You guys are AMAZING! Within the first three hours of posting the first chapter, there were 27 views! By the time I posted this, there were 173! I cannot describe how great that makes me feel that you were willing to give me a chance, even though I'm sure my summary is absolute crap. I seriously struggled to come up with what I wrote for that.
I was shooting for a week until I updated and that's exactly what I did! I feel so accomplished. I'll try to update every week, key word: try. If I don't make it in a week, expect an update the next week. Just realize that I have other obligations that qualify as being more important.
Review Responses:
Minniemiss123 (Guest): I find that with ToraxMisa, I feel restricted because I already know so much about Misaki's character that I can't really stray too far from her feelings and personality so that's why it's ToraxOC. I have read some ToraxMisa though! I just can't write it… But I do intend to incorporate Misaki into the story!
MissKireiUchiha: You are so right! There's a shortage of Tora stories!
Samara16: Thank you for your interest!
Takumisa17: This chapter is close to 400 words longer so you're welcome ;)
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed! It makes me feel all tingly inside to see "Review: Daddy Tora" as the subject line whenever I get an email! I hope to see reviews from more of you! And with that, I shall let you get on with reading!
The warm breeze felt nice against Suzume's skin. After what happened yesterday, she decided to take Kei to the park. So here they are, her pushing him along in the stroller while he naps, spending the day outdoors. Being at the end of April meant that most of the cherry blossoms have already bloomed, which created a massive canopy of pink flowers over the wide walkway.
She sat down on a nearby bench, taking in the beauty surrounding her for a second before turning her attention back to her child. One of her hands reached out to brush over his spiky, pale blonde hair. A smile graced her lips as she thought about how much joy he's brought her.
It pains her that he's being raised with such a lack of family. The only familial relations that he has besides her are his grandmother and youngest uncle. If only the circumstances would've been better, then he might have his father and paternal grandparents.
A ringing from her back pocket erupted and she dug out her phone. Flipping it open, she answered with the standard hello.
"Are you at home?" Michio, the youngest of her two older brothers, asked with a slightly panicked voice.
"No… I'm at the park with Kei, why?" she replied, worried and skeptical.
He cursed under his breath. "Get home as quickly as possible. I'm on my way and I'll explain everything when I get there." Before she could get another word in, he ended the call. Suzume wasted no time in getting up and beginning to make her way back out of the park.
Michio's tone was enough to cause her senses to heighten. Now, she felt as if she was being watched and her pace quickened.
Just as she reached the end of the walkway where it led back to the street, a small group of people formed around her and started throwing questions at her. 'Igarashi' and 'son' were some of the only words she could understand, seeing as they were the most frequently repeated. It only took seconds for her to know who these people were. Some of them were holding cameras and audio recorders so it shouldn't have been hard to figure out.
Even though she had some experience in dealing with the media due to her family's social standings, never has she faced paparazzi by herself and head-on like this. What could she do but keep her mouth shut and continue home? They followed and it seemed like the further she walked, more of them appeared. Soon enough, she couldn't move. That was the last straw.
"Excuse me! All I want to do is take my son home, so could you please move out of the way?" she burst, swiveling her head to look them in the eyes at the same time. It's not like she could really help her maternal instincts kicking in.
Speaking out only encouraged them to continue asking their questions and they began invading her personal space, unsatisfied with the already close proximity.
"I believe the lady politely asked you to move out of the way."
Every head turned to see a navy-haired young man with glasses standing behind them. He walked forward and forced the crowd to step aside, allowing Suzume room to push the stroller down the sidewalk. With defeated looks on their faces, the paparazzi dispersed. The young man that helped her out walked with her for a bit, just in case all of those people came back.
"Thank you."
Rubbing his neck, a bit of color tinted his cheeks. "It wasn't a problem."
Looking back up at him, she had a puzzled expression on her face. "You seem very familiar."
His facial expression changed to one of shock. She recognized him? "I'm the new Student Council President at Seika High."
"Wait a second." Stopping in place, she stared at him with wide eyes. "Kanou?"
Wow, she even remembered his name too. "Yeah, it's me."
"I can't believe I didn't recognize you at first! You've just changed so much since I graduated."
Suzume couldn't believe the difference a month could make. An authoritative aura surrounded him, probably from claiming the presidential position on the Student Council. Kanou also approached her a lot easier than he used to. She assumed that was due to him becoming more comfortable around girls.
Not only were his actions different, but his physical appearance changed as well. He didn't have a hoodie on like he usually did and he looked as if he grew a centimeter or two. No wonder she didn't recognize him at first, he wasn't wearing the Seika school uniform either.
A block away from her apartment building is where they bid each other goodbye. It surprised her that, through everything that happened, Kei remained asleep. Apparently, he inherited her heavy sleeping.
When she unlocked her apartment, she gently took him out of the stroller and laid him down in his crib. Immediately after she got the stroller put away, there was rapid knocking on the door. The moment she opened it, Michio stepped inside and immediately closed it.
He pulled out a flimsy, glossy book from his leather laptop bag and stuck it out for her to see. Stiffening at the sight of the cover story plastered on the magazine, she pursed her lips then squeezed her eyes shut.
Before reopening her eyes, she took a deep and shaky breath. "So that's why I got targeted by the paparazzi," she muttered.
"What?" her brother quickly responded, clearly irritated at the statement. "They found you? That's what I was trying to prevent!"
In a firm tone, she scolded him, "Kei's asleep, try to keep it down."
"I…" he began and sighed. As her older brother, he felt obligated to keep her and his nephew safe. He couldn't help it. "I suppose I can't do anything about that since it already happened. There's something else I need to discuss with you, though, before Father or anyone else gets ahold of you." Obviously, he was hesitating to discuss the upcoming issue.
"It's about Igarashi, right?" Michio glanced down to the floor and remained quiet.
"He's the one, isn't he?" Then and there, her biggest secret that she kept from everyone had been exposed to one of the few people that stuck by her through it all.
His eyes shifted back up in time to see a teardrop roll down his little sister's cheek. Using that as his confirmation, he moved forward and hugged her tight. "I always had a feeling he wasn't the gentleman everyone perceived him as. I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you from him, Sis."
Her voice turned out muffled as she spoke from burying her face in his chest. "It's not your fault. I should've known better than to ever get involved with him."
"But you know what? You got something wonderful out of it." He could feel her faintly smiling against him, making him feel a little better after seeing her tear up.
"Son…" Although it came out as a low growl and its intent was to instill intimidation, Tora sat in his father's home office with a bored look on his face which irked the older man further. "What is the meaning of these?" Several magazines were strewn across his desk, all having the same subject for their headlines.
"I believe they're used for spreading gossip," he sarcastically replied.
Igarashi Tashiro scowled at his son's careless attitude. "Don't get smart with me! It may be just 'gossip' but very few will see it that way and, from these pictures, it appears to hold some truth."
"Tora, just be honest with us." His mother spoke softly with an underlying tone of pain and her eyes pleaded him as she stood off to his father's left. "Are what these magazines saying true? Is this little boy really yours?"
He'd always been closer with her than his father and he supposed that would be his downfall in this conversation because he couldn't stand to see her like this. Not when she'd always been easygoing and helping him keep things from Tashiro so things wouldn't escalate until he needed them to.
"Yes, the child is mine."
"Darn it, Tora! You've let your desires control you and blemish the family name!" the angered man bellowed then became eerily calm. "However… there is a simple solution to this issue."