“Why didn’t you tell me?” Peter said.

So much had happened over the past few weeks. There was so much he already didn’t know. And now…this…

Noa’s father wasn’t who Peter thought he was. Everything was a lie, a rumour invented by Misty Meadows. It wasn’t true.

“You were really young back then, Peter,” his dad said. “We told you what we could.”

“Almost my whole life, I believed Noa’s dad tried to kill him and his mom,” Peter said. “Amber even believed it. Everyone in town talked about it. And now you’re sitting me down to tell me that my Aunt Wendy was abusive and tried to kill Noa, and that his dad…”

“At the time, we didn’t know what happened,” his mom said. “There was a police investigation and a court case. Noa’s first therapist was so sure he was having issues with his memory because of trauma… It’s not that we were trying to hide it from you.”

“Everything Makoto said lined up with the evidence,” his dad added. “Noa’s injuries all appeared to come from his mother. There were even statements made from neighbours. It seems like Makoto pulled Wendy back to save Noa, and she…”

“She was thrown back and hit her head on the sink,” his mom said. She was looking down at her tightly clasped hands. They were clenched too tight, her skin going white from the strain. “They said… They said it was instant.”

Peter took a deep breath to steady himself. He was beyond upset and he was struggling to not lash out at them. He knew it wasn’t their fault and what they were saying made sense. But he was so frustrated that he was finding out this way.

“Everyone in Misty Meadows talks about what happened to Noa,” Peter said. “And I mean it – everyone. I’ve heard it for years. I’ve believed it for years. I was so sure that his dad… I mean, I even thought Noa had problems with his memory! This… You should have said something a lot sooner.”

“I’m sorry,” his mom said. “Maybe you’re right. We just kept putting it off. At first it was because you were all so young…”

“You’re an honest person with a lot of integrity,” his dad told him. “You would have argued with every single person who brought up a rumour that wasn’t true.”

“And? What’s wrong with that?” Peter said.

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” his mom said. “But when you engage with those kinds of rumours, they get worse and worse. It would spread more rumours, new rumours, and then everyone would be talking about Noa and his family all the time. Can you imagine how hard that would be for him? If you ignore rumours, eventually they go away.”

“But not completely,” Peter said. “Everyone in town still thinks that Noa’s dad is this crazy, murderous abuser. That’s not… If it’s not true, then that’s not okay. And it hurts Noa. I probably hurt Noa for believing it.”

“You’re right,” his mom said. “And I’m sorry. We really should have said something sooner. It’s just…”

She let out a heavy breath and Peter began to understand.

It must have been hard for his parents to find the time because they had to worry about Noa constantly. They were homeschooling him and taking him to see doctors. Peter helped them a lot over the years too. He knew how hard it was to support Noa.

Telling Peter the truth probably slipped their minds. It wasn’t like they talked about Noa’s family all the time. It usually only came up around the holidays, and even then…

“I just wish I knew,” Peter said. “There’s already so much that I don’t know. It’s like what happened to Amber. That… You know how I feel. You feel the same way.”

“You’re right,” his dad said. “If we think of anything else, we’ll tell you. We’re not trying to keep secrets.”

“Okay,” Peter said. “Thank you. I’m not a kid anymore. I need to know what’s going on.”

“You’re right,” his mom said. “You’re absolutely right.”

With perfect timing, Keiko walked up to their table, coffee in hand. She pulled up a chair, joining their table.

She’d stepped aside to give them time to talk. Keiko had vanished into the gift shop earlier and then Peter had seen her wander over for her drink.

“Did you talk?” Keiko asked.

“I think we have it all sorted out,” his mom said.

“Good,” Keiko said. She studied Peter for a moment. “You’re very tall. The last time I saw you, you came up to my shoulder.”

Peter offered her the weakest of smiles. He barely remembered when they last met. He was pretty sure it was before Amber passed away.

“I’m sorry for having such a strong reaction,” he said. “I…didn’t know all the facts.”

Keiko shook her head. “Don’t apologize to me, apologize to my brother.”

“I will,” Peter said, though he still felt weird thinking about it.

It was hard to imagine that the man he’d assumed was so horrible was really the person who saved Noa. All this time, he thought…

He’d believed a lie. He’d believed a rumour.

Peter knew he should have been more critical, but it was a convincing story. He tried to remember the last time he’d heard about a woman being abusive and the only thing that came to mind was Joan Crawford.

Peter knew that his grandfather on his mom’s side was abusive. That’s why their family had nothing to do with him. Peter had never even met him, didn’t even know where he lived or if he was even alive anymore.

He’d read things in books about abuse. All of it framed it as a man abusing a woman, about objectification, and… He’d never seen much about women behaving like that. It never occurred to him. He’d never thought about it.

No wonder it was so hard on Noa. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have your own mother try to drown you, for your dad to save you, and for everyone to tell you that you were remembering things wrong…

No wonder Noa was so afraid of hurting anyone or anything.

No wonder he was so closed off.

It explained so much. Peter was sorry he hadn’t known until now. It would have changed everything. He would have done so many things differently. It reminded him of the friendship bracelet situation, of how he’d thought Rion was an asshole for so long only to find out that wasn’t the case at all.

