best of luck · akito shinonome & azusawa kohane | drabble collection

a dreadful question.

It was a day like any other. Akito would go to the daycare and pick his daughter up.

They weren't like many families. Most families in the area consisted of two parents and one kid, but Akito's family didn't. It consisted of him and his daughter. No wife. Not anymore, at least.

Akito had fallen in love with his high school sweetheart, Kohane. Well, she went to a different high school. However, they had fallen in love, went to college, got married, and had a child.

Then Kohane got a cancer diagnosis. Kohane got the news shortly after her child was born. It was devastating to Akito.

It hurt him to see her. She was a lively young woman, but she slowly became weaker and weaker.

Kohane died in her sleep.

Akito held Arika’s hand. She skipped atop the sidewalk. She reminded him of her mother. “How was your day?” He asks her.

“Hm. Oh! Yeah! I had a question!” She said with a smile.

“Fire away, hotshot.” Akito replied. Arika's smile caused him to smile.

“What's a mom?”

Akito felt his smile fade. The question was so simple, but it shocked him. She was four years old, and didn't know what a mom was. Had he sheltered her that much?

Akito took a deep breath. He didn't know how to answer the question. “A mom? A woman in relation to a child?” He answers, not knowing where this was going.

“Do I have one?”

“Yeah, but you're a special case. I'll tell you when we get home, okay?”

Akito was going to dread the conversation that was going to happen at home.