[Bokurano] fic: Those Left Behind: I am to be pitied, not to be sold
Title: Those Left Behind: I am to be pitied, not to be sold
Day/Theme: Aug 20 I am to be pitied, not to be sold
Series: Bokurano
Character/Pairing: Tokosumi Akira (Anko's dad)
Rating: PG
Notes: for 31_days. Manga canon with spoilers up to chapter 57 or so.
Archive: LJ | ffnet
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"After being contacted by Ushiro, I organized pictures of my daughter. But when I did that, I realized I had very little."
-----
Tokosumi Akira returned home even less after his daughter's death. There was news to be told, truth to be spread. Reason after reason kept him from returning to a home that had never felt like home and now felt even less like home. "Home" had never been more than a place where he closed his eyes and ignored the world for a few short moments, but even then, he had always been ready to rush out of the house. He just wasn't someone who could stop doing his job.
When he ran out of reasons, he found another right away. The world on a whole was confused. At times like these, newscasters like him were needed to mitigate the frenzy. He continued on like he had before Aiko's name had shown up on that list of fifteen kids because that was the only thing he knew how to do. Before that list surfaced, he hadn't even known she had gone somewhere during summer vacation. She never mentioned anything, and he had never been around for her to mention anything to him. If that list hadn't surfaced, if he hadn't been so devoted to reporting, he would not have been able to accompany Aiko in her last moments, and that frightened him more than anything. He was to blame for letting his job estrange him from his family, but it was also his job that had ultimately brought him to her in order to help in the minuscule way that he could.
It wasn't until Ushiro contacted him about contributing to the non-profit organization that Tokosumi Akira finally returned home and stayed.
When he stepped foot inside his home, he almost expected Aiko to look up blearily, rubbing her eyes while asking doubtfully, "Papa?" She'd be hugging a large pillow to herself, having fallen asleep while waiting for him to come back from yet another late shift. The lights and the television would both be on, electricity burning in her forgetfulness.
In reality, no such picture greeted him. Tokosumi flicked the lights on, bathing the room in stark white. He walked past the empty sofa and the blank television. His feet brought him to his daughter's room, the place where they kept all the photos because Aiko had asked for them. He laid one hand on the door, pausing and taking a slow, deep breath before he headed in.
Inside Aiko's room, he searched for her photos. He found them neatly tucked away in a small box in the second drawer of her table. He lifted the box out and sat himself down on her round stool to go through the contents of the box. He randomly drew out a photo, smiling when he saw that it was a photo of Aiko trying on a dress. The photo looked to be a self photo. He could see her arm on the right hand side of the photo. He picked another photo. This one was one of Aiko outdoors. Again, it was a self photo, since he could see part of her arm in it. As he went through more of the photos, his smile slowly disappeared.
Were these all self photos? Hadn't there been anyone to take photos for her?
When his hands came into contact with a photo album, the only photo album inside the box, he stilled. He lifted the album up. The outside of the album merely said, "My family".
His hands shook as he opened the photo album. The first photo was one of Aiko as a baby. Her mother was holding her, showing her off to the camera. He was actually the camera man for once. Several more baby photos followed after this one, with either his wife or him together in the photo with Aiko, but never the three of them together. The next photo was of Aiko starting elementary school. As he went through the album, he discovered that there were fewer and fewer photos the older Aiko grew. He could also count on one hand which of these photos were ones he took. When he got to the end of the photos, he closed his eyes, wishing he could ignore the world just by doing so, but that wasn't how things worked. He placed the album down, accidentally knocking into the microphone that had been on Aiko's table. The microphone clattered onto the floor.
On that next page, Aiko had written, "Reserved for a photo of me and my family!"
-----
The photobook came out less than a week after the battles ended. The front cover featured Aiko in her battle outfit, sitting in the cockpit, facing forward with a determined expression. He included photos of her that detailed her life from birth to her last moments as Zearth's pilot. The photos were few in number, many of them school photos or photos taken by herself.
