Flower in the Mirror [Hatake Kakashi] [1]

❄️ Chapter 26 ❄️

Yumetsuki stood frozen in her place, her eyes stuck on her shaking fist and unable to find the courage or the strength to knock on the door to the home that Shisui had once lived in. She had come all the way here and even made her way through the length the Uchiha Clan compound, their intense gazes on her back as she traced the way that Shisui had often mentioned to her about his home. Her chest sunk in realisation that it wouldn't be Shisui's smile that would welcome her in.

There was a loud caw that brought her out of this and Yumetsuki felt detached from her own hand as she reached out to knock on the door. One, two, and three – those were the times that Yumetsuki knocked on that door. And she moved back, letting out a deep breath as if she had just submerged from icy water. She wanted to throw up and run away from that doorstep, but it was too late.

Slowly, with a small creak, the door was pulled open inward, and an elderly woman peered out toward the young girl. Her hair was streaked with deep grey, held back in a small bun, and her dark eyes were tired and downcast. The heaviness of her pale cheeks told her grief in volumes.

It took Yumetsuki a moment to realise that this woman was not elderly, but it was what life had dealt her that had caused this change. Shisui's mother looked up at Yumetsuki as if she was lost.

"Good afternoon," spoke Yumetsuki in a whisper. "My name is Yuki Yumetsuki, and I am... I was..."

"You're Shisui-Chan's Sensei," finished the woman. Yumetsuki nodded quietly. "Come inside," She moved the door open further to allow the girl to come inside. "I was expecting you to come by,"

Everything was silent within the small house as Yumetsuki entered, taking off her shoes at the Genkan and followed Shisui's mother to what appeared to be the living room. The scent of incense reached her and Yumetsuki's eyes fell onto the picture of Shisui, placed at the family altar.

The sight of that picture, of Shisui as a young boy and smiling so unreservedly, it felt like a dagger within Yumetsuki's chest. It reminded her of the time that she had first met Shisui and how he had been a ray of sunshine in her frigidness. And Yumetsuki had not protected that innocence – and as she was reduced to her knees in front of that altar, the pain in her chest spread onto her cheeks.

Yumetsuki felt like she had never cried harder, yet Shisui's mother did not say anything but bring her a cup of tea. She sat down across from the white-haired girl, and for a moment, there was nothing between them as they sat in silence. It was hard to imagine what to say to his mother for the girl.

"... I want to apologise to you," Yumetsuki spoke quietly, her head bowed deeply. "I was not a good teacher toward Shisui-Kun. I valued him a lot as my student, yet I was unable to protect him..."

"Shisui was a good boy," replied his mother. "He... would not have wanted anyone to feel sorrowful, but..." She wept into the sleeve of her black Kimono. "... he was such a good boy,"

It soon became very apparent to Yumetsuki that the woman had not gotten the chance to talk about her deceased son with anyone. Itachi had mentioned that the Uchiha Clan was very suspicious of the boy's death and did not allow anyone to discuss it. Yumetsuki listened to the woman in silence.

"Because of his condition, I haven't told his Oto-Chan about it," admitted the woman. "He can't move anymore so I just... I informed him that Shisui-Chan has gone on a long mission,"

Everything made sense now, and the thought of that made Yumetsuki feel a renewed sense of sorrow. She knew how much worry Shisui had housed about his parents' ailment and to think that they were left behind with no son because of her egregious limitations as a teacher...

"... would you like to meet him?" asked Shisui's mother, looking toward her. "Shisui-Chan always mentioned you to him. He mentioned that you'd one day be our daughter-in-law so... his Oto-Chan may mention..."