Chapter 5: Clashing Ideals
Summary: Hibari intends to join SWORD, but first...
"I'm joining," Hibari says quietly from the doorway. They are home at the same time, because Mom would have wanted them to be together today. The whiskey on his desk gleams in the golden lamp light. Her mom's blue eyes look down into the room lovingly from the portrait that hangs over the mantle.
The older Hibari gets, the more she looks like her. A happy grief whenever she looks in the mirror.
"You're too young," her father says, voice like gravel. He doesn't even look up from whatever report he's reading. The Fleet Admiral's work is never done, though it's not much different from how it was before.
"So was Mom," Hibari says quickly, pulse picking up at her boldness. Her mother had joined the Navy at Hibari's age, and well… joined her father's unit and as they say, the rest is history.
That makes him look up, a scowl marring his features. In the lamplight, the still healing scars from Uncle Kuzan are more noticeable than ever. She recalls the last time they'd been home at the same time, after the Paramount War, just a week before the stupid Fleet Admiral fight. The very first time she'd had a screaming match with the man before her, because Hibari hadn't wanted her father to fight her favorite uncle! Justice certainly didn't seem worth it after it tore her family apart. Or maybe it was just her father's justice that didn't seem worth it.
Just once… just once, couldn't he have chosen their family? Chosen… her? Wasn't she important too? How many times had he missed her marksmen ceremonies, or mom's medal ceremonies or… Hibari's hands tighten into fists as she recalls the empty chair next to her mother's deathbed.
"Tch, you speak like you know. Justice demands everything and your foolish teenage rebellion won't hold up when things get difficult," he growls, dark eyes glaring. Ire sparks in her stomach, as if she didn't know that things would get hard. They already were hard! She looks down at her feet, willing her eyes not to tear up. Not now, not over this. But it's hard not to cry when the person you love most in the world can only love you if you never learn to stand on your own two feet. It's hard not to cry when it hurts.
"No," she says, looking back up. What she does next will hurt. What she does next will make things irreparable. There are tears in her eyes, but some things are worth the pain. "Just your justice."
With that, Hibari turns on her heels and leaves.
Notes:
I really want her to be Sakazuki's daughter. Like a lot. Also this was so dramatic HAHA
