"Father to Daughter" - Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Where could she be?
Takamura was becoming anxious to find her. He couldn't get Narita's words out of his head.
You should go find her before she thinks of doing anything bad to herself.
What could she do to herself!?
"Huh? What is this?" Takamura touched the white substance on the floor. "Flour?"
The flour had left a tiny trail. Maybe it would lead him to Reiko?
He followed it through the hallways until it reached the rooftop.
Of course! Why didn't he think of the rooftop before? It was a perfect place for someone to hide.
"Sakurai-san?" Takamura called. "Sakurai-san?"
He heard a muffled noise.
He followed this noise and saw a white ghost in the corner.
"Reiko!" Slipped from his mouth as he ran towards her.
"Leave me alone!" She pushed him away, leaving some flour on his shirt.
Takamura grabbed her head and force her to turn towards him.
His heart dropped.
Her eyes were completely red from crying.
"Just leave me alone." She pushed him away, this time more gently.
"No."
She blinked. "W-what?"
"No, I'm not going to leave you alone."
Takamura grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. The more she resisted, the tighter he held her.
She finally stopped resisting.
Takamura eventually felt her wrapping her arms around him as well.
"Who did this to you?" Takamura asked softly.
Reiko didn't answer.
"Was it Matsuyama?"
Takamura could feel Reiko flinch.
So it was Matsuyama Chizu.
"Sorry, it's my fault." Takamura patted Reiko's head.
Takamura lifted Reiko up.
"Come on. We are going to get them to confess and to stop this." He grabbed her hand.
"No! It won't do anything!" Reiko wouldn't budge.
Takamura cupped her cheek. "Are you doubting my idol powers?"
Reiko looked down. "It'll just get worse. It is best to ignore it. It eventually goes away."
"It hasn't gone away yet and it's been a month. Do you really thing they are going to stop?"
Reiko was silent.
"Come on," Takamura pulled her again. "Plus, I'm very pissed right now and I need to yell at someone."
Takamura barged into the classroom, interrupting the teacher.
He pushed Reiko in front of him.
"Who did this!?" He yelled.
His voice scared Reiko. He wasn't lying when he said he was pissed.
"Takamura-san, you are interrupting the lesson. Please sit down," the teacher tried to approach Takamura.
"Interrupting the lesson?" Takaura whipped towards the teacher. "Do you see this?" He pointed at Reiko. "You are really going to ignore this? What kind of teacher are you?"
Takamura turned towards the class again. "So, who did this? If you confess now, I may let you off the hook."
There was a long silence.
Reiko kept her head low. This was so embarrassing.
A girl slowly raised her hand.
Takamura let go of Reiko and approached this girl. "You did it? Were you alone?"
The girl was shaking. "N-no. I wasn't alone."
Another girl clicked her tongue. "Miisa," she moaned. She leaned back in her chair and raised her hand. "Yeah, I did it too."
Takamura's eyebrows furrowed. The first girl showed at least some remorse, but this girl was cocky about it.
"Anybody else?" He said in a bitter tone while looking at this girl.
"Yeah, there were a couple of us? Why?" This girl smirked.
Takamura slammed his hand on her desk. She jumped. "O-oi! You better be careful! I'll report about this to the tabloids!"
Takamura snorted. "You think I'm concerned about that? What are you going to report? That I got pissed at a girl bullying her classmate? If anything, that'll make me more popular, wouldn't it?" Takamura gave her a cocky smile.
"O-okay, let's all calm down here," the teacher said as he pushed himself between Takamura and the girl. "We will talk about the rest in the office. Sakurai-san, you go clean yourself off."
After showering, Reiko didn't bother going to the teacher's room even though she was supposed to. It would just be more talk and embarrassment for her.
They would probably try to call her dad too and she couldn't allow that. She wasn't sure what his schedule was for today.
She could handle herself. She didn't need anybody.
She kicked off her shoes as she entered her house.
"Reiko? What are you doing home so early?" Her dad asked as he came out of the kitchen. It looked like he was getting ready to go somewhere.
Reiko opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, tears built up in her eyes.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold these tears in, but it only made more come.
"Reiko." Sho's voice sounded so comforting to her.
She was wrong, she couldn't handle this herself. It was too much for her.
She needed her dad.
Her legs moved by themselves as she ran towards Sho and hugged him at the waist, digging her face into his shirt as she bawled. "Daddy! I don't want to go anymore. I hate it there!"
Sho wasn't sure what to do at first. Reiko has never shown this much affection to him since she was little.
And...daddy? It was a first.
