10:15PM - Eniwa Flats, Tominosuke Residence
“Daddy! Daddy!” The shrill, piping voice of the tousled-haired girl blasted through the tiny one-room flat. In the kitchen, elbows up to in soapwater and oily plates, Hatsu glanced up. He didn’t need to wait long, a head popped around the plastic sliding door and Akemi grinned up at him, all dimpled cheeks and white teeth.
“Daddy, they’ve got Pokemon on now!”
“Yeah? You go watch it first, I gotta clean up all this stuff first.”
The girl dawdled, unsurety flickering across her round features.
“If you don’t go watch Pokemon now, it’s gonna be over and you’re gonna miss Ash and Iris and whotshisname.”
“Cilan!” sang Akemi, her face smoothing out. “’kay, Daddy!”
And so saying, she sped out of the kitchen and into the living room, where she flopped down on the low brown couch, turning on the television as she did so. Left in the kitchen, Hatsu allowed himself to grin slightly.
Damn Pokemon. Hatsu was pretty sure that all the merchandise he had been buying for Akemi took up about fifty percent of the budget.
… three hours later …
Tip-toeing into the dark room, Hatsu peeled back a blue blanket and slid underneath it, taking care not to disturb the still little shape in the second futon.
Beside him, tucked under her own blanket and clutching a battered Pikachu doll, the chest of the Akemi rose and fell to the beat of her even breaths. She was a sound sleeper, an earthquake would be hard put to wake her up.
Hatsu stifled a sigh.
He was building up a tolerance to caffeine, he realised.
His eyelids slid shut.
And Hatsu began to dream.
[To be continued in the Nightmare Realm]