1 Visiting the Past in the Present [Daremo, Invite Only] Mon Jun 25, 2018 11:47 am
Niala
D-rank
How many changes will the family have to endure before they catch a break?
The past month had been enlightening to say the least. They had moved out of their home despite having lived there only a few short months, all after that fate encounter between her daughter Niala and that bastard Genki. The man had tried to throw Niala out, what was worse was he had tried to put his hands on her. Hanae hadn’t allowed it: she had put a stop to it, and she had hurt him for it. No one hurt her babies, she didn’t care who they were. That had been a day for revelations, a day for her to finally come clean not just to Genki but to her two beautiful children. She had let them in on some of the secrets she had kept so diligently until that point: including how Genki was not their biological father, his elder twin brother was. It seemed at first that her children had taken the news as well as she could expect; better in fact considering the circumstances that had surrounded the reveal. Of course, she heard them while they were sleeping at night, when their dreams were disturbed: how many times had she listened to Niala waking up crying? The thought sickened her stomach, turning it even now, causing her to put down the bowl of rice she had been about to consume, laying her chopsticks across it. ’Niala…’, her thoughts drifted to her daughter, the one out of the twins who seemed the most visibly affected: she knew Kensaku was, but in different ways, and it seemed more hidden.
She felt bad for her daughter, she could see her suffering, and see the changes it was causing. She was no longer the happy and innocent child she once was. While Hanae knew some of this dealt with growing older, becoming a young woman aware of herself, she knew that some of it was due to that bastard. He had created wounds in the young girl that could not be healed: even time would never fully remove them. The knowledge that Genki was not her biological father could only sustain Niala for so long - she had loved the man and known him as a father figure for sixteen years, and then he had thrown it all back into her face. He had said hateful and hurtful things that could not be taken back, things that had caused emotional and mental scars. But then he had tried to attack her. He had tried to strike her down right there in her very room. Hanae had, of course, stopped it before it could happen but the action itself had left its own marks on the young girl - and Hanae was concerned about just how deeply those marks went.
A sigh left the beautiful middle aged female’s lips as she leaned back in a comfortable manner on her seat, bringing her hot cup of tea to her lips and sipping it soundlessly. She found herself staring at the wall across the way from which hung ornate tapestry and other decorations but she wasn’t really seeing them. She was instead reliving that day a month ago, over and over again in her head, while thinking of the conversation she had had with Genki that had started it all. Her daughter had come to her, had confided in her the relations which had happened between her and her fiance Kannon. She had had questions, and Hanae had certainly answered them, as well as providing her with advice to keep them safe so that no mistakes were made that they might regret later when it was too late to fix them. She had decided to give Genki a brief version of the details, if to only make him aware of what he might overhear or walk in on, so that he would be prepared for it, so that he would understand his daughter wasn’t a little girl anymore but a young woman. Genki had handled it all with stony silence, and while Hanae had known he was upset by the information she hadn’t realized just how angry he had been. No, she hadn’t known that until she was downstairs, in the middle of cooking, and overheard Genki yelling.
Why didn’t I just kill the bastard when I had the chance?
Even now as Hanae took another sip of her tea she found herself questioning her method in handling things the way she did: she hadn’t killed Genki. Oh, she had certainly hurt him, had certainly injured him permanently, had certainly left him with a reminder so to speak on why messing with her children was a very bad idea, but he still remained very much alive and currently in the back of one of many wagons that were part of a merchant caravan on its way out of Iwagakure no Sato. Then again the reasons behind his wounds, well, that was something he wouldn’t remember; they as a family were something he wouldn’t remember.
As Hanae’s thoughts continued to drift further she heard elsewhere, in the distance, a door opening and closing and found herself glancing at the clock on the nearby table: it was nearly two in the afternoon and it seemed like Niala was just now getting up - she knew it couldn’t be anyone else considering that Kensaku was off doing something, and Kannon and Chiyoko had left to likely train somewhere early that morning, leaving Hanae and Niala as the only two home. Sure enough her gaze fluttered upon Niala after hearing her make her way down the steps, the younger girl dressed in what was becoming her typical attire: a black t-shirt with black leggings and boots: poking her head around the doorway of the living room Hanae had made herself comfortable in. “Where is everyone?”, Niala would ask, glancing around with brows furrowed in curiosity.
“Your brother headed off to the market about an hour ago so he likely won’t be back for a while, and Kannon and Chiyoko I believe headed off to train early this morning, so I wouldn’t expect them back for a while yet. Just you and me for now.”, Hanae responded to her daughter.
Niala nodded in understanding before tilting her head towards her mother’s cup of tea. “Is there any hot water left on the stove? I could use a cup..” Hanae smiled and nodded her head yes before taking another sip, her answer apparently appeasing her daughter who disappeared from the doorway and headed into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. With a sudden thought Hanae found herself yelling after her, “Make sure you grab something to eat, too… it didn’t escape my notice you missed lunch and dinner yesterday, young lady.” Her words garnered her no reply for now, and she expected none: Niala, who had been doing so well when it came to eating, was slipping back into her old habits and had been for a while. Already she was beginning to lose weight, and what little sleep she did get was fitful at best. It was yet another concern weighing heavily on Hanae’s mind that late afternoon.
Word Count: 1,225