Title: Cavatina: In Bloom (Lisianthus)
Rating: G
Genre: Friendship/Family
Prompt: "A lifelong bond"
Word Count: 635
Summary: He's not used to seeing her look so defeated. It breaks his heart. [Keisuke x Mimi]
[22/09/20]
Two months earlier.
"What about cheer squad? I don't think they'll be very pleased if I drop out right now."
It's not the first time he's heard that, so it's easy to retort, "I think they'll manage, honeycomb."
"This close to Spirit Week?" Mimi gasps, placing the cool-coloured flowers back on the vase she has just refilled. "They could never replace me on time."
Keisuke hums, turning the page on his newspaper with as much grace as he can muster given the circumstances. Opposite to him, his daughter continues, relentless. She really is so much like her mother.
"Daddy," she whines. "Can't we change the tickets?"
He wants to tell her, yes, my sweet darling, anything you want, but they can no longer afford to be complacent to her. They are, quite simply, out of time.
"No pumpkin, we talked about this. There's still so much to do, what with the new apartment and office, my factory visits were very hard to schedule on such short notice."
Mimi's expression falls and Keisuke hides behind his paper, held much too high to be a comfortable read. Behind this impenetrable shield, he steels himself against the litany of excuses his daughter has been consistently bringing up whenever they discuss The Move, each more tragic and tear-inducing than the last. He's on edge, wishing wildly that Satoe will come home soon so they can face her together, as God intended them to. When he finally lowers his paper, he is floored by the sight of her, lying upside down, feet dangling off the back of their couch.
Despite what other people can imagine, their Mimi has never been a particularly difficult child. As a baby, she slept soundly through the night and never had any trouble with gasses; the only reason why Satoe and Keisuke sported dark circules under their eyes was because they would often stay up just to watch her sleep. At school she was well-liked by classmates and teachers, by their neighbors and extended family and was truly their pride and joy, even before she saved the world and all that nonsense.
And so, he cannot fathom why she's been so miserable since they told her they were going back to Japan.
"Sweetheart?" he asks, swallowing as he sees the red in her eyes.
"What if they don't like me anymore?"
"Now, Mimi, what's there not to like?"
"Daddy," she sighs, and there's no whine this time. "I'm serious."
Keisuke sighs, folding his paper neatly and looking at his beautiful, sweet, perfect daughter.
He's not used to seeing her look so defeated. It breaks his heart.
"You've been away for a while. You like new things, you look different. But you're still the same kids who went to summer camp together. Nothing can change that," he smiles softly. "Not even a thirteen hour difference, or a couple of years of that."
Mimi sits upright, looking at her father through glossy eyes on the verge of spilling. "I guess... I should pack, then."
"You probably should."
Keisuke is sure he hasn't heard the end of it just yet. Later, she will claim there aren't enough boxes to safely put her stuff away. Or she will remember another important committment, an unmissable appointment she has made. He'll feel readier to turn her down when Satoe arrives, and they can cook together and pack together and cry together, if they must.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, sugarplum?"
"Do you think we can go shopping, when Mummy comes back?" she lingers on the archway, smile hesitant. "I'd like to get some presents."
"Anything for you," he cooes, picking her up and kissing her cheek loudly.
"I meant for my friends!" she giggles, but she holds on to him so tightly and Keisuke has to laugh, or else he's going to cry.
"Anything for them, too."
Notes: When I started this four years ago, I had a clear vision of what I wanted to see: Mimi being rebellious but not bad, just lonely; a little scared there's no room for her in her friend's lives. She missed important events that brought everyone closer together, couldn't share much in real time because 13 hours is a lot. I believe keeping in touch with someone like Yamato, to whom she hadn't been so close before, felt like progress, not regression and I wanted to explore that for a bit. But because I am who I am, they obviously also fell in love.
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