Songs for Daddy- Chapter 46: You're Gonna Pay
Author: bar_ohki
Title: Songs for Daddy
Rating: This chapter is rated T.
Summary: After receiving a phone call, Hiruma abandons his job, his football team, and his friends, disappearing into nothing. After several years pass, Mamori finds a strange girl in her Kindergarten class, a girl strange enough to have the only remaining connection to the missing quarterback….
Notes: You're Gonna Pay is by the Undertaker, I do not own it.
Links: To song on youtube: Video
To lyrics of song: Lyrics
To a list of chapter links: Links
To chapter 45: The Darker Side of Me
Songs for Daddy
Chapter 46: You’re Gonna Pay
“That fucker!” Hiruma snapped loudly, his expression absolutely venomous. “That mother fucker!”
Emiko backed away, frightened.
Papa never acted like this.
Ever.
The swearing did not stop there, no that was only the beginning of what was the scariest experience in Emiko’s life.
Anezaki took a step back, shocked by Hiruma’s reaction. He never lost his cool, sure she’d seen him angry and enraged about things, but not like this. She’d never seen him start yelling and swearing or stomping like this. He marched into the living room and started to throw things (pillows thankfully) about (mostly at walls).
“That fucking bastard!” Hiruma roared as he picked up a vase and flung it violently at the couch. The vase did not break, but the flowers and water inside it went flying everywhere.
Emiko stood in the door way, rocking side to side with her eyes fixed on her father. She wasn’t sure what to think, what to believe. Her insides were twisted up so hard-she couldn’t cry or scream-it was as if both things were taken from her. All Emiko knew was that something had to stop him, something had to come and make everything better, but what? Emiko couldn’t do anything to reach him.
Anezaki came into the room and was trying to restore it as Hiruma created more mess. She was downright amazed he hadn’t actually broken anything yet, but he was certainly making a massive amount of chaos in her home.
Hiruma roared and punched a wall, breaking the plaster beneath his fist. Then he froze, perfectly, eerily still.
“You-youichi?” Anezaki asked tentatively. Was he calm?
Crunch.
Thunk.
Hiruma had broken the threat notebook with his own hands. The soiled pages and carefully pasted photographs were now wafting to the floor to join the snapped spine and torn cover. Black and white, sin and salvation, all over the floor with the disarrayed furniture and Emiko.
“Emiko!” Anezaki gasped, staring at the child in horror. Emiko had fallen to her knees and was perfectly still. Her expression was that of agony and sharp tears were running from her wide open eyes. She looked stuck, trapped, and unable to move from her spot.
Hiruma was shaking, his blood running fast, his mind a blur of thought and rage. Masaki- that fucking damned doctor- had purposely misdiagnosed patients for the sake of personal profit. That mother fucking bastard had purposefully created suffering for the sake of his wallet. Suffering that led to suffering of those around the victims…!
Chizue, Saburo Chizue, had been one of Masaki’s 70 victims. She had been forced to have a heart transplant for what was a fairly light case, then given minor hallucinogens taken at too high a dose to encourage her being bedridden and frail. He had also failed to administer an alternative heart medication when she was pregnant. Masaki had single-handedly closed the door on Chizue’s hope for a normal life because it would make more money.
Haruka, Saburo Haruka, had been one of Masaki’s 70 victims. She had been suspected of having dementia for a while, Masaki did nothing. In fact he encouraged the woman to continue to partake in behavior that would only worsen her condition. Because of her trust and lack of mental stability, Masaki was getting tips and bribes from Haruka, fattening his wallet.
Teru, Saburo Teru, had been one of Masaki’s 70 victims. He had cancer and his medication had been administered such that it prolonged his recovery. He had not been taken into assisted living or a nursing home. Haruka had been advised to not do this. By keeping Teru away from professional care, Masaki protects his practice and is allowed to charge Haruka and Teru through the nose for medication.
Emiko, Hiruma Emiko, had been one of Masaki’s 70 victims. Masaki had seen to it that Chizue was given particularly vague prenatal instruction. He had seen Emiko’s autism and said nothing about it, hoping that the resulting mental trauma of growing up different would eventually lead to a need for therapy or suicidal tendencies. Only when the situation got bad would he hail a potential diagnosis in an attempt to make himself out to be the trustworthy hero. That’s why Masaki had supported Haruka’s attempts to gain custody of the child.
