𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗭𝗘𝗥𝗢 : 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗨𝗘

Katsu Suzume was sent to voicemail. Again.

It didn't surprise her since it was still early in the morning, but she couldn't help the way her cheeks flushed at her fellow passenger's gaze. She pulled down her face mask and cleared her throat awkwardly, shifting in her seat.

"Hey, Dad! I just wanted to check in on how you're doing. I was just wonderin' if you're up for a FaceTime later. Call me back when you can. Love you," said Suzume, ending the voicemail in a near-silent plane. She placed her hands in her lap and looked out the plane's small window. The plane flew above Japan's familiar mountains and buildings, easing the young woman's nerves.

The black face mask she wore rested on her neck. This let the old woman, who sat next to her, observe her curiously.

The stranger had long black hair, and a structured face with lightly tanned skin and freckles, if you looked carefully. She wore a black trench coat, fancy boots, and no jewelry. The old woman felt like she had seen this woman before.

"That's sweet. It's always nice to see young people close to their parents. It's such a rarity nowadays," the elderly woman commented with a warm smile. "What's your name?"

"Katsu... You can call me Katsu," Suzume said hesitantly, intentionally not telling her first name. She crossed her legs, slightly leaning away from her.

"I'm Miki," the older woman beamed. "Are you visiting Japan?"

"No. I'm actually from here... I just traveled a lot," she replied lamely.

"Really? You don't look it."

"Oh, okay," a tight-lipped smile formed on her face.

Luckily the conversation finally managed to subdue due to the plane beginning to land. When she landed at the airport, bags in hand, she, unfortunately, did not expect a couple of flight attendants to bow to her, thanking her for choosing their airline.

Suzume's throat went dry as she looked around at curious spectating eyes. "It's no problem. You can stand up now-"

"You're that Olympics girl!" A young boy shouted in excitement pointing at her. His parents had to hold him back from running to her side, lightly scolding him.

She closed her eyes, a headache already forming. "Yes... Yes, I am."

"I knew you looked familiar!" Miki approached her with a limp and eager smile. "My granddaughter's a huge fan. Can I get an autograph?"

"Oh, sure-"

"Me too!" The kid from before said.

She heard someone whisper as people began to approach her, "Who's that?"

"Don't you remember? That's the girl who won gold for Japan in women's boxing at the last Olympics," a teenager answered, fangirling.

A man approached her, an off-duty reporter most likely. "Are you competing again next year?"

"If all goes well. I don't think I'll do boxing again though," she informed politely whilst letting someone take pictures of her. She wanted to tell the group that she did more than participate in the Olympics, but the last thing she wanted was for someone to spread a rumor that she was rude in person.

"Let's take a picture!" She gave a fake smile, taking out her phone in an effort to calm everyone down. She let her fans huddle around her with big grins. Stretching her arm out to get everyone in the camera frame, she ignored the uneasy pit in her stomach and yelled out, "Smile!"

⋆ ★ ⋆

Suzume's father was a man named Katsu Sora. He was a natural peacemaker man but his daughter always thought that would be his downfall. After his wife's sudden death, Sora retired - due to the urging of his daughter - and spent his free time volunteering in nature.

But with every passing year, his body kept getting weaker. His free time had to be spent resting and having a nurse check up on him once a day. The only reason he kept moving forward was his daughter, and she knew that. So when he woke up that morning and saw the missed call, he immediately responded.

"Good morning, Suzu!"

"Mornin,' Dad," his daughter replied, a playful grin on her face. "I didn't know you were gonna call right now."

"I thought you said you wanted to talk?" He questioned.

Suzume adjusted her microphone. He could tell she was outside from the sound of wind and overlapped chatter, but it was difficult to hear her, so she spoke louder. "Yeah, but I thought we'd schedule it, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah... You and your schedules," Sora rolled his eyes, amused. "So, where are you?"

"Hmm? I'm just taking a walk."

Sora narrowed his eyes at his phone, bringing the device closer to his face and examining it. "That building behind you... It kinda looks like the Shibuya-"

Suzume quickly (and stupidly) moved her phone so he could only see the sky and part of her face. "What? Nooooo-"

"Hey! Hey! Comin' through!" A young blonde man shouted in Japanese. A friend of his was on his shoulders and another was running beside them with a phone in hand. All three of them were laughing and shouting in the middle of the street. Then cars started honking at them.

"People are idiots," she muttered, stopping in her track and watching the incident as the three friends ran off.

"HEY! THAT'S JAPANESE I HEAR!" Her father shouted, standing up in excitement. The phone shook in excitement so much that it was hard to focus on his face. "YOU'RE BACK FROM THAILAND ALREADY?!"

"You just had to ruin the surprise, didn't ya?"

"Well, it's not like you did a good job at hiding it." At her scowl, the father raised his hands in defense, laughing, "My bad, my bad. Now, what're you doing?"

"Well..." She dragged out, grinning. She held up her phone so he could where she was. Sora instantly recognized the crowded Shibuya street. She placed her luggage against a blue mural and leaned back, lazily smirking, "The plan was for me to get something to eat here in Shibuya. And then take a train home to surprise you this evening."

"Oh, well you go eat lunch! I'll be there in-"

"No, no, no. Stay right where you are," she objected.

He looked at her in worry. "But what if-"

"I'm perfectly fine," she countered smoothly. "Nobody recognized me until I landed in the airport, and that was only because of a couple of flight attendants."

"Fine, but come home soon," he tried to order in a failed stern voice. "You got it?"

She was about to respond until something caught her eye.

"Maybe you should stop by dad..." Sora could tell his daughter was happy. Her gaze seemed far off as she looked up at the sky. A warm smile was growing across her face. For a brief moment, it looked like she was a child again, watching the sun rise with her mother beside her. "The fireworks here are so pretty."

Those were the last words Katsu Sora heard his daughter say before the incident.

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄

I hate this chapter, but I needed to give yall an introduction. I swear, once we get to the games, my writing will improve 😭

Also if feel free to vote and comment. I love interacting with readers. Plus, I'm desperate for ideas.

[𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃 : 𝐉𝐀𝐍𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑]
𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆!