When you wake, it can be hard to tell how much time has past since you fell asleep. It was a fact Kaori knew all too well.
As the room came into focus, she brushed away the last traces of sleep from her eyes, her movements slowly gaining urgency. She stood abruptly from the chair she had accidentally fallen asleep in, her novel clattering to the hardwood floor, the unmarked page lost. She grabbed the digital clock on her nightstand and turned it to face her. The blazing red display showed '05:07 AM'. She had only been asleep for a half hour, thankfully, but that did little to assuage her worry. She had failed in her vigil for the first time.
Her slipper-clad feet padded down the hallway surreptitiously, bringing her to Nao's bedroom. She placed her hand on the cold metal handle, drawing in a tight breath as she opened the door silently, careful not to make a sound. The sight of Nao's sleeping form, laced by silver moonlight, sent a wave of relief through her. She leaned against the door frame as the panic receded, putting her nursing degree to some use as she checked for injuries, and finding none visible. Nao had managed to survive another night.
As her breathing returned to normal, Kaori continued to watch her daughter slumber. Since the very beginning of their living together, she had known that reintegrating herself into her daughter's life would be difficult. Nao was loving and kind at home, but when Kaori saw her daughter with other people, she saw Nao become a different person. She was sickly sweet, but behind that facade dwelled a cruel and malicious side she wouldn't have imagined. At first, she had rationalized that it was her fault that Nao had become that way; that she hadn't recovered from the lack of a parental figure through most of her formulative years. So she had showered Nao with support and love, and hoped for the best. But even months later, with the sole exception of Natsuki, Nao still wasn't making new friends or associating with people any more than she had to.
But even more worrying than that, was Nao's habit of sneaking out of the house late at night, only to come back home with various unexplained wounds early in the morning. Kaori had tried to sit down and talk with her about it, but her daughter only stared back at her calmly. I'm looking for answers, Mama. I just... need to keep looking. Kaori had put on a strained smile, and accepted it. What right did she have to come back into her daughter's life, and then go about changing it? But on the nights that Nao left, a knot of helpless terror coiled in her stomach, and she would lie awake in bed, trying to pass the time without dwelling on what might happen.
Most nights, Nao came back and returned to bed without saying anything. Occasionally, she would return with lacerations bad enough to require bandages, and then Kaori would walk into the bathroom as her daughter patched herself up. The first few times, at least, Nao had the grace to look ashamed. But after that, it became a ritual: Kaori would treat her wounds expertly and silently, laying down a final layer of disinfectant and pressing down a bandage. Nao would hug her, equally wordlessly. In the morning, they would have breakfast as usual, and not speak of it.
Kaori had been at a loss of what to do, until recently. Meeting Natsuki, and watching Nao interact with her, had formed the spark of a plan in Kaori's mind. Today was the day that Natsuki was coming over for cooking lessons, so she had best get some sleep. She could still get in a few hours before the object of her daughter's affections arrived.
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Author's Note: Short chapter. It was originally intended to be the first section of a larger third chapter, but I decided to put this up separately. There was some confusion about chapter two, which is my fault. I didn't know how works with chapter updates. Essentially, I deleted the old chapter two and posted the completed one, but some people couldn't review again because there wasn't a net gain of chapters (?), and other people thought I simply hadn't updated. I assure you, nearly a 1000 words were added to the end of the old chapter two. My apologies if you were confused. I'll make sure to post new material separately in new chapters from here on out.
I've written quite a bit more than this, but its in segments scattered throughout the story's time line. It's taking me a little while to get down exactly how I want to go from here on out. Unfortunately, I've had more comments about Nao being out of character than I really feel comfortable with. I'm not so sure I'm doing a good job getting across exactly how she's changed. She's had a few months to live with her mother, and to let her life return to normalcy. Her mother being there for her, I think, would give Nao a lot more stability and make her a bit more human. Granted, that's not going to give Nao closure on all of her various issues, but it would help. I guess on some level, I'd like to think that people are just reacting negatively to Nao's lack of cruelty because they aren't taking the above factors into consideration. But I firmly believe its my job as an author to make the character's changes believable, so I'll try and do a better job in the future.
Also... some people seem confused about Natsuki. They ask 'why can Natsuki accept Nao's feelings and not Shizuru's?' Quite simple, really... Natsuki doesn't accept Nao's feelings, mostly because she doesn't even realize they exist. Natsuki relied on Shizuru for nearly three years for support and advice. When the events of the Festival destroyed a lot of that trust, she tried to forget about it and continue to have a supportive friendship with Shizuru, but Shizuru's most recent letter destroyed that hope. So Natsuki is turning more and more to Nao for support. It's important to note that Nao's intentions are hardly more innocent than Shizuru's. Luckily, Natsuki is a bit of a dunce when it comes to recognizing when other people are in love with her, so no explosions (yet).
Stay tuned, and until next time...
Tremalkinger