"D-Dad?" The voice of a fifteen year old girl stuttered timidly as she walked into their apartment. It was one in the morning, Shizuo was up the entire night. He was worried sick for his little girl being out alone in the dark. Ikebukuro wasn't the safest…especially at this hour.

He walked out his bedroom to stare at her tear stained face. Instead of getting ready to scold her harshly, he pulled her tightly into his arms. "Rei, what happened? I was so worried sick about you and I even searched the entire city. You never came home this late before, sweetheart." Shizuo sighed heavily and Rei sat on the couch her knees folded into her chest.

"I'll tell you everything, but you have to promise not to get angry." She said staring at the floor.

"It's kind of hard not to. I swore to protect you ever since your mother left you in my care."

"I know dad and I appreciate you being the one who raised me. Now back to what I was saying, it's a long story so prepare yourself for this."

Shizuo leaned over the table with a cup of warm milk and set it front of her. "Go on. I'll try not to freak out."

Rei sucked in a huge breath and started to explain everything. She began by telling him she was supposed to hang out with some friends after school. It turned out the directions they gave her was a prank. She ended up at stranger's house only to be kicked out. Shizuo stood up carrying one of the chairs effortlessly on to his back.

"Where do they live?!" He demanded and Rei shot up crossing her arms.

"Daddy! Stop it! I'm not even done yet!"

Shizuo sat the chair back down. He muttered under his breath how much he wanted to beat up those brats. She continued the story telling him how she ended up in the part of the city she wasn't familiar with. Rei admitted that she was frightened and that she was about to call him. Unfortunately her so called "friends" must have stolen the cellphone from her. She felt incredibly lucky running into Celty and she offered to give her a lift back home. All seemed well, but then.

"A bunch of cops started chasing us down the highway for quite some time. Celty didn't want me in any danger, so I was dropped off in a nearby alley way. I finally got some real directions and thought I was heading home. Then I was dragged away by a stupid colour gang…they wouldn't shut up about the dollars…whatever that is. But then a very unusual man popped by already knowing my name…and his…name was…"

When Rei hesitated Shizuo only hoped for the worst. He sat at the edge of his seat, as if watching a horror film and the killer was about to pop out of the screen. Memorizing her habits, he knew constant lip biting meant she was afraid to tell him the rest. Even when she crossed her legs twice.

"Sweetie, who is it-"

"Izaya Orihara…"

"WHAT!?"

"I know you hate him, dad. But he didn't do anything cruel to me. He protected me from those thugs and brought me to our building. Izaya told me he couldn't escort me to the door because of how you felt about him. However that doesn't mean I trust him completely. I just wanted to be home with you…" Rei sniffled at the last sentence, being through a lot within that one day. Shizuo sprang up from the chair, hugging her to his chest and pecked her on the cheek. "It doesn't matter how old you get, Rei. You'll always be my little princess…oh and another thing. There's dinner in the fridge, you can heat that up if you're hungry."

Rei nodded, standing up and headed into the kitchen. Shizuo sat there dumbfounded. He couldn't believe Izaya didn't try to torture her. After all she was his kid. She didn't acquire his strength which was something he was relieved about. All he wanted was for his daughter to live a happy life and he ensured her that he would make it possible. Ever since he held that tiny pink baby in his arms, he wondered if she would grow up hating him. But all that worry was for nothing. Rei wasn't embarrassed of Shizuo and was proud to call him her father. Shizuo was proud to call her his daughter. They shared similar features and had a little of her mother's but defiantly had her father's eyes and his quick temper. She dyed half of her hair blonde to warn everyone not to try and attack her. She took the Hewajima title very seriously.

Rei devoured on a bowl of spicy tofu stir-fry she reheated in the microwave. She licked her chopsticks conquering the meal in a matter of seconds. After she washed her portion of dishes, she walked into the living room. Her father was snuggled up into the couch. She threw a blanket over his body and curled up next to him with a smile on her face. Rei felt like she was the luckiest girl in the world to have a father who cared very much for her. "Mmm…Rei…?" He mumbled, opening an eye to his little girl curled up into his chest. She instantly fell asleep tugging on to his sleeve. Shizuo pet back her hair softly humming a lullaby. The one he sang to her ever since she was a baby. It was the only thing that soothed her to sleep and stopped her crying. Hearing her father's gentle singing voice caused her to smile in her deep slumber.

…

"So, you're the ones that messed with my daughter right?!" Shizuo smirked deviously as he ripped out the school bench. The trio of boys simply panicked, dropping to the ground. They begged, praying to live another day. Rei was currently watching this from the top floor during her science class with . Her teacher tired calming don't all the rowdy students excited by something happening around their school. All her classmates crowded around her.

"Your dad is totally awesome like Goku!"

"No way he's like one punch man!"

"Kind of scary…don't you think, Rei-chan?"

"He's going to pound them into dust. I got to see this!"

Rei grumbled silently under her breath and exited the classroom. She didn't want her father to start flinging things toward the helpless boys. Once she was outside she stood in front of them in a protective manner. "Dad! Please leave them alone! I know what they did was wrong but don't hurt them." She begged clasping her hands together hopefully. Shizuo's eyes softened putting down the bench back down.

"Nice save, Hewajima-chan. We never thought you'd ever pick our side over that monster's." Rei felt her blood boil thinking of the horrible nickname. Every passing stranger would use it to describe him. She turned around to face him, snapping her pencil in half. It really pissed her off. She couldn't stand hearing it anymore. It always wondered if it ever hurt him whenever he heard that insult. "You don't even know him like I do! Don't ever call him that…ever…AGAIN!" The normally calm and timid Rei Hewajima disappeared for the time being. Without realizing it she lifted up the bench, hurling it into the air and it landed an inch away from the boys.

Shizuo's jaw dropped, his cigarette falling out of his mouth. He was not aware that she had developed his power. Rei breathed tiredly, finally breaking out of her shell. Shizuo glared at the boys as the scurried away from them as far as they could go. She shook staring at her hands in astonishment. There weren't any signs of her acquiring his strength. Rei was truly his daughter and even if he wished for her not to go through what he did, at least he would be there for her. He was going to give her the guidance he could have needed at her age. She was truly his child.

"Daddy, I'm sorry I turned out this way, you probably didn't want me for a daughter." Rei tightened her fists with small tears running down her eyes. He knelt down in front of her, wiping her tears away with this thumbs. "No, babygirl…I'll always love you and I'll help you through it. You're going to be just fine." This side of Shizuo that rarely anyone had seen was be shown to the students of Raira academy. He didn't bother to look up and focused on the one thing that mattered the most. His precious little girl.

-FIN-