Youichi, Hiruma Youichi was almost one of Masaki’s 70 victims. He had been prescribed LSD for having hallucinations of his dead wife. He had been a victim of rape and was not recommended for psychological care. He had lived a six year self-enforced exile that Masaki allowed; knowing Hiruma’s mental state would only get worse over time under the conditions instead of better. The only reason Masaki was thwarted was because Hiruma saw his company psychiatrist, Yukimitsu, about the matter instead of anyone Masaki referred him to.
Even if Hiruma hadn’t loved Chizue, that woman had done nothing deserving of this so-called doctor’s practice. Haruka and Teru both caused suffering for those around them because of their conditions and Emiko-!
No one fucks around with Emiko.
Ever.
Enlightened, that’s how Hiruma felt, enlightened that all of the suffering caused by his marriage to Chizue could be tied back to one man. For once, there was a villain, with a name and face. Hiruma was going to mess that man up so bad when he got his hand on him.
Dink!
Hiruma blinked, finding the noise strange. Slowly he turned his head, his rage, towards the source. But it all fell away the moment he saw the source.
Anezaki was sitting next to Emiko looking panicked and Emiko looked like she dead. She was perfectly still save the salty tears running down her face. Big brown eyes stared at Hiruma, her face a permanent expression of horror.
“N-no…!” Hiruma whispered into the silent room, his own expression matching Emiko’s. He fell to his knees, all the rage washed away to be replaced with horror. What had he done? What had he done!?
Papa stopped. Papa was hurt.
Emiko pulled her head back and wailed, the pain finally reaching a climax such that she could act again. Everything was so wrong, so painful, so-so unfair! She was distressed, confused, and did everything she could to rid herself of these feelings.
Anezaki was shocked to hear Emiko suddenly start screaming after so much silence. She was even more shocked to see the resulting tantrum that accompanied the screaming. Emiko was literally on the floor thrashing and having spasms, her wailing and crying hadn’t slowed.
Looking at Hiruma showed the man was now tired, upset, guilty, and unhappy. A few tears had fallen from his eyes, something Anezaki had not expected. He leaned against the wall, looking down at Emiko looking defeated and dejected.
Deep breath to steady the nerves, Anezaki moved to try and stop Emiko.
“Don’t.” Hiruma muttered. Despite it being quite in comparison to Emiko’s screams, Anezaki heard it perfectly. Shaking her head, Anezaki grabbed Emiko’s flailing hand only to have the girl turn on her, her expression frightened and angry, and struggle to free her hand. Persisting, Anezaki held on firmly only to see Emiko had a much stronger convection than her.
Emiko bit Anezaki’s arm, the one that was holding her hand. That little be-fanged girl bit hard and quick, drawing blood and releasing her mouth the exact moment Anezaki let go. Now with a bit of Anezaki’s blood smeared across her mouth, Emiko continued to have her tantrum on the floor.
Long pale hands reached down around from behind and grasped Anezaki’s wounded forearm. It took her a moment to realize it was Hiruma holding her arm and that he was being very gentle.
“Emiko bites when she’s like this.” Hiruma mumbled thoughtfully. “She hasn’t been like this in a long while….” Regret laced his tone. Only now did Anezaki notice the tiny white doted scars up Hiruma’s forearms. They were subtle, but it was clear he’d had his share of getting bit by a very upset Emiko in the past.
Anezaki said nothing; she had disregarded the warning after all.
“…It’s best to let her get it all out.” Hiruma added. “Let’s uh, clean up so she won’t hurt herself on anything….” More guilt, and more regret.
“Yeah.” Anezaki agreed. With a pained slowness, Hiruma went about righting the furniture, restoring the pillows and vases to where they belonged. Anezaki went straight for the remains of the threat notebook, wondering what in the world did it have inside to cause this mess…..
