100

Fine

"Akari!" Jona shouted from the doorway. Behind him stood Rin's parents, Duke Obara and Duchess Riho.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Rin shouted as he ran towards them. He immediately flings himself into their arms and hugs them tightly as he tells them the mean words Akari said to him.

"Akari! Apologise to the young Lord Rin." Jona ordered Akari.

Akari ignored her father and sat still. Her eyes stayed staring at the window as if no one was in the room with her.

"Akari!"

"It's fine." Lord Obara said as he stood up. "Children say things that they don't mean. By tomorrow, both of them would have forgotten about it already."

"I don't know what's wrong with her. She is usually well behaved." Jona said as he scratched the back of his head.

Jona walked up to Akari and knelt down in front of her. He wasn't going to let Akari go with acting so stubborn and ill mannered towards others.

"Akari?" Jona said sternly. "Apologise to Rin."

Akari frown at Jona as tears began to threaten her eyes. Her father was always someone who was righteous. Always making things right when someone was wronged. She couldn't bring herself to disappoint her father. But her heart felt he was being unjust to her.

Standing up from her seat she adjusted her dress and her hair before walking towards Rin and his parents. She stopped in front of Rin and made a perfect curtsy then apologise to the boy who didn't deserve it.

"I apologise if my words hurt your feelings in any way. " Akari said as she stood back up. "I have never comforted a crying baby or child before, so I did not know how to make you stop crying. So instead I said hurtful words to make you mad so you would stop crying. And it worked. If my words hurt your feelings, then I'm sorry."

Immediately afterwards Akari runs to her room, not caring if he accepts her apology or not. She just wanted her day to be over. Even though her mind was that of an adult, her body and emotions were still like a child.

Akari keeps running towards her room as her father yells her name. The guards and Lena follows her, although she had a head start and her small legs weren't fast enough to outrun them.

Jordan catches Akari and picks her up. Her tear stained face immediately hides in between his neck.

"Take me to my room, please." Akari asks. "I don't want them to see me crying."

Jordan immediately does as he is told and with Alek and Lena following her, Jona gives up and sees to their guests.

Once inside her room, she dismisses everyone, against their requests and locks the door. Crawling into bed, Akari couldn't stop herself from crying. She cried for her bad luck. Her ill fate with Rin and Kiko. Her inability to change her fate. And for all the heartbreak, regrets, and deaths she faced 99 times. To everyone else who stood outside her door. They thought she was crying because her intentions towards the young Rin were misinterpreted as ill intentions and she had to apologise for it.

Jona came to the door and knock a couple of times, calling out Akari's name softly, asking her to let him in. But she didn't open the door, she just kept crying pitifully. It broke everyone's heart to hear her crying so much by herself. This was the first time she cried since she was a baby and they couldn't bear for her to be alone when she was so upset.

To see a well behaved child suddenly act so emotional, they all stood by her door, worryingly asking her to open the door nicely. They could have just used the key to open the door, but was afraid that she would be even more upset if they did. No matter how many times they begged her or tried to bribe her to open the door so they could comfort her, she just kept on crying until she fell asleep. It was only then that Jona took out the key in his pocket and opened the door.

Inside of the dark room, Akari laid in bed with her dress in disarray. Her hair was messy and her tearstained face shined against the light. Her eyes were red and and nose was runny. Her lips quivered as if she was going to cry again in her sleep.

Jona's heart broke at what he saw. It was her birthday, it was supposed to be a joyous occasion. How did it all end up with his only daughter crying herself to sleep?

Sighing heavily he sits next to Akari and smooths out her hair before ordering Lena to have Akari changed into her nightgown and tucking her to sleep.

That night, the only person who slept peacefully was Akari.

The next day when Akari woke up, she stayed in bed. Even when Lena came inside of the room to help her get ready for the day, she stayed in bed, not willing to get up. When they sent her food, she refused to eat. Even when her mother and father begged her to eat something, she hid under the covers and shook her head no. When her teachers came for her lessons, she turned them away. When they tried to speak to her, she didn't answer them.

Her only request to them was to be left alone. She was wallowing in her emotions, trying to sort them out and plan for her future.

The next day, when she came out of her room, she was surprise to see her parents, Lena, Jordan and Alek standing outside, waiting for her.

"How are you feeling, darling." Emi asked as she hugged Akari tightly.

"Fine." Akari said as she let Emi hug her for as long as Emi needed to.

"You scared everyone yesterday. Are you sure you're doing alright?" Jona asked as he too hugged the both of them.

"I'm doing just fine." Akari told them. However her answers worried them even more. She didn't blame them for her tears, nor did she whine to them that she felt wronged by them. Instead, after a day of not eating and seeing anyone, she comes out and states that everything is fine, when they knew, everything was not fine.

"Daddy is sorry if you felt if Daddy wronged you." Jona said as he kissed Akari's temple. "Daddy is sorry if Daddy made you upset and made you cry. Can you forgive Daddy?"

Akari nods her head and lets Jona hug her tightly. How could she be mad at her father? He was just trying to do the right thing.

After that day, Akari received 8 guards, 3 maids, and 4 servants. They surrounded her around the clock, to ensure her protection and well being.