Chapter Text
You never know how quickly your world can change, flipping upside down and then finding a new kind of normal. For Hikaru, that change came five years ago when his daughter was born. When his girlfriend told him she was pregnant, he was thrilled, but she wasn’t. After giving birth, she left, granting him full custody, with no desire to see either of them again. It broke Hikaru’s heart that his daughter wouldn’t have a mother, but he didn’t have time to grieve. He had a child to care for, and he was determined to give her everything he could.
"Don't worry, sweetheart, we can do this. We can do this together, just you and I." Hikaru murmured, still smiling at his daughter. He watching his daughter grip his hand and feeling his heart melt.
From that moment, Hikaru knew he’d do anything for Charlotte Harumi Nakamura. Even if they were a family of two, they could make it work together.
———
Magnus was bored. He was wandering around the tournament lobby, signing autographs when asked, but mostly just passing time. Yet recently, his mind kept returning to something unusual: a little girl he kept seeing at tournaments. For the past few months, he had noticed a little girl who was at almost every tournament, she seemed to pop up wherever he went, and they kept running into each other. Not that it was weird. Magnus just couldn't understand why this little girl seemed to have some kind of invisible magnet that kept pulling them together.
The first time he noticed her, she was sitting alone, smiling, swinging her legs and looking around. Something about her felt familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. When their eyes met, he smiled, as he did with all his young fans. Her smile grew wider, her face lighting up, and she gave a small wave. He waved back, expecting her to approach for an autograph or a quick chat, but she jumped up and ran off before he could process what happened. He waited for a few moments, wondering if she’d return, but she didn’t. He hesitated for a minute, and eventually, he left, hoping that the girl really left and won't come back just to find him gone.
The second, third, and fourth times they met, it was the same as the first time. Like a pattern, the girl was sitting alone and looking around, swinging her little legs. Each time, their eyes met, and they would smile at each other or wave, or both most of the time. But something about those meetings bothered Magnus. For some reason, he started to feel like an invisible magnet was getting stronger. Magnus found himself looking around the room and scanning the crowd, looking for her dark hair again, feeling oddly pulled to find her. But most of the time she would give him a smile and then run away, leaving Magnus confused and hoping that she would come back, which, most of the time, didn't happen.
Their fifth meeting was different. She ran straight into him, nearly losing her balance.
"Oi," the girl exclaimed, balancing herself so she wouldn’t fall. Magnus turned around, smiling when he saw the now-familiar dark hair and face. He knelt down so he could see the girl face-to-face.
"Are you following me?" Magnus teased, smiling after his question and raising one eyebrow.
The girl looked up at him, tilting her head like a cat with a confused face, raising her little eyebrows, her little face scrunched in confusion.
"No, why… Why would I follow you?" she replied, genuinely puzzled, which made him laugh.
"I don't know, I just see you a lot at the tournaments these days, and somehow, we always end up running into each other." The girl giggled, which made Magnus smile back and raise his eyebrows, waiting for an explanation. The girl looked at him and said:
"I'm not following you. My dad’s a chess player, so that's why I sometimes go to the tournaments. My name’s Charlotte, by the way. Maybe knowing that will make you feel less threatened and uncomfortable around me, although I am just a little girl." She shrugged with an exaggerated nonchalance.
Magnus laughed. "Threat… Okay, that was a low blow. I'm not afraid of little girls." He pointed at her, and she giggled again. "And I’m Magnus."
"I know," she said proudly. "You are basically a star. Um, the world champion and all, right? That's what people say."
"I guess I am a star, and yes, I am a world champion, that's right," he replied, amused. "So, your dad’s a chess player. What’s his name?" Magnus asked curiously.
"His name is Chris. It’s short for Christopher," she said, her face lighting up as she spoke. Magnus couldn’t help but think she must be proud of him.
"You must be proud of him," he said aloud, now voicing his thoughts without realizing. Charlotte smiled and nodded.
"I am. And he’s the best, no offence." The girl said, which made Magnus laugh.
"None taken, do you come to tournaments with your mom too? Is she here?" Magnus asked the question, and right away saw the girl's smile fade. She sighed.
"No, my mom’s not around, not in the picture at all. She left right after giving birth to me. So, it’s always been me and my dad. Sometimes I wonder if it was my fault, but dad always reassures me, I believe him. He always does his best, and that's why he's the best." The girl explained and smiled again at the last sentence, rhyming them. Magnus laughed and then sighed.
"I’m sorry to hear that, I'm sorry for asking this question." Magnus said gently.
"It’s okay. You didn't know, you couldn’t have known," Charlotte said, shrugging it off. "I have to go, though. I’ll see you around, Magnus. And don’t worry, I promise—I’m not following you," she smirked as she waved and ran off, leaving Magnus. He felt like he had seen this smirk before.