It did not take long for Anezaki to find the source of the trouble, the pages she wanted to see had not fallen far from the book’s spine. Doctor Masaki Atsushi, a family practitioner, was swindling misdiagnoser. From what was in the threat notebook there were 69 victims, a number that had surely increased since Hiruma had last updated the notebook over six years ago. Amongst this man’s victims included the entire Saburo family, especially Chizue.
This information made Anezaki steal a glance at Hiruma. No, there was no mourning in him, not towards Chizue anyways. He was full of suffering from what he did to Emiko.
…Hiruma had respected Chizue, that much Anezaki knew. She wondered how much of that rage had been because of Chizue all the same.
It took twenty minutes to clean the room. It took Anezaki four minutes to decide and place the remains of the threat notebook on the kitchen table. When she arrived in the kitchen to do this, she saw that Hiruma had gotten out the first aid kit. Wordlessly, Anezaki held up her arm for Hiruma to disinfect and dress.
“…I’m sorry.” Hiruma apologized softly.
“…I saw what was in the book,” Anezaki began, “you had a right to be angry.”
“Not like that.” Hiruma muttered and stood up again. Anezaki followed him into the living room and joined the silent vigil over Emiko. Eventually Emiko’s movements grew less and less violent, her screaming grew softer, and eventually she calmed and stilled, passed out on the floor.
Hiruma rubbed his forehead tiredly for a moment, then got up. Delicately he lifted Emiko from the ground and carried her into her bedroom. Knowing what to do wordlessly, Anezaki had prepared a warm, moist towel to dry Emiko’s tears with. Hiruma was the one to wipe them away. Anezaki was the one to undress Emiko, while Hiruma put her up in her favorite pajamas. Chizue the dog appeared out of one of the other backrooms and curled up next to Emiko once she was tucked in.
Hiruma carefully undid the ribbons in Emiko’s hair and ruffled it loose. He bent down and kissed Emiko’s forehead.
“I’m sorry.” Hiruma whispered and pulled away. Touching his arm, Anezaki followed him into their bedroom.
“Youichi,” Anezaki began her voice emotional and quite, “what are we going to do?”
Hiruma did not say anything, he just sat down on the bed and pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them close and staring at the wall. There was no doubt in his mind that something had to be done about Masaki. Something had to be done about what just happened with Emiko, something had to be done about the Rice Bowl…. There were no good answers in a situation like this.
Softly, Anezaki took a seat next to him and gently wrapped her arms about his shoulders for a hug. She had promised herself a while back, when they first agreed on their everyday visits dating thing; that she would remain by his side no matter how hard it got. At the best of times Hiruma was not an easy person to follow, he had habits to choose the hardest path for the sake of the challenge or for the sake of making himself stronger. Despite having Emiko in his life, Hiruma still continued to make choices based on making a clearer path for Emiko, even if they did cost him dearly.
“…I don’t know.” Hiruma answered lamely after several minutes of thinking. He didn’t know; he just didn’t know.
“…I have an idea.” Anezaki muttered gently.
She felt Hiruma perk up and become attentive in her arms.
“Let’s just take things one step at a time.” Anezaki suggested. “First we deal with Emiko when she wakes up, then we prepare for the Rice Bowl, then we deal with Masaki.”
Those words stirred a memory in Hiruma.
“Emiko, calm down,” Hiruma held his daughter’s frantic hands in his own in an attempt to calm her. “Just take a breath and say it, one word at a time.”
Emiko made a face and rocked a bit, despite her hands being held in place.
“It’s okay; we have time, lots of time.” Hiruma told her. “There’s no need to rush anything.”
“Step by step?” Emiko asked quietly.
“Yes, step by step.” Hiruma smiled a bit. “It’s best to take things step by step as they come.”
“…Okay.” Emiko nodded, determined.
“Can’t even take my own advice,” Hiruma muttered with a sardonic chuckle.
“Sounds like you,” Anezaki smiled and ruffled Hiruma’s hair.
“I want to kill that fucking doctor.” Hiruma remarked. “But I can’t decide if I want to make him suffer or just get it over with quickly.” Somehow his words did not surprise Anezaki. She knew he was saying them to try and get rid of their feelings.
“Wouldn’t it be better to make him suffer and live with it?” Anezaki suggested. “Like his patients did, he should have to live with the consequences of his choices.”
