Chapter 29: Truth
Chapter Summary
The truth.
Jin's POV.
?!! WTF?!
Did I hear things wrongly?
Papa actually said… “He… isn’t around anymore”…
My tensed up feelings relaxed in a split second.
But at the following moment, shock overwhelmed me. It was as if all the skeletons were out of the closet, and the truth was exposed. My initial knowledge was overturned yet again. The amount of shock that I got was no lesser than the shock when I learnt about the origin of my name.
Weren’t the secrets kept safely in my bag?
When did Papa know about it? How much did he know… about Pi, about Kamenashi’s isolated years, about his final resting place…
I couldn’t take it anymore. I hugged on tightly to the bag with my hands and Papa began to narrate everything to me with his mellow voice.
Papa remained calm when he narrated everything to me, but I was unable to control my emotions.
When I got over the initial shock from his account, I found myself crying again.
And this time, I’m crying over the same story again, but from the other POV.
Tears just can’t seem to stop.
Even after he returned from Japan, Papa never gave up his search for Kamenashi.
Day by day, year by year… he never once gave up hope.
Whenever he got overwhelmed with fatigue, he would visit that hilltop which overlooked the hospital
The last time he saw Kamenashi, they got permission to spend a night outside. The afternoon after, Papa left for Tokyo as usual. Before he left, he stood at the hilltop and looked back at the hospital. Although it was a long distance away, Papa believed that Kamenashi was looking out from the window grilles too.
To him, this place was the final destination.
The final distance between them.
Papa held such strong belief that he would be able to find Kamenashi.
They couldn’t be together anymore because Papa had a family by then.
But even so, Papa believed that he could find Kamenashi. He just wanted to see him once again…
Until one day, he met the nurse who took care of Kamenashi during his years of isolation. She couldn’t bear to let him continue his search for someone who would never return, so she told him everything she knew.
From her, Papa got to know about my grandparents’ visit to the hospital, how Kamenashi was only in the next room when he lied about leaving for US… He knew that a woman with a baby visited Kamenashi in the stage of his stay in the hospital… He knew that Kamenashi passed away without anyone by his side, and how he held the ring in his hands.
The nurse also added that Kamenashi was a good patient, other than the times that Papa held his concerts in Hokkaido. He was obedient and never got into trouble with anyone. He spent most of his time in his room doing newspaper cuttings, and never questioned the doctors’ treatment for him.
Kamenashi Kazuya was alone… quiet, peaceful and beyond hope.
“Mr Yamashita sent him parcels regularly. But only when he received something related to Mr Akanishi, such as your albums or programmes, he would brighten up a little” she said.
As Kamenashi went through psychological counseling during his stay, the hospital had photocopies of his letters as a reference for medical records.
Papa read through those letters when he totally unprepared…
“Take it that I’m begging you now. Do you bear to see Jin leading a life like this?”
Do I bear to? Can I bear to?”
“It took me so long to convince myself that I had to bear with the loneliness now for Jin’s future. But when I realized that I was the one who caused him his agony. My strong exterior collapsed when I realized he was afraid that I would be lonely and he was willing to forsake everything just to keep me company.”
“I’m such a terrible person, right? I should be happy for Jin… but yet I’m filled with sadness and despair. And I kept thinking of the moment he kissed her.”
“Sometimes, Jin feels very foreign to me nowadays when I see him on televsion. This is especially so when he talked about her with a gentle smile”
“It isn’t difficult, I’ll just have to bear with it.”
“I am still longing for Jin, but I’m feeling peaceful from within. I am willing to exchange my life for Jin’s happiness. Even though it might only be a small bit, I am willing to do so.”
Kamenashi’s words transformed into images and flashed across my mind. Papa must have been devastated when he first learnt about the truth.
This cruel truth was irreversible and destroyed all hopes he had through the years.
I couldn’t imagine how Papa managed to live through the overwhelming amount of self-reproach and heartaches.
In his letters to Pi, Kamenashi always talked about Papa. The loneliness of missing Papa, the dreadfulness of the treatments, the pain of seeing your loved one leaving you… Kamenashi struggled with such painful and repetitive emotions through the years. His letters to Pi were always about Papa.
I recalled how he looked like that fateful summer... He was pale and thin.
Although it was the first time he carried me in his arms, his beautiful eyes looked at me with love and affection.
All because I am a Akanishi.
-- I am holding his bundle of joy and happiness --
I finally understood why there was a period that Papa kept crying in the middle of the night in his studio, and why he was ridiculously busy for a very long period of time after that.
Kamenashi’s body wasn’t the only thing that went into eternal sleep.
With his death, he brought along the years of hopes and feelings that Papa had for him into his grave as well…
Papa didn’t want Mama to worry about him, but he couldn’t cope with the fact that he has lost Kamenashi for good. Thus, he could only use his own method to escape from the love and longing he had for Kamenashi. He had already lost his beloved, and did not want to lose his wife who loved him whole-heartedly as well.
That’s why Papa chose to numb himself with work. He hoped that time could let him accumulate some energy to fight against the pain. He hoped that he could have enough energy to continue feigning ignorance of the truth.
It helped that Papa was an accomplished actor. Whenever he couldn’t fight his longings anymore, he would go to his studio and read his scripts. No matter how badly he cried in his studio, Mama would assume that he was merely immersing himself into his roles.
Later on, Papa started having his own column on a magazine. He talked about music, and love.
He wrote all about his teenage love in his column and merely omitted the name.
Even now, Papa still had a look on longing on his face.
I knew that although Kamenashi had left Papa many years ago, he was never out of Papa’s mind. Papa’s memory of him stayed fresh through the years. Kamenashi's smile transcended beyond everything, and remained deep within the protected area of Papa’s heart.
In that protected area, it had only memories of their love, and their dog, sakura.
Inside there, Akanishi Jin was 22 years old, and Kamenashi’s health was still not too bad. They believed in eternity and they thought they would spend their lives together forever. They thought they would be able to catch up on what they had missed in their teenage years.
There was simply too much love, and too little time. Thus, these plans turned into regrets.
Even till today, images of the Kamenashi and the passion from their love remained strong in Papa’s heart.
On a moment of impulse, I asked “Papa, do you still love… Kamenashi?”
“I still love him.”
“Very much?”
“Yes. Very much.”
“What about Mama then?” I proceeded to ask.
I looked at Papa eyes and feared for his answer. I was scared to hear something that I didn’t wish to hear.
I was scared that Mama’s love through the years was unrequited…
I was scared that I am merely an object to commemorate his lover and their incomplete love.
“I love Mama too”
“Very much?”
He nodded without any hesitation “Yes, very much”.
I stared at him and hoped to find some truth in his words.
His eyes were clear, and thus I knew he had told me the truth.
I could finally put my heart to ease now.
At the hilltop overlooking the sunflower fields where he shared so many memories with Kamenashi, Papa managed to prove to me that he stayed true to Mama through the years too.
***