fever dream | miyamura izumi

eight

"Kisa?"

The girl looked up at the sound of her name, a stunned look on her face as she met the eyes of her father.

Kisa froze in place while her father came closer. She panicked, her heart going a million miles per hour and a million thoughts running through her head all at once.

Should I run?

Izumi is going to find out everything.

Is he going to hurt me again?

I think I should run.

Will he hurt Izumi?

If he hurts him I would hate myself forever.

"Kisa? Are you alright?" she heard Miyamura's voice amidst the chaos in her mind. She looked at him, genuine worry on his face.

"It's my father," she said, throat dry.

Miyamura looked ahead at the man coming towards them, and he stepped in front of Kisa.

"Hello sir, I'm Miyamura, a friend of your daughter's" he held out his hand to him when he approached.

This could go one of two ways. One: father would put on his "people mask" and he would act like a normal dad. Or two: he would flip out on Izumi because he feels like he has more power over him. I hope for Izumi's sake that it's the first.

That was how it usually was, when Kisa's father was around other people.

Antisocial personality disorder was something she looked into at one of the school's computers, after school one day. Her father checked every symptom. That's when the conflict began; was it really his fault that he was hurting her, when he was sick?

Kisa's father looked Miyamura coldly, ignoring the greeting completely. Kisa felt her heart drop.

Her father turned to her, "Is this what you're doing when you aren't home? Whoring around with boys?"

Miyamura flinched at the sudden hostility, protectively scooting closer to the girl beside him. "Mr. Takagi, Kisa isn't like that," he defended.

Kisa gave him a grateful glance, but she knew the effort was useless. The older man ignored him once again, instead reaching to grab his daughter by her arm. "I'm not surprised, you are your mother's daughter. So this boy... you've been fooling around with him like a slut, huh? That makes me really angry, Kisa."

"Everything I do for you, and you repay me by being a huge slut." Kisa winced at the tightness of her father's grip on her as he pulled her towards him. He started to grab at her hair when Miyamura stepped in.

"Let go of her," he said firmly, taking hold of Kisa's other arm. The touch was enough to give her some comfort, but she was taken aback by his tough demeanor. She had never seen him like that.

"Little boy, don't tell me what to do with my daughter. Now just run along, don't waste your time on this bitch," her father spat, using her hair to pull her away. Miyamura released her arm because it would only hurt her.

"Please, just stop, it hurts. I'll go with you, just stop," Kisa tried to pull his hands off of her head, but it only resulted in him tugging harder. Tears lined her eyes, threatening to spill over.

"Let go, now," Miyamura's voice boomed, taking Kisa by surprise. It didn't even sound like him.

The girl could sense the anger and irritation radiating off her father, and she began to worry for Miyamura's safety.