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When Souji came back with his friends from Junes, sat down next to Dojima’s hospital cot and explained what had happened, Dojima felt like his mind was short-circuiting. There was too much to feel all at once. Betrayed, and by the partner who was too incompetent to properly brew coffee, no less. Anger at himself for not realizing, not until his daughter was already hurt and barely holding on hooked up to drips and monitors. Confusion, and concern for his nephew's wellbeing, as Souji tentatively described a world inside the TV filled with murderous shadows.
After all of that, he one thing that really gave him pause came after several minutes of silence, Souji suddenly sitting up.
"I forgot, I have to go get Adachi's rabbit…"
Seeing the way his uncle stared at him, Souji explained Adachi’s sudden request at the end, to rehome the rabbit left alone in his small apartment, before it starved in its cage. Apparently Adachi had suggested giving it to Nanako.
"I know you and her will be in the hospital for a few more weeks, but I can set it up at ho… your house and care for it until I need to return to my parents. Hopefully you and Nanako will be out before then…"
Dojima was too worn out to really process anything he just heard, let alone argue. Souji left with a promise to stock the fridge with vegetables, and Dojima fell into an exhausted sleep.
*
Three months later and Souji had left Inaba, while Nanako and Dojima had returned to some semblance of normal daily life. Nanako still dealt with daily fatigue and sudden headaches, not to mention nightmares. She mostly stayed in the house, a home tutor coming over every other day so she didn’t fall too far behind with school. When she wasn’t moored inside by bone-deep exhaustion, she eagerly pushed her (possibly more exhausted) father for outings to the park or Junes.
With the absence of Souji was the addition of a new family member: a small rabbit with sleek brown fur. Nanako had taken to her instantly, naming her Mocha. She began to spend much of her day in the small backyard or side-garden, content to watch the rabbit hop around and nibble on clover.
The doctor that Nanako had weekly appointments with thought it was a great idea. Animals could be wonderful therapy after trauma, and rabbits were low-key enough to not risk either injury or over-exertion on Nanako’s part.
Of course, the task of cleaning the thing's cage fell on Dojima. Nanako was eager to help, but he worried about her getting sick, or having a dizzy spell and spilling soiled paper and wood-chips all over. (Not that Dojima had not done this himself, but the cage was near the back door thankfully, the mess easily swept out into the yard.)
Nanako did have one job all her own, and that was feeding Mocha. She took a great deal of pride in this. She meticulously washed the serving bowls every morning, filling them with fresh pellets and water. She cleaned and chopped the vegetables that they had started to grow in the garden again, hand feeding Mocha, always pointing out how cute her lips and nose wiggled while eating.
It was not rare for Dojima to see an empty rabbit cage and living room, only to find both pet and daughter laying on the back porch, curled around each other, sleeping in the warm sun, or Nanako rubbing the ears and neck of a drowsing Mocha, staring off with unfocused eyes.
*
"Mocha used to be Mr. Adachi's rabbit, right?"
Thankfully he didn't flinch upon hearing that man's name from his daughter. Dojima was forever unsure how to approach the subject of his missing partner to his daughter. He had visited Adachi a few times, in the prison hospital ward that the prefectural police had sent him to, but it was around an hour's train ride out of town in a more populated area. He couldn't stand to leave Nanako home for too long without him, even with her tutor or a neighbor, or one of Souji's friends. (Good kids, they still came by to play with Nanako and give her gifts, sometimes helped Dojima with house chores.)
"That's what Souji said. He wanted someone to take care of her, since he's… going to be in the hospital for a pretty long time."
Nanako gently rocked a calm and patient Mocha, cradled in her arms, gazing down at her silently, lips pressed firm. Sometimes Dojima caught his seven-year-old daughter looking much too serious for her age, and could almost feel his heart seizing up.
"Can me and Mocha go with you to visit Mr. Adachi next time?" She looked a little unsure, a little apprehensive about asking.
"It's not really the kind of hospital anyone can just go to… Especially kids. I'm even less sure about Mocha."
"Hmm… What if we write him a letter? And I can draw a picture of Mocha, and tell him about how she is because he's probably worried about her… Oh, or, can we take a picture with your phone and you can show him that? Because she's a lot bigger than when we got her, so I bet he'll be excited to see!"
He hesitated. His daughter was practically radiating joy, bouncing in her seat, so proud about her idea to bring Adachi some form of comfort. Dojima had only just learned the kind of vitriol Adachi was capable of, in the last few months. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear Adachi’s scathing remarks about the rabbit. He didn’t want to hear what Adachi had to say about Nanako (he had imagined countless conversations in his head already, and they were never worth the energy spent on them.) She was a subject they purposefully avoided during his visits- mostly the time was spent with Adachi talking at Dojima, complaining about the strictness of the prison, the long list of rules to follow, and everyone treating him like a “dangerous sociopath who will go postal at any moment.”
But Nanako was in front of him, her smile fading the longer he took to answer, gaze and smile turning down as she fingered the hem of her shirt.
Dojima sighed.
"The photo sounds like a good idea. Do you want me to help you write a letter?"
Her face beamed, smile impossible wide as she hugged Mocha close and hopped up next to him on the couch. Dojima smiled back with relief.
"Yeah! And, and, can we use the stick app on your phone too? Or, or! I can dress Mocha up in a ribbon! And take pictures of her house, and her in the garden, and…"
Nanako was smiling and laughing. Dojima’s world had never felt more at peace.