~Toshinori's POV~

After the funeral and getting Amy's stuff packed up and shipped, we returned to my home. Most of her injuries had been superficial and were mostly healed. She'd undergone a minor surgery in the hospital due to some debris that had impaled her in the abdomen. The area was still tender but she'd finally gotten her stitches removed. It had been a month since I'd brought her home and she still hadn't said a word. If it weren't for the nights where she'd cry out for Ayumi in her sleep, I'd have thought she'd somehow turned mute. I reached out to my best friend, a police detective by the name of Naomasa Tsukauchi. He had a lot of experience dealing with trauma victims and following up with them. I rarely got to see the victims I saved after all was said and done, so I didn't have as much of an understanding of what they went through.

Naomasa said it wasn't uncommon for people who had undergone something traumatic such as an accident or losing a loved one to become psychologically mute. If it wasn't the accident that had traumatized her then it was fair to assume it was survivor's guilt. It took time for them to recover. I just had to be patient and understanding. Having one sided conversations was difficult and trying but I knew it was only temporary and that thought kept me feeling optimistic.

Now that I had a daughter to take care of, perhaps it was a good time to slow down on the justicing. I could only use One for All for a limited number of hours a day and it seemed like with each passing day the time limit was getting a fraction shorter. How long until I wouldn't be able to use it at all? It was time to focus on finding my successor. While I'd been thinking of stepping out of the spot light, I received an offer from my Alma Mater, UA, to become a teacher. I wasn't sure I was quite ready but the principal, Nezu, assured me I could start whenever I felt I was ready whether it was this year, the following year or any year after that. It would be a good fall back plan and if I didn't find my successor on my own, UA would be a good pool to pull from.

I managed to get Amy enrolled into a middle school, though I wasn't sure if she was enjoying it or not since she wasn't speaking. When I returned home from a long day of justicing and trying to learn how to be a parent, I found Amy with her head in a book half slumped on the table. She appeared to have fallen asleep in the middle of her homework, probably from her restless nights of crying for her mother.

I placed my hand on her shoulder trying to wake her gently not wanting to startle her. "Amy?"

She stirred awake, her bright blue eyes fluttering open. Her eyes were momentarily filled with hope before she recognized her surroundings and dulled. I was starting to think whenever she woke up she hoped everything had been a dream and she was back at home, it was heartbreaking to watch. A small yawn escaped her as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"You alright?" I asked her worried.

She nodded.

I tried not to let it show how disheartening it was that she still hadn't spoken to me, but it was difficult. It felt like I was failing her. I was at a loss for what to do to make her more comfortable here. I'd tried everything I could think of and even enlisted the help of Naomasa's younger sister, Makoto. We set up her room with all her favorite books and plushies. Makoto took her shopping. I'd even put in a few nightlights in hopes it would help her feel safer so she could sleep easier. I had no idea if my efforts were helping or hurting her.

"Is there anything you need, that'll help you sleep at night, a special blanket or...?" I wasn't sure what to do or say.

She thought for a moment before shaking her head.

A sigh escaped me before I could stop myself and I saw a look of guilt and remorse cross her face. She withdrew into herself and I panicked as she started to shut down. "Ah...no, it's okay...I-...uh..." I ran my hand through my hair not knowing how to comfort her and dropped into the chair next to her, "I'm not very good at this, am I?"

She bit her lip and for a moment I thought I was going to have another one-sided conversation before her soft sweet voice sounded, "...you're doing fine..." It was so soft I almost hadn't heard her.

I couldn't help but smile, it had been a month since I'd heard her sweet voice. "That right?"

A small ghost of a smile tugged at her lips and she nodded meekly.

"How is school going?" I asked her curiously as I reached over to give her a pat on the head, she seemed to calm a bit anytime I did it and it always made her smile.

She hesitated. Perhaps she wasn't ready for any big conversations. I'd gotten my first three words, maybe it wasn't a good idea to press my luck with more. "...It was okay..."

Three more words! I remembered Ayumi mentioning she had trouble making friends in her letter. "Have you made any friends?"

She shook her head.

A worrisome thought crossed my mind. I had no idea when her birthday was, what if I missed it?! The color drained from my face, what kind of parent didn't even know when their child's birthday was? Something must have been revealed on my face as Amy looked to me curiously.

"When's your birthday?" I blurted.

"October 1st." She mumbled quietly.

I breathed a sigh of relief, I hadn't missed it. It was the middle of May, so I still had some time. Her gaze fell on me and she watched me carefully. After a moment, she looked like she was battling with herself. A look of frustration crossed her face.