Right as he was about to wrap his arms around her, his phone went off.
Reiko paid no attention to it as she kept crying.
Sho picked up the phone anyway. "Hello? ...Yeah, you are going to have to reschedule the interview...Sorry, something important just came up....Yeah, thanks. Bye."
Sho put his arms around Reiko. "Come on sweetie, let's sit down." He guided her to the couch as she clanged to him.
Sho ran his fingers through Reiko's hair as she continued to cry. Sho didn't need to ask what this was about. Obviously it was from the bullying.
"Do you want to change schools?" Sho finally asked.
Reiko surprisingly shook her head.
"Why not?"
Reiko's cry began to soften.
"Nothing will change."
"What do you mean?" Sho sat her up, but kept her close.
"No matter where I go, it will always be the same." She kept her eyes down. Her shoulders began to shake again.
Sho grabbed her in a tight embrace.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
An hour must have passed before Reiko finally stopped crying and fell asleep on Sho's lap.
Sho tucked Reiko's hair behind her ear.
Chisa's ears.
He smiled to himself.
Every time he looked at his daughters, he saw Chisa. Somehow he was able to keep her alive through them. Without them, he wasn't sure how he could survive.
---
[5 years ago]
"Welcome back home!" Sho and Reiko yelled together as they pulled on the poppers.
Myu giggled and clapped.
Chisa smile reached ear to ear. "Thank you!"
She picked up Myu and pulled the other two into a group hug. She then looked up at Sho who gave her a long kiss.
Reiko wiggled herself out of the group hug. "Ew! Why do you have to do that here?"
Chisa smirked as she got closer to Reiko. "Someday you'll find a guy you can't get enough of and you'll understand Mama." She poked Reiko in the stomach before giving Sho another long kiss.
Reiko clicked her tongue as she looked away.
"Come on Myu, Mama and Papa are gross." Reiko tugged on the young two-year-old's hand.
Chisa giggled while Sho just smiled. He didn't mind his daughters. All he could think about was Chisa. She was finally back home.
"Did you take all your medicine?" Sho hovered over Chisa in the bathroom as she was getting ready for bed.
"Yes I did." She turned around and touched his chest. "Don't worry so much. I'm feeling fine."
"How am I not supposed to worry? You were in the hospital for a month!"
He gently touched her hand.
"That month was so hard. I'm not sure what I would do if I ever lost you."
"You aren't going to lose me silly. I still have two beautiful daughters to see get married. And of course I will have to see my grandkids!" She got closer to Sho, placing her head on his chest. "And grow old together with you."
Sho kissed the top of her head.
[Two Months Later]
Sho woke up in the middle of the night. Must be from stress. It was hard to sleep when he was feeling stressed.
He sat up and rubbed his forehead.
"Chisa?" He whispered.
She was going to be mad at him for waking her up, but he wanted someone to talk to.
"Chisa?" He said a bit louder this time.
She was generally a light sleeper. This was odd.
"Hey Chisa." He tapped her.
His eyebrows scrunched together.
Something was wrong here.
He leaned over her. "Chi--"
He froze.
"C-Chisa?" He began pushing on her. "Chisa!"
More frantically he was trying to wake her up.
He knew it was no use though.
"Chisa!"
Tears fell down from his cheeks.
She was gone.
No. She couldn't be gone. She couldn't leave him like this.
"Chisa!!"
"What's wrong Papa?" Reiko rubbed her eyes as she stood in the door way.
"DON'T COME!" He yelled.
Reiko jumped.
"Don't come," he cried.
He couldn't let her see this.
Reiko silently watched as people took away her mom.
She was dead. Her mom was dead.
She watched her dad sitting on the couch, zoning out.
Did he even care that random strangers were taking away her mom?
Wasn't he going to do anything about it?
Her eyes got blurry.
If he wasn't going to do anything, she would.
"STOP IT! DON'T TAKE MAMA!" Reiko began punching the closest man.
"Reiko!" Sho got off of the couch and held her back.
"THEY ARE TAKING MAMA!"
Sho's grip on her tightened. "Reiko! She's dead, we can't do anything else! They are going to give her a proper resting place."
"NO!" Reiko screamed and kicked like a five year-old. "NO!"
"Reiko! Stop it!"
"NO! I HATE YOU! IT'S YOUR FAULT! YOU KILLED MAMA!"
Sho grip released as his arms fell limp.
Reiko pushed him away and ran out the door.
She was missing the rest of the night.
Sho didn't bother to look for her. She would return soon enough.
His fault?
He guessed it was.
Chisa was bullied because of him. She became stressed out. It became a medical condition.