“I’m happy to know that Noa was well cared for,” Keiko said. “You’re a good big brother.”

“Noa and I are cousins,” Peter said, even though her words made him feel flattered.

“Family. Close enough,” Keiko said. “You remind me of my boys. Are you in school? University? College?”

“Yes,” Peter said. “I’m taking a computer systems technology course. I’m interested in programming.”

“Smart,” she said. “Daiki, my oldest, is going to university. Shota too. But Shota reads too much Jump. He wants to be a mangaka.”

“Manga… Really?” Peter said, leaning in. “That sounds like a lot of work.”

“It can be,” Keiko said. “He’s determined. I worry that it’s not the best career path.”

“At least he’s going to university,” Peter’s mom said.

“We had to convince him,” Keiko said. “He’s doing well, so we’re happy.”

Before the conversation had a chance to continue, Mr. Igarashi came back.

Peter didn’t know if it was because of everything he’d learned just now or if Mr. Igarashi was more relaxed, but he seemed…different. There was something a little less stiff about him.

“Back already?” Peter’s mom said. “I thought you would want to talk to Noa for a while.”

“We talked,” Mr. Igarashi said. “I want to see him again, but he wanted to talk to Peter.”

“Me?” Peter said. “He… He knew I was here?”

“He asked and I told him,” Mr. Igarashi said.

Peter stood to go. He wanted to see Noa right away, but with Mr. Igarashi there… He suddenly felt guilty.

“I… Uh… Mr. Igarashi?” he said. “I’m sorry about before. I, uh… There’s been a lot going on and I didn’t know that you… I didn’t know everything. I was rude, and…harsh.”

“It’s all right,” Mr. Igarashi said. He didn’t seem bothered, waving a hand dismissively. “Noa trusts you. I’m happy you take care of each other. Thank you, Peter.”

Peter could feel the heat rising to his face. He didn’t know how to feel, other than embarrassed.

“I… Right. Well… I’m going to go,” he said, pointing. “Noa wants to see me, so I should…”

“Yes, you should. Thank you,” Mr. Igarashi said, inclining his head.

Peter hurried off, feeling very dumb for…well…everything. Even if it wasn’t his fault completely. He gave his head a shake when he got in the elevator, sucking in a breath and fidgeting with his jacket.

He knew the way to Noa’s room by heart. The staff even recognized his family at this point. The only time he hesitated was when he passed the door to Rion’s room.

He should visit him too, eventually.

But Noa came first.

Noa was expecting him. He was puffy eyed, like he’d been crying, but he was composed at the moment. Actually, he looked more like himself than he had in a long, long time.

“Hi, Peter. Thank you for coming,” Noa said.

“No problem,” Peter said. “Your dad said you wanted to see me, so… I came.”

Noa glanced down, picking at his nails. There was a little bit of black under his nails from the charcoal he was drawing with. The rest of his hands were clean, and he had an unfinished sketch on the table that was pushed aside. Maybe he’d given up on it when he’d seen his dad.

“I want to talk to everyone about some things,” Noa finally said. “I mean, I’m going to need to talk to Dr. Maes too, but… I need to tell you what happened to Amber.”

“You remembered?” Peter asked carefully.

Noa frowned with just the hint of a pout. “…I never forgot. You were right. I lied.”

“But you’re ready to tell the truth now?”

Noa nodded. “I talked to my father. He said… He gave me good advice. I need to talk to all of you. Even Sarina…”

He scowled after saying her name.

“If it makes you feel any better, Sarina seems like she’s trying to be nice,” Peter told him. “She came and saw us earlier. I think she regrets what she did to Rion.”

“She’d better,” Noa said. “She needs to hear the truth too. I want to tell everyone at once. I mean, maybe not Aunt Elaine and Uncle Charlie. I think they need to hear it separately, and then…then if they’re mad and they don’t want me around, I can go with Father.”

“Don’t want you around?” Peter said. “Why wouldn’t we want you around?”

Noa couldn’t have done something that bad. Right? Why would he feel the need to leave with his dad?

Noa frowned, looking down. He bit the inside of his cheek.

“I don’t know what will happen,” Noa said. “And I can’t do anything about it. The only thing I can do is tell the truth, and… I don’t want you to be mad at Rion. He just wanted to protect me. He’s a good person, and he’s my best friend. I don’t want anyone to hurt him anymore.”

“Noa, even if I’m mad, I won’t hurt Rion,” Peter said. “And I know Jesse won’t either, since he saved Rion’s life. We all know that Danny and Celeste are great people. And Sarina… We’ll stop her if she tries anything. Okay?”

“Okay,” Noa said. “I… I’m scared.”

Noa looked down, pressing his lips together, picking at his fingers again. Peter wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Noa so open and vulnerable.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Peter said. “Sometimes it’s really hard to be honest. Did you want to tell me first? We could talk about it right now.”

Noa shook his head. “No. I only want to say it once…maybe two or three times, since I want to tell Dr. Maes, and… I don’t want to have to say it more than I need to.”

“Okay,” Peter said. “I’ll talk to the others. I’ll let them know and I’ll see when I can get everyone together.”

“Thanks, Peter. I really… I appreciate it.”

“I know. Don’t worry about it, Noa.”