Disclaimer I own neither the series not the characters.
It just comes to Kirigiri Jin, one day.
He was lonely.
Ironically, this feeling came from being able to meet with his daughter again. They're not even meetings, really. She doesn't even nod to him in the hallways.
Yet, she was here. His daughter was here, and he could see her.
Time for him is split in two. Time when he sees Kyoko and when he doesn't. One clearly eclipses the other.
And that's when he realizes he's lonely
…
When Jin first met his wife, he had always known she was sick and would die much earlier than him.
He had always known that it was very unlikely for her to even bear a child, and if she did, she would die early on anyways.
He had always known because that was the first thing she told him:
"Hey, I'm going to die soon. Do you want to marry me?"
His answer then had been a resolute no.
…
One day, on a certain investigation, A boy detective stumbled upon a girl with long beautiful silver hair and red eyes.
The girl claimed to have traded most of her lifespan for unlimited talent, but her body was too weak to use any of it. Her brain was even too weak for her unlimited analytical potential.
The boy rescues her, and she becomes his assistant.
Soon, she becomes his wife
Soon, she bears him a daughter
Soon, she dies.
The man, now neither a boy nor a detective, attempts to stop a repeat of his wife's tragedy.
(He fails.)
…
Her last words are to find happiness after her death and to look after their daughter.
So far, he has failed her on one end
…
It is late into their first year together later where he brings up the possibility of him to start looking for potential partners again.
Throughout the year, both he and his daughter's relationship have gotten closer. Gone are the angry glares and the hostile silences. It's not much better, if he were to be honest, but he wanted to be hopeful.
He never really had any right to ask permission from her but he thought the gesture is needed.
Kyoko's stoic non-committal "What you do with your life is no concern to me." is ruined with how hard she slams his office door when she leaves.
….
Late into the night, Makoto Naegi finds Kirigiri Kyoko sitting on his bed after inviting herself in. He sits next to her, trying to not think about how awkward it is that a large picture of Maizono's idol group is staring back at them
After a tense silence, the first and only words that leave her mouth are as unreadable as the expression on her face, "The Headmaster has told me that he will start dating again."
For what will not be the last time, the luckster finds himself at a loss for words when dealing with the detective.
Three choices appear before him:
-Congratulations. I'm happy for him. (He's not replacing you.)
-I'm sorry, I know this is hard for you, but I'll be there for you if you need me. (He's not abandoning you again.)
-I'm sure it's important that he at least told you, right? (He will still love you.)
He chooses none of them. There is no combination of hopeful words that could help the girl sitting next to him. Hope keeps going but the Truth is based on the past and the present; Truth is absolute, so it stays in place.
The Kirigiri Kyoko in front of him doesn't look like she wants to move forward. Not now, she needs the present, and Naegi can't even find it in himself to think that there will even be a later.
All he could do is silently squeeze the gloved hand next to him.
She turns away from him but he smiles when she squeezes back.
…
Kizakura Koichi does his best to set his best friend up with the next woman of his dreams.
Jin goes through blind date after blind date after blind date in failure. Koichi tells him that he's too serious. That he needs to loosen up, needs to read about the latest trends for conversation starters. He hadn't let himself go and his job as Headmaster gives him more status than some of the less popular politicians but he needs to find something he wants to talk about, stat.
It is after another failure of a date where his date does not even show up that he heads back to the Academy to find a pink haired woman smoking right outside the gate of the school. It is lucky for her that Sakakura had taken a day-off so it was up to Jin to tell her that, even outside, the school is a non-smoking zone.
After putting out the light, she says she was waiting for her son who promised to meet her later. So, due to skipping dinner, Jin instead offers to wait with her at a nearby ramen stall he knows the staff frequents at the end of the day.
The woman talks a lot, mostly about her son. Jin doesn't mind about learning more about his students but is surprised when she then redirects it to him: Does he have a kid? It's the first time he's ever given a chance to talk about his daughter but, maybe it's the cheap bear or the atmosphere or the woman's charm, but he finds himself talking about Kyoko in a wat that releases a weight in his chest that he never knew existed. She smiles when he tells her of Kyoko's first word and nods in agreement when he expresses his doubts in connecting to her.
