Our Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

The Only Part 3

A question Hiro always had in the back of her mind was, "What would happen if I were to run into Jomei again?"

What would it feel like to see him again? What would she say? How would her son respond? Those questions were just a few that reflected the mixed feelings she felt just by thinking about the possibility.

Calling him meet however caused even more questions to the surface. She wanted to ask them all, but for now, she had to focus on the really important ones; the ones that caused her to consider reaching out to Jomei in the first place.

"You look good, Hiro," he said.

"Oh, thank you," she replied, flustered. "You seem to be holding up well yourself."

"I get by."

Small talk: the part of a conversation with the potential to be the most uncomfortable. With Jomei being a man of few words regarding anything out of his interests, it was inevitable.

"I must admit, when you reached out to me out of the blue, I assumed that it had something to do with Shujinkou and sure enough it was," he continued.

"Yeah, well... I'm not sure you know but a lot has happened and now he's in a coma," Hiro informed him.

"The result from his run in with Akui right? I can only assume he was torturing him as some kind of attempt to draw me out."

"Right..."

Hiro was discomfited by the matter of fact manner Jomei responded to her. Expected, but still discomfiting.

"Is it safe to say you answering me so fast was because you were already around checking things out?" she asked.

"I had to see what that man was planning," Jomei admitted. "What he would do when all was said and done."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

"Oh..."

Hiro solemnly tapped on the table. No matter how expected his responses were and prepared for them she was, they still stung a little. She feared she may not be able to handle this reunion and her already feeling the way she did filled made her wonder if there was some truth to her doubts.

"Hiro... What's the reason you called me here?" Jomei queried. "I know it's not to give me an update on Shujinkou's health."

"I... I just wanted to know if you would happen to know if there was more to come from all of this."

Jomei quietly stared at Hiro. For the first time since he showed up, his eyes displayed a hint of interest.

"How much of this situation do you understand?" he quizzed.

"About as much as anyone else I suppose."

"What anyone would know varies. I require you be more specific."

Hiro closed her eyes and recalled what she had been told since the night Shujinkou fell into a coma.

"I know Akuma was after Yuri and Akui was after Shujinkou and their friends got caught in the crossfire. That's all I know. Understandably, I was only given the cliff notes version from those who were there."

"And you knew they were holding out on you?"

"I didn't want to force them to relive such a traumatic experience."

"Hm..." Jomei's eyes shifted for a brief moment. "Well then, let me walk you through the beginning.

Akuma was a teacher at their school and was suspended for reasons of misconduct. Given what happened not too long ago, I assume you can imagine what the kind of misconduct took place."