However, he thought his daughter was beautiful in all of them, and he knew she'd never be forgotten just like how she wanted it.
-----
the end
Day/Theme: Aug 20 I am to be pitied, not to be sold
Series: Bokurano
Character/Pairing: Tokosumi Akira (Anko's dad)
Rating: PG
Notes: for 31_days. Manga canon with spoilers up to chapter 57 or so.
Archive: LJ | ffnet
-----
"After being contacted by Ushiro, I organized pictures of my daughter. But when I did that, I realized I had very little."
-----
Tokosumi Akira returned home even less after his daughter's death. There was news to be told, truth to be spread. Reason after reason kept him from returning to a home that had never felt like home and now felt even less like home. "Home" had never been more than a place where he closed his eyes and ignored the world for a few short moments, but even then, he had always been ready to rush out of the house. He just wasn't someone who could stop doing his job.
When he ran out of reasons, he found another right away. The world on a whole was confused. At times like these, newscasters like him were needed to mitigate the frenzy. He continued on like he had before Aiko's name had shown up on that list of fifteen kids because that was the only thing he knew how to do. Before that list surfaced, he hadn't even known she had gone somewhere during summer vacation. She never mentioned anything, and he had never been around for her to mention anything to him. If that list hadn't surfaced, if he hadn't been so devoted to reporting, he would not have been able to accompany Aiko in her last moments, and that frightened him more than anything. He was to blame for letting his job estrange him from his family, but it was also his job that had ultimately brought him to her in order to help in the minuscule way that he could.
It wasn't until Ushiro contacted him about contributing to the non-profit organization that Tokosumi Akira finally returned home and stayed.
When he stepped foot inside his home, he almost expected Aiko to look up blearily, rubbing her eyes while asking doubtfully, "Papa?" She'd be hugging a large pillow to herself, having fallen asleep while waiting for him to come back from yet another late shift. The lights and the television would both be on, electricity burning in her forgetfulness.
In reality, no such picture greeted him. Tokosumi flicked the lights on, bathing the room in stark white. He walked past the empty sofa and the blank television. His feet brought him to his daughter's room, the place where they kept all the photos because Aiko had asked for them. He laid one hand on the door, pausing and taking a slow, deep breath before he headed in.
Inside Aiko's room, he searched for her photos. He found them neatly tucked away in a small box in the second drawer of her table. He lifted the box out and sat himself down on her round stool to go through the contents of the box. He randomly drew out a photo, smiling when he saw that it was a photo of Aiko trying on a dress. The photo looked to be a self photo. He could see her arm on the right hand side of the photo. He picked another photo. This one was one of Aiko outdoors. Again, it was a self photo, since he could see part of her arm in it. As he went through more of the photos, his smile slowly disappeared.
Were these all self photos? Hadn't there been anyone to take photos for her?
When his hands came into contact with a photo album, the only photo album inside the box, he stilled. He lifted the album up. The outside of the album merely said, "My family".
His hands shook as he opened the photo album. The first photo was one of Aiko as a baby. Her mother was holding her, showing her off to the camera. He was actually the camera man for once. Several more baby photos followed after this one, with either his wife or him together in the photo with Aiko, but never the three of them together. The next photo was of Aiko starting elementary school. As he went through the album, he discovered that there were fewer and fewer photos the older Aiko grew. He could also count on one hand which of these photos were ones he took. When he got to the end of the photos, he closed his eyes, wishing he could ignore the world just by doing so, but that wasn't how things worked. He placed the album down, accidentally knocking into the microphone that had been on Aiko's table. The microphone clattered onto the floor.
On that next page, Aiko had written, "Reserved for a photo of me and my family!"
-----
The photobook came out less than a week after the battles ended. The front cover featured Aiko in her battle outfit, sitting in the cockpit, facing forward with a determined expression. He included photos of her that detailed her life from birth to her last moments as Zearth's pilot. The photos were few in number, many of them school photos or photos taken by herself.
However, he thought his daughter was beautiful in all of them, and he knew she'd never be forgotten just like how she wanted it.
-----
the end