His keen eyes notice the lack of a ring and so, possibly due to the alcohol still in him, asks if she wants to meet again.
She calls herself Hagakure Hiroko and, to his surprise, she agrees.
…
"Yo Kirigi-cchi!"
The sight of one Hagakure Yasuhiro bumbling into the class was not something uncommon. The sight of Hagakure with a confident look on his face? A potential sign of stupidity. Said person talking to Kirigiri Kyoko? A potential sign of stupidity and danger.
This is only emphpasize by Sayaka Maizono immediately bolting out of the classroom without a single word.
"So…uh…I'm sure you've heard…" The awkwardness that spills out of every word Hagakure speaks spreads throughout the class. Worse that he doesn't even realize how he tenses the girl up. "I heard your pops was dating my mom."
The whole atmosphere around the detective could have frozen in ice with the pressure that was radiating from Kyoko and only grows and grows after each word. Unfortunately for the rest of the class, Hagakure doesn't notice at all.
"And I heard they were getting pretty serious…."
. Leon soon follows after Sayaka. Chihiro starts crying in fear. Ishimaru and Mondo are shaking.
"…I mean, I wasn't sure how to feel about it…"
Fukawa faints. Hifumi hides under the teacher's table. Asahina gets behind Sakura.
"But, like, my mom's been pretty happy so I'd like to believe in yo pops…"
Celes is sweating like she's on fire. Mukuro is too busy trying to keep her sister alive after Junko accidentally lodges a fist into her mouth from trying to suppress her own laughter.
"I've gotten this crazy prediction that something big is coming up if you catch my drift."
Togami stops reading and glares at Naegi to fix the mess. Naegi, who was sitting next to the standing Kirigiri, leans towards her but soon finds one of her fists grabbing and wringing his hair antenna for all its worth. All this with her usual poker face.
"What I'm saying is," Hagakure looks to the side and rubs a finger on his nose. The hold on Naegi's hair tightens as now both fists were twisting it hard, as if the ahoge was the clairvoyant's neck.
"…You can call me Onii-chan, if you want to."
"…" Kirigiri refuses to give him a reply or a reaction.
The rest of the school day is laced with tension for everyone besides Naegi who has passed out.
…
For Kirigiri Kyoko, the whole thing's convenient.
She had wanted to cut all ties with her father, his current relationships mean nothing to her. She had no love or hate for whoever woman he wanted to be with, but she would not play along and call someone her mother when she barely remembered her real (only) one. The less said about how she felt on Hagakure Yasuhiro the better.
She, now, could stop pretending to give him chances on repairing whatever bond they had and he could stop pretending to act like he cared. He clearly had other people, other family now. ("Yes, Naegi-kun, I was just pretending.")
She only introduces herself to Hagakure Hiroko once, just to explain her circumstances. If she were to be generous, maybe even a warning on the type of person she knows her her father to be. ("No, Naegi-kun, I'm too busy to be meeting them tonight.")
She knows he'd never even tell her Grandfather, nor will the stern man approve or even care. There was at least some amusement in thinking of her grandfather trying to instill the Kirigiri ways on Hagakure Yasuhiro, not that he'd ever do that when Kyoko's around. ("I don't even know why I'm telling you all this, Naegi-kun.")
Really, it was a win-win for everyone, as Naegi would put it, where all parties wound up happier.
(Really…)
…
And for a while, Kirigiri Kyoko is content.
For the next few months, she doesn't have to think about her father as she thrusts herself into case after case.
She busies herself with her investigations into the school too much to care or sulk about it, if she was the type or if she cared.
She knows there was something shady going on. There is something strange with the funding of the reserve course and the dead bodies being brushed off.
There are much more important things, she reasons, to worry about than family matters.
It helps that Naegi joins and is with her at every step of her investigations.
