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It was bright, and warm, and the girl felt her skin crawl. She hated this dream.
Her breathing tightened as she ran through the foggy place, her senses numbed by the damp warmth of the orange tinted fog.
She wanted her Big Bro. Or her Daddy. Or both.
There were monsters hiding in the bright fog, monsters that snarled and chased when she got too close. But worse than the snarls were the pounding footsteps behind her, and the calls of "Wait. Let me save you!"
Nanako was a smart girl. She knew not to be alone with strange men, even if they were familiar. Hadn't she seen her Daddy reading reports on too many little girls who had been hurt by older men?
She glanced behind, but now the delivery man wasn't a delivery man, but a red and black giant, grabbing desperately at her. She tried to run faster, but the gloopy monsters were clinging to her, dragging her back.
The fog felt like powdered knives in her lungs, and every breath was painful and shallow. The delivery man monster grabbed her, and suddenly the space was more open, the fog less dense, although somehow more painful to breathe.
The light shone in her eyes, and she couldn't see through the fog and light. But she knew the voice of her Big Bro when she heard it. He and his friends had come for her.
And suddenly she was dangling in the air, her wrists held by one colossal hand. And she could see clearly. She could see her Big Bro advancing on his friends as if to hurt them.
Despite how hard it was to breathe, she begged him not to hurt them.
And then she was falling, and he was trying to save her but he was too slow and she was too fast. And then...
Nanako's eyes opened, and she felt herself pulled into a rough hug. It smelled of cigarette smoke and coffee, and Junes detergent.
"It's alright. I'm here." Her Daddy rumbled. She wanted to curl into his chest and cry, but she couldn't. She didn't want to upset him
"I'm okay Daddy. Go back to bed. I'm fine." She forced the words out, wanting to seek comfort but... She didn't want her Daddy to stop loving her again. She didn't want to use up all his love.
"I heard you whimpering and crying from my room. I'm here, and I won't let the monsters hurt you. I'm right here, sweetheart. It'll be okay." The detective reassured, and his daughter let out a sound that was too close to a sob for his liking, before burying her face against his chest and starting to shake.
Ryotaro Dojima still couldn't forgive Namatame, or Adachi (or for that matter, himself) for what had happened to his little girl, but she was alive and healthy, and that was what mattered to him right now.