The Story of Katsu Aikawa (Part I) - The Butterfly Effect Arc

The alarm was deafening at this time in the morning. Katsu groggily opened his eyes and slowly turned to his basic analog alarm clock. The time read fifteen minutes past eight. School was going to start in an hour, but it was only a five-minute walk away. Hence why Katsu was extremely lazy and slow getting out of bed. The young boy pressed the ‘snooze’ button on the clock and snuggled up into the duvet cover, getting comfortable once more.

“Oi!” a deep voice came from the end of the bed. At that moment, the duvet covers were thrown off of him, falling into a crumbled heap on the floor. Katsu looked to the end of his bed, to see a man who he was all too familiar with, standing there with his arms crossed.

“I say you open your eyes and move! Don’t go back to sleep!” the man laughed, uncrossing his arms. He was in his late thirties, with short black hair, and he sported the same soft, emerald, green eyes that his son had. His laugh was loud, but it had a gentle undertone to it. The man was very respectful of others, and his clothes reflected that, as he always wore a smart, charcoal black suit and matching tie, his white shirt making the darkness of the suit pop out even more than it should have.

“I wasn’t, Dad!” the young boy put a pillow over his ears. “Just...give me five minutes more? Please?”

“Sure,” Katsu’s father laughed to himself once more. “But if I come back in here and you are asleep...”

“I won’t be, Dad! I promise!” The boy exclaimed, getting comfortable under the covers. Katsu’s father smiled, and left the room, closing the door behind him. Katsu loved his father, even though he never seemed to be around all that often. However, when he rarely did get the chance to spend time with him, his father made the most of it, whether it was taking his son to the beach, getting ice cream, or watching a movie that Katsu got to choose. The only thing that gave Katsu a slight ick about his father was that the man never told him about his work. Ever.

The young boy staggered out of bed five minutes later. His room was plain and bland, minus the one action poster that was placed on the wall opposite the end of the bedframe, giving the room a hint of life. The walls themselves were cracked and worn out, but Katsu didn’t care in the slightest. It gave a bit of personality to the room. He got dressed quickly and opened the door, which creaked loudly on its’ hinges. Katsu sniffed the air. It smelt like breakfast. He always loved his father’s breakfast, no matter what it was.

He sat down at the kitchen table, and patiently waited for the food his father was cooking. His father’s back was facing him as he began preparing the meal. For a couple of minutes, there was perfect silence, the air so still you could hear a pin drop. Katsu’s father put a worn ladle into the pot he was cooking in, and took out two scoops of the liquid before putting it into a bowl, which was resting on the wooden counter. The sides of the counter had wood shooting out dangerously at all edges, and even putting your hand there for a second was a splinter waiting to happen.

“Good man. Just in time. Do you have anything nice to do in school today?” Katsu’s father asked, turning to face his son, the boy’s breakfast in his hand. He carefully used his sleight of hand to put the bowl down in front of the boy, who without any shame began wolfing down his soup with no spoon.

“Nope, just the same, boring stuff Dad,” the boy sighed. “I do have a Math test later this week, but I should be alright for it. Probability and Statistics is my favourite part of Math!”

His father walked back over to the kitchen counter, and got a hand towel from one of the decrepit cupboards. He sauntered over to his son, who was just finishing his soup, kneeled down to his eye level and rubbed the side of his cheek with the raggy, old cloth.

“H-Hey! Dad, stop it!” Katsu squealed, trying to break away.

“You have a bit of miso soup on your cheek,” his father replied smugly. “All the girls in your class are going to laugh at Katsu the Miso Cheek Boy.”

“Yuck! I don’t care about girls!” Katsu retorted, making a disgusted face and sticking out his tongue.

“You will, one day,” Katsu’s father said, getting back to his feet. “How was your soup?”

“Delicious! I want another bowl!”

“What was that?”

“...I would like another bowl please, Dad.”

“That’s better,” Katsu’s father smiled, taking his bowl and pouring another two scoops of miso soup. He set the new bowl back down on the table, but just as Katsu was about to take the new bowl and shove the contents into his mouth, his father put a hand on his shoulder.

“You have no idea how proud your mother would have been if she was still here, my son.”

“D-Dad?”

“And I am too,” he said, leaning over to meet his son’s eyes. “I love you more than anything in the whole world. Remember that.”

The boy looked dismayed. “I thought you would have hated me...it was all my fault...”

“Ah, don’t go on about that rubbish, son,” the man continued smiling genuinely. There was not a single bit of fakeness in his voice or face. It was perfectly honest. “Your mother’s last words to me were ‘make sure he grows up to be the best kid in the world.’ I can say that you deserve everything and more. After today...I am going to be quitting my job, and we can spend a lot of time together.”

“B-But Dad?! How will we be able to buy food with no money?!”

“I will get a new job, preferably something with more lenient hours...maybe becoming an accountant?” the man gave an enormous, jolly laugh. “Wouldn’t that be just something? After this meeting, I will be free...” The man paused for a moment. “Anyway...you need to get ready for school, young man!”

“Right!”

The young boy rushed to get his backpack that was resting by the front door, which also creaked on the hinges just as badly as his bedroom door. He put the bag on his back, giving a big heave of energy to throw it over his shoulder. Katsu felt as if the amount of homework he was getting as of recent was more difficult and even longer than usual. Just as he was about to open the front door and begin his short walk to school, a voice came from the end of the hallway.

“Already too old to give your old man a hug?” Katsu’s father called out, pretending to be very disappointed. “What a shame...”

Katsu rushed to his father, trying his best not to fall over with the weight of his bag, and then he hugged his father’s waist.

“I love you, Dad!”

“I love you too, son. If you are behaved in school by the end of the week, I will buy you a biggggg tub of ice cream!”

“Really?! Yippee! You’re the best, Dad!”

“I know!” the man chortled with mock arrogance. “Run along to school now, Katsu. I will see you later, alright?”

“See you later Dad! Bye!” his young son smiled and waved as he dashed out the door to school.

Back in the present day, Katsu had stopped explaining his day and looked down at the floor, fully losing hope and happiness in his soul.

“He was fine this morning,” Katsu whispered. “Why...why did those men hurt him?”

“Men? There was more than one man?” Counter asked softly. “Please, keep being strong. Can you remember anything about these men? What they looked like? What they talked like? What clothes they were wearing? Anything at all?”

Katsu scanned his brain even harder than before. Anything at all...wait...they all wore the same attire...