A/N: Continuation from the first part.
Pairing: Jakurai x wife!reader, Jakurai x daughter!OC (familial love)
TW: abuse, descriptions of depression. Please read at your own discretion.
While they were chatting away about their days, Jakurai had noticed the sullen look on his daughter’s face ever since he arrived home. He slowly brought up the topic,
“So, Mai, which supermarket did you go to today? The usual one always has the ingredients sold out quickly.”
Mai looked up to him and said, “Ah, it’s the one near Hifumi-san’s apartment.”
It went silent for a bit, until Mai spoke up, “Actually… I saw that woman while on my way home.”
Both you and Jakurai went speechless. That vile woman was the cause of Mai’s breakdown and trust issues. Mai told the two of you what happened. You both listened intently, it was amazing how she doesn’t cry while explaining. Normally she would as that woman had inflicted childhood trauma onto her.
“So you saw her and couldn’t contain your anger? Did she say anything to you?” Jakurai asked. He had a serious look on his face. He had always been weary of his dear daughter meeting his ex-wife. He never wanted them to meet again.
“I hit her. I made that child cry.” Mai’s voice started to quiver. She then looked up to both of you. Her blue eyes were filled with anger and tears forming. Her smile made you shiver, you had never seen your daughter like this.
“Papa~” Jakurai remained composed, he knew she was breaking down. What she says next would shock him, “I want to end her. I want to make sure she suffers. I-”
“Stop it, Jinguji Mai!” Jakurai’s voice boomed inside the room. Mai went silent. Her tears finally fell and she realised what she had said. She looked at you and apologised, Mai never wanted you to see her like that.
You sighed and went over to her side, “ It’s okay, dear. Cry it out, let it out. I’m here.”
You allowed Mai to rest her head on your shoulder. Her tears stain your shirt. Your (e/c) travelled to look at your husband. As you’ve expected, he had an unreadable expression on his face, but you knew that he was angry.
Angry at what? Who knows…
Jakurai had a few days off after two months of working non-stop. Both you and your husband were just spending your day together as Mai went out with Hitoya’s daughter.
“Honey, what if Mai meets her again? I’m sure that woman won’t let it slide.” You started. The thought had worried you since last night.
You saw your husband sighed. You knew that he was worried. Who wouldn’t be though. Before he could speak, the said woman appeared. Greeting both you and Jakurai with a sickeningly sweet voice,
“Hello there, Jakurai.” She then glanced at you with an evil look, “And Miss (y/n)...”
Without waiting for an answer, she sat on the empty seat. Jakurai took a sip of his coffee and asked the woman, “Why are you here? Do you not have any shame?”
“Ah, forgive me dear ex-husband.” Venom in her voice spat. “But I’m just here to talk to you about our beautiful daughter.”
“I believe she’s mine. Never yours.” Jakurai spat back at her. He then gave you a look that shows that he’ll handle it. You obeyed his gestures and stayed silent while you observed them.
You saw that woman gritted her teeth. ‘Ah, hell’s gotten loose. Now where’s the popcorn when I need it?’ You thought, amused by the woman’s actions.
You remembered what she had said to you when she picked up the thirteen year old Mai very late at school,
“She could’ve just gone home alone. Isn’t she a teenager now?” That woman then looked at poor Mai and pulled her long hair, “You just fucking wasted my time. You have legs don’t you? Just go home alone! You-”
“Stop it! Mai isn’t wrong. It was raining heavily earlier and she had no umbrella with her.” You tried to reason with her by giving out lies.
Mai never wanted to go home. She had contacted her father to pick her up, but he had an important surgery to perform on. Hifumi and Doppo were out of the country that day.
‘At that point of time, Mai had told me everything. A young girl like her doesn’t deserve this treatment.’ You thought as you listened to the former couple.
“I gave bir-” “Don’t you dare give me that excuse.” Jakurai cut her off.
“You inflicted childhood trauma into her, you tortured her by starving her. You tortured her with every single thing you could think of. Of course she would get angry when she saw you with your new child.” Jakurai explained bluntly.
“But she doesn’t have to do that in public!” She raised her voice.
“You made her sit outside the house in sheer coldness. I’ll have you know that when I found her, she was close to death. Do you really call that as ‘love’?”
The woman went silent. Before she could speak, Jakurai continued his words that contain poison,
“If you want her to forgive you, how about you apologise to her for the past fifteen years of her life that you have shattered? Though, I doubt she’ll forgive you.” He then gave her a murderous look. The look you recognised when he was an assassin back then,
“Hurt my daughter, You will pay.”
