A/N: Hey guys! I know it has been a while. This is a follow-up after what happened in my fanfic "Reaching the Light".
I would advise to read that one first since this short story makes then a lot more sense (plus spoilers).
This story isn't really long but this idea had been in my head for quite some time and I just wanted to write it.
I hope you enjoy it!
See ya!
Vanessa :)
Chapter 1: 311 Days
What have I done?
That's the question I have been asking myself since the incident. Since that day I have lost everything. In retrospect, I have no idea what could have driven me so far to do this. I only wanted my daughter to stay with me. But now…
I knew that she wasn't dead. That my bullet hadn't… After all, I was charged for mayham.
But since this fateful day, almost a year has passed and the only time I got updated about Hikari was when I heard it on the news channel that she had survived.
A loud clunk noise pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked up to the door of my cell. I was lucky that I got my own one. It was small and the only things in there were my bed on which I was currently sitting, a toilet, and a sink.
Through the door came one of the wardens. This was the first time, someone came outside of meal times.
„You have a visitor."
A visitor? That would really be a first in ten months and I wondered who it was. Even my lawyer had kept out conversations via phone calls. He didn't need to do a lot since I pledged guilty.
I nodded to the warden's words and rose up, straightening my orange overall. I still hadn't gotten used to the bright color and I missed my own clothes. Though, I missed my old life more.
As I stepped closer to him, I held my hands out towards him and he cuffed them before I was allowed to exit my cell. The door closed and he led me through the hallways to what I assumed were visiting rooms.
„When we arrive, you have a maximum of one hour with your visitor. You are not allowed to touch them, nor get closer to them than what the width of the table allows. You are under constant supervision with cameras and since your visitor is a minor, also with wardens posted inside."
A minor? Could it be…? Anticipation filled my body after hearing this piece of information and I couldn't wait until we reached the room where my visitor was waiting. And after a few more steps and a couple of turns later, we stood in front of a door.
„Remember what I told you.", the warden emphasized once more before he opened the door to let me in. I heard how the heavy door got closed after I entered and how two wardens took their positions on each side of the door.
But I didn't pay any attention to them since my eyes rested on the form of a person sitting at the table in the middle of the room. I think she had grown a few inches since the last time I saw her. Her hair was a little longer, though, she still styled it the way she had before – with an Alice band in her hair. I couldn't help a smile on my lips when I saw her. She looked healthy. And like it seemed, she hadn't any permanent injuries.
„Hikari…", I breathed and pulled the second chair back to take my seat. I couldn't believe she was here. Her face didn't change. But taking a closer look I could tell that something about her changed. The way she was looking at me.
Her black eyes were hard, no spark was in them and she didn't smile. And though it damped my mood it didn't surprise me. What I did couldn't be forgotten.
„Hi Dad.", she replied and kept looking at me like this. I started feeling uneasy, though it didn't lessen the joy of seeing her.
„You don't know how happy I am to see you. I didn't think I would be seeing you so soon." Or at all. I had to fight the impulse to reach out to her. I didn't want to break the rules the warden had told me earlier.
„I didn't think I would be coming here either. But my therapist thought it would be good to meet the source of my trauma head-on to heal." Her voice didn't show any emotion and she wore a poker face I didn't know she had. So, Hikari was not okay. Yes, physically she seemed alright but mentally… It did and at the same time didn't surprise me. I knew that it was only human to be traumatized after being hit with a bullet and at the same time my foolish heart hoped it wouldn't have been the case with her.
„Hikari, I… -" But she didn't let me finish.
„I don't want to hear your excuses. Because there is no excuse. You know… I'm well aware of the fact that you wouldn't have shot me. I know this for sure but this is not the problem. It was my decision to jump in front of it. The worst part s, that I offered to speak with you – without the need of anyone getting hurt. But you still pulled the trigger to shoot my best friend. And I couldn't allow it that he got hurt." Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
I gulped and I could only watch her when she revealed this. And again: I was surprised and at the same I was not. I had witnessed how quickly the friendship between her and the Hamada boy had grown. And I had been afraid to lose my little girl. I was blind to the fact that Hikari needed to leave to grow up.
„I don't regret jumping in front of this bullet to save Hiro. Given the chance, I would do it again and again. I was so close to dying because of the aftermath and only survived by a sliver. And I would do it again because I…-" Her breath hitched and the tears she had been holding back brimmed over and were now streaming down her face. This time, with this sight in front of me, I couldn't help myself and reached across the table to comfort my child, ignoring the fact that I was the problem in the first place.
„Hikari, I am so…-"
Hikari moved immediately back, wiping the tears away.
„Prisoner Sunō. If you do this again, I will have to remove you from this room immediately.", one of the warden at the door said, though this warning was not necessary since I had pulled back already. It hurt that I wasn't able to do one of the most elemental things a parent could do for their child. And it was all my fault.
„This won't be necessary. I was about to leave now anyway.", my daughter said to him, her eyes fixating on her hands in her lap. Her visit hadn't even lasted half an hour. I opened my mouth to protest, to try to persuade her to stay. To tell her that I would the responsibility for my actions. That I was sorry about everything. But not one word left my lips so, I simply shut my mouth again and watched how my daughter got up from her chair and left without looking back once.
And I was left behind wondering if I would be allowed to see her again.
