The headcanon: "After his mother passed away, he hid himself in his room every evening and quietly cried so his father wouldn't hear him. But the maids did and they made sure his father didn't hear or see anything, because they were sure it will only worsen the situation, so once they were sure Mr Akashi was in his office, one brought him a warm cocoa or hot chocolate so he could calm down and caressed his back."

He never liked to be lonely, because being lonely meant remembering your past even though you tried hard to forget it. And Akashi Seijuro was one of those. He hated being alone because every time he remembered his mother. And every time he remembered his mother, he also remembered the moments he spent in his bedroom, curled up in a ball in the corner, before he felt a gentle hand caressing his back and soothing words the lulled him into sleep.

"Seijuro," His father called him.

Seijuro stopped doing his homework and turned around to face his father. And now Seijuro wasn't a fool to not see the grief in his father's eyes that showed for a split second before it completely disappeared.

"Your mother passed away."

And just like that he found himself standing in front of his mother's picture.

Seijuro closed his eyes and an image of his mother appeared in front of him. Her lips were formed in a smile as she reached out her hands before saying something. He couldn't hear, yet he could make out the words. He caught himself smiling as well.

Seijuro's small body was shaking as he tried to keep the tears inside. Three days have passed since the funeral of his mother and only now did realization hit him. His mother wasn't in the hospital anymore. His mother won't be listening to his bedtime stories anymore. Neither will she eat his cookies he baked every time for her birthday. His mother won't compliment him on the drawings he did for her. He won't be able to see her smile and hear her voice anymore. She was gone.

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he bit his lip hardly, trying not to get out any sound that could make his father tell him that he shouldn't cry no matter what. His thoughts weren't straight as they kept going from "I need to do homework" to "I want to see mom".

He didn't hear a quiet knock on his doors that were seconds later open as an elderly woman looked inside. Her eyes looked around the room before they fell on Seijuro's shaking form in the corner. With a softened gaze, she walked inside, holding a plate with warm cocoa in one hand while she closed the doors with other.

Seijuro startled when he felt a gentle hand on his back before he lifted his gaze and turned around to see who it was. It was just a second that he thought he saw his mother and almost threw his arms around her neck, but frowned when he realized it was one of the workers.

"I apologize for startling you." She spoke with soft and gentle voice that reminded Seijuro of his mother so much.

His eyes that were still filled with tears, some already streaming down his cheeks, fell to the ground as he tried to calm himself. He wasn't supposed to cry. He was supposed to do homework. What if she tells his father? He will scold him again and tell him that "Akashi don't cry, no matter the cause". And he didn't want that. He didn't want to hear that sentence that only made him want to cry more.

But he was missing his mother. He was missing her smile. Her voice. Her eyes that told Seijuro it is okay. He was missing her that the tears he succeeded into holding back were now the cause the worker was wiping them away from his cheeks.

"It is okay." She spoke before Seijuro could push her away and tell her to leave. "It is okay to cry." Her lips were formed in a small, gentle smile that made him stare at her blankly and quietly. "You are allowed to cry, no matter what your father says. Holding your feelings inside is not good for your health. Your mother would be sad if she found out that you were hiding them." She wiped the tears away once again before she fixed his messy hair.

Seijuro opened his mouth to reply, but no voice, no sound came out. There was only a quiet squeak before he found himself in the woman's arms. He buried his head in her neck, stifling his cries that were threatening by a second more before he gave in and held on her blouse as he cried.

Her gentle caress on his back reminded him a lot of his mother, which was twice as much more breaking, for him, to realize that she was gone.

Opening his eyes, Seijuro looked at the driver, who stopped in front of a small house outside Kyoto. Without a word, he stepped out of the car and raised his head, his lips forming a small smile when he saw that the address was right. Taking a step forward, he opened the gates and walked towards the doors. And just when he raised his hand to ring the doorbell, he stopped midway, as for some reason he felt nervous.

Taking a deep breath, he finally found the courage to press the doorbell and waited after he heard an old: "Coming,"

He felt restless and nervous, and every noise now became even more audible. He heard a click and a second later the doors slowly opened. His red eyes were showing nothing but excitement that he tried to hide, yet failed. In front of him was standing an elderly woman, who still looked the same in Seijuro's eyes, as her eyes after widened seeing who was standing in front of her.

"Seijuro-sama…"