"Hey! There you are!" Ari heard a boisterous voice come up from behind the two. Her heart felt like it had been stabbed open, another boy...
"Hey, Kirishima. Bakugo is trying on a shirt right now, he should be coming out soon." Jiro replied to the f...
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"Ari, Ari I'm here." Raiotto spoke softly to his child who was covered in bruises. She looked out into space, completely separated from the events around her. Raiotto scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the building to safety as she clutched her Dads chest helplessly. She shed no tears, she was too scared, strong, stubborn? Call it what they may. She didn't breathe a word or make any sound, shock took over her mind and froze her in place. Raiotto looked down at her, cursing himself for not being present enough to know what was going on. He didn't know how to react to her trauma, he didn't know whether to be concerned or thankful she wasn't crying at all.
"We're taking you home, Ari. There's no need to be afraid anymore. I'm sorry, I let this happen." Raiotto told her. Ari looked up at her father, the only sign of her presence was when she leaned into her fathers frame, her head against his chest. She would never trust another man besides her father, she promised herself that.
"Ari, sweetie." Raiotto's voice reached into her consciousness and pulled her back to reality. She blinked a few times before she met her fathers eyes. "You spaced out again." He told her.
"Oh, sorry." She looked down at her breakfast and started eating before it got any colder.
"What are your plans for today?" He asked her.
"I don't know yet. I might go shopping after home school." She shrugged.
"That sounds nice. Make sure you bring Paul with you."
"Really? Why do I have to have Paul with me? I'm finally sixteen, can't I go by myself?" She asked. "I'll be fine on my own."
"I just saw you disassociate again. You were thinking back on something." He spoke up. Ari hated when he brought up the times she spaces out, ever since the incident, it became something normal.
"The doctor said it's normal to experience it a few times during the day." She replied to her concerned Dad on the other end of the table.
"He also said that I should keep an eye on you when it happens." He crossed his arms and gave his only daughter an authoritative look. Ari sighed and her shoulders dropped, there was no winning this discussion.
Crimson Riot was always the type of person to get his own way, she should've expected nothing less. Ari finished her food and Paul, her bodyguard took it from the table and brought it to the kitchen. She gritted her teeth, her will matched his, she had too much of her Dad in her. She also wanted things to go her way.
"Don't look at me like that, Arinna Rae. You know the rules." He told her sternly.
"Ugh, whatever." She stood up from the table and marched up to her room. It was time to get ready for her day, as boring and as redundant it would be...just like everyday. She had no friends, no one to hang out with and no fun. Ever since the trauma she endured, she wasn't allowed to do anything unless it was with someone Raiotto trusted. As much as he wanted to keep his daughter away from the press, her kidnapping was front page news and even though people knew who she was now, no one knew her name or her face.
Crimson Riot was powerful enough to stop the tabloids from pasting her face on all the news papers and printing her name within the story. Tokyo only knew he had a daughter and that was it. Sure, paparazzi would try to sneak a picture whenever he went out but he was never seen with her. The level of protection he had over her was impenetrable.
Ari sat at her vanity, looking at herself in the mirror. Where to start? She plucked her brush from the vanity and started to tame the knots in her long wavy reddish brown hair. Her skin was perfect, not a blemish in sight and her eyes shined with two different colors. Along with all the other odd and unusual things about her, she was born with heterochromia. Her two eyes did not resemble each other at all, one was a mint green that glimmered like a tourmaline gem. The other was a copper brown that seemed to look like it had captured a flame when she stepped into the sunlight. The most unusual part was that her quirk had nothing to do with her eyes. One would assume so, what with some that were born the same way, their quirks would perfectly match their appearance.
Alas her quirk made her feel like some sort of enigma, a mystery within existence that made absolutely no sense. Her quirk was something of a sensation when she was able to make it work. That's the thing about quirks when one is out of practice, it takes on a stubborn will of its own...or at least hers did.
"I'm only doing this to keep you safe." He told her, leaning against her door frame. She looked back at him and sighed.
"I know, it's okay." She gave him a weak smile as he came to her.
"I'll see you in the evening, okay?" His hand upon her shoulder.
"Okay, I'll see you later." She let him kiss her on the cheek before he left for work. She wished he didn't have to leave, she felt so unsafe without him near. She didn't trust anyone else but him...and Paul. If she could choose between the two, she would choose Raiotto a hundred times over.
"Miss Ari." Paul approached the doorway. "Are you ready for the day?" He asked. She nodded and stood up.
"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess." She approached the entrusted bodyguard with a forlorn expression creeping up onto her face. Paul, the sweet man he was, lifted her chin so he could meet her eyes. "Chin up, Miss Ari. All is well."
