The Strongest and Her [Gojo Satoru Fanfic] [Jujutsu Kaisen]

21 : Safe?

"So, what do you think, Kimura-kun?"

Haruki-san, the neighbour who lived in the same building as Kimura Akane, asked with her eyes gleaming with anticipation.

The black haired woman on the other hand just sighed as she saw her sister playing with some kids on the playground.

"I'm sorry, but I think I'll have to pass on that."

"Aw c'mon! My daughter loves playing with your sister. She won't stop nagging me to let her meet Akari-chan."

The middle aged woman grumbled as she nagged Kimura.

Both of them were in a playground bustling with the laughter of young souls. Akari, Kimura Akane's sister played with Haruki-san's daughter. The girls laughed as they played silly games.

"I really apologise but I don't think I can send Akari. She gets scared easily."

'Especially with all these curses.'

She completed her sentence internally as she looked around herself. The disgusting curses were visible to her as she was wearing the glasses Gojo gave her.

"....hey, don't get me wrong here...but... aren't you getting too restricting with Akari-chan?"

The middle aged woman hesitatingly asked. Akane's eyes widened and she looked at the elder woman.

"What does that mean?"

"...look, I don't mean it in a bad way, but I think you should loosen up a little. Akari-chan isn't a child anymore."

"She's 9 years old, Haruki-san."

"Exactly, she's 9 years old. She grown up already to be a little independent!"

"..."

Kimura grew silent as she heard the woman's words. Although she wanted to deny the words, she couldn't bring herself to. Somewhere deep in her mind, she knew the woman's words were right.

"I know that you both lost your parents last year, and it ultimately became your responsibility to take care of her alone. But you're being restricting about her growth."

"..."

"I'm not saying that you're doing a bad job, but a part of being a parent is letting your kid grow on their own. It's not like I don't know your feelings. You're constantly worried about them. What did they eat? Are they feeling okay? Should I help them? So many questions fuss up our mind and we can't just help but over involve ourselves in their life."

"...is that really a bad thing?"

Kimura asked as she looked at the ground.

Was it really a bad thing to be a protective parent?

When Kimura grew up, her parents treated her just like Haruki-san was saying, not too restricting and letting her do anything she wanted. That later became a cause for her to misunderstand them, as she felt a bothering emotional distance between themselves.

That's why kimura tried to involve herself into every event in Akari's life from the moment their parents died, so that the little girl will always feel she has someone to rely on.

But according to Haruki-san, she was wrong in doing so.

"If looked from a point of view, it is. I know that you're purely doing so because you care for Akari-chan, the problem is you can't see her becoming dependent on you. Ofcourse, a kid should be dependent on their parent, but, the way Akari-chan is slowly relying on you for everything is not good."

The elder woman said as she watched her daughter playing with Akari. Kimura remained silent as she listened to every word she spoke. Every word coming from the elder woman made kimura looked into her parenting ways in a different way.