"When's yours?" She asked softly.

A smile lit up my face. This was the most I'd ever heard her say. "June 10th."

She was quiet again. I'd gotten a total of ten words out of her, which was a huge success.

"Are you hungry?" I asked as I looked to the clock on the microwave it was a little past dinner time I'd been out later than I had intended.

She shook her head. Since she arrived, I noticed she didn't eat very much. I'd asked Makoto about it but she told me not to worry too much unless she started to lose weight drastically. It seemed she was done conversing for now.

"Alright...well I'll order something vegetarian in case you change your mind." I smiled and got up from the table in search of a takeout menu.

Before I made it more than a few steps, I felt her small arms encircle me. She must have sensed I was feeling disheartened and helpless. Ayumi was right, as always, she was sharp as a tack. "...thank you..."

My heart was overjoyed at her words. I turned with a smile and hugged her before my body reached its limit in my muscular hero form and dropped to the somewhat scary sullen, sickly, skeletal like form. Amy let out a soft squeak of surprise and took a step away from me. It was the first time she'd seen it since she was usually holed up in her room giving me the silent treatment.

"Ah, sorry about that...I probably should have warned you." I laughed nervously. "It's still me...I just look a little different..." Now probably wasn't a good time to explain things.

She accepted my response with a nod before stepping forward to resume her hug. I saw worry reflected within her bright blue eyes and could see the gears turning. She was working things out. Once she seemed satisfied that I was no longer feeling doubtful of my parenting abilities, she stepped away from me and gathered her school things from the table before retreating toward her bedroom.

"Did you need any help with your homework?" I asked hopefully, trying to spend some more time with her.

"...No..." She paused, noting the helpless look on my face and bit her lip nervously, "...Goodnight...Dad..."

My heart swelled at this and I couldn't, for the life of me, keep a grin off my face. She called me Dad! Tears of joy welled in my eyes as I watched her retreat into her bedroom. The moment she was out of sight I struck a quiet victory pose. "Parenting level, plus one, success!" In the midst of my quiet little victory dance, I noticed Amy's backpack float past me from the table toward her bedroom and turned to find her shaking her head in silent laughter. I straightened up with a nervous laugh. "How much of that did you see?" I chuckled.

Her smile was radiant and instantly made me smile. "Enough." She giggled quietly before retreating to her room once more.

"Parenting level, plus two!" I grinned and felt my heart sing as I heard her soft laughter from within her room. It was such a sweet, gentle sound. It reminded me of Ayumi, though not nearly as loud, it was sweet, bright and instantly warmed me to my core.

After ordering some takeout and making sure I got something vegetarian for Amy in case she changed her mind, I went to check in on her. She was curled up in the window wrapped in a blanket she'd taken from Ayumi's room before we left the US. There was a book in her hand, she liked reading and had hundreds of books lining the shelves of the bookcases in her room.

I smiled and went to wait for the food to arrive. After flipping through a few news stations and listening to a few of the reports, the food arrived. Wondering if Amy had changed her mind, I set the food on the table and went to check in on her again. She hadn't moved very much. The book seemed to have fallen from her hands, she'd dozed off again. Hopefully this was only happening at home and not in class. I stepped into her room, placed the fallen book on her desk and lifted her sleeping form into my arms. She felt so small and fragile in my arms, as I carried her to the bed.

She didn't stir as I tucked her into bed, pulling the warm blankets around her. I leaned forward and kissed the top of her head, "Goodnight Princess." It was what Ayumi called her and though I'd been worried about using it and upsetting her, I couldn't help it. It suited her. Before I left, I turned on the nightlight atop her nightstand. It projected cute little flowers on the ceiling in a soft calming lavender color. Once satisfied she was properly tucked into bed, I returned to the kitchen to eat alone as I had for many years. Perhaps someday soon we'd eat a meal together, like a family.

After a lonely dinner I put the leftovers away in the fridge. There were so many unopened takeout boxes of things I'd ordered in hopes that she would eat them. Perhaps it was a good idea to brush up on my cooking skills. Maybe I could take a class at a local community center or something. There was a single dad's support group that I'd been attending the past few weeks perhaps one of the dads could point me in the right direction. I thought back on Ayumi's letter, she said Amy liked to help out, maybe she liked to cook but was too nervous to ask. Eventually we'd get this family thing figured out and maybe soon she'd open up a bit more.

Video- "The Funeral" By Band of Horses