Thank you everyone who asked if I was okay for my long absence! I recently switched jobs and the muse simply wasn't cooperating with me at all. I hope this chapter makes up for the long hiatus and sparks even more chapters!
I adore each and everyone one of my loyal fans, and wish many more years of making your day even brighter!
Also, this is a Persona 5/KHR cross. The muse hit and I wasn't about to stop it.
Wakaba was beginning to get very worried about her sister Nana. She had sent her daughter to stay with her for a while after catching a rather nasty case of the flu that the doctors had warned could prove deadly for children. Nana worried her little Tsunako might catch the flu from her, and had asked her sister to babysit until it was over.
That had been three weeks ago, and outside of a rather odd message about her husband visiting, she hadn't heard a word from her sister.
The moment she stepped foot in the house, after having Sojiro watch her niece for a while, she knew something was terribly wrong.
That feeling only got stronger once she saw her sister. Nana was a bright young woman who had been swept up in a whirlwind romance with a rather shady young man that Wakaba had never gotten a chance to meet.
However he had provided for Nana after she fell pregnant and to all appearances was taking responsibility for his actions, so she kept her silence.
Now though, she wished she had spoken up before the shotgun wedding. This was not her sister.
Nana had a bit of an independent streak, but loved her daughter fiercely.
This Nana acted more like a cliché idea of what a Yamato Nadeshiko should be, with a strange detachment that made it seem that she would reject anything that didn't fit her rather narrow world view of what a 'good housewife and mother' should be.
If Wakaba ever found who did this to her sister, she'd kill them. Nana was having great difficulty holding a proper conversation and her attempts to hold on to any subjects outside of housework, sales, or general housewife knowledge was rather sporadic at best. It was clear that she was developing a rather nasty headache from it, and Wakaba was forced to stick to general small talk, as she feared she might accidentally cause an aneurysm if she deviated too much for whatever caused this to allow.
The unfortunate truth sat heavy in her gut. Wakaba couldn't in good conscience allow Nana to reclaim guardianship of her daughter. Not only could it cause irreperable damage the longer this went on, but there was a strong chance that Nana would outright ignore anything that didn't fit her 'happy home life' scenario that had been implanted in her mind.
Wakaba had only spent a month with her niece, and she could already tell Tsunako was just like her mother and aunt. Highly intelligent and curious. Not something a 'normal' housewife would know how to deal with, and in Nana's condition could prove fatal.
Mind made up, Wakaba did the only thing she could, though it broke her heart to do it.
During one of Nana's rare moments of lucidity, which were becoming far too rare in such a short time span, she had her sister sign over all guardianship rights to her.
In order to further distance her niece from whatever force hurt her mother, Wakaba went the extra mile and changed the girl's name.
Honestly, who would inflict a ridiculous name like Tsunako on a child? It was like calling the poor thing a girl tuna.
Futaba was a far more respectable name and less likely to cause embarrassing nicknames.
In an effort to hopefully help her sister and reverse whatever caused this, Wakaba decided to delve into the relatively unknown realm of cognitive psience.
She had high hopes that it might have the key to saving her younger sister.
Futaba felt numb. Her mother had apparently decided she was old enough to know the truth, and had sat her down to explain everything regarding "aunt Nana".
Specifically why her Mom was so driven to complete her research and why she chose the field in the first place.
Nana wasn't her aunt. She was her birth mother. And something terrible had happened to her to turn her into the oddly vacant woman who focused entirely too much on being a 'normal happy housewife' from a slightly less focused version of her Mom Wakaba.
Considering the odd distance Nana had towards her, Futaba was very glad her real aunt had managed to get those papers signed. Even if it meant she was adopted, the fact her aunt cared enough to go the extra mile meant a lot.
Shortly after her mom explained the truth to her, she fell into an odd stupor...and supposedly committed suicide. Right in front of her horrified daughter.
Futaba was still in shock during the funeral, mostly because Wakaba hadn't shown any of the signs of suicidal behavior before it happened...and she had researched them extensively to see if she had done anything to tip her mother towards jumping in front of a car.
Fortunately she was still coherent enough to talk back to the adults who tried to send her to live with her 'uncle', who wasn't related to her at all.
"Mom left a will. I saw her draft it up with the lawyer after she visited aunt Nana three years ago," said Futaba, glaring at the same adults who seemed to blame her for her mother's death.
Three years ago, Aunt Nana's condition settled into something that made her a poor choice of guardian. She could function on her own without any difficulty, but she had great trouble focusing on anyone else and would turn a blind eye to Futaba. She could dote on other children, but she seemed to be under the bewildering impression her 'niece' was still five and any attempts to correct it were met with a brick wall.
She was also abnormally fixated on her husband Iemitsu.
Upon hearing the fact Wakaba had a will...mostly in the unlikely event whoever targeted her sister found her and tried to take Futaba away or had her killed... the adults went looking.
Sure enough, there was a contingency in the event of Wakaba's death...no matter how it came about.
Futaba was to go to one of two people. A sushi owner in Namimori by the name of Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, who Wakaba had befriended while trying to help her younger sister who had a son Futaba's age. Or a close friend from Wakaba's work by the name of Sojiro Sakura who owned a small cafe.
Considering Sojiro was at the funeral, he agreed to take Futaba in after they found the will. Much to the displeasure of her uncle who had hoped to use Wakaba's bank accounts to deal with a few gambling debts since he could claim he was using it to care for her daughter.
