Raising Homura

[illfatedassassin]

 Hei wasn't good with people. He could lie and manipulate them, and was even paid to kill them, but as for actually taking care of them? A long list of those he knew lost their lives was always mapped to his brain. He may have turned his life around, but it was clear he didn't want anything to do with people, afraid they might just be lost. And now he was being asked to take care of someone, a child no less. The favor had been called by someone he ended up saving and working with years ago. He had only just been a kid back then, barely an adult, and he thought the man wouldn't remember. Oh how wrong he was on that front.

But if someone in Japan was alone with no one around and at a new school, things couldn't be going to well. Eventually he caved in, heading into the school building and waiting in the principal's office for Homura. All at the same time, he had been reluctantly talking to some of the staff members here about the state of the school and himself relating to these circumstances. Now he was actually classes would end just so he could take Homura home, and proceed to wait until her parents returned from the business trips.

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[rewindingly]

Akemi Homura had grown to be someone who needed no one. She could cook what meals she required, clean and organize as necessary, and maintain her own studies. But to some eyes, this was not 'living.' It was an honest observation. She wasn't living. She was surviving and fighting, every single day. She didn't have time for 'living' until she had finished 'surviving.'

So this turn of events was annoying. It made the independent girl feel mocked and looked down upon... but okay. She understood the angle. Heart in-patient becomes an out patient, lives alone in a city, transfers schools... Okay, yes. To an outsider, it might look worrisome. It would cause more trouble to protest it harshly.

As instructed, she made her way to the principal's office. Just get it over with. She told herself. Like ripping off a band aid.
Spotting the man, she lowered her head. "Are you... the one picking me up?"

[illfatedassassin]

He looked down her, kneeling a bit to her level. Kids were not his strong suit, but he had to try, for the sake of the one he owed. He attempted a smile, one of his "Li" ones.

"Yes," he spoke cheerfully. "My name is Hei. Your father and I go back a bit, and I really owe him one. It's nice to meet you, Homura."

Though come to think of it, she seemed different from the photos he was given. Perhaps school changed her in such a short time? Peer pressure did do that...