be with me | hamada asahi

1 | Asahi

" What time is it?
Don't look at the time
Don't know why
Oh, oh "

"Dad?"

Mr Kawazu looked up from his desk and stared down at his five-year-old daughter, Yuna, as she held a teddy bear in her hands.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"How do I buy a friend?"

His eyes showed confusion as he placed his pen down and faced her.

"What do you mean, Yuna?"

Yuna fiddled with her fingers.

"The other kids at school don't bother to make friends with me because they know that I don't have a mom." She told him. "Yesterday, you let me buy a teddy bear at the children's' carnival. Since I can buy this teddy bear, why can't I buy a friend that I can play with?"

Mr Kawazu's heart ached so badly upon hearing his daughter's words. So many emotions were welling up inside of him, almost as if they were choking him. He held back his tears and hugged Yuna tightly.

All he wanted for Yuna was that she lived a comfortable life like any normal girl. He struggled so much after his wife's passing, and it was tough for him to ensure that Yuna could get by without having a mother by her side. He didn't want her to feel like she was different because of that.

"You won't have to buy one, Yuna. You won't." He assured her, patting her back.

15 years later...

The skies were orange in Osaka, as the sun started to set. Yuna sat at the window, admiring the view.

Just then, her father came home from work. She rushed out of her room and towards the living room, where she saw him carry something life-sized in his arms.

"What's this?" She asked curiously.

Mr Kawazu smiled before taking out the cloth, unveiling a robot. It looked almost like a male human with beautiful facial features and long black locks.

"Yuna, this is Asahi. It's a new invention that I had been working on for the past ten years." He explained proudly. "I named it after my favorite beer, Asahi."

Yuna saw that Asahi's eyes were closed, looking as if he was sleeping while standing up.

"You were working on this? That's amazing!" She exclaimed, impressed by her father. He was an engineer who worked for a tech company in Osaka, but he also experimented inventing things during his own free time. "Er... can he talk?"

"Sure, he can! Asahi is programmed to function like an ordinary human being. Once I switch this button on, Asahi will be able to start talking."

She watched intently as her father went behind Asahi's back and pressed a button. There was a whirring sound and then, Asahi's eyes opened, revealing two big, beautiful eyes.

Yuna's jaw dropped a little. He looked even better than most boys back in her school.

"Hi...?" She waved awkwardly at Asahi, who stared at her with a blank expression.

"Hello, Yuna." He waved back with a straight face. Asahi had a sweet, honey-like voice, which made Yuna's heart flutter a little.

"He knows my name!" She bursted out to her father, who was nodding his head in approval.

"I programmed Asahi such that he is able to use face recognition with his eyes. I saved your Face ID in his memory so that he won't forget you."

Yuna was so impressed by how her father had actually come up with such an invention by himself. She never realized how lucky she was to have such an intelligent and hardworking dad.

"I know how much you've struggled during your schooling because you couldn't make friends so easily. I knew then that I needed to give you someone that could keep you company as I can't always be there for you. Since I couldn't bring your mother back to you, this is the least I could do."

On the brink of tears, Yuna wrapped her arms around Mr Kawazu tightly. Why did she hate her life so much? She had the best father anyone could ask for.

"I love you, Dad. Thank you for everything you've done for me."

"I love you too, Yuna."

Asahi blinked his eyes and slowly wrapped his arms around the both of them.

"I love all of you." He spoke, causing both Mr Kawazu and Yuna to burst out laughing.

Later that night, Yuna was about to head to sleep when she heard her father's voice coming from the kitchen.

Curious, she walked inside but immediately halted when she realized that his tone sounded distressed.

"... I told you, J, I won't share it with anyone, so please, stop pestering me!"

Her heart started beating fast. What did he mean by that, and who was J? She had never heard her father speak like that before. He sounded so angry.

Before he could see her, she dashed back into her bedroom and hid behind her covers. Perhaps it was just a small conflict at work with a colleague. Don't overthink, Yuna. Nothing's going to happen.

__

The next morning when Yuna had woken up, she realized that her father was not at home. It was a Saturday, and he did not work during the weekends. Mr Kawazu was an early riser, and he would have been done with his morning jog by now.

Yuna checked his room. His phone and wallet were all still there. She furrowed her eyebrows. Dad would never leave the house without them! 

Panicking, she started pacing around the house. Maybe he just had an errand to run, but that couldn't be it. He still needed his phone!

That moment, there was a knock on the door. She hurriedly opened it and saw two police officers standing outside.

"Are you Yuna Kawazu?" One of the police officers asked.

"Y-yes, is something wrong?" She asked nervously, she had her heart in her mouth when she saw the two officers exchange glances with each other.

"Your father, Mr Akira Kawazu... has died in an accident."

To Be Continued...

yoooo i'm BACK again with my very first book of 2021 and it's an ASAHI ff this time :p this was really impromptu because i did sort of decided that i will be taking a long hiatus because of national exams at the end of the year but i still need something to distress a little from time to time so here ya go :D i hope you all enjoy this book and updates will be slow because school is CRAZY and i can't write as well now oof ):

also, this book is for a bestie of mine irl — s♡ thanks for always being there for me ily <3