greetings!

Silence followed, the sounds of fingers tapping keys stopping shortly after. Fyodor leaned back in his seat, letting a low hum out in consideration. “Being able to avoid something all together doesn’t mean it makes the plan as a whole efficient.” He answered, finally turning his chair towards the girl. “But such things should not concern you, Akemi-San.” Fyodor said, in that tone Homura knew all too well. The slow, deliberate emphasis on ‘should not’ being his nicer way of saying “I don’t want you asking about this anymore.” Homura wasn’t new to responses like that, and this warning certainly won’t be the last.

Fyodor then stood up and took a step toward her, his long pale fingers now gently grazing her bangs, repositioning them. “Now then, how are you feeling, Akemi-Chan? I was told that you’ve been acting differently lately.” Mock care— at least that’s what Homura thought it was— seeped through his words, especially emphasized every time Fyodor chose the honorific ‘chan’ instead of his usual ‘san’. He wanted something. Information usually, trying to come off more parental when Homura’s in one of her moody phases. Sometimes it feels like he’ll use it just to get under her skin.

Homura chewed the inside of her mouth, averting her gaze towards the left. Suddenly, that small dust bunny in the corner seemed at lot more interesting than the conversation at hand—

“Homura.”

It was that warning tone and the use of her first name that gave her pause.

Fyodor’s hand, once brushing her bangs, drifted down to her chin, grabbing it with his index finger and thumb. Slowly, they guided her chin up, forcing her eyes to finally focus back on him.

“I told you to stop biting the inside of your mouth. It wears your teeth down.” He said, chiding the girl’s nervous habit.

Homura had to stop herself from biting her lip, then also having to swallow down some remark that could possibly earn another reprimand from the Russian.

“…Sorry.” Homura huffed.

Fyodor’s stiff smile softened ever so slightly with his grip, his hand carefully dropping to his side. Always gentler when she listens, always proud when she isn’t arguing. He never laid a hand on Homura, or even raised his voice above a speaking level, no. Physical punishment just makes her more combative, and a back and forth between them will only lead to Homura believing she has more say in the situation. There’s plenty of factors that Fyodor has started to shift his approach to be less of a man training his dog to the more… normal side of raising a teenager. Broader than what he would’ve wanted, but if his original plan cannot adapt to a new addition like Homura, then it’s time to write a new one entirely.

With an amused huff, Fyodor tilted his head to the side. “Good. But I asked you a question, remember?”

If it was just about anyone, Homura could easily hide behind her stoic persona and say something vague, anyone who wasn’t Fyodor— or Fukuchi— would take it as an answer. Questions like these are so complicated and annoying because she doesn’t know how to cross this minefield correctly. Too much honesty would lead to her being figured out more than what she would like at this very moment. But lying too much would also lead to more questions, or the possibility of something far worse. Despite nothing having happened to her— yet— It’s still a very real possibility.

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Homura hummed in thought and to calm her nerves. “Can I be honest about something?”

“Of course you can, Akemi-Chan.” Fyodor replied, his softened smile sharpening.

Homura shifted her weight onto the balls of her feet, back to her heels, repeating the movements while she spoke. “It’s all been so much…” She mumbled, trying her best to practically shrink into herself to appear smaller. “School, all the attention I’m getting, Fukuchi’s story…” Homura paused momentarily to nervously grab the hem of her skirt, rubbing it between her fingers to try and self soothe. Soon after, she continued, “It’s all been so much… I try my very best to play along but… what if I fail you?…”

After putting on the smallest voice she could muster for the last sentence, Homura risked a sneaky glance up to gauge his reaction.

Still the same sharpened smile, similar violet eyes weighing her down, and his looming shadow over her, thanks to the monitors’ illumination behind the Russian. It all made him feel bigger, broader than what he actually was. Though that didn’t really matter in the shoes of a 14 year old girl. He wasn’t really buying it, but the answer was also not too out of reach where Fyodor would want to dig further.

“You do have a lot to keep up for someone just getting back into the schooling system, hm?” Fyodor’s hand reached back out again and wrapped a strand of Homura’s black hair around his finger. Feeling the silky texture between his fingers neither spoke. Homura didn’t want to push her luck, and Fyodor, simply, didn’t feel like it.

But he’d known if he didn’t continue then the girl could possibly pass out from the way she was holding her breath.

“You will be fine.” The short sort of tone Fyodor used was less of an attempt at comfort and more of an order that Homura would be forced to follow. Be okay, don’t arouse suspicion, just be good. Fyodor, despite all the manipulation did seem to care, at least in his own eyes. What he said was the truth after all, she will be fine. She just needs to obey, like what a good, well behaved child does, and she won’t even need to worry about coming across the Armed Detective Agency’s radar. Not when they still see her as Fukuchi’s poor sick niece, who was raised by him in secret up until her recent recovery. If he (and admittedly Fukuchi as well) did not care for the girl, he would’ve thrown her to the wolves and left her to create some sort of alibi when the time came. But the idea of that bandaged detective speaking with Homura, using her power, left an ugly knot in his stomach. A feeling too complicated and foreign for Fyodor to properly pinpoint at the moment. Maybe parental, though he had never been a father and had no interest in wanting to even raise a child at any point of his life. But things changed, especially when Shibusawa’s dying wish was to hand his little time bending experiment on a silver platter to him.

Sure, she may hide things sometimes, it’s obvious by the way she bites the inside of her mouth or shifts her weight on her feet. But at the end of the day, Homura always happens to do exactly what Fyodor had planned for her to do, intentionally or not. She was on track to helping him get to where he wants.

And for that

she was worthy of being his own.

—————