Futaba couldn't believe the sheer gall the fake lawyers had to show up and read a suicide note at the funeral though. Not only was it not in her mother's handwriting, but anyone could fake a letter on a computer. Not only that, but they had no ready defense to Futaba actually calling them out on the fact they weren't actual lawyers...especially when she called the firm they worked for and asked to speak to their superior, only for everyone at the funeral to hear that no one with those names worked for them at all.
They certainly looked pissed at being outwitted by a thirteen year old girl.
In Namimori, one year later...
Reborn looked extensively for the possible heiress of the Vongola. It wasn't certain whether Tsunako had Sky flames or not, but at this point Timoteo was desperate enough to drag Iemitsu's daughter into the family, rather than free Xanxus.
The problem was that Tsunako Sawada hadn't been seen in years, and that the town was of the opinion Nana didn't have children, much less a daughter. There was mention of an older sister, but the only thing he could find out about the woman was that her name was Wakaba and that she worked for the government. All leads regarding her dried up due to her death a year ago. Any files they had on her were sealed and not even he could get them pried open.
After all, most of his contacts were in Europe, not Japan. And Fon was less than helpful since the only family he had in Japan would refuse to assist him because he was a foreigner. They were already pissed with him because he had gotten cursed and refused to ask for help out of stubborn pride.
After a year and a half of using up his extensive list of contacts and the few that the Vongola had available, Reborn was forced to give up. If any leads regarding Tsunako appeared, he'd fulfill his contract, but he had better things to do than waste his time spinning his wheels with nonexistent leads.
More importantly, how the hell did Iemitsu miss that his wife was Sky-addled? She was barely functional as an adult, and he had high doubts that she could raise a child properly.
Timoteo accepted the suspension of the contract with grace. Even as he ignored the comment about Nana's condition. After all, he was there when Iemitsu made some not-so-subtle demands to the whereabouts of Tsunako.
The foolish external adviser used a bit too much Sky flame, and apparently his wife was made of considerably sterner stuff than either man anticipated. Her mind withdrew into a protective shell while the unconscious 'image' Iemitsu had of his wife took over, leaving a nearly broken woman behind.
As a result, neither man had any idea where Tsunako was as Nana had sent her to stay with a relative to avoid her daughter catching a rather nasty flu bug her mother caught.
Futaba tried to sleep peacefully, but instinctively she knew something was terribly wrong.
There was an intruder in her soul. Someone was trying to tamper with her inner self to gain access to the encryption key to her mother's research, which Wakaba had Futaba encrypt so well that no one could break it without the passcodes.
The paranoia of someone using her research for dark purposes and her sister's condition had Wakaba going the extra mile when it came to security and contingency plans.
The figure in black was rather frustrated. Most of Futaba's inner self was wrapped up in her hacker side, and he was only passable with technology. He couldn't get past the firewalls at all.
Then...it happened.
Annoyed beyond belief, the black figure tried to break his way through Futaba's inner self by force.
Unfortunately for him, he was countered with an even more powerful and ancient force who was less than pleased at the figure's attempts to essentially kill his descendant.
The figure was forcibly kicked out...as Futaba's flames awakened with force.
Vibrant orange heavily tinted with indigo and purple blazed brightly, though Futaba was still trying to sleep. It began to dwindle back into her body, though the damage was done.
Angry and frustrated, the figure attempted one final attack on her inner self to 'alter' her into giving up the codes.
This time he was thwarted by Futaba's inner self, created through the awakening of her flames and out of self-preservation. A great pyramid began to form, further protecting her true self.
However the damage was done. The lies the figure tried to spread about Wakaba caused a rift in the memories she had of her mother, creating a false Wakaba that began to plague her waking moments.
Her father...and it felt weird actually being able to say that word and mean it considering she had never had a father figure in her life before... was worried when she began a dangerous downward spiral into depression.
Things began to take a more sinister turn as the voice of the fake Wakaba as well as the lies spread during her funeral began to affect Futaba badly.
She had no idea how to deal with the problem, as every time she attempted to leave the house the whispering grew stronger and far more vicious until she became too afraid to leave her room most days.
To that end, she did the only thing she could think of...and reached out online to sites she had stumbled across while researching her mother's supposed suicide.
Alibaba- The whispers are getting worse. It's like every time I try to leave the house, the walls close in and everyone feels like they're staring at me and making the whispers louder. I keep hearing my awful distant cousins talking about the fact I'm the reason mom died.
BaseballGod- I know what you mean. After what happened in middle school, it seems like I can't get away from people talking about what happened. I mean I barely survived because of Hibari-sempai. If it wasn't for dad, I doubt I'd be here.
Alibaba- I think if mom hadn't written I was to stay with a friend of hers, I'd be in a lot worse shape. At least dad lets me continue my home-schooling session...I doubt I'd survive actual school at this rate.
BaseballGod- lucky! I'm not nearly smart enough to do homeschooling and I doubt dad would let me get away with it. Our computer is a bit old.
Alibaba- well I'd never be able to play baseball. I'd probably pass out before the first inning. Seems like fun though.
Futaba had to smile slightly at her chat buddy lighting up about statistics and famous Japanese baseball players. Apparently his mom was a fan before her death and had gotten him hooked on the sport.
She might be too terrified to go outside, but she was able to help out her friend.
She clicked her screen to another friend she had in Italy. Smoking_Bomb was such a tsundere, but he had a very scientific mind and was a great deal of fun to talk cryptids with. Almost as much fun as "WrenchMaster" in England, who seemed to find her ideas amusing and worth playing around with.
She might be a good hacker, but WrenchMaster was an expert at actually inventing things.
Maybe one day she'd get over this crippling social anxiety and actually go SEE them.