Road to Recognition

Thirteen

I wonder if Zen-chan is still upset about Aki-chan.

I found myself still asleep at my desk when my morning alarm went off. I sat up rigidly and yawned, stretching and popping my joints. It isn't a good idea to doze off at the computer as I did.

I got ready tiredly and put away my school work. Thankfully I finished it during school yesterday, otherwise, I'd be in slight trouble.

Once I got ready, I sat at the desk with the laptop open, ready for a call any second now.

Except the call turned out to be ten minutes late.

"Hey, Hide," Zen-chan greeted. Already setting off red flags in my head.

"Konbanwa, Zen-chan!" I greeted back like usual, although a little wary. For some reason, he didn't catch my being wary in my greet. More red flags.

"How was school?"

We had the same type of conversation as any other day. Tests, events, annoying people, and finally parents.

"You're lucky to have the parents that you have, Hide. They are very caring folks."

I raised a brow.

"You have nice parents, too, Zen-chan. They are very caring!" Zen-chan visibly hesitated. Something he doesn't usually do.

"Maybe to you. When I came out to them, they completely shut me out. They refused to see me as their son just because of my birth certificate. Your parents, however, knew what my birth certificate said yet respected my wishes to be acknowledged as a boy. They don't even seem repulsed!"

I realized he's right. Every picture I've seen in this house only shows Zen-chan as a girl who slowly started to cover herself up until everybody saw a self-conscious girl. Nobody aside from myself saw Zen-chan for who he really is. Now everybody in Japan sees him as Zen-chan, the male American because they have no idea of his past. If that somehow leaks out though...

"Even though same-sex marriage isn't legal everywhere in Japan, that doesn't mean that every single person is against it. On the contrary, most of the people I know are okay with it."

"Same-sex marriage isn't the same as transgenderism," Zen-chan pointed out. "Sure, everyone you know may be okay with same-sex couples, but do the people you know support the transgender community?"

I was left without words. Every time I opened my mouth to retaliate, I stop myself because it's true. Being homo and being transgender isn't the same thing. My family has always had an open mind about everything. It's the way I was raised. The others I'm not so sure about. Not even about Aki-chan.

"I'm sorry, Zen-chan. I guess you're right."

Zen-chan remained silent. He looked to the side of the screen like he always does when he's upset. Before anything more could be said, light knocking could be heard on his side of the call.

"Zen-kun?" I recognized my ka-chan's voice.

"Hang on, I'm on a call," Zen-chan answered honestly. He sighed. "I gotta go, Hide. I didn't mean to bring things to a depressing state with my realism."

"It's fine, Zen-chan. Really," I reassured. He moved his hand to end the call but I quickly said what I wanted to ask. "Are you okay, Zen-chan?"

"I am. Why?" he asked without looking into the camera.

"You seem out of it today."

"Don't worry, man. I'm fine." Zen-chan's careful smile didn't feel genuine. His words didn't sound genuine.

But he's my friend. If anything happened then he would be honest, right?

As soon as the call ended, I dialed Aki-chan. If anyone knows, it will be him.

On the third ring, he picked up. "Mushi mushi?"

"You need to check the ID before picking up, Aki-chan," I chuckled weakly. Without another second of hesitation, I heard him sit upright.

"Has something happened?" he asked. I pondered what I should say without giving Zen-chan away.

"That's what I would like to know. Ka-chan called a while ago," I lied. She hasn't called since a few days ago because she doesn't want to interfere with my studies. Aki-chan shouldn't know about that though. "She didn't sound okay."

"Ah, then she must have been upset about that," Aki-chan clarified to himself. What is 'that'? "Did she not tell you?"

"No," I said quickly. "That's why I'm asking you for what happened! Did Oto-san fall ill?"

"No, nothing like that," Aki-chan reassured. Don't worry, Aki-chan. I'm not worried about that. "It's more about Zenjiro-san."

"What happened?" I once again said quickly. I'm pretty sure my voice sounds very urgent at this point.

"Well," Aki-chan paused. "Zenjiro-san was molested at the station today."

My thoughts came crashing to a stop. Zen-chan was molested...?

"They caught the guy. Some American tourist who had nothing better to do than mess with high school students."

"An American at that," I thought aloud. I know Aki-chan couldn't understand me but he must have caught 'American' in that sentence.

"Hai. Zenjiro-san is fine now, but you should have seen him afterward. He was shaking so much he almost had to stay in the nurse's office the entire day," he continued in a remorseful tone. "At the end of the day word got to Auntie who came to pick him up from class."

"..."

"...Hide-kun?"

"I have to go, Aki-chan. I'll talk to you later." I hung up before getting a response and set my phone on the desk. Ignoring the time, I pulled up Skype again to Zen-chan's contact. The call is going forward.

Except it was denied. I gritted my teeth.

"Come on, Zen-chan," I seethed. I tried again but the call was denied. "Zen-chan, pick up!"

My phone dinged, signaling I received a message. I briefly glanced at it before doing a double-take. It's a message from Zen-chan!

'Sorry, Cherry. I'm kind of busy at the moment.' Cherry?

I remembered hearing my ka-chan's voice towards the end of the call a few minutes ago. She must be in the room with Zen-chan currently! "Hurry up, Zen-chan! Answer me!"

I waited for a few minutes impatiently tapping my fingers on my lap before not being able to wait anymore. Trying for a final time call him on Skype with the same result, I picked up my phone again. It was on my home screen so I pulled up my contact folder and scrolled through. I finally found his contact and was about to hit call when I noticed something at the top right corner of the screen.

I had clicked on the home button instead of the 'end call' button.

With shaking hands, I brought the phone to my ear. "Aki-chan?"

"So, Auntie called, isn't that right."

"... no." I took a deep, deep breath and held it.

"You've always been a terrible liar, Hide-kun."

"I know," I let go of my breath looking dejected. In a panic, I forgot to properly get out of the call with Aki-chan.

"Care to elaborate to your best friend?"

"Since when."

"Since the beginning." I shut my eyes. Here it goes.

"Zen-chan and I first met in December..."