Twenty For A Dozen

17 || Mount Fuji

         17 || Mount Fuji

         Kira watched as West shone his bright smile on Martin before they got into a sleek silver car and drove off. Almost instantly, she let out a sigh. It honestly felt like she had been holding her breath for the past three hours.

         "Thank you so much for this, Kira. It was brilliant as always," said Winry. Jo was waving goodbye to her friends near the parking lot of the venue.

         "It's my pleasure, honestly." Kira gave her a hug before walking to the parking lot to find her own car. Jo caught her eye and waved with a toothy smile.

         The sun was setting, and although she wanted nothing more than to go home and rest, Kira knew Lee would be home from work as well. A familiar headache began to creep over the lobes of her brain, and she concentrated on reversing her car.

         The empty passenger seat mocked her as she made her way to the Joy-ful Planners headquarters. She was such a hypocrite. 

         "Hey, Amy", she mumbled upon entering the air-conditioned foyer. Her secretary looked up and Kira let herself feel like an insect beneath her probing gaze. It was like she had 'Guilty: Hiding From Telling Lee The Truth' on her forehead.

         "Good evening, ma'am. I don't have you listed down for any meetings, do I?" Amy scrambled around her desk and Kira laughed.

         "No, no. I'm just here to see my dad," Kira said. She hoped her voice didn't break just because she was imagining her father's warm embrace and sound advice. Her otosan was the only one she felt like being with at the moment.

         "He's in his office, do you want me to ring him down, or...?"

         Kira held up a box of Indian takeout and gave Amy a sheepish look. "I didn't eat earlier," she said. It wasn't important to mention that having West in the same vicinity stopped cake from going down her throat. "I'm famished."

         "Head on up, then."

         With a grateful nod, Kira bounded up the stairs, stopping in front of her dad's office. The sight of the offices made her swallow the lump in her throat. It really did seem like he had infiltrated every part of her life.

         "Kira, what brings you over?" Her father held open his door with a surprised expression.

         "I come bearing food?" Maybe I should have asked before waltzing in...

         "Oh, thank god, I'm starving." 

         Or not.

         "Indian?" he asked, leading her in with a hand on her back. "You're the bomb.dot.org."

         Kira shook with laughter. "Dad... No, just no."

         His lips turned up at the corner. "It made you smile. Now, what brings you here?"

         Kira didn't think, didn't bother to choose her words carefully. Her father reminded her of home away from home. Like Mount Fuji, he stood strong and resilient, watching over them.

         "Suppose someone who I thought would know what would hurt me, did it anyways."

         "You shouldn't have to deal with such people-"

         Kira cut him off. "No, I mean..." She chewed on her biryani. "It's not even between me and this person. They did something to another person who means everything to me, and it really just kind of sucks."