Chapter 47: Ch 046

Everything was red.

 

That's how Toshi knew something was wrong. Everywhere he looked everything was a shade of red. There were no other colors. He tried to look around his home, but he couldn't seem to move. He heard a noise and spun around to see his parents and sister sitting on the couch.

 

They were talking to Toshi.

 

They were speaking, but not speaking. He couldn't make out the words but they were being very nice and polite. The way they spoke had the cadence of a conversation, but the specific words were gibberish. Everyone was laughing and smiling and happy and then the other Toshi turned to look at him. The other Toshi was bathed in a blue light that made him seem angelic, "Thank you." He said, smiling beautifully.

 

As he pulled out a long knife.

"For getting them to let down their guard."

The other Toshi proceeded to start repeatedly stabbing his family while giggling hysterically.

All his family could do was scream.

"Why?"

Over

and over

and over

and...

 

---

 

Toshi threw off his bed covers and tumbled out of bed, yelling at the top of his lungs while struggling to get to his feet. He rolled and almost managed to stand when he tripped over the blanket and fell face first into the door with a loud BANG. He backed away and fell on his behind, all the while screaming as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on. The room was pitch dark so he couldn't tell what was going on and scrambled to get some sort of orientation. When the light came on, the sudden change blinded him momentarily. As he blinked rapidly to the changing conditions, everything took on a shade of red from the after image flashed into his retinas.

 

Toshi covered his face and let out what could only be described as a shriek of sheer terror.

His shriek was cut short by his father grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him, "WAKE UP!"

 

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Toshi froze and lowered his arms to look at his father crouched in from of him. His father had the most worried expression on his face. Toshi blinked rapidly before asking, "Dad?" Toshi sat there, breathing heavy and trying to get himself under control. His darting eyes focused on the doorway as his mother and sister appeared. They both looked rather sleepy as they inquired as to what was going on, "What's wrong?" Toshi stared down at his trembling hands, then up at Asuka and Hinako. He abruptly got up to rush both of them. He didn't stop finally shaking until he touched both of them repeatedly, proving to him of their physical existence, "Okay! Okay... you're okay."

 

Toshi staggered back to lean against the door, holding his head as he finally began to calm down.

 

His father got up off the floor to put a hand on Toshi's shoulder, "I think someone had a nightmare." Toshi looked back him, licked his lips, then nodded energetically, "Yeah. You could say that." Hinako looked to her mother, then back at Toshi, "You look white as a ghost." She reached out to touch his arm, "Everything is fine." Toshi took several deep breaths then let the last one out slowly, "Sorry. I-I'm fine." He gave everyone a weak smile, "J-just a bad d-dream." He frowned for a second then slapped himself in the face a few times, "Focus!" Then shook his head before saying clearly, "I'm fine. Just a bad dream."

 

Both his sister and mother looked at each other and didn't seem convinced. His father waved at them to leave and then followed up with a hand gesture to indicate, 'I got this'. His sister and mother nodded. They stepped up to Toshi to give him a hug. Asuka pushed a stray hair out of Toshi's face and behind his ear, "Then I'm gonna get back to bed." Hinako echoed her mother's sentiments, "We're fine. You don't have to worry about us." Toshi nodded and smiled giving everyone his well-practiced phony grin of steel, "Of course. Sorry to wake everyone up." They both turned and left. His father was blatantly staring at Toshi. Toshi looked back, "I'm fine. You can get back to sleep, too. Sorry." Nothing happened. Toshi motioned to the door with a sweeping arm gesture, "Shoo. I'm good."

 

His father nodded once, let out a soft grunt, then turned and walked over to sit on Toshi's bed. Toshi rolled his eyes, "It's fine. Seriously. Just... nonsense." His father nodded, "Share some nonsense with me." Toshi stared at Hirofumi for a while, then sat down next to him. Toshi hunched over and folded his hands, fiddling with his fingers. He closed his eyes then confessed, "I killed all of you." His father's eyebrows raised significantly. Toshi hunched over a bit more, "But it wasn't me. It was the other Toshi. He came back and because you all trusted me he got in close and used that against you." His father nodded, "Ah. Well-"

 

Toshi cut him off, "You know how I got on mom's case about her cheating on you? I absolutely would not let that shit go?" His father stiffened and spoke with a tone that had a wariness to it, "Yes?" Toshi looked up at his father, "Back before the memory loss, when I was going to the other school, I was dating two girls at once." Hirofumi let out short cough then composed himself, "You.. eh... you were dating... TWO girls?" He licked his lips, "Without my knowledge?" Toshi nodded, "Yup. I had three different sets of social media accounts. One for you, one for each of them so I could do everything behind everyone's back."

 

Hirofumi cleared his throat and clearly was getting pissed. He took a few seconds to clamp himself down and control his reaction, "How long?" Toshi shrugged, "I opened the accounts about a year ago, give or take." His father stood up and took several steps away. He rubbed his face with both hands and kept looking away as he spoke, "Ain't going to lie. I am... VERY angry right now. On SO many levels!" He flexed his hands several times before turning around, "You mean to tell me you nearly drove me to divorce my wife when you were doing the exact same-" He paused as he saw Toshi sitting there, looking like a beaten puppy.

 

Hirofumi stared at Toshi, then slowly walked over to sit down next to him. There was a long silence before his father spoke, "You were a real piece of shit." Toshi just nodded. Hirofumi put a hand on Toshi's shoulder, "'Were', I suppose, is the keyword here." Toshi nodded again. Hirofumi squeezed in a reassuring fashion, "What hurts the most is that I tried so hard to believe in you. I think on some level I knew something was up, but I kept lying to myself. I didn't want to admit I was wrong to have faith in you."

 

Toshi nodded and finally spoke, "I want to go back to my old school. I think I did some terrible things. I apparently bullied someone's brother, lord knows what other messed up things I did." He looked up at his dad, "At the very least, I want to apologize." His father looked reluctant, "Maybe... maybe it'd be best to just let sleeping dogs lie." Toshi shook his head, "What if there is someone who can't move past this? I might not remember, but it is still me. I need to take responsibility." His father just stared at Toshi, then suddenly his expression melted into a smile, "Remember when you were in the hospital and said, 'Maybe I needed a fresh start most of all'?" He ran his hand over Toshi's head and ruffled his hair, "I couldn't be more proud of you."

 

Toshi just blinked, then slowly felt a growing warmth inside. He grinned and looked away, "Is this what approval feels like?" His father nodded, then gave his son a hug, "I'm sorry if this is your first time feeling it." He squeezed one more time then let go, "I'm still... upset. And We're going to have this conversation again with your mother in the morning." Toshi winced as Hirofumi continued, "But I think we'll all chock this up to experience and move on with our lives." He paused then added, "Do... you want to keep dating them?" His voice was heavy with implication.

 

Toshi shook his head energetically, "Oh hell no. No no no no NO." He shook his head again, "Not a chance. That whole thing was toxic, but... they deserve to say goodbye to me, if I see them there." His father nodded slowly, "I see. Well, we will discuss this with your mother and arrange a time for you to go there... some time in the future." Toshi got the impression his father was implying there would be quite the wait before the visit. Toshi nodded slowly, "I'm in no rush." His father patted him on the knee, "Good." He thought for a second, "Feeling better?" Toshi nodded. Hirofumi stood up, "Then get some sleep." He walked over to leave while Toshi got in bed. Hirofumi paused in the doorway when he added an afterthought, "Toshi?" His son looked up, "Yeah?" His father smiled, "I'm sure you won't let Toshi get us." Toshi just nodded as his father turned out the light, "Good night."

 

Toshi lay in the dark with only his thoughts for company.

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