"Alright, I will see you later, little follower." He said and stood up. The girl laughed once again while she was running away.
Magnus watched her leave. He tried to think of the players with the name Chris. The only players he could think of were Yoo and Lutz, but it didn't make sense since Yoo was too young and Lutz was old. He tried to think of other players, but he could think of any. After a few minutes, he gave up and left since he didn't have a reason to stay there.
———
The next time they met, Charlotte was eating strawberries. Magnus jokingly accused her of following him again, and she laughed, teasing him back, saying Magnus must be afraid if he keeps mentioning it. They both laughed, and Charlotte started to tell him how her dad told her not to run away again, how she and her dad were watching movies all evening yesterday and how they went for a walk before the tournament today.
"Dad said we might go to the park. He was like: Be good Charlie and we might go to the park." Charlotte said, mimicking her dad. "It was funny how he tried to look strict."
"Charlie?" Magnus asked, curious about the nickname.
"Yeah. It's a nickname only dad calls by. Everyone else calls me Lottie or my full name," she explained.
"Special dad privileges?"
"Something like that, but it's more like special family privileges." Charlotte said, smiling and Magnus nodded, making a mental note. They sat in comfortable silence as Lottie was munching on her strawberries.
They talked a little more, and she told Magnus about the mornings with her dad, then they talked about their favorite places in the countries they've been to so far and their favorite food. After Charlotte finished her strawberries, she cleaned her hands and looked at Magnus curiously.
"Do you like going to the park, Magnus?" She tilted her head.
"I do," he said, smiling.
"Me too! That’s why we’re going today!" she replied excitedly.
"Didn’t your dad say you have to be good and not cause trouble?" Magnus teased, raising an eyebrow and feeling a smile forming. Charlotte looked at him with what looked like a mocking face.
She rolled her eyes. "Dad tries to look strict, I love my dad and that he tries to take care of me, but he can never resist my puppy eyes," she grinned, which made Magnus laugh.
"You are too cute to say no, too, and nobody is immune to puppy eyes."
"That's…true." Charlotte answered, and they came to sit in silence for a few minutes. Then Lottie said, "Well, looks like I have to go." She said, both of them standing up.
"Sure thing, be good if you want to go to the park." Magnus said, teasing, which made Charlotte giggle.
"I will be, don't worry. Bye, Magnus! Don’t be sad; you’ll see me again," she said with a mischievous smirk.
"Bye, Lottie," he replied, feeling oddly down as he watched her leave. He didn’t understand why he felt so attached to the kid, but he did. He turned around, deciding to go talk to someone or just go home instead of trying to feel sad about not seeing the kid until the next tournament. But there is nothing he can do, exactly.
Maybe if Magnus had looked back one more time, he’d have seen who Charlotte’s father was. But he didn’t. Perhaps the universe doesn't want them to meet. Or maybe it does, just waiting for a right time…
———
Hikaru and Charlotte were out shopping, picking up a few things before heading to the park.
"All right, kiddo, ready to go?" Hikaru asked, looking at his daughter.
"Yeah!" Charlotte replied, earning smiles from passersby who complimented how cute she was. Hikaru thanked them before going to pay for the stuff they got.
"I'm going to pay for this stuff. Wait until I'm done, OK?"
"OK papa!" Charlotte answered.
While Hikaru paid, Charlotte wandered outside of the store to look around and wait, making sure she stayed in his line of sight of her dad, so she does not worry about it. It's going to be alright.
Meanwhile, Magnus, bored at home, so he decided to go out. He decided to go to the mall nearby, maybe he would buy something or he would just look around. He didn't find anything interesting in the first few stores, but he kept going. Maybe he will find something. He looked ahead and saw very familiar black hair. At first, he thought he was going crazy, but as few people got out of the way, it was clear that he, in fact, wasn't going crazy and that it was really Charlotte. He quickly made his way to her, and as he came closer, she finally turned around and noticed him.
"Magnus!" A smile was forming on her face as she greeted him.
"Hey kid, what are you doing here?" Magnus asked curiously, kneeling down.
"I'm here with my dad. We are getting some stuff before we go to the park." Charlotte explained.
"Is that so?" He got a positive nod from her as Magnus asked. He was about to say something as he heard a voice calling Charlotte. A kind of a familiar voice.
"Charlie, how many times did I tell you not to run off?" Charlotte giggled.
"Sorry papa!"
Magnus looked up, lifting his eyes from Charlotte to the man, and the realization hit him like a like a million bricks. Oh.
Oh.
How did he not think of him? He was the only person he considered a rival after no rivals. The person who Charlotte takes her looks after, the man Charlotte reminded him of from the start. Magnus even did a trivia for this man's birthday, and yet he still couldn't remember. He was speechless, a million thoughts racing through his mind as he stared at the man before him and asking himself a question: How could he forget?
How did he not see it before?