Reticent | Nakahara Chūya; AU [✔]

f i f t e e n |

The kitchen was empty.

They were all aware that Tanizaki went to the kitchen to get some beverages for all of them. The peach tiles were quite dirty, and all of the unwashed dishes were still in the sink. No signs of human activity, and no evidences of the murderer either; and yet Tanizaki was nowhere to be found.

"I thought he went here?" Nakajima questioned, looking at the humongous silver fridge next to the kitchen counter.

"Tch," Akutagawa reacted, walking towards the said fridge. "Wandering around while a killer is on the loose... what a stupid idea."

The man in black held a grip on the silver handle, pulling the fridge door and expecting to finally get something refreshing. Akutagawa is not really the kind of person who would react in a showy manner, so upon seeing what he saw inside the fridge just made him curse rather loudly.

Noticing the violent face reaction from him, everybody rushed to where he was standing to see the sight. Something was inside that fridge that isn't supposed to be there.

"Oh my God..." were the words that escaped their dreadful lips, their eyes meeting a messed up feast. Aside from Dazai's well-organized beverages on the side and other foods neatly placed, a whole human was inside of the fridge.

Tanizaki Junichirou's whole dead body was tucked in to the center shelf of the fridge, his blood dripping to the other foods beneath him. One of his arms got dismembered just so that he fits perfectly inside, and as usual, there was a stab on his head and several more on his chest.

One theory they got correct -- the longer that the killer lives, the worse that a person dies next.

∞

Saturday; a day-off for Chuuya, and no school for Orianna. Her father agreed to eat out -- just the two of them -- just this instance. Orianna had reasoned out that they haven't been hanging out together, thus convincing Chuuya in the end. It wasn't a lie that they have been busy with their own businesses, but the singer had to find a way to avoid any contact with his fans.

That's why he reserved a secluded room at a restaurant wherein it will be just him and his daughter, along with guards who will heavily keep watch from the outside. It was better to be ready than ending up creating a messy date with Orianna.

Chuuya wouldn't want to have any messed up dates anymore.

As they were waiting for their orders to be served, with only a cup of tea and wine to keep them satisfied for a while, Orianna engaged in a conversation with her father, trying not to make it seem too awkward for the two of them.

Like a normal person, she started it with the casual "So, dad, how's that new album that you're going to release?"

"Pretty damn good, my dear," Chuuya didn't expect that question, since he always thought that she wasn't that in to his work. "We're just about one song away to be recorded, and the world shall hear the comeback of Granrodeo~!"

Orianna gave a small yet sincere laugh to show how proud she was that his career was a success. "That's really cool! I'm happy for you~"

Showing the wide grin that he always flashes, Chuuya reached out his hand to gave his daughter a pat on the head. "Couldn't have done it without you, Ori. I'm also proud of you for being a first honor candidate."

"Thank you, but," Orianna felt the heartwarming words coming from him. It was a rare opportunity, but it was enough for her to feel some love. "Dad, do you really think that I am enough? That I am capable to do anything and be successful?"

"Listen to me, Ori," Chuuya retrieved his hand back, refilling the wine glass that he was holding on the other. "I wouldn't stand up as a parent for you if you weren't capable of anything, so what are these drama that you're telling me?"

The impact of the words hit her differently; it made her think that if she chose to slack off, then she could have been abandoned for a long time now. The father immediately took notice of the change of expression in his daughter's face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it in that way." He took his words back, taking a quick drink of the imported wine that he ordered. "But trust me, I am way better than your mother who told me to send you to an orphanage after a week of giving birth to you."

Orianna couldn't believe what she just heard from her father; the hint in his voice mixed with hate. "Does that mean she hates me? Who is my mother anyway?"

As Chuuya was about to speak, the door behind them opened, revealing a waiter who was carrying their orders. The waiter neatly placed the plates in front of them, bowing to them before excusing himself to leave.

The coast was clear once more, and so Chuuya continued. "Your mom is someone I used to work with at the studio. She works at the recording station, so I always see her since we used to record very often during those days."

"A lot of people told me that I was lucky not to get all of her traits," Orianna remembered all of those people, what they looked like when they say it, and what they sounded like. "And yet when I look at her in those photos, she looks pretty okay. Why do they tell me that, if so?"

"You see, some people are only pretty on the outside."

Chuuya said it like he doesn't even regret it at all. Orianna, being part of the generation wherein love is such a big deal for most of the people in her age, knew well enough that no one would last in a long-term relationship with such a person.

"Eh? Then how did you get to the point of marriage if she's only good on the outside?" Orianna took a bite of her butter-seared steak, in which she thought it tasted good since it was her first time to try it.

That was the point of the conversation where Chuuya doesn't have a built-in answer; in fact, it was a question that he hates to answer. He knew that his daughter wouldn't be too happy if she found out that things didn't go the way he wanted to -- that he was seriously not happy to this fixed marriage forced by the parents of his wife.

Knowing that he is finally cornered with that question coming from his own daughter, he had no other choice but to admit it in the least hurtful way possible.

"If I tell you, would you still accept me as your father?"

Orianna's cyan eyes widened from the sudden dramatic question coming from her father. A while ago, he was just telling her to stop it with the nonsense drama, but now he was the one going sentimental. She watched him take another drink from the wine glass, his throat moving as the grape wine passes down his esophagus.

It made more sense to her now -- behind those words was a secret that her father must have been hiding from her since the very beginning. She wouldn't want to close her mind about it, so she nodded with all sincerity.

"I wouldn't leave the man who went through hardships with me, and more hardships to come our way."

Those words reminded Chuuya of the same words that he heard from someone very important to him. It was almost the same as her daughter said it just now, just without the last clause. It made him feel all emotional deep inside, but he felt the honesty to it.

"Sorry, dear," Chuuya finished the whole glass before speaking, placing the wine glass down on the table. "But I never really loved your mom."