Okay, you guys, I'm finally coming back to this. I tried to get something out sooner, but the first five or so ideas I had for this chapter just didn't work out very well. I think this will be alright, though, so I'll try to update more often again from now on.

According to Malik, Saturday was when most of us were allowed visitors. At first I hadn't worried too much over his words, mostly because I didn't think that they would affect me. I didn't have any friends who would take the time to come see me, and my only "family" (in a technical sense) was my father, who would definitely not take the time to come see me.

At least, that was what I thought.

When Dr. Arisato told me that my father had managed to get time off work to come back to Domino, all I could do was laugh. When it came to my father, work was much more important than his only son. It didn't make any sense for him to return now.

Besides, I knew exactly what he thought of me, when I crossed his mind at all. He had told me several times. He didn't hate me- rather, he was completely indifferent. There was an undeniable sense of lingering disappointment as well, but I couldn't say I blamed him for it. I was everything a boy my age wasn't supposed to be- I hated sports, preferring to spend my time reading. My features were feminine enough that I had been mistaken for a girl a couple of times, and my shyness did nothing at all to change that. All of that added up to a son who apparently wasn't worth his time- until now, I guessed.

Directly after I found out about my father's impending visit, I was sent off to lunch. I was still numb from the shock of the news I had been given, and I almost didn't notice when Malik called out my name from behind.

"Hey, wait up." I paused and turned around, and sure enough, Malik was catching up to me. I waited until he was next to me, and then started to walk again.

"What's up?" he said, upon seeing my most likely worried expression.

I was almost reluctant to tell him, despite his curiosity. Not because I didn't want him involved in my personal life- he had told me enough about himself for me to know that secrets were a thing of the past. Still, I wasn't sure how he would react if I did tell him. Would he understand? After all, he had had issues with his own father. But at the same time, would he tell me that I was being stupid and worrying over things that were, in the scheme of things, completely insignificant?

There must have been a long pause between us, because when I snapped back to reality, he looked confused.

"…Ryou? Are you listening?"

I put on the best smile I could manage. "Oh, yeah. I-I'm fine." He didn't look the least bit convinced, and after the way I had spoken, I couldn't blame him for it. I sighed, looking down at the floor to avoid his questioning gaze.

"Are you sure? You're acting really suspicious." I swallowed. He was too observant- he could see through me without any effort whatsoever. At the rate we were going, he was going to pry everything out of me, whether I liked it or not. I sighed, giving in to the pressure.

"It's not a big deal, really," I said, trying to put things off for as long as possible. "Just family problems. Really, don't worry about it."

Malik snorted. "That's it? We all deal with that kind of thing. It's not a big deal." He paused. "Is it?"

"I don't really know yet," I answered honestly. "I… My father is coming here in a couple days. We don't really get along, is all."

A look of some unreadable emotion crossed Malik's face. I wondered for a moment if I had actually upset him, like I had been trying to avoid. But as soon as that disappeared, a small smile appeared, although his eyes held a faraway look.

"Is it bad?" he asked after a brief moment of silence. I didn't have to ask any further to understand what he meant. Is he anything near what mine was like? Was what I was sure he thought. Is that why you're here?

"No," I said carefully. "I mean, I know it could be a whole lot worse. I'm probably being overdramatic about the whole thing." I laughed nervously. Malik stayed silent. "I don't know. Maybe we just don't know how to deal with each other. I mean, we don't usually talk, but when we do, it can get pretty uncomfortable."

"Huh." Malik didn't look angry or upset as I had expected. Rather, his face was void of any readable emotion. The atmosphere had noticeably grown darker during the conversation, and I immediately worried that I had said the wrong thing. Was it like I thought? Was I worried over nothing? Was it such a small thing that I shouldn't have bothered to bring it up at all?

I noticed the warmth spreading across my face from embarrassment, and I looked away from Malik. I didn't know whether or not I needed to apologize, or if that would only make things worse. A small knot formed itself in my stomach, and I could feel my heart rate speed up. No, stop, I told myself. You can't get nervous over something like this. It's not worth it, so just calm down.

My talk with myself was interrupted by Malik's voice. "So, he'll be here on Saturday? That's two days from now, right?"

It took me a moment to snap out of my thoughts. I looked back up at Malik, who was back to his concerned expression.

"I think so," I said after another pause. "I still don't know why he's doing it, but yeah, that's when they said he would be here."

Malik shrugged. "Is it really that surprising? I mean, you two may not get along, but you are still family. Don't you think he would feel something finding out about something like this about his only son?"

"I guess. But I would have expected disappointment, not concern."

Malik smiled. "I can understand that part. When I first saw my sister after I came here, I thought she had only come to tell me how much she hated me and what I had done." Malik's smile grew just a bit softer around the edges, as though he was lost in some sort of memory. "But I still remember what she said. She apologized, over and over again. She kept saying how much she wished that she could have stopped everything before this happened." Despite Malik's obvious attempts to stay strong, I could see his smile wavering. "So, you never know. He could be disappointed- I don't know your dad, I won't make assumptions. But who knows? I know it sounds bad, but maybe something like this was exactly what the two of you needed."

Malik did have a point, I knew that much. Still, there was a small, nagging part of me that told me things wouldn't be that simple. Maybe it was everything that had happened between us in the past, but I sincerely doubted that, come Saturday, we were going to get through our meeting without any troubles.

Still, I smiled and nodded. I didn't need Malik to know about the fear I held concerning our impending visit. I didn't need anyone to know- it was my problem, and if I was going to become any stronger, then I would have to learn how to deal with it myself. Even if the thought of something nearly drove me to tears, I would need to power through it.

Of course, it was easy to tell myself things like that in advance. But lingering in the back of my mind, as I knew it would nearly every second of every day until my father arrived, were the small shadows of doubt, waiting for the right opportunity to lead me back into that cycle of self-pity I so wanted to escape.

Xxx

Ugh, I think it's finally done. To be honest, I've been working on this chapter on and off since about November or December. I know I don't have much to show for it, but I just kept on forgetting about it. This story isn't as important to me as it used to be, quite honestly- all I can see anymore are its flaws, and while I still like writing it, I can't help but hate what I see whenever I read back over it.

I figure maybe I'm just in a bad spot with it right now, and if I give it time and more chapters, I'll get over it. But really- the characters are so ooc, and the story isn't really worth mentioning. If it was an original piece of fiction, I think I would like it a lot more, because the characters are quickly deviating from their original counterparts, and I don't know how to stop it.

I will continue this fic- I'm not saying I'm going to stop writing it or anything like that. But I don't know, I did think about it at one point, so I figured out that I might say something about how I feel about this story.