Diamonds Burn Gold

Chapter 46: July 15th (Thursday), Part 1

For some time, Hayato had been paying close attention to his parents, more specifically, his father. He had always been an observant kid, so it didn't take long for him to notice unusual things about his father. His mother was so blind by her newfound love for him that she doesn't seem to be bothered by it all. But Hayato wasn't fooled. He had noticed that his father would put his shoes on with a shoehorn and that he was two different sizes of shoes. His parents, whom he believed were in a loveless, stale marriage, but now were getting along better than ever. He eats mushrooms despite hating them. Through his recordings, Hayato also noticed that his father was practising writing his own name.

Those were very bizarre sightings. But only two events had convinced that his 'father' wasn't who he says he was. The first was that his father would often sit at his desk, staring at a photograph of a young girl. He would've stared at it for hours at a time if his mother hadn't come by to check on him and offer tea and snacks. He would just sit there and stare intently at the girl's unmoving form. What caught Hayato's attention was that the girl in the photo didn't seem to be aware. She back was turned from the camera and was smiling at something else. As if she had no idea her picture had been taken.

As he said, his parents were in a loveless marriage, however, not once has his father ever been unfaithful. Oddly enough, he would always stand by his mother. So why all of a sudden would he have a photo of girl, a much younger one at that, and show signs of interest? And who was this girl? Hayato didn't know. But it pushed him to do some more investigation. That's why one day, he had skipped school to do just that. Leading to the second event. After seeing his father had brought fresh soil and cat food into the attic, Hayato ventured up and made a horrifying discovery.

He had found a plant-cat hybrid thing in a flower pot. The plant is shown having a thick stem for his body and big leaves that operate like arms. Two petals with a pattern of long, dark spots on them are wrapped into a feline shape for the face. The plant has eyes that can still move around and look at things. Behind its eyeballs are "whiskers",  its forehead was narrow but it is now broad. He has two small holes that act as its nose. Below its nose is a mouth.

Unfortunately, he had unintentionally aggravated the plant by opening the attic window and attacked him. It hissed at him and fired compressed air bubbles which morph into the shape of cuffs around his neck and wrists, to bind Hayato in mid-air. Hayato is then hit by another air bubble to his torso, which sends him flying backwards and knocks some jars over. Although Hayato can't see what's binding him, he notes that it feels like a balloon and pops all the bubbles with a compass from his backpack. The air that bursts out of the popped bubbles then shuts the window, sending the hybrid plant back to sleep. He then heard heavy footsteps coming towards the attic. His father was coming.

Thinking quickly, Hayato grabs the cat food that was nearby and pours it all over the floor to make it look like the plant made a mess. Just as Hayato planned, his father reached the attic and assumes that the cat-plant somehow used its power over air to grab the cat food, although he wonders how the feat was done without any light. Relieved that Hayato wasn't in the attic, his "father" leaves, but not before thinking out loud that he would have to kill Hayato if the boy discovered his secret. Hayato, frightened while hiding inside a box, understands that the man living in his house definitely isn't Kosaku Kawajiri.

He knew that a dangerous man was living with him and his mother.

**********************

It had been some time since the fight with Saya's ex-mother. The brutal beating Josuke and Saya dealt her were enough to send her away to another hospital for extensive treatment. Far away from Morioh, and far away from Saya and her family. When she left, Saya contacted a relative who was an officer of the law and had found out that Asuka had hired a private investor to find out where she lived. That's how Asuka was able to send her pictures of the two of them together when she was a child, sending letters, even gaining access to her home number. All were in failed attempts as Saya wanted nothing to do with her.