Eyes That Change

Returning

Shuichi gave Yuna a peculiar look with her uncharacteristic outburst, it quickly faded however, when she fainted. Thanks to his impeccable reflexes he was able to catch his friend before she hit the ground.

Must have been a side effect of whatever kind of illusion he used on her.

He lifted her up carefully, about to bring her to her room, but was stopped by his mother coming in with a smile followed by a taller man with grey hair and steel eyes. A burning heat went up the back of his neck at the site of the man chuckling next to his mother. He had seen enough of Yuna's memories to recognize the man instantly as her father.

He was right here, in his mother's home, and laughing with her. He forced down his disgust when his mother looked over at him, her smile fading to a concerned frown.

"Oh no! Shuichi, what happened?!" She rushed over to him and looked over Yuna worriedly. He gave his mother a kind smile to put her at ease.

"She's fine, after we finished our homework we talked until she fell asleep." His green eyes swiftly made contact with those of her father's. "I think she pushes herself too much in her studies."

Her father gave a forced chuckle, though his eyes betrayed him as his gaze hardened on the teenager.

"Yes, my daughter does have a habit of doing so. I should get her home now."

Shiori quickly waved the man off with a kind smile.

"Nonsense I'm happy to have Yuna stay the night. She needs the rest anyway!" Shuichi's mother left no room for argument, thankfully. He watched Yuna's father feign a relieved sigh.

"If you insist, it would be an immense help. Especially since I don't want to spook her. Yuna can be quite the skittish young lady."

"She'll be home tomorrow evening then if that's alright with you Watanabe-san?"

The steely-eyed man nodded before making his way out of their home. Looking down at his friend in slight worry, he didn't want to tell her that her worst fear had come back.

"She'll be fine Shuichi. I made a call to the hotline when you first brought her here." His mother's words shocked him, even now her kindness was touching him. She didn't know Yuna for more than a few weeks and yet she was treating her like her own daughter. Truly his mother's kindness was boundless.

"You knew..."

With a sad look, she nodded and reached over to touch the young girl's hair.

"Since the moment you brought her home. A woman knows, especially a mother. Now go take her to her room, and I'll make that curry."

———————

Yuna was asleep for only a few short hours by the time she woke up. She had a nightmare that her father had returned to come and bring her back home. Her chest tightened at the thought, she truly hoped it was a nightmare and nothing more. The smell of curry woke her, along with Shuichi lightly shaking her shoulder.

She sat up groggily, clutching onto his sleeve when he pulled away to give her some space. Her eyes caught sight of his sympathetic ones, making dread fill the pit of her stomach. As gently as she could, she focused on his thoughts and sifted through his more recent memories coming across the image of her father with Shiori. The image of him caused her to snap out of Shuichi's mind with a snap.

A sharp pain filled his head, making him fall onto his backside. Lifting his hand to his now aching head and hiss out a soft curse.

"Yuna, you don't have to go back there... To him."