The doctors said that it was a genetic thing, but he knew he was the cause of her stress.
And that killed her.
---
[Present Day]
Sho laid his head back. Reiko was still sound asleep on his lap.
How long would this last?
Would she go back to hating him the moment she woke up?
Ding Dong.
Reiko's eyes squeezed together.
She was waking up. A light sleeper like her mother.
Ding Dong.
Reiko looked around, taking in her surroundings.
"Reiko?" The voice from the other side of the door yelled.
Reiko's eyes got big and she sat up.
Ding Dong. Ding Dong.
"Reiko!"
"Takamura-san," Reiko whispered.
Sho stood up to answer the door.
Reiko quickly grabbed his arm. "No!"
Sho gave her a puzzled look.
She shyly let go of his arm. "Um, I-I'm not here, okay?"
Sho cocked his head. "So where are you supposed to be then?"
She looked down. "Uhh, I dunno. Give the best excuse you can think of."
"I'll just tell him you don't want to see him," Sho walked towards the door.
"No! Don't do that!" Reiko panicked.
Ding Dong.
"Reiko, I know you are there! Please answer the door!" Takamura continued.
Reiko's eyes revealed obvious panic, contemplating what to do.
Sho sighed. "I'll tell him you're asleep."
Reiko gave a nod, hurrying back to the couch.
When Sho opened the door, Takamura took a step back.
"Ah, Sakurai-senpai. Sorry. Is Reiko home?"
Reiko? Since when had these two become so friendly that they were on a first name basis?
"She is, but she is sleeping at the moment." Sho's voice was a bit cold. Maybe he was a bit upset that Takamura ruined his moment with his daughter.
"Oh," Takamura looked down, disappointed. "I was worried since she left school without saying anything."
He slowly looked up at Sho.
"Is there any way I could see her?"
Sho stared into this boy's eyes. Exactly how much did Takamura like Reiko?
Sho folded his arms. "You have rehearsals soon right? Concerts are starting next week."
Takamura tilted his head. "Yeah, but--"
"Go to rehearsal. Reiko is doing just fine now and needs her rest," Sho bluntly told him.
Takamura's eyes slowly drifted downwards.
He sighed. "Right. I'll talk to her later then. Bye."
Sho closed the door and returned to the couch where Reiko was hugging her knees.
Sho put his arm around Reiko, pulling her closer to him.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Reiko's grip around her knees tightened.
"I always look so pathetic in front of him," she said softly.
Sho stayed quiet, watching Reiko intently.
"He even..." Reiko hid her face in her knees. "He saw me crying...covered in flour..."
"Chisa! I'm home!" Sho shouted from the front door.
No response.
Sho heard a muffled noise from the bathroom.
He slowly opened the door.
"Chisa?"
Chisa turned her head so her face couldn't be seen.
Sho's eyes widened at the sight. Eggs ran down her hair onto her back.
"Chisa!" He knelt onto the floor with her and force her to face him.
Her cheeks had tears running down them. She covered her face with her hands.
"Please don't look," she pleaded.
"Why?" Sho pulled an egg shell out of her hair. "This is horrible!"
"Because...you are just going to blame yourself again. It scares me..." She finally revealed part of her face.
"Scares you?"
"I want to marry you no matter what Sho. I don't want this to change your mind. I can handle it. I really can." She wiped her tears.
Sho stared at Chisa, trying to keep back the tears that were coming to his own eyes.
Sho pulled Reiko even closer, positioning her head on his shoulder.
"I'm sure he doesn't mind Reiko. He was probably more worried about you than worrying what you looked like."
"But it's embarrassing!!" Reiko dug her face into Sho's arm.
Sho couldn't help but laugh.
"Why are you laughing!?" Reiko hit her dad's shoulder.
Sho placed his hand on the top of Reiko's head.
"I'm laughing because you are so much like your mother."
Reiko got silent and stared at Sho with big eyes.
Sho mussed with Reiko's hair and then stood up. "Let's get some icecream. Do you mind going out with your dad or is that too embarrassing ?"
Reiko patted her hair down as she followed her dad to the door.
"A-am I really like Mom?" Reiko asked awkwardly.
Sho turned around after putting his shoes on.
He gave her a small, but warm smile.
"So much more than you even know," he said as he stroked Reiko's cheek.
Tears built up in her eyes. She surprised Sho by suddenly hugging him, almost knocking the air out of him.
"I miss her so much Dad."
Sho bit his lip to keep himself from crying.
He stroked Reiko's hair. "I know honey. I miss her too."