Hidden Meanings

A Field of Memories [Jin Kirigiri]

How... how had he missed such an obvious detail?

As a blanket was cast over Jin Kirigiri's eyes, the skin of his wrists scraped against the harsh sting of the rope only caused a burn. A sliver of pain wound around his nerves, but Jin never ceased his struggling.

All he could hear was the bear's laughter, but it wasn't the same laugh that rung in his mind.

"Daddy, daddy!"

Five-year-old Kyouko Kirigiri ran to her father, her arms spread out for an embrace.

With a short laugh, Jin picked her up, spinning her around. Kyouko's gleeful laugh filled his ears, the young Kirigiri finding nothing but delight in her father's playful spin.

After a moment, he allowed his daughter to dip back to the ground again, a smooth motion as simple as the easy tide of the waves. Pouting, the purple-haired child waved her little arms again, her small side-braid swinging side to side as if it was a swing itself.

"Did I ever tell you how much I loved you?"

He was never going to able to tell her again.

"Yes," Kyouko chirped, the sun in her eyes causing the reflection of the daises in the field to dance, leaves stretched up to the sky to hail their lord. "But you can say it as many times as you want, right? There's no limit for love!"

Jin chuckled, the noise low and vibrating in his throat, almost like a growl, yet much more friendly. "Ah, you really do pay attention to those stories your mother always read to you..."

"Of course I did!" She replied indignantly, her brow scrunching up in the same way the said mother always did. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I was just stating a fact, that's all."

He was just stating a fact. So why had it been so hard for him to spot the obvious Ultimate Despair in the ranks of his students- not one, but two.

Hitching his little girl up in his arms, which were clothed in a simple button-up white shirt with his sleeves rolled up, Jin cradled her close to his chest. In response, her tiny fists tugged at his short, closely-cropped dark hair, a giggle passing through her as she did so.

"Ah, Kyouko Kirigiri... you're my everything."

And that 'everything' had been ripped away from Jin Kirigiri in an instant. 

[ I would just like to say that Jin Kirigiri is under appreciated. ]