I never wanted to leave Ayano home alone. That was all Ryoba's idea. Out of nowhere she dragged me off to the States with no explanation why. I gave up trying to ask. I barely got to say goodbye to Ayano before getting shoved on the plane and sent off. Ryoba talked constantly the whole way, never leaving me alone. He over affectionate nature seemed to make everyone on the plane uncomfortable, including myself. Not that I wasn't used to it by that point. Ryoba was Ryoba. I gave up trying to make sense of anything she did years ago.
While we were away, Ryoba packed our time with whatever "romantic" idea that got wedged up her ass that day. For a while, I was beginning to think she'd never let me be alone, but eventually she ran off to go arrange something "special". I felt sick to think of what that might be. Since I was stuck alone at the hotel, I took the time to actually take a shower alone for the first time in a while. It would've been nice if I could keep myself from jumping at every little sound that I heard. I guess living with Ryoba will make you jumpy. Once I got out of the shower, I got dressed and checked my phone, only to find a huge wall of text from Ayano. I opened my phone and read her message.
'Dad, I'm sorry. I did something horrible. Please forgive me. I hurt someone. I got jealous and I hurt someone over a boy. I don't want anyone else to be with him, so I hurt her. She killed herself. I'm sorry, I was wrong. Senpai was so sad, it broke my heart. He looked like you. I'm sorry, Dad.'
I froze, staring at the text for a good while. Suddenly, another came in. It was a picture of Ayano slumped up against the stall in Akademi high. She was waving to the camera with one hand, her arm bleeding out profusely. A message came in after that, simply saying 'goodbye'. I felt my entire existence cease to be. My daughter… My precious little Ayano was dying and I was half way across the fucking planet! I put my phone in my pocket and ran into the main room of the hotel. I grabbed my wallet and passport, then ran out of the hotel, knocking over a few people in the hallways as I made a mad dash to the nearest taxi.
"Take me to the airport now!" I demanded.
"English?" the confused taxi driver I asked. I realized that I hadn't said it in English and pointed to a plane that was in the sky. The taxi driver nodded awkwardly and began driving me to airport. I managed to blurt out 'Quick quick' in English, but that in itself was a miracle.
Once I arrived at the airport, I gave the taxi driver his money then rushed into the airport. I booked the quickest flight home. It unfortunately was an hour wait, but I got on it. Ryoba began blowing up my phone, but I didn't answer. In fact, I blocked her number. I finally had the guts to block her number, and my world went so quiet. If it wasn't for the looming threat of losing my baby girl, it would have been a joyous moment.
The flight was agonizingly long. I spent most of it panicking in the restroom, then the last two hours of the flight chugging as many energy drinks as possible. I wanted to be ready for anything. Ready to run. Ready to run to the fucking hospital where Ayano would be if need be. When the plane landed, I did just that. I had gotten an alert telling me what hospital Ayano was in, and I ran there as fast as humanly possible. When I arrived, I was taken to her room, where she was recovering. Ayano was staring blankly at her phone when I got there.
"Ayano!" I exclaimed as I ran up to her and enveloped her in the tightest hug I could muster. She squeaked and hugged me back weakly.
"Dad?"
"I'm here, Sweetie, it's ok. It's all going to be ok," I assured her.
"How'd you get here? Where's Mom?"
"She's still in America…"
"You left without her? How'd you do that?"
"I just ran, it doesn't matter, are you ok?"
Ayano stared blankly at the ground and shook her head, "No. I turned into a monster and I'm scared I'm going to be just like her."
"What's going on, Sweetie?"
"There's this boy… Taro Yamada. He's all I can think about, day and night. When I thought some other girl would get him, I just lost it. I don't know what came over me, I just felt this unbearable urge to make her pay, the make her suffer… And I did. Then I saw Taro when she was dead and… He looked heartbroken… he looked like you. I didn't want to be a monster, so I tried to end things before I did anything worse," Ayano explained. "Midori found me in the bathroom and called an ambulance. The school nurse patched me up while we waited for the ambulance to arrive."
"I'm just glad that you're alive, Ayano…" I sighed and held her close to me. My heart was racing a mile a minute, probably because of the adrenaline and caffeine I filled up on. I just focused on holding my little girl. I didn't even care about anything else. Nothing else mattered except for my sweet little Ayano. None of this mess mattered except for her.
"I'm sorry, Dad… Are you mad at me?"
"No, never."
"Thank you." Ayano wiped away a few tears from her cheeks. "Um… Can you bring Bunny tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I can bring Bunny. Do you need anything else?"
"No, I'm ok."
"Ok." I nodded and lied Ayano back down. I pulled the flimsy hospital blanket up over her and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Baby Girl."
"I love you too, Dad."
I was forced to go home after a while. I sat there in my house… no, that prison. It was like staring into an empty prison cell without Ryoba there. I collapsed in Ayano's room and cried for a while. I couldn't believe what had happened… Ryoba's conditioning got to her. I failed… I stared at the weird shrine thing she built to this boy, this Taro… I couldn't let history repeat itself. If Ayano wasn't like her mother, then she'd go insane over this kid, and if she was, then this kid was better off six feet underground than in the clutches of a psychotic woman. All these years I've suffered… They're over. I'm done. I refuse to let life fuck me over anymore. I will take the future into my own hands.
I found Ryoba's hidden gun after doing some snooping through her things. I made sure there was plenty of ammunition and I couldn't help but smile a little. Freedom felt so exhilarating. It was finally time to be free. It was time for that bitch to finally get what she had coming.