𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍; 𝐈𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢 𝐒𝐚𝐞

09. REPLACEMENT

As Sae was driving home, his thoughts lingered around everything that happened over dinner that night. The conversations you had, the small touches, and more importantly— how he treated you. This was supposed to be a pay-back, business casual dinner, but he completely forgot about that and approached every interaction with you with a romantic undertone.

As far as Sae could tell, he wasn't being obvious with his words or movements. The comments he made could be taken either way, which he was grateful for. However...

"Let's do this again sometime? Fuck, am I stupid?" He mumbled to himself.

Sae knew the divorce was getting to him, but he didn't think it was this bad. Sure, he had his fair share of lonely nights and binge-watch seasons of romantic movies that he used to enjoy with Natsuki, but he didn't know he was so far gone. You were Shoko's teacher. Shoko's preschool teacher.

He had no right feeling so damn attracted to you.

The first thing he found insatiably heart-throbbing is the way you cared after his daughter. You weren't hanging out with her as if it were a chore: you whole-heartedly wanted to see his girl thrive and be happy. The way you so lovingly ran your fingers through her hair, or your earnest tone while speaking towards her, or your contagious laugh while you joked around with her. You were so young, yet so mother-like.

Second, you were honest and sincere. It didn't feel like you were putting on a ruse in order to make him like you more. Instead, it appeared like you were just... existing. Your words were transparent and came right from your true intent and opinions.

And third... you were just Sae's type. There was no way around that.

Sae dragged a hand down his face to try and rid of the stubborn blush forming on his cheeks. He totally embarrassed himself, didn't he?

He pulled into his driveway upon arriving to his house. Sae parked the car and went to grab his keys from the ignition, only to notice the beige purse that sat on the passengers seat. His eyes widened— you forgot your bag.

"She must have forgotten..." Sae hummed, grabbing the purse before exiting and locking his car. "I can return it to her at some point."

He was tempted to look inside and find more information about you, but he refrained. That would be creepy, right? ...Right?

Once Sae was inside his home, he placed your purse on the countertop and headed to the kitchen sink. There was still a bit of mess from Shoko's dinner, so Sae worked on washing the few dishes that the young girls used. He used soap and water before plopping the cutlery into the open dishwasher.

'She was so kind to make her dinner as well...' He pondered.

Sae was reminded that Shoko was left home alone, and he proceeded to go and check up on her. He wasn't worried that she was harmed or anything— his home had a crazy security system.

He pushed over her door ever-so-lightly, watching as light slowly crept into the dark room. Shoko laid on her bed, sound asleep, slow breaths exiting her nose.

The man walked to her bedside, leaning over to give her a small peck on the forehead. Although, he must have been too loud, since Shoko woke up.

"Hm...? Dad?" She grumbled, a yawn breaking past her lips. "Is it morning?"

"No, Sho, sorry." He sighed, grabbing her blanket and fixing it higher onto the bed, so that it covered up to her nose. "Go back to sleep, baby."

"Is Miss Y/n here...?" Shoko mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "I want to be with her..."

Sae paused. "She— No, Sho. She left a while ago."

"Oh... Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"When is mommy coming back from Spain?" She wearily asked. "I want mommy."

He blanked, a twinge appearing in his chest. Sae understood why his daughter felt that way, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything comforting.

Luckily for Sae, he didn't have to say anything, since Shoko had already droned herself back to sleep. The same simple snore left her mouth, and Sae clicked himself out of his trance and left her room.

Any mention of her mother always made Sae's stomach lurch.

Sae went around the house, turning off the lights one by one before he went to his bedroom. He descended the stairs, walking into the each of the rooms down there as well.

As he turned to leave the kitchen, Sae bumped into your purse on his way out. The beige bag fell, a few of its contents spilling onto the stone countertop. Sae cussed, moving to upright the bag and return her belongings.

...It wouldn't hurt if he looked at her stuff, right? I mean, they did fall out of her bag.

First, her wallet. It was a nice pastel pink with leather wrapped around the edges. On the inside, there were a few credit cards, gift cards, and a very worn Barns and Noble membership card on the right. On the left was a picture of her cat, written on it: "John <3". Sae snorted at that. Her cat's name was John?

Second were a stack of Polaroid photos, snapped together with a black hair clip. Sae nervously unclipped them, praying that these weren't anything too weird. The top photo was a picture of you and... Mikage Reo? Sae squinted at the boy, recognizing him from his days on Japan's U-20 and national team. He recalled that Mikage had quit recently.

'He must be that rich friend of hers...'

He flipped to the next photo. It was of three young kids, one boy and two girls, who were making silly faces at the camera. It was labeled: "The triplets I met at work!"

The next few photos were all of children, laughing and beaming towards the camera while playing or eating. You had written each of their names on the back and a short sentence or two about them. And to Sae's surprise, the newest photo was of Shoko. It was a selfie of you and her in your lap on a swing-set with another little blonde girl.

"Shoko and Naomi! Naomi was a little daredevil, but Shoko was a bit scared, so she held onto me the entire time. They're both so adorable!" You had written.

His heart warmed at that. You really did love taking care of people.

Sae flipped to the final photo, and his eyebrows furrowed. He expected it to be another child, but it was a picture of you and an older man on a bench. He looked cold; his dark eyes stared boredly into the camera while his lips were turned into a frown. Meanwhile, you wore a shaky smile, holding up what appeared to be a diploma.

"Me and Dad."

Sae figured that was enough, and he left your stuff in your bag and went to bed.