelling my hand due to the wrong punch. As if the pain in my stomach wasn't enough, now my hand was throbbing. Instead of returning to the classroom for the rest of the day, where I would be subjected to Yamada-kun's bullying again, I decided to spend the whole day in one of the stalls in the boys' bathroom.

After a tedious and unpleasant day that smelled of filth, the school bell finally rang for the end of the day. Slowly, everyone started leaving the school and heading home. After waiting in the bathroom for a while longer, I went back to the classroom to collect my belongings.

When I entered the classroom and saw that it was empty, I felt relieved. I walked towards my own desk and noticed the inscriptions carved on it ("Die! Filthy scum!") as well as the scribbles on my school bag.

I clenched my fists in frustration, but there was nothing I could do. I organized my torn notebooks and put them back in my bag, then walked towards the shoe cabinet to change my school shoes.

When I entered the house after taking off my shoes, only one thought was lingering in my mind. "Maybe I should quit school." If my grandfather could see that I was thinking like this, he would definitely beat me again, but I'm sorry, Grandpa. I never told you that I was being bullied at school.

Every day when I came home injured, he would ask me about it. And I would lie, saying that I got the wounds while playing games at school.

Without eating anything, even though I was hungry, I went up to my room and threw myself on the bed without even closing the door. I tried not to think about today, but it kept swirling in every corner of my mind.

As I was about to fall asleep, I heard the sound of something falling in the backyard. When I looked at the clock, it showed 11:36 PM. It was not normal for someone to be in the backyard at this hour.

As soon as I noticed the sound, I quickly headed towards the backyard. When I reached the front of the door leading to the backyard, I took my grandfather's cane leaning against it and opened the gate, starting to walk towards the temple.