“Ruin him?” Hiruma tasted the words on his tongue while he thought about it. “My, my, fucking mother, I can’t say I was expecting you to be devious.”
“Mothers don’t take well to having their babies get hurt.” Anezaki explained, ruffling Hiruma’s hair again to imply he might be one of her babies. Hiruma made an agreeing noise and just sat there with her. Anezaki calmed him and he needed to be calm when Emiko woke up.
The clicking of the dog’s paws altered the parents that Emiko was awake and coming into the room. She was tired and her eyes were still a bit puffy, but she was set on being awake and coming into the room. Hiruma and Anezaki straightened up and changed their position such that they were just sitting next to each other and not touching.
After climbing up onto the bed, Emiko went straight for Papa, giving him a hug. Surprised Hiruma could only stare down at Emiko in wonder. Why was she doing this?
“It’s okay,” Emiko mumbled into Hiruma’s shirt, “Papa was just having a bad day.”
It’s always amazing to hear your own words come back to you, Hiruma realized. He had forgotten that whenever Emiko had a tantrum and broke something or bit him, he’d tell her it was okay, that she’d just been having a bad day.
Come to think of it, Hiruma really did have a tantrum, he had acted no differently than Emiko did when she had one. Well, except the swearing part, Emiko would have been growling instead.
“Yeah, I had a bad day.” Hiruma agreed.
Emiko squeezed a little tighter.
“It should go away soon.” Emiko muttered. That was her phrase that meant she just wanted whatever was going on to be over already.
“I’m feeling better now.” Hiruma told Emiko. “Thank you for coming to comfort me.”
Emiko pulled away and smiled, happy to be praised. She then turned to face Mom.
“Mom, Papa is not in trouble.” Emiko told Anezaki firmly, her expression serious.
“No, he’s not.” Anezaki agreed and got a smile directed at her.
Masaki would pay for what he did, that much had been decided on. But scums like him were not as important as the here and now of their family.
And Hiruma wouldn’t have it any other way.
_=_=_=_=_
The thirst for this man’s blood is causing more than a little bit of trouble.
Title: Songs for Daddy
Rating: This chapter is rated T.
Summary: After receiving a phone call, Hiruma abandons his job, his football team, and his friends, disappearing into nothing. After several years pass, Mamori finds a strange girl in her Kindergarten class, a girl strange enough to have the only remaining connection to the missing quarterback….
Notes: You're Gonna Pay is by the Undertaker, I do not own it.
Links: To song on youtube: Video
To lyrics of song: Lyrics
To a list of chapter links: Links
To chapter 45: The Darker Side of Me
Songs for Daddy
Chapter 46: You’re Gonna Pay
“That fucker!” Hiruma snapped loudly, his expression absolutely venomous. “That mother fucker!”
Emiko backed away, frightened.
Papa never acted like this.
Ever.
The swearing did not stop there, no that was only the beginning of what was the scariest experience in Emiko’s life.
Anezaki took a step back, shocked by Hiruma’s reaction. He never lost his cool, sure she’d seen him angry and enraged about things, but not like this. She’d never seen him start yelling and swearing or stomping like this. He marched into the living room and started to throw things (pillows thankfully) about (mostly at walls).
“That fucking bastard!” Hiruma roared as he picked up a vase and flung it violently at the couch. The vase did not break, but the flowers and water inside it went flying everywhere.
Emiko stood in the door way, rocking side to side with her eyes fixed on her father. She wasn’t sure what to think, what to believe. Her insides were twisted up so hard-she couldn’t cry or scream-it was as if both things were taken from her. All Emiko knew was that something had to stop him, something had to come and make everything better, but what? Emiko couldn’t do anything to reach him.
Anezaki came into the room and was trying to restore it as Hiruma created more mess. She was downright amazed he hadn’t actually broken anything yet, but he was certainly making a massive amount of chaos in her home.
Hiruma roared and punched a wall, breaking the plaster beneath his fist. Then he froze, perfectly, eerily still.
“You-youichi?” Anezaki asked tentatively. Was he calm?
Crunch.
Thunk.
