4 An Apology

Tokyo, Japan,

Hayes Residence,

Samuel POV,

Samuel looked at what had been his home for 12 years with a nostalgic smile on his face, it was surprising his parents hadn't moved at all but then again, they were a bit too formal for their own good. The house itself was nothing too special, the average modern home, two floors with rooms on the upper one and the living room, and kitchen on the lower one. Of course, both floors had bathrooms as well.

He took a deep breath and walked up to the door, pausing for a moment before knocking on it lightly. It was night time right now so they could be asleep maybe.... or not seeing as he could hear hurried footsteps as soon as he knocked. Not a few seconds later the door was opened and a woman with black hair and blue eyes came into view, despite her unique eyes the rest of her appearance was fairly plain, she wore a green blouse and blue loose fitting pants.

Her eyes shone in excitement, some tears formed as she looked at her son, one she had barely been able to visit while he was in prison, true whatever he might have done was wrong, extremely so but nonetheless, he was her first child and she loved him as much as a mother could. "Sammy.." she said looking at him.

Samuel in response, raised his hand waving it awkwardly with a small smile, "How's it... going, mom?" he asked unsure of himself, ....this was pretty awkward wasn't it? At the same time, he lamented not being able to hug her as he did like a child. "It's alright....come in." she said a bit disappointed as she opened the door and walked into the living room.

Her name was Mei Hayes and she was the one who was of actual Japanese descent, she used to have a job but now she was a housewife. His father wasn't quite a foreigner either, the foreigner in their family was his grandfather hence the family name. Samuel nodded at her following behind her with his head down, his family were the few people in front of whom even he had no courage and would respect no matter what.

He had come home from...prison and this surely wasn't an amazing occasion with his already somewhat distant relationship with his family.

He walked into the living room to see his father sitting at the table with his hands folded, he was a fairly tall and bulky man who had glasses, he wore a simple t-shirt and jeans, the whole boomer look if you would. Ren Hayes, named by his Japanese mother, and would have been bullied in school if he wasn't a delinquent back then. He ran a company that could be considered fairly large and as such, money wasn't quite the problem for their house.

He stared at Samuel who had his head down as he walked into the room, having taken off his shoes earlier. "Samuel." He said seriously, he had no idea how to welcome his son back home. Mei went and stood behind her husband, a hand on his shoulder to reassure him and looked at Samuel who had his head down still.

But then what he did next made them widen their eyes in shock. Samuel went on his knees, doing a seiza and placing one hand on either knee before bowing his head as much as he could to the point where his forehead almost touched the ground, "I....am sorry for all I've done, I'll understand if you dislike me now too. I've stained your reputation with my actions and on top of that, I've also disappointed you." he said seriously, his tone suggested that he was fully sorry about his actions, he did truly feel sorry after all.

"This....isn't what you hoped for when raising me and all I can do...is apologise." He said with difficulty with a self deprecating smile on his face, this was to be expected after all. Learning that martial art was a choice he made, and what had happened was a consequence of said choice, the blame completely lay on him.

"Samuel." his father's serious voice made him stop apologising and await their words prepared to hear insults, scolding or whatever they wanted to say. "I think you're misunderstanding something." Ren said standing up with a serious expression on his face.... this was completely unexpected.. he did not expect his son to behave like this at all. He expected him to cry or be joyous but to apologise so earnestly...

Neither he nor his wife wanted to insult or scold him, they had barely refrained from throwing a party and splurging to welcome them back, they were proud of him more than anything, even their own personal achievements. He had always been at the top of his class before his unfortunate accident and somewhat looked out for others as well.

Samuel tightened his grip and closed his eyes, "We aren't disappointed or angry... You're our damn son. What the hell were you even thinking?" a few veins popped out on Ren's forehead, angry at the fact he had made his son think like that, they were already aware of his mental condition, what happened then was a complete accident, something he had no control over.... Had he been torn up about it for all those years?

"I..." Samuel, taken aback, looked up at them trying to say something but unable to form any form of word or sentence, "I.." his parents who had been formal were like this?....

His mother had teared up looking at him with her mouth covered and his father had placed his glasses to the side and was rubbing his forehead to calm himself down. Mei, unable to hold herself back any longer, threw herself at her son, hugging him tightly in a fairly awkward position. Samuel had his eyes wide in surprise, unable to understand what was going on.

"You..idiot son of mine." she said slightly sobbing as she hugged him tighter and tighter, "Mom isn't angry at you at all." she reassured him worried about him, "Did anyone in there bully you or anything?" she asked worriedly, she would make sure to do something about any such people so long as it was within her power.

"I....sorry." Samuel said simply, unable to come up with