Nedzu Raising A Child. What?

Prison Visit

The walls of the prison facility were bare of anything when Fuyumi first walked in. Nothing but pale walls with large tiles lining the floor and simple light fixtures above that washed the yellowing paint job in bright white.

The light felt shouldering as she walked underneath them, ignoring the buzzing of a few flies hovering above the light.

"What kind of things do you have here?" Fuyumi asked, looking around at the simple yet kind of creepy hallways. Maybe it was because she was a school teacher, but a hallway this boring was throwing her off.

"We have a library for some casual reading along with a schooling program to help some inmates do some general education associates degree," one of the guards answered. Then he awkwardly laughed, "All of the books are paperbacks though since someone beat another inmate with a hardcover of the Iliad."

Fuyumi's eyebrows rose up in surprise. "That's pre-quirk era, correct?"

"Yes," the other guard added. "A lot of pre-hiring era books find their way here since no one really reads them anymore."

Fuyumi was aware of that fact. A lot of books you could find only date back 200 to 300 years in the past. Anything older than that can only be found in big libraries in old forgotten sections. She doesn't know why. Some of the books she found were really intriguing stories.

The nicer guard smiled, "We have a few good programs here to help some of the inmates. Like some of them do arts and crafts to send back to their families."

"Arts and crafts? Does... does my father participate in any of these programs?"

"I think he does?" The guard paused before looking at the more stern-looking one. "Doesn't he?"

The serious guard took a moment to answer, "I have only seen him in arts and crafts as well as the therapy program. Although I'm not sure how often he is part of them."

"Therapy, huh?" Fuyumi bit down on her lip. "What kind of crafts does the prison have?"

"Just simple ones. They mostly like to make little bracelets and jewelry for their family back home," the guard crossed his arms behind his back. "If they have no one to send it to, the prison donates them to some charities in the city. I forgot which ones."

Before Fuyumi could ask anything more, the serious one interrupted them. "We're here.  Wait inside here, we'll make sure the inmate is escorted here in a short period. From there, you will have one hour to talk."

Fuyumi nodded, walking into the basic visiting room. When she walked in, it felt like a guidance counselor office back at the school she worked at. The room was small with a simple window with bars on the outside that provided natural daylight into the room. The light bounced off the glossiness of the table where four chairs were set up.

Fuyumi swallowed, looking to the door nervously before sitting down in one of the chairs. She looked down at the chair closest to the wall and slowly pushed it in further under the table.

It took several minutes before the door opened again with her father being escorted by two guards. Fuyumi tried to hide her surprise at the look of her father.

Not surpassingly, it seemed like her father kept in shape in prison except for his torso area which has considerably grown a little softer. His face was unshaven yet his hair was much like his old hairstyle if not a little flatter.

And the shocked expression on his face was something that she doesn't remember seeing. His father stepped forward, stumbling into one of the chairs across from her. He stared at her before saying, "Fuyumi?"

Fuyumi heard the door close. She glanced to see the two guards standing outside the door through the little window. She sighed, "Hello, father."

The look on her father's face didn't change. It wavered slightly on the edges of his lips for a brief moment. "I didn't think anyone would come."