Hiruma had broken the threat notebook with his own hands. The soiled pages and carefully pasted photographs were now wafting to the floor to join the snapped spine and torn cover. Black and white, sin and salvation, all over the floor with the disarrayed furniture and Emiko.
“Emiko!” Anezaki gasped, staring at the child in horror. Emiko had fallen to her knees and was perfectly still. Her expression was that of agony and sharp tears were running from her wide open eyes. She looked stuck, trapped, and unable to move from her spot.
Hiruma was shaking, his blood running fast, his mind a blur of thought and rage. Masaki- that fucking damned doctor- had purposely misdiagnosed patients for the sake of personal profit. That mother fucking bastard had purposefully created suffering for the sake of his wallet. Suffering that led to suffering of those around the victims…!
Chizue, Saburo Chizue, had been one of Masaki’s 70 victims. She had been forced to have a heart transplant for what was a fairly light case, then given minor hallucinogens taken at too high a dose to encourage her being bedridden and frail. He had also failed to administer an alternative heart medication when she was pregnant. Masaki had single-handedly closed the door on Chizue’s hope for a normal life because it would make more money.
Haruka, Saburo Haruka, had been one of Masaki’s 70 victims. She had been suspected of having dementia for a while, Masaki did nothing. In fact he encouraged the woman to continue to partake in behavior that would only worsen her condition. Because of her trust and lack of mental stability, Masaki was getting tips and bribes from Haruka, fattening his wallet.
Teru, Saburo Teru, had been one of Masaki’s 70 victims. He had cancer and his medication had been administered such that it prolonged his recovery. He had not been taken into assisted living or a nursing home. Haruka had been advised to not do this. By keeping Teru away from professional care, Masaki protects his practice and is allowed to charge Haruka and Teru through the nose for medication.
Emiko, Hiruma Emiko, had been one of Masaki’s 70 victims. Masaki had seen to it that Chizue was given particularly vague prenatal instruction. He had seen Emiko’s autism and said nothing about it, hoping that the resulting mental trauma of growing up different would eventually lead to a need for therapy or suicidal tendencies. Only when the situation got bad would he hail a potential diagnosis in an attempt to make himself out to be the trustworthy hero. That’s why Masaki had supported Haruka’s attempts to gain custody of the child.
Youichi, Hiruma Youichi was almost one of Masaki’s 70 victims. He had been prescribed LSD for having hallucinations of his dead wife. He had been a victim of rape and was not recommended for psychological care. He had lived a six year self-enforced exile that Masaki allowed; knowing Hiruma’s mental state would only get worse over time under the conditions instead of better. The only reason Masaki was thwarted was because Hiruma saw his company psychiatrist, Yukimitsu, about the matter instead of anyone Masaki referred him to.
Even if Hiruma hadn’t loved Chizue, that woman had done nothing deserving of this so-called doctor’s practice. Haruka and Teru both caused suffering for those around them because of their conditions and Emiko-!
No one fucks around with Emiko.
Ever.
Enlightened, that’s how Hiruma felt, enlightened that all of the suffering caused by his marriage to Chizue could be tied back to one man. For once, there was a villain, with a name and face. Hiruma was going to mess that man up so bad when he got his hand on him.
Dink!
Hiruma blinked, finding the noise strange. Slowly he turned his head, his rage, towards the source. But it all fell away the moment he saw the source.
Anezaki was sitting next to Emiko looking panicked and Emiko looked like she dead. She was perfectly still save the salty tears running down her face. Big brown eyes stared at Hiruma, her face a permanent expression of horror.
“N-no…!” Hiruma whispered into the silent room, his own expression matching Emiko’s. He fell to his knees, all the rage washed away to be replaced with horror. What had he done? What had he done!?
Papa stopped. Papa was hurt.
Emiko pulled her head back and wailed, the pain finally reaching a climax such that she could act again. Everything was so wrong, so painful, so-so unfair! She was distressed, confused, and did everything she could to rid herself of these feelings.
Anezaki was shocked to hear Emiko suddenly start screaming after so much silence. She was even more shocked to see the resulting tantrum that accompanied the screaming. Emiko was literally on the floor thrashing and having spasms, her wailing and crying hadn’t slowed.
