[Manami’s POV: The Next Morning]

I wake up to the sound of my alarm going off, on the dresser next to my bed. Normally, when it goes off, mommy or daddy come into my room to make sure I get up. So I usually wait, because I like when they wake me up. Mommy is so gentle. She’ll rub my forehead, and say, “Good morning, Nami. It’s time to wake up.” And daddy. When it’s his turn to wake me up, he always comes in playing his guitar. But today. Today neither one of them come into my room. 

I open my eyes and lift my head, from my pillow, to look at my bedroom door that’s still closed. Turning off my alarm, I ask, “Where’s mommy and daddy?”

‘Maybe they're playing a prank on me?’ I think, innocently. 

Getting out of bed, I put on my white fuzzy bunny slippers that have cute long ears, and tip toe to my door. I gently hold the door handle in my hand and place my ear up against the closed wood door. I carefully listen for any noise the other side. 

‘I don’t hear anything.’ I think to myself. 

Slowly turning the knob, I open the door just enough to peek through, with one eye. 

‘I don’t see anyone.’ I ponder to myself.

Opening the door all the way, I sneak a peek left and right, seeing if either one of them is in the hallway. Looking down the hallway, towards the kitchen, I notice there aren’t any lights on. I also realize there’s no smell of food cooking, like mommy does every morning. 

‘That’s weird. They’re taking this prank seriously.’ I decide to myself. ‘I’ll have to be super quiet if I want to sneak up on them.’

I try to be as sneaky as a fox and continue tip-toeing silently, down the hall. Reaching the end of the hall, I lean my back against the wall and prepare myself to jump out and surprise them. Excitement rising, inside me, I internally count to three. ‘1…2…3!’

I hop out and yell, “I found—!” Seeing no one in the living room or kitchen, I stop smiling, slump my shoulders, and say, “—you?”

‘Oh! I know!’ Remembering that I haven’t checked all the rooms in the house. I look back down the hall and sneak to the rest of the rooms. But after checking daddy’s music room, the last room in the house, I still can’t find them. I start to tear up, realizing I’m home alone.

 “Where are they?” I say in a whiny voice. ‘I’ve never been home alone before. I don’t like it. It’s too quiet.’

After a few sniffles, I see the clock that’s on daddy’s desk. It says it’s 6:00 a.m. School starts at 7:50 a.m. “Okay.” I say, rubbing my tears away from my face. “All I have to do is get ready for school. They probably just went to the store real quick. They’ll be happy if they see I got ready all by myself.”

So…I do just that. I take a shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed in the clothes mommy picked out for me, the night before. Since I can’t cook my own breakfast, I make myself a bowl of cereal instead. ‘Mommy and daddy will be so proud of me.’ I think, happily to myself. 

Now sitting alone at the table, I look at the time above the stove in the kitchen. It says, 6:45 a.m. ‘They’re still not home.’ I think sadly to myself, feeling the tears filling my eyes again. 

“No!” I shout, stopping myself from crying. “I can’t cry. I’m a big girl. And they would want me to keep smiling.”

I pick up my spoon and scoop up a huge spoonful of cereal. Shoving it in my mouth, I chomp loudly to crush it all. Placing my empty bowl in the sink, I grab my lunch mommy made for me, and walk to the entrance of the door to put on my shoes. 

Opening the door and slowly walking towards the stairs that lead to daddy’s bar I stop. The stairs seem more scary than usual today. It looks like how it does when staring into a lake and not being able to see the bottom because it’s so dark. This will be the first time I’ll walk through the bar on my own. ‘I wish mommy and daddy were here.’ I think to myself, staring at nothing but pure darkness. But remembering how they let me walk all the way to school, on my own, for the first time yesterday. It helps me to overcome my fear. 

“You got this Manami.” I say, in an encouraging voice, straightening my back. “I’ll just—“ I pause for a second, thinking of a plan to get to the other side of the darkness. Then, an idea suddenly comes to me. “Run!”

Holding onto my lunch tight, I hurriedly run down the stairs as fast as I can, not stopping or looking back for anything. Finally reaching the bottom, I hit into a huge object blocking my path. “Ah!” I scream. About to fall to my knees, I feel hands hold me up.

I close my eyes, starting to panic and think, ‘The monster’s got me!’ No longer able to hide my fear, I yell, “Daddy!”

“Nami? Nami, it’s me. Open your eyes.” 

‘Is it really daddy? Or is the monster trying to trick me?’ I think, still afraid to open my eyes. 

“Open your eyes Nami. It’s okay.”

‘It sounds like daddy.’ I think, as I start to trust the monster's voice that sounds like daddy’s. Slowly opening my eyes, I see daddy’s worried face looking down at me. About to cry again, I hug daddy, hiding my tears in his shirt. “I’m sorry daddy. I was trying to be a big girl and go to school. But I was scared to walk through the bar, by myself. It’s so dark.”

Hugging me back, daddy slightly squeezes me. “It’s not your fault, Nami. I’m sorry we weren’t here to help you. But wait—“ Releasing me and kneeling down so he’s the same height as me. “Did you say you got yourself ready? All on your own?”

Daddy rubs my tears away. I missed his hands. “Yeah.” I respond while sniffling.

Daddy stares at my lunch box, bringing a smile to his face. “You really are growing up so fast. I’m so proud of you. Mommy’s going to be happy to hear about this too.”

Listening to daddy’s words, I search around him and don’t see mommy anywhere. I stare at him and ask, “Where is mommy?”

The smile on daddy’s face disappears and he goes back to being sad as he lifts his hand to cup my cheek. “Mommy had a doctor's appointment this morning. You’ll see her after school, okay?”

“Okay.” I don’t remember mommy saying she had to see the doctor today. 

“Now let’s get you to school.” Daddy starts to take my hand and walks me to the front door of the bar.

“Daddy?” I call, looking up at him. “It’s okay. I can walk myself to school.”

“Are you sure?” He asks, kneeling down to my level again. “You were here alone all morning, so you don’t have to be alone for the walk.”

“I know, but I want to show you and mommy that I can do it. So you guys don’t have to worry about me and can do other things.”

Smiling at my words, daddy flicks my nose and says, “We know that you can do things on your own. But I want you to remember something—mommy and I will always worry about you. But not in a way that you think. We will worry, because we want to make sure you always have what you need. You’re growing up so fast and soon you’ll be living your own life. So don’t ever think that you’re a bother to us. Because we wouldn’t want to miss any part of you growing up. Okay?”

“Okay, daddy.”

“Okay.  Now give me a hug.” Welcoming me into his arms, I wrap my arms around daddy’s neck. “I love you Nami. My big girl.”

“I love you too, daddy.” I let go of him and run off for school. “Tell mommy I love her too!”

Running through the rising sun, smelling the fresh morning air, I happily say, “I did it! I can’t wait to see the look on mommy’s face when I get out of school.”

[Honjo’s POV]

Watching my little girl leave, I have a separate thought. ‘Hopefully mommy will be here by the time you get home.”