The day Iruma was to start kindergarten, Delkira was an anxious wreck. He adjusted Iruma's tiny backpack for the tenth time, his hands trembling slightly.
"Are you sure you have everything? Your lunch? Your drawing crayons?"
Iruma just beamed up at him, his excitement a palpable thing.
"I'm ready, Dada!"
Delkira's heart ached with a familiar fear. After what had happened, he wanted to lock Iruma in their home, to never let him out of his sight.
But he knew that wasn't what Kyoko would have wanted. She wanted a normal life for their son, a life full of friends and laughter and learning.
He would give him that, even if it meant enduring this constant, gnawing fear. He would walk Iruma to the school gates, and as Iruma disappeared inside, Delkira would simply turn invisible and stand guard, a silent, unseen guardian watching over his son.