Ladies laughed across the circle of standing bodies, Katsuo tugged at his collar again. Mother always seemed to be going to parties, drinking, parading him around like a little pet.
Look here, my son this, my son that. He didn't really even listen to it anymore but smiled and waved anyway. If there was a cute girl, a daughter of one of his mother's friends, he would smile and kiss her hand and they would share a moment that Katsuo fantasized was an equal dislike for these situations. The truth of it was he was probably the only one who felt that way, except for maybe Hina-nii.
Katsuo's twin brother, Hinata, was with their father that evening. This was the routine. Whenever they were at boarding school, they would be together and they would be happy. But ever since their parents started living apart, every holiday or break they had, Mother dragged one child away, while Father took the other. They usually swapped back and forth, but neither parent really cared which child they took, the two were completely identical and equally intelligent.
But in between holidays was the real fun. Boarding school was a nice place, plenty of girls. That thought alone made Katsuo wish he were back there. All those pretty girls, fawning about him and his brother. Hina-nii wasn't nearly as interested, but the twin thing made them so irresistible, Katsuo couldn't pass up any chance to strut about the school.
Katsuo's little daydream was interrupted by the sharp pain of Mother elbowing his ribs. He blinked and straightened up to see that she was introducing him to another one of her friends.
He took his programmed bow and introduction. "Good evening, madame." Another older woman. It seemed there really were no young girls here tonight. There were other men, but they seemed to be off in another corner talking about politics or money, two things Katsuo had no care for. He surveyed the ballroom and located the food. If he could just get away from Mother a moment and chow down on some fancy cuisine, he knew he'd be happier.
Mother's shrill laugh indicated that she was thoroughly engrossed in her conversation, or at least she was waiting with feigned interest for her turn to brag about whatever it was they were talking about. She cared even less than Katsuo what those other women had to say.
But this was his chance, so he made his way, not too quickly to the buffet. There were little tiny pastries, barely a Katsuo-bite a piece. Hina-nii probably would have taken three bites to finish one, he mused. He nabbed a plate from the end of the table and began filling it with assorted chocolates and sweet things, skipping over the vegetables and fruit and going straight for all the good stuff.
Suddenly there was a twinge in his arm and he nearly dropped his plate to grab it. Something was wrong. He quickly looked around the room to see if anybody had noticed and quickly dashed down the little hallway leading to the bathrooms. Luckily it was right next to the buffet so he didn't have to embarrass himself in front of all those fancy people.
No one was in the men's restroom, and he managed to slip in there right before some very loud ladies exited their own restroom across the hall. He looked at his face in the mirror and saw the sweat that was breaking out on his forehead. He looked rather pale.
He really did look like Hinata and almost smiled as his brother, as though his reflection was Hina-nii looking back at him. For a second he thought it was but then the pain came back, stronger and spreading to his chest.
"What the hell?" he managed to grunt. His heart was beginning to palpitate in a strange rhythm. Something was very very wrong.
Suddenly all he could think about was his brother. Was Hina-nii okay? Something had happened to him.
Katsuo stopped in mid-thought as he saw his vision darkening around the edges. He was feeling dizzy. The image in front of him suddenly became the ceiling, but he wasn't sure why. He hadn't looked up.
There was a squeeking noise as somebody opened the door and a clack of fancy shoe on tile. Even the ceiling was beginning to blur. Was the light getting to him? Then a yell in a man's deep voice. "Oh my God!" A rustling of clothes and the door again as "Somebody call for an ambulance!" was heard a bit more muffled than before.
It was hard to breathe.
There was suddenly a commotion and then, nothing.
