Daisy 39

Daisy- innocence, hope

Aoko's pov

6:00

Awkward, it was awkward waiting with Kaito for Hakuba's housekeeper to pick us up. 'Why would he do that, and to think for a second I actually thought that he might . . .'

"I'm hungry, why can't we go inside and get something to eat," Kaito complained.

"The plan was that we were going to have dinner at the Hakuba's before leaving,"I replied.

Kaito grunted.

"You should be thankful they invited us in the first place."

A sleek black car pulled up in front of us. An old woman stepped out and opened the trunk,"Go ahead and put your luggage in the boot."

We did as instructed and clambered into the back seat. There were already two people sitting in the car, a girl with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and a boy with a melanated complexion wearing a cap.

Out of the two, the girl was the only one who seemed excited.

Hakuba Residence

6:00

Isabelle's pov

We sat in the parlor, Hakuba and his parents that is. No one else was there yet so I needed to use the time I had.

"Isabelle what is it, what's wrong?" Saguru asked, rubbing my shoulder.

I couldn't tell him about Spider, but I can tell him about my father. His parents glanced curiously at me.

"It's hard to explain, but it's something I do need to tell you," I paused," My father is not worthy of that title."

"What do you mean?" Saguru's father asked.

"A father figure should be there for his family, a father should be someone his children trust and can turn to, a father is a good example," I could feel the wheels turning inside their heads trying to grasp the message,"My father has never been any of those, and I know that you've known him for a long time, but he's different when no one's watching . . . Ever since I was young he's gaslighted and neglected me and my sister. I've never been so confused one second he'll say he's proud of my relationship, and the next he wants me to end it because he claims your son is a phycopath. And I was a fool to think I could handle it on my own,"I choked on the words as they came out, but they had to.

Saguru took hold of my hand, squeezing it just trying to tell me he was there. I could see Saguru's parents look at each other and back at me unsure what to say.

"I thought it would be weak to tell anyone. But when I tried to stand up to his emotional and mental abuse," My hands began to tremble, my breath was shaking, and tears streamed down my face," He-he h-he became so much worse, and I'm scared to go back, and I'm terrified for my sister, because I didn't know what he's been capable of."

"Isabelle, you were right to say something, you are stronger than you think. I want to do what I can to help," Saguru said, pulling me into an embrace.

"You said he became worse," Saguru's father said hesitantly,"What did he do?"

I buried my face into Saguru's shoulder, I couldn't draw myself to look at them,". . . H-he he beat me."

The room was met with a solemn silence. I couldn't see it but I could only imagine their expressions. Saguru shifted slightly just to hold me closer.

The front door opened, by the sound of it five people stepped in. I recognized three of the strides, matching them with Aoko, Kaito, and Mrs Hudson. The other two, one of them made a heavier sound when they walked but clearly made fewer strides, and the other had a lighter step but made more strides.

"Is everything alright?" Aoko asked.

I pulled back taking my glasses off to clean them, I didn't look in their direction even for a split second," Yes everything is alright for the moment, I just . . . something personal. But tell me who's with you, If I had to guess I'd say the people who's walking patterns I don't recognize are an average height teenage boy and a teenage girl."

I put my glasses back on and pressed my palms together to relieve stress. The downcast mood hadn't gone, I just was trying to distract myself from it.

Saguru grabbed my hand," Are you sure you're alright?" he asked in English, so no one else would understand.

I took a deep breath,"I actually feel like a weight has been lifted, I feel content."

"Okay but if that changes tell me."

Saguru's parents left the room and entered the kitchen along with Mrs. Hudson.

I looked around at the people there, like I had predicted there were two new people.

"You must be Hattori Heiji," I said," And are you his acquaintance?" I asked, shifting my gaze to the girl.

"Uhh, yeah," Hattori responded,"What did you mean by strides?"

I cannot explain how simple questions like this boost my mood, when people show interest in my observations like that it makes me feel amazing.

I smiled, "Exactly what I said. I often memorize other people's walking and breathing patterns so I can tell who someone is without looking at them. Admitting it does sound kind of creepy out of context."

"There's context?" He asked in return.

"Yes, but I'm not telling you," I said.

"Why not?"

"I've only known you for thirty seconds."

He nodded his head in agreement.

Mrs. Hudson popped her head into the room announcing that dinner was ready. Saguru got up and led everyone to the dining room. As I followed the girl, who's name I believe was Kauzaha, she made the effort to keep herself between Heiji and myself.

'Curious'

The table was an oblong shape, Saguru's father sat at the head of the table and his mother sat across from him. The rest of us filled in Saguru, Aoko, and I sat on one side with Kaito, Kauzaha, and Heiji on the other.

Word count: 1013