It doesn't when Hagakure Yasuhiro tries to tag along, as well.
…
"The pleasure of your company in requested at the marriage of… Hagakure Hasumi and Jin"
Naegi twiddles the invitation in one hand as he watches Kirigiri in the corner of his eye. She's been silent since she let herself in. Naegi could only guess it was the invitation their fellow classmate had excitedly given to the everyone in their class.
"Are you going?" he asks, already used to their silent meetings in the dead of the night. She never talks about them after, never announces them in advance, and it might actually be possible this was all just a hallucination of his brain.
"..."
She never says a word so it's always him who does the talking.
"I know everyone else is going. Togami-kun even told me he'd let me borrow a suit...though he said it was when he was still ten. The funy part is I'm not surprised he'd be wearing one by then."
"..."
"I also heard a lot of famous people are coming. it's kinda weird for a normal person like me to be eating the same dinner with someone from the government."
"..."
"I'd..." Naeigi licks his lips as he rests his hand on what could possibly have been a hallucination he has been having for the past months. "I'd like to see Kirigiri-san in a dress. I'm sure you'd look prettier than usual."
Later, he tries to convince himself (again) that there's no way he'd also hallucinate the feeling of a gloved hand grasping his own.
...
Kyoko sips her drink as she stood on one side of the reception hall. It is some sort of fruit mixer that she finds far too sweet.
The reception is larger than she had thought. The wedding of the headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy would, of course, draw the attention of a great number of people many people, mostly alumni who had learned under his term. And because everyone who left Hope's Peak were destined for success, renown celebrities in various fields fill out quite most of the guest list. It almost makes her feel bad for the Hagakures who are starstruck as this famous scientist or this famous model pass by one of them for a chat.
Hagakure. She thought she'd feel more bitter but there is an odd relief in her chest as she watches her father dance, happily with his wife. She reasons that she can't ever forgive Kirigiri Jin but maybe Hagakure Jin could be tolerated. He does look much happier.
Her gaze goes through the reception hall again and she still does not see any sign of her grandfather. His name on the guest list had surprised her but his lack of presence today did not.
She wonders…if Jin had abandoned his name so their child wouldn't have to bear the Kirigiri tradition. It was the most obvious reason, thinking they could "protect" someone from the best thing that had happened to Kyoko. She is proud of being a detective.
Yet…
She knows that one day she'd have to bear a child or two to inherit the tradition. If her child didn't have the same aptitude as herself…
"…"
"There you are, Kirigiri-san."
Kyoko's drawn away from her own thoughts as she turns to see Naegi in his tuxedo. The suit didn't fit him, reminds her too much of when Oowada had once shown the class pictures of when he had dressed his Maltese, Chuck, up for a dog show, like a child playing dress-up.
Then what did that make her when her heart starts fluttering like a butterfly, the beat of its wings clearing the dark mood that had threatened to consume her the whole affair, as he extends a hand and says with a warm smile, "Would you care for a dance?"
Kyoko wasn't sure how he had even found her. The hall was large and she had gone out of her way to find the most isolated blind spot in the place, on the opposite side of the buffet table. She asks him and his only reply was a cheeky "I'm an Esper" which got his hand a light pinch followed by her own gloved one's grasp. Any thoughts on that topic soon disappear as they reach the dance floor and his other hand lays on her bare shoulder.
Seeing the two, Hagakure Yasuhiro smiles, happy that his prediction came true for once, not regretting giving it to the shorter boy for free.
…
Kyoko didn't like to think of it as desperation on why she approaches her for help. She could have easily looked up how to do the procedure online. It's not like the two of them are on particular good terms so it's not like she even expects that woman to accept such a request.
After all, she only wants to learn how to cook curry rice.
So it is to her surprise and (she'd later deny) flushed face when the only question Hagakure Hiroko asks is, "So who's the boy?"
After the cooking lesson, Kyoko finds herself starting to refer to the woman as Hiroko-san instead of her last name.
She still didn't like being called Kyokyo though.
