𝙱𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚠𝚗 - 𝚃. 𝚃𝚘𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚞 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

Chapter Twenty Five

Setting down her tattered brick red duffel bag on the floor beside the brand new mattress that had just been delivered twenty minutes prior, Izumiya looked around. The dated laminate floor was brightened by the mid-morning daylight streaming through her naked window, serving to also highlight her favourite part of her new modest bachelor apartment, the bare walls.

Poking his head in the door with two bags of groceries in hand, Itsuo paused before he interrupted her when he noticed she was in her own little world; the resting smile on her face was one that he'd been seeing much more often but it never failed to make him happy to witness it. He knocked softly on the door frame and made himself known before clearing his throat.

"You weren't raised in a barn, kid. You have a door for a reason, you know."

"Ha-ha," Izumiya sarcastically rolled her eyes though her smile stayed perfectly intact as she closed the short distance between them and gave him a quick hug.

"I brought you some things," he lifted the bags a little to emphasize before placing them on the counter beside the sink. "When is the rest of your furniture being delivered?"

"Tomorrow afternoon," she replied, poking her finger into one of the plastic bags to see what he'd brought. "Ooh, the fancy brand of rice."

"Only the best for my favourite niece," he hummed, starting to unload the bags by pulling out each item individually. "You sure you wanna stay here tonight without everything set up? The bed at home was always meant for you....still is."

Izumiya put a hand on her heart as she looked at Itsuo with a dramatic gasp. "Are you being sentimental? Say it isn't so, Uncle Itsu!"

"You're such a little shit," he swatted her arm. "And so what if I am? I missed you so much and now I've grown accustomed to having you around. Who else will make sure I don't give myself food poisoning every night?"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Izumiya bumped her shoulder against his. "Besides, now you don't have to worry about me weighing you down anymore."

"Weighing me down?" Itsuo sighed and ran a hand through his hair, thinking back to the night a few weeks ago when Ivy let him know that she had signed a lease for an apartment starting the following month. It was also the night when he found out what life had been like for her after she left his care.

Guilt solidified like concrete in the pit of his stomach, weighing him down to the bottom of the ocean of his regrets. He should never have allowed them to lose contact for so long, he shouldn't have just taken her word for it when she said she was okay but he thought she looked thin and gaunt, and he shouldn't have let her leave. While he knew that Ivy hadn't wanted his help when he'd offered it and she was too stubborn to have accepted it if he continued, he regretted missing so many signs that she was struggling. He regretted that he hadn't formed a close enough relationship with her that she felt she could confide in him and he regretted that he'd allowed her to push him away.

Those regrets, however, strengthened his resolve to never let that happen again. "Ivy, you've never been a burden to me. These past eight months with you have been the happiest I've been in the last eight years...I know you're moving out, but I..." Itsuo swallowed down the lump that had become more prominent as he spoke his truth. "I don't want that to mean we're gonna lose touch again."

Caught off-guard by his sincerity, Izumiya didn't know what to say. While she also harboured her own regrets about what she'd done and hadn't done, she wasn't willing to let the past repeat itself. Though they'd recently gotten in a tiff when Itsuo had admitted he had never intended on letting her pay him back after he'd posted her bail, that he'd been squirreling it away for her when she was ready to get out on her own again, she knew it was because he cared. Unsure of the right thing to say, Izumiya instead decided upon what felt like the right thing to do, which was to fling her arms around his middle and give him a tight hug.