Fortuitous Serendipity (Takashi Morinozuka x Female Reader)

When One Door Closes, Another One Opens

In books there is solace, a place of comfort to escape a hellish reality. Everything has a purpose, loose ends are tied up at the end. Most stories end up with the romance working out. There are worlds of fantasy, dystopia, history, and so much more. Libraries were the holders of knowledge and entertainment, somewhere you always liked to be. You escaped people and responsibilities to read whatever you pleased.

Fictional characters were always so much better at comforting you anyways.

Having extra cash lying around was simply not the norm growing up. Hearing downtown traffic, bar fights downstairs, and the train was a very typical occurrence. When you weren't at school, you helped at the register in your grandparents' humble restaurant downstairs. When you weren't helping out at the register, you were up in bed with a flashlight and a book.

At night, you could hear your exhausted mother trudge through the small hallway to your shared bedroom. So you hid the flashlight and book under the pillow or in the drawer, depending on how close she was. You were supposed to be asleep. By the time she opened the door, you pretended to be sleeping. She would laugh and flop down on her side. "(Name), I know you're awake. You're a terrible actress."

Your face scrunched up in offense but you still kept your eyes closed. "I'm going to get ready for bed. You should go to sleep now."

While you grew up without the next new toy and things your classmates had, you were content. Wearing hand me downs, having a very simple lunchbox, and hearing about the cool things your friends' parents bought them didn't bring you down. Well, it did a little but you understood that your mother and grandparents were doing the best they could. But you always wondered why you didn't have a father.

One Father's Day, you had been listening to your peers talk about the plans they made with their father. You never felt the need for one because your grandfather technically filled that role.

"What are you doing with your father for Father's Day, (Name)?" Someone asked.

You simply shrugged. "I don't know yet."

When you got home that afternoon, you finally asked your mother the question she had been waiting for. You were old enough to understand that your father was absent. Your mother calmly explained that he was busy all the way across the ocean and due to work and such, he wasn't able to be in Japan. She didn't elaborate and you didn't ask for her to go into anymore detail.

On the days when the restaurant was closed, you and your grandmother would watch cooking shows on TV. Your mother and grandfather would sit on the couch and wait to taste the newest concoction you had come up with. They would even add some of your dishes as daily specials and one even permanently made it onto the menu.

So life wasn't always easy but it surely had its moments. You knew almost every swear and insult in existence from the drunk idiots who came to the bar and you're pretty sure you saw someone getting busy with a prostitute when you peered out the window and down the street a little ways. That was followed by a long talk from your mother about not getting into prostitution and sex. Needless to say it was awkward.

All that mattered was that you had a roof over your head and food on the table. Most of all you had a happy family.

But apparently you were meant to face life alone from now on.

On the way back from your grandmother's late doctor appointment, you were waiting for them to come home. The restaurant was closed and you were home alone. It was already 8pm and they left the hospital hours ago. It really shouldn't take that long to get home. You kept listening for the front door to open. You clutched your stuffed cow, Beaux, closer to your chest, trying to get your mind off their absence.