The tall man then stood up and gave you his hand, “Come, let’s go.”
You smiled and held his hand. You turned and saw the woman had a terrified look on his face. Like your husband, you gave her a murderous look,
“A child deserves a parent. But not all parents deserve a child. Don’t come near my little girl again, bitch.”
She looked like she wanted to reiterate but when she met your (e/c) eyes, she stopped.
After leaving the cafe, Jakurai insisted on eating out for dinner. He looked down on his watch and saw that it was almost dinner time, “You should call Mai to come and eat dinner with us. She deserves a treat.”
You chuckled and nodded, “Let’s bring her to that yakiniku restaurant that she loves.”
You then called her to meet up at her favorite restaurant. You could hear the excitement in her voice as she asked her best friend,
“Do you wanna come along?”
“No, it’s okay. If I come along, my dad would be going after your dad. You know, that usual friendly banter.” Hitoya’s daughter sighed.
You chuckled again when you saw the look of displeasure on your husband’s face at the mention of Hitoya.
“We’ll see you there, dear.” You ended the call.
It was fortunate that the restaurant wasn’t crowded. You and Jakurai were happy enough at the look of content on your daughter’s face. After washing up, the three of you huddled on the couch while watching a movie on the television.
Mai sat on Jakurai’s lap, a habit she had ever since she was younger. It wasn’t always she gets to cuddle with her father. Let’s just say, her birth mother was possessive.
You understood her needs of wanting comfort from him. She does the same with you, but Mai would rest her head on your lap as you clean her ears or brush her hair.
You looked at her sleeping form on your husband’s lap. You reached out and pushed her bangs aside, “How could someone neglect a beautiful child like her?”
Jakurai’s attention was now on you, “What did you say?”
You looked up at him and shook your head, “I’ve seen and watched her grow up in school. Mai was very introverted and was scared of people. The only teachers she would talk to were Rosho and I. If it’s her friends, then it would only be Hitoya’s daughter. She would do the talking, Mai would only gesture.
Honestly, I thought she was mute. Mai never talks in class. Her friend would describe her voice but I was very happy when I first heard her voice.”
You leaned your head on Jakurai’s shoulder and continued, “Everyday Mai would cry when it was time to go home. But that everyday turned less and less. That was when I noticed that she went numb. There was no light in her eyes.”
Mai’s face was peaceful as she rested in her father’s arms. Your eyes showed empathy for her, “I knew that something was wrong at home. Rosho and I did everything we could to protect her. Hifumi and Doppo as well whenever one of them would come and pick her up. That woman would accuse them of being kidnappers.
She said nasty things to your friends in front of Mai. No matter what I did to try to protect Mai, she was already tainted with poison.”
You gripped Jakurai’s hand tight, “I’m sorry, Jakurai. I couldn’t protect her well back then. I was just her teacher.” You could feel your own tears finally fall down to your cheeks. “Jakurai, I was very happy when she started to call me ‘mom’ outside school grounds. I was very happy that she openly told me of her feelings, I was even happier to see that genuine smile on her face whenever she was told that she did well.”
Jakurai listened to your words. It made him hold onto Mai tighter. When he was still with his ex-wife, he had noticed earlier on that after Mai’s birth, she was underfed. Mai’s cries every night made him scared that one day he would never be able to see her again whenever he had night shifts.
She was being cared for by Hitoya's family for a while as Jakurai already had suspicions towards that woman. He regretted letting his dear daughter suffer at home. There were even days she was left alone at home without his knowledge.
He looked down at her in his arms. You could see that his eyes showed regret and self-loath. You placed a hand on his cheek, making him look at you in the eyes. You smiled, “Don’t blame yourself, honey. She’s happy now. All you need to do is just to be by her side. She is our treasure, right?”
Jakurai placed his hand on top of yours that was on his cheek. He nodded in agreement,
His mind wandered as he recalled during the days when Mai was younger. He never once heard her complain nor ask why her birth mother never smiled at her.
“Because papa is always with me~” “Because papa would always play with me~”
“Because I know that papa loves me~”
Those were the few words he could recall. Whenever Mai was asked which parent she loves most, she would pick him over her birth mother. At home, she would be neglected by that woman. But he would always come to feed her, tell her that she was loved.
‘I promise that I’ll always protect you, my dear.’
Requests are still open, but I'll only start writing them after my exams finish. I hope you enjoy.
