ɴᴇᴏᴘʜᴏʙɪᴀ [ᴏᴠᴇʀʜᴀᴜʟ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ] (HIATUS)

Ｐｒｏｌｏｇｕｅ

    The rain crashed down onto the roof from the outside, a comforting sound for the little girl peeking out of the window. She was just tall enough to see through the glass that was covered in droplets, racing to the bottom of the window sill. The girl was only 6, her father was missing. Her curiosity was a notable characteristic for this child, wondering about the smallest of things. She was also quite intelligent and could make accurate educated guesses, but the question she had in mind was beyond her little innocent mind. The girl turned her small head to look at her mother, who was quietly knitting a scarf for the petite girl at the window. The soft clicks of the metal sticks were slightly louder than the pouring rain outside. A familiar sapphire ring that was much too large to fit, rested loosely on her mother's thumb. It too made a clinking noise, however it was much softer than the knitting needles.

     The girl knew her mother was distressed by something. She had seen her mother cry a few days ago. Her mother was always bright and happy. Right? Why had she been so sad? Of course, as children do, the girl had many questions in mind. She hesitated to ask them, but she oh so badly wanted to ask. And so she did

"Mommy?" She paused, waiting for a sign of acknowledgment.

"Yes, my little bumblebee?" Bumblebee. Her nickname that she had acquired after a bumblebee had landed on her forehead at a picnic earlier that year. Such a positive name for such a sad tone in her mother's voice. Mother didn't stop to look at her, but the child knew she was listening.

"When will Daddy come home?" As her question escaped her lips, her mother froze. She set the half knitted scarf aside before getting up from her position on the La-Z-Boy. She kneeled before the girl, that melancholy look the girl had seen a few days prior, plastered on her mother's face. She returned that look with one of questioning.

"Bumblebee, Daddy won't be coming home anymore. He's moved on." Her mother couldn't stand to look at her child. She couldn't stand to see her cry. She clutched the ring on her thumb

"Oh... Like Mr.Cottontail?" Mr.Cottontail was a rabbit they had found outside, sickly and dying. It was all skin and bones by the time they had found it. They had put it in a shoe box and left it with some water overnight. It died the next morning. The girl didn't understand the concept of death at the time. Her father had explained that the rabbit had died and 'moved on' to the next life.

"Yes, like Mr.Cottontail." There was a long pause before they said anything else.

"Mommy? What happened to daddy? Did he get sick like Mr.Cottontail?" The girl questioned. Her mother looked at her, expecting a sorrowful expression. No emotion was visible on the child's face. It's not that she didn't feel anything, the girl simply didn't know how to feel. What little she did feel at the moment was wonder and confusion.

"Well-" Her mother took a short pause. "You see, your father worked a dangerous job. One that would involve doing a lot of bad things. He worked with the Mafia, or more specifically the Yakuza."

"The Yakuza? Does that mean that Daddy was-" she was cut off by her mother. The static sound of the rain getting heavier.

"Yes Bumblebee, your father was a Villain." those words echoed through the young girl's mind. It felt as if her whole world had been fabricated. A lie. 

"Villain."