Chapter 8: The Truth Will Set You Free?
“Swimming? Sure!” I agreed. Hei and I made our way back to his room. Just like I had thought, Hiro was back and looking like he was in a good mood.
“Hello you two!” He smiled at us when we came in.
“H-Hi Hiro…” Hei said and went over to his bed. I nodded at Hiro and he just smiled back.
“I’ll see you later then, in about an hour?” I asked Hei. He nodded and I waved to Hiro, and left the room. Instead of going to my room, I went to Mr. Nightray’s office and knocked.
“Who is it?” He asked.
“It’s Katara sir.” I said. He immediately opened the door and stepped aside so I could go in and see him.
“Hello, would you like some tea?” He asked. I shook my head.
“No thank you. I just wanted to let you know that I got Hei to take the medicine.” I said. He stopped and looked at me, a grin spreading across his face.
“Good good!” He exclaimed. “Thank you very much, I knew you could do it.”
“O-Of course Mr. Nightray.”
“Please, call me Doc, I insist.” He smiled. “I’m glad Hei has found a friend. It’s hard for him to open up to people, but someday… the truth will set him free.” He crossed his arms.
“Ok, Doc…I should take my leave…” I said, heading towards the door.
“Alright Miss. Katara. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to come visit me. Maybe we can have some tea next time.”
“That would be lovely, thank you.” I said politely, and then left to go to my room. I found my old bathing suit. A two pink and black bikini. I hadn’t worn it in a while, but decided that was better than wearing a tank top and shorts. I left for the pool, and went into the locker room to change. I came out to the pool, and saw Hei coming out of the guys room. “Oh, you’re early Hei!” I greeted. He was in simple, black swimming trunks.
“Y-Yeah.” He said looking at me. The water was calling me, and I couldn’t wait anymore. I put down my towel and jumped right in, Hei not too far behind. The water felt lovely and refreshing. I came back up to the surface and took in a deep breath. “I haven’t gone swimming in ages.” I said when Hei broke the surface as well.
“W-When was the last time y-you went swimming?” He asked.
“It was, maybe 3 years ago…” I smiled at him, thinking of how hard it was to actually go to the pool back home because it would be crowded all the time. “You must be lucky, being the headmasters son, getting to come and go wherever you want around here.
“I-It’s ok.” He went over to the pools edge and hoisted himself out. I couldn’t help but stare. ‘Oh wow…’ I was almost jealous of the water drops rolling off his back, and the thought was making my face get warm. “D-Do you know how to dive?” He asked, turning around to look down at me. ‘Stay cool Kat…stay classy…’ I thought.
“N-No…I dive pretty boy, I-I mean pretty bad…” I bit my lip a little, hoping he didn’t notice that slip of the tongue. ‘Really? Yeah, that was smooth…’
“I-I can teach you.” He went to the diving board, took 3 steps back, and jumped high. He dove into the water like he had been doing it all his life. He came up next to me. “D-did you want t-to learn?” He asked.
“Sure…” I jumped out of the pool quickly. ‘Oh how I love to swim…’ Hei followed me and stood at the edge of the pool with me.
“O-Oh, ok. First c-come up to the edge and p-put your arms above your h-head like this.” I watched him carefully, very carefully, and copied his movements.
“Got it!” I said.
“N-Now you're going to b-bend over and push off the s-side of the pool.” He did a beautiful, short dive and came up quickly.
“Like this?” I pushed off and felt my body slice through the water. ‘It’s not too hard.’ I thought, proudly, swimming back up to meet Hei again.
“Yes.” He smiled. I looked at Hei for a few seconds. I didn’t really know much about him. Just that his father was the head of the school.
“Hei, can I ask you something? Something personal?” I asked carefully.
“Sure.” He responded simply.
“If, Doc is your father, what about your mother?” I wondered.
“I…I don’t know. To be honest with you, I’m not even sure if Doc is my real father.” He shook his head.
“Really?! Were you, adopted?” I asked, feeling like I was walking a fine line.
“I think so.” Hei said as a matter-of-factly.
“Oh…” I looked away, hoping I didn’t hit a nerve with him. “I’m sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable.” I apologized.
“No, it’s ok really. I just don’t know how to ask Doc about it.” He looked down a little.
“Maybe if you just, be upfront about it? If it’s true, isn’t it kind of comforting that out of all the kids on earth, he picked you?” I said, and that’s when I noticed it. “Hey! You aren’t stuttering!”
“I guess it is. I don’t know why I’m not stuttering. I usually can only talk normally around Doc.” He pulled himself back out of the water and sat there. I followed him and sat beside him, allowing my feet to dip into the water.
“Maybe you’re becoming a bit more comfortable around me.” I hoped it was true. He was nice, and I would be thrilled if he considered me a friend.
“Maybe…it usually doesn’t happen that fast though. I’ve always been like that.” He said. My smile fell a little. I knew it was wrong to rush a friendship, and I didn’t want to scare Hei off. There was just something about him that I wanted to continue to get to know.
“I understand…” I said, leaving it at that.
“You look really pretty though.” Hei put his hand over his mouth, and his cheeks turned red. I blinked, shocked at the statement he had just made.
“Oh? Really? T-Thank you! This is an old swimsuit. I thought it looked a little small on me now.” I admitted.
“It is a little small but since it’s been 3 years since you’ve last gone swimming, your body has matured so it’s only natural.” He looked at me, his eyes a little wide. I felt my face heating up.
“T-That’s true…” ‘Where did all of this boldness come from?’ I wondered. “A-Anyway, before coming here, I went to see Doc.” I changed the subject.
“What did he tell you? He didn’t make you try anything did he?” Hei looked at me, something flaring in his eyes.
