Flames of the Phoenix

Chapter 9: Funeral

Cold sweat ran down my back, causing me to shiver and pull my blankets tighter. Out of the corner of my eyes, the shadows seemed to creep, twist, and move. I forced myself to take deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself down. It's alright, I'm fine, the shadows won't get me. I lit my flames and watched them burn my fingers. The blackness slowly spread from the tips of my fingers towards my palms. The light from my fire made the shadows shrink to the corners of the room, but I could still swear that they were moving. I spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw Dad strangled by the shadows.

Glancing at the clock, I dragged myself out of bed. The wooden floors were freezing, but I couldn't muster the energy to put on socks or my slippers. I made myself a cup of tea and sat down at the table, just staring into the mug. Mom shuffled into the room. She joined me at the table with her own cup. My phone buzzed, so I turned it on to see who had messaged me.

Harrison: I'm sorry that it took me so long to reach out to you. I'm sure that you have heard about what happened. How are you holding up?

Cyra: Yeah, I heard about it. I guess that I'm fine. How are you? I saw the footage of what happened. I'm so sorry that you had to be there.

Harrison: Why would you look up the video? I wish that you hadn't seen what occurred.

Cyra: I wanted to know what happened.

Harrison: Well, I wanted to let you know that I am coming to Japan. There is something that I need to talk with you and your mother about in person. I am about to board the plane. I'll talk to you later.

I turned off my phone and looked over at Mom. "Mom, Dad's bestfriend is coming. He is going to be here tomorrow. Do we have space for him to stay here?"

She looked over at me with glassy eyes, "Who?"

I sighed, "Harrison. He is Dad's secretary and best friend. Or, was..." I spaced out, thinking about the number of times that Harrison had picked me up from school, had taken me to doctor's appointments, had driven me to my sports. Sometimes, people thought that he was my dad. I never corrected them. It was easier than explaining that I was the daughter of a politician that they hated. And more than that, he acted like a second dad to me. I would gossip with him about school. I would tell him about my day and what I learned in my classes. The three of us used to go to parks and kick a soccer ball around. We would watch movies and eat dinner together. Tears traced their now-familiar paths down my cheeks as I relived the life that I had in America.

The silence was overbearing, so I left the apartment. I walked until I found a shopping complex. A tiny bell rang as I opened the door to a store. "Hello! Are you looking for anything in particular?" I gave the lady behind the counter a small smile.

"No, I wanted to change my style a little bit, and this seemed like a good place to start."

She clapped her hands together and gave a chirping noise, "Oh! Let me know if you need anything!"

I shuffled through the racks of clothes and ended up grabbing more than a few new outfits. A pair of brown combat boots caught my eye, "Excuse me, do you have any fireproof things? I like those boots, but my quirk is fire. I'm worried that I would burn them if I added them to my hero costume."

Her eyes widened, "Wait! I recognize you!" I bit my lip and took a half step back. "You were in the UA Sports Festival! You did so well! I was so impressed!" She gave me a huge smile, "A future hero likes my shoes so much that she wants them as a part of her hero costume! This pair is not fireproof, but I have it in a different color!" She hurried to her back room and came back with a shoebox. "This pair is supposed to be fireproof, but I haven't had much testing with fire-type quirks. They are fine if you throw them into a fireplace. And I hope that you don't mind that they are a different color."