On The Hill (GiriPan)

2

Oblivion was there again, with a different cat this time. Again, he stared vacantly into space, his hand tickling behind the cat's ears. This cat was less contented. After a few minutes, it leapt up from its spot and decided Kiku's lap was a better place to sit. Oblivion stood and sat closer to Kiku (uncomfortably close), stroking the cat while it was still on his lap.

"Um," Kiku muttered, "Please could you move your cat from my lap?"

Oblivion nodded and picked up the cat.

"Thank you."

Oblivion nodded again.

"If you don't mind my asking, why are you here?"

That was audacious for Kiku. Most of the time he wouldn't even talk to strangers.

"I come here to think." answered Oblivion. His voice fitted his blank face: soft and monotone.

"I do too. Or read. I like your cat." Trying to start a conversation? Kiku wondered what was happening to him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"I'm, uh, Kiku. Kiku Honda."

"Okay."

Oblivion was as weird as he looked.
"What's yours?" Kiku asked, more confident now. Oblivion was almost as quiet as he was. If not more so.

"I'm Heracles Karpusi. This is Socrates."

"Oh. Hello, Karpusi-san."

"Have you ever thought, Kiku, about how you've never seen more than half of yourself in person?"

"I'm confused."

Heracles smiled for a fraction of a second, "Most of you, you'll never see in person."

Kiku tilted his head, interested.

"You've only seen what you see when you look down. You've never seen your own face. Or your back."

"Unless you have a mirror," Kiku added, "or a camera."

"Mirrors and cameras are just images. They can be deceitful."

"How so?"

Heracles shrugged, "I don't know. I was just thinking out loud."

"It makes sense though. You have an interesting mind."

Heracles nodded. He liked Kiku. Most people laughed at him or got creeped out when he was being philosophical. Kiku was genuinely interested. He could count other people like that on one hand and have 5 fingers left. Kiku was different.

They sat together in comfortable silence, one thinking, the other reading. Socrates lay there, knowing he'd be seeing more of the boy in white.