“He offered me some tea, but I didn’t drink any.” I answered.
“Oh good…who knows what he put in it.” He sighed in relief. I laughed a little, Hei had an interesting sense of humor.
“I told him you took the pills, and he seemed almost thrilled. I think he really cares about you.” I told him honestly.
“…No. no the pill has a side effect that he didn’t tell you about.” He ran his hand through his hair. “H-He just told you what it’s original purpose was.” He stood up and stated pacing. “What could it be? If it was getting rid of my shyness I don’t mind that.” I smiled lightly at him; I couldn’t imagine Doc doing something awful to his own son.
“That must be it then. So, since your shyness has kind of edged off, did you want to know anything about me?” I asked. He had shared a lot with me already, and I wanted to answer some things for him.
“Nothing I can think of at the moment. Anything that you want to know about me though?” Hei asked.
“Oh, um…well, I never did ask how old you were.” I pointed out.
“18. I’m classified as a junior though, because I was home schooled.” He added.
“Oh really? That’s neat! So can you drive?” I laughed.
“Yes. I’m going to guess and say you’re around 17 or 18 yourself.” ‘Really?’ I blushed again.
“What makes you think that?” I asked
“By your body structure and the level of knowledge that I’ve seen come out of you. Also, you’re very kind and you put others feelings in front of your own. You’re very mature.” He he half smiled and looked away a little. I looked down, but smiled a little.
“Aw, that’s so sweet…I’m actually 16.” I admitted.
“Wow really? That’s surprising actually. When is your birthday?”
“May 7th.” I looked back up at him and his eyes met mine. I remembered how he looked before. “Do you miss your normal body Hei?” I asked him.
“I just turned 18 a few days ago. I do miss it. At least I miss my hair, and my normal eye color.” He answered. He was being so honest with me, and it was making me happy.
“Happy belated birthday!” I stood up, stretching a little. “I hope that maybe you’ll change back soon.” I remembered how it felt when I had changed, and I hated it.
“I do too. But, I see you stare at me from time to time. You like the way I look, don’t you?” My face got super hot, and I was completely taken by surprise. I couldn’t believe he had known, and actually said it out loud.
“I…um…I-I…” I sputtered like a dead car.
“Wait…” Hei suddenly grabbed my shoulders. “Ask me something that I would never want to answer.” He demanded.
“Um…boxers or briefs?” I awkwardly smiled. ‘Idiot…you already saw earlier.’
“Boxers. Something else please.”
“…W-What kind of body type do you find attractive in a girl?” He would never ever say that in front of me. There was no way.
“Yours…the truth! That’s it Katara. No matter what…I have to…tell, the truth…” He let go of me and fell sideways, and crashed into the water. He wasn’t moving as he was sinking deeper.
“H-Hei!” I didn’t even have to think. I dived in after him and swam to the bottom where he landed. His hair changed to blue, and he was back to normal. I tugged on his arm, but he didn’t move. I had to get him out, so I went behind him, and hoisted him up under his arms. I felt the air draining out of my mouth as I used all of my strength to get Hei to the surface. I felt water run down my throat as I broke the surface, and I felt Hei quickly start swimming. I did the same, and was able to get myself up out of the pool somehow. I heard Hei coughing and saying something about the water tasting bad. I tried to breath, but nothing was coming in. I coughed hard, and finally got the water out. Everything stung and I was trying to catch my breath.
“A-Are you o-ok Katara? I-I’m sorry I’m s-so heavy…” He asked.
“H-Hei? Are you, Ok?” I managed to say, ignoring his question.
“I-I’m ok, a-are you?” He repeated.
“I-I think so…” I slowly stood up. I was shaking a little, but I was breathing again, so that’s all that mattered.
“T-That’s good.” He said quietly. My vision went blurry, and I felt overwhelmed. This incident brought back memories, but I pushed them back so I wouldn’t break down. “W-What’s wrong? D-Did I do something wrong?” Hei asked. I heard concern in his voice.
“N-No…it just scared me is all…” I wiped my eyes, and thankfully no more tears came.
“I’m sorry.” He wrapped his arms around me and I just stood there, taking it all in.
“So, the reason you were acting the way you were, was because of the pill?” ‘Oh no…I’m an idiot…’
“I-I’m sorry. You really are pretty though.” I felt his hand leave my back and I knew it was probably over his mouth. I hugged him back tightly.
“I-It’s all my fault…I said all that stuff about trust and I’m the one who did this to you. I’m so sorry. Doc didn’t tell me it would do anything else to you.” I said apologetically.
“I-It’s ok, you didn’t know.” I nodded and looked at him. His ink black eyes had returned, and water dripped from his blue hair.
“So, I’m pretty huh?” I laughed a little.
“Y-You’re beautiful.” He blushed, which made me look away, embarrassed. Hei looked the other way and then I jumped when he yelled. “Daniel Mathew Nightray, you have some explaining to do!” I looked over and Doc came into view by the door. I let go of Hei and ran around the pool to where Doc was, fuming.
“Mr. Nightray…” I said, about to give him a piece of my mind.
"Hello there Miss. Katara." He said. I responded back by giving him a nice slap across the face. He stood there, surprised. "Miss...Miss. Katara?"
"You're awful. Awful for using me to get to Hei!" I yelled at him. He responded my taking my hands and smiling.
"I never did lie to you, you know that right?" He said. I didn't say anything, only looked away, because I knew it was true. "Now, Hei is back to normal, and everything is fine and dandy now, yes? Now, you two have a lovely rest of the day!" He let go of my hands and waved as he strolled out, like nothing had ever happened.
