It's been a week since the news about the recent kidnapping case was released and the kidnappers were still on the loose. My parents were very worried that having sending and picking us up isn't enough, they even put the family's intelligence squad in guard duties.

Over much right?

Well not for them at least. But seeing them putting much effort for our safety shows how much they love us.

Anyway it's another day in school and this time Kazu invited us to play at their house. We, along with Sou-nii, Ryo-nii and Fuyumi-nee (Kazu's sister), are on our way to Kazu's house. We stopped at a combini to buy some snacks, I don't know when I was separated from Sou-nii but the next thing I knew I already fell to the ground robbing me of my consciousness.

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I woke up in a dark place or rather, I am currently blindfolded and my hands and feet are bound.

[Does this mean I was kidnapped...? I wonder where will they take me?]

I think I am currently at the compartment of a care or so since it’s a bit cramp and every time there’s a bump, my head will always bang at some steel.

If the kidnappers won’t kill me then I think that will.

Anyway, soon I felt the car stopped then a lot of loud banging and shouting could be heard from the outside. I wonder if that was my rescue team, I bet it is, well kidnapper-san I am very sorry but you just took the wrong kid this time. All I can do is pray that you guys won’t be killed at least.

The noises finally stopped and I heard a click near me, then a pair of arms scoops me out and removed my blindfold. It took a while before my eyes adjusted from the light, then I see that we are on a highway and I can see the ocean just beside it.

“….Sei…. –glad…”

“…….” (Sei)

I was preoccupied by my surroundings that I didn’t notice the person that is carrying me, so when I heard my name, I look at the person and to find my dad crying. This is the first time that I saw my dad cry that I am not sure what to do, so I gave him a big hug and smile.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Papa ari-tou for saving mwe…

Sei knows papa will save mwe sho I wait pashiently…” (Sei)

I thought my words would comfort dad and make him stop crying but instead it turned out to be worse than the first. So not to make dad cry a dam more, I just continue to hug and pat him as we went to the car and drove home and on the way my dad never let me go. I guess it is really scary to lose a child…

I wonder if what my current parents are feeling right now is also how my previous parents felt when I died. I guess I will never know…

By the time we got home, I am already asleep and woke up the next day.

Due to the whole kidnapping ordeal, I was forced to stay home for two weeks and it’s a bit suffocating during those days. My dad literally left his work just to stay at home and to look after me. He played with me and taught me things though I really love spending time with dad, I am a bit concern of his work as well.

I mean how will he earn money if he doesn’t do his work. I am right…right?

Well I guess someone heard my concern since just as when we will cook for lunch together, someone from the company came knocking and told dad that there is a problem that he needs to fix right away. While they are discussing, I can see that dad keep on glancing at me and it is obvious that he is hesitating because of me. I am now thinking of an excuse for him not to worry about me and I guess God didn’t let me down this time since right on cue my mom came along with Laire-nee. They seems to understand the situation just by looking at it and mom immediately jump into action.

[Mom is so cool~]

While they discuss, I went back to the kitchen and try to finish what I can for our lunch. No much later, Laire-nee appeared before me and while it seems like she has a lot to say to me, she just let me go with a reprimanding look before helping me with our lunch. Their talk finished at the same time as we also finished preparing lunch and along with our guest, all of us ate our lunch together. Right after lunch is over dad went over to me and explained that the company needs him to come back so of course being a good son that I am, I naturally see him off with a kiss on the cheek, a tight hug, and a big smile. But it seems like my sendoff gift made him not want to leave so with much persuasion from mom, dad finally went back to work and promised to be home more often.

Even when everything is already settled, the kidnapping case really struck my family deep and thus dad made sure that my safety is really secured. It already came to the point that I notice that there are new teachers and people roaming around the school with allotted time intervals in them. Though it is a bit suffocating I thought that I need to bear with it for the time being since even I realize how helpless I am during that situation. Having a healthy body isn’t enough, I also need to learn how to use this body of mine to my advantage so that the people around me won’t worry too much.

Well with that much thought, I still need to gain approval from my parents about self-defense class. Anyway dad came home much more often now and he never forgets to spend time with me.

“Sei, there’s something that dad wants to ask…” (Dad)

“…..” (Sei)

“….. Sei… Are you sure you are okay? You’re not holding it in are you?” (Dad)

I was honestly surprise when my dad asked me such thing that I forgot to reply and just continue to gaze at him. I literally had a mental block, I mean yeah sure the whole ordeal is really crazy and all but I think I am okay… little did I notice the tears that are flowing down my face.

“S-Sei?! Wha-what wrong?!” (Dad)

As dad panics about my sudden outburst, the people nearby heard my dad’s commotion and see the sight of me brawling my eyes out.

It never occurred to me that what happened to me is something scary or traumatizing since everything happened so fast and it is resolved almost instantly but now that everything calmed down and if I took the time to think about the kidnapping, my whole body just shook.

[Even though I have the mentality of an adult woman, I guess this body still knows that I am still a child]

It took me a while to calm down and by the time that happened dad is already beaten by mom. I somehow got them to understand the reason behind my tears but I guess I should have just stayed quiet since after that the security measure escalated more but that is a story for another day.