When The Time Comes

Three

There really was nothing more that he could do. When he left her standing there- lost, scared and unbelieving- and when he saw the look on her face, he did not feel like leaving her side. However, he was nothing more than a stranger to her. He could not have done anything to comfort her despite knowing her better than anyone else. He knew exactly what might have helped her deal with this in a much less painful way but he also knew that, as they were just then, he was powerless. What was the point of everything that he could do if he couldn't even comfort her when she needed someone's warmth and kindness?

"Kou-chan, is it okay to go out now?" The four-year-old asked, looking up at him from the toys that she was playing with on the bedroom floor.

Terasaki Kousuke sighed and nodded. He himself was growing worried. There was no movement outside.

Chiyo climbed to her feet and left the room. Kousuke put down the book left by his ancestors that he was reading and massaged his temple. The truth was always ugly.

"Kou-chan. Kou-chan." Chiyo came running back into the room. "Akane-chan's sleeping." She pointed back towards the hall. Kousuke considered what to do and then stood up. Chiyo followed him when he went to the living hall. Just as he was told, she was fast asleep, curled up, hugging herself under the window which was open. How many times had he watched her cry herself to sleep already? She was always full of dreams and hopes and always looking forward to the coming day. Whenever something did happen, however, she would hold it all in till she was alone and then let go. She was very sensitive and yet she pretended to be strong. He was very well aware of how she had often witnessed the horrors of the day repeating itself in her mind. He had long since devoted his life to keeping her safe. However, even he couldn't protect her from the cruel fate she had. He had not wanted to take her life away from her but there was no way he could've continued to protect her from a distance.

Crouching beside her, he slowly ran a thumb over her tear-stained cheek. He had never seen her look so miserable before.

"Will Akane-chan be okay, Kou-chan?" Chiyo asked, looking at her over his shoulder.

"I hope so." He said meekly and picked her up in his arms rather effortlessly. He thought back to the time when he had carried the broken body of the five-year-old all those years ago.

She had grown into quite the young woman.

He carried her into the bedroom and lay her down on the bed before sitting beside her. He placed a palm on her head and said softly. "I'm sorry."

This was probably her worst birthday.

"Kou-chan?" Chiyo watched him in surprise. He was always kind even though he never really showed his emotions much. Ever since Pia was brought in though, anger, annoyance, grief and affection had fleetingly graced his sharp features. Only Chiyo had ever seen his kind smile before. That was because she was his responsibility and they had only each other. Chiyo was his family- the person he relaxed around.

Kousuke was suddenly different.

"Chiyo." He looked at her with a wry smile. "Wouldyou mind sleeping on the sofa with me?"

There was a dull throb at my neck when I opened my eyes. The curtains were drawn and hardly any light seeped into the room. I was sleeping on the bed. I had no idea how I had gotten there though. I was at the window and then... Terasaki-san might have brought me here.

The clock on the wall revealed that it was early in the morning. Too early. However, I couldn't just go back to sleep either so I sat up and lightly massaged my neck. That's when my eyes fell on the sofa. There was enough space for only one person there and yet, Terasaki-san was sleeping with Chiyo on top of him. He had an arm around her to keep her from falling off. Initially, I had thought that it might have been incredibly uncomfortable for the both of them but on closer inspection after getting off the bed, I saw just how peaceful they looked. They were definitely very important to each other. I couldn't really tell what their relationship was but given how they lived together and how close they were, I gathered that they had only each other. They had similar eyes too. In many ways, especially with such peaceful expressions on their faces, they did resemble each other a bit. Could it be that... they were father and daughter? But Chiyo called him 'Kou-chan'. Then... who were they to each other?