(Later, Hiroko would call Kyoko and ask if she minded if she, Hiroko, could share some of the curry they had cooked together with Jin who, the woman promises, looked like he'd cry if she didn't let him try it. Thankfully for the two, Kyoko agrees still in a good mood; a happy smile followed by an exclamation of "This is amazing, Kirigiri-san!" still fresh on her mind.)
…
"Do you want to hold her?"
Kyoko isn't even sure why she's here in the first place. There's no reason for someone like her to be in the hospital room with people who weren't her family.
Yet that woman's face is so calm, trusting, when she offers what she had worked so hard for in the past few hours, something even Kyoko knew was irreplaceable. Her hands which have only handled and prodded corpses and mangled bodies and death with ease slightly shake as they support the new life.
Slowly, gently, she receives the bundle in her arms.
Hagakure Ichiko smiles up at her and Kirigiri Kyoko knows she's not strong enough to not smile back.
…
Kyoko looks down on her mother's grave stone. Next to her, Hagakure JIn stands silently.
One of them speaks.
"Do you think she's happy?"
"We're both happy, aren't we? There's no doubt."
"Yeah. We are"
Kyoko bends low and adjusts the baby in her arms, so her face was facing the tombstone.
"Say hello, to your grandmother, Nozomi."
The baby gurgles happily, excitement in her green eyes.
And as his daughter talks to the tombstone of his late wife, Jin feels like he's not so lonely anymore.
AN: Just a random drabble I thought of which turned out to have more substance than I expected. I really really wanted to go canon Tragedy route as you could see from some implications, but I decided not to because I'm sure what you'd find in Jin's room to be vastly different and would be too sad a way to end the one shot.
Just assume it was all prevented because instead of only Kyoko working the case, she had both Makoto and Hagakure to help out and Jin got more balls to tell off the Steering Comittee. Also, fuck yeah I just implied Kirigiri's mom was an earlier failed test subject for the Kamakura Izuru project.
Honestly, there's a lot more you could do with the idea of Kiri getting through her dad moving on but this is as much as I could do. I wish there would be more step sibling interactions between Kyoko and Hiro but whatever.
Omake:
Naegi Nozomi crosses her arms as she impatiently waits by the crossroads. As she glances on the watch strapped to her left hand, she hears footsteps followed by the jingling of chains.
She turns and points a finger "You're late again!"
Her half-aunt, Ichiko just shrugs, not seeming to really care that she was nearly an hour late. "Calm down, chibi. We're gonna have to cancel our plans. A case just came up." She rubs her chin in contemplation. "Or at least, there will be one if I don't move fast. Shinigami-sama is running late."
"A case?" All anger leaves the short girl replaced by excitement. She even lets the comment on her height slip. Even if her half-aunt was hopeless at investigating crime scenes, she was famed for preventing crimes before they happened. Some even claimed that she didn't only hear the Shinigami's footsteps but could see the reaper stalking its future target. "Then let's go! Take me with you!"
That only got an annoyed expression from the older woman, as she rubs the back of her head, not minding how it tangled up her long pink hair. "Ehhh…Kyoko would kill me though."
"I've already helped out with your other cases!" Nozomi still insists. Her mother was way too protective. She knew that her mother had started investigating murder cases when she was just 13. Nozomi was 16 and her mother only let her do boring business ones. "Let me go!"
"…Fine." Ichiko sighs in consent, knowing they had to hurry before Shinigami-sama started moving. She brought out a phone. "Let me just call Saihara."
"Eh! Shuichi-nii's coming too? Well, I guess we'd need all the help we can get..." Ichiko could only roll her eyes at the way the Naegi twirls her lavender hair in one gloved hand, an obvious blush on her face. She could only hope that she hadn't been that obvious with her own crush on Nozomi's father when she was younger.
The phone in her hand rings and finally, Saihara Shuichi picks up but she doesn't even let him have a word in.
"Oy, Shu-chan, we've got a case. Get your ass out of the office and meet me at the location I'll send you. It's time for the Kirigiri Detective Agency to get moving."