Looking at Hiruma showed the man was now tired, upset, guilty, and unhappy. A few tears had fallen from his eyes, something Anezaki had not expected. He leaned against the wall, looking down at Emiko looking defeated and dejected.
Deep breath to steady the nerves, Anezaki moved to try and stop Emiko.
“Don’t.” Hiruma muttered. Despite it being quite in comparison to Emiko’s screams, Anezaki heard it perfectly. Shaking her head, Anezaki grabbed Emiko’s flailing hand only to have the girl turn on her, her expression frightened and angry, and struggle to free her hand. Persisting, Anezaki held on firmly only to see Emiko had a much stronger convection than her.
Emiko bit Anezaki’s arm, the one that was holding her hand. That little be-fanged girl bit hard and quick, drawing blood and releasing her mouth the exact moment Anezaki let go. Now with a bit of Anezaki’s blood smeared across her mouth, Emiko continued to have her tantrum on the floor.
Long pale hands reached down around from behind and grasped Anezaki’s wounded forearm. It took her a moment to realize it was Hiruma holding her arm and that he was being very gentle.
“Emiko bites when she’s like this.” Hiruma mumbled thoughtfully. “She hasn’t been like this in a long while….” Regret laced his tone. Only now did Anezaki notice the tiny white doted scars up Hiruma’s forearms. They were subtle, but it was clear he’d had his share of getting bit by a very upset Emiko in the past.
Anezaki said nothing; she had disregarded the warning after all.
“…It’s best to let her get it all out.” Hiruma added. “Let’s uh, clean up so she won’t hurt herself on anything….” More guilt, and more regret.
“Yeah.” Anezaki agreed. With a pained slowness, Hiruma went about righting the furniture, restoring the pillows and vases to where they belonged. Anezaki went straight for the remains of the threat notebook, wondering what in the world did it have inside to cause this mess…..
It did not take long for Anezaki to find the source of the trouble, the pages she wanted to see had not fallen far from the book’s spine. Doctor Masaki Atsushi, a family practitioner, was swindling misdiagnoser. From what was in the threat notebook there were 69 victims, a number that had surely increased since Hiruma had last updated the notebook over six years ago. Amongst this man’s victims included the entire Saburo family, especially Chizue.
This information made Anezaki steal a glance at Hiruma. No, there was no mourning in him, not towards Chizue anyways. He was full of suffering from what he did to Emiko.
…Hiruma had respected Chizue, that much Anezaki knew. She wondered how much of that rage had been because of Chizue all the same.
It took twenty minutes to clean the room. It took Anezaki four minutes to decide and place the remains of the threat notebook on the kitchen table. When she arrived in the kitchen to do this, she saw that Hiruma had gotten out the first aid kit. Wordlessly, Anezaki held up her arm for Hiruma to disinfect and dress.
“…I’m sorry.” Hiruma apologized softly.
“…I saw what was in the book,” Anezaki began, “you had a right to be angry.”
“Not like that.” Hiruma muttered and stood up again. Anezaki followed him into the living room and joined the silent vigil over Emiko. Eventually Emiko’s movements grew less and less violent, her screaming grew softer, and eventually she calmed and stilled, passed out on the floor.
Hiruma rubbed his forehead tiredly for a moment, then got up. Delicately he lifted Emiko from the ground and carried her into her bedroom. Knowing what to do wordlessly, Anezaki had prepared a warm, moist towel to dry Emiko’s tears with. Hiruma was the one to wipe them away. Anezaki was the one to undress Emiko, while Hiruma put her up in her favorite pajamas. Chizue the dog appeared out of one of the other backrooms and curled up next to Emiko once she was tucked in.
Hiruma carefully undid the ribbons in Emiko’s hair and ruffled it loose. He bent down and kissed Emiko’s forehead.
“I’m sorry.” Hiruma whispered and pulled away. Touching his arm, Anezaki followed him into their bedroom.
“Youichi,” Anezaki began her voice emotional and quite, “what are we going to do?”
Hiruma did not say anything, he just sat down on the bed and pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them close and staring at the wall. There was no doubt in his mind that something had to be done about Masaki. Something had to be done about what just happened with Emiko, something had to be done about the Rice Bowl…. There were no good answers in a situation like this.
Softly, Anezaki took a seat next to him and gently wrapped her arms about his shoulders for a hug. She had promised herself a while back, when they first agreed on their everyday visits dating thing; that she would remain by his side no matter how hard it got. At the best of times Hiruma was not an easy person to follow, he had habits to choose the hardest path for the sake of the challenge or for the sake of making himself stronger. Despite having Emiko in his life, Hiruma still continued to make choices based on making a clearer path for Emiko, even if they did cost him dearly.
“…I don’t know.” Hiruma answered lamely after several minutes of thinking. He didn’t know; he just didn’t know.
“…I have an idea.” Anezaki muttered gently.
She felt Hiruma perk up and become attentive in her arms.
“Let’s just take things one step at a time.” Anezaki suggested. “First we deal with Emiko when she wakes up, then we prepare for the Rice Bowl, then we deal with Masaki.”
Those words stirred a memory in Hiruma.
“Emiko, calm down,” Hiruma held his daughter’s frantic hands in his own in an attempt to calm her. “Just take a breath and say it, one word at a time.”
Emiko made a face and rocked a bit, despite her hands being held in place.
“It’s okay; we have time, lots of time.” Hiruma told her. “There’s no need to rush anything.”
“Step by step?” Emiko asked quietly.
“Yes, step by step.” Hiruma smiled a bit. “It’s best to take things step by step as they come.”
“…Okay.” Emiko nodded, determined.
“Can’t even take my own advice,” Hiruma muttered with a sardonic chuckle.
“Sounds like you,” Anezaki smiled and ruffled Hiruma’s hair.
“I want to kill that fucking doctor.” Hiruma remarked. “But I can’t decide if I want to make him suffer or just get it over with quickly.” Somehow his words did not surprise Anezaki. She knew he was saying them to try and get rid of their feelings.
“Wouldn’t it be better to make him suffer and live with it?” Anezaki suggested. “Like his patients did, he should have to live with the consequences of his choices.”
“Ruin him?” Hiruma tasted the words on his tongue while he thought about it. “My, my, fucking mother, I can’t say I was expecting you to be devious.”
“Mothers don’t take well to having their babies get hurt.” Anezaki explained, ruffling Hiruma’s hair again to imply he might be one of her babies. Hiruma made an agreeing noise and just sat there with her. Anezaki calmed him and he needed to be calm when Emiko woke up.
The clicking of the dog’s paws altered the parents that Emiko was awake and coming into the room. She was tired and her eyes were still a bit puffy, but she was set on being awake and coming into the room. Hiruma and Anezaki straightened up and changed their position such that they were just sitting next to each other and not touching.
After climbing up onto the bed, Emiko went straight for Papa, giving him a hug. Surprised Hiruma could only stare down at Emiko in wonder. Why was she doing this?
“It’s okay,” Emiko mumbled into Hiruma’s shirt, “Papa was just having a bad day.”
It’s always amazing to hear your own words come back to you, Hiruma realized. He had forgotten that whenever Emiko had a tantrum and broke something or bit him, he’d tell her it was okay, that she’d just been having a bad day.
Come to think of it, Hiruma really did have a tantrum, he had acted no differently than Emiko did when she had one. Well, except the swearing part, Emiko would have been growling instead.
“Yeah, I had a bad day.” Hiruma agreed.
Emiko squeezed a little tighter.
“It should go away soon.” Emiko muttered. That was her phrase that meant she just wanted whatever was going on to be over already.
“I’m feeling better now.” Hiruma told Emiko. “Thank you for coming to comfort me.”
Emiko pulled away and smiled, happy to be praised. She then turned to face Mom.
“Mom, Papa is not in trouble.” Emiko told Anezaki firmly, her expression serious.
“No, he’s not.” Anezaki agreed and got a smile directed at her.
Masaki would pay for what he did, that much had been decided on. But scums like him were not as important as the here and now of their family.
And Hiruma wouldn’t have it any other way.
_=_=_=_=_
The thirst for this man’s blood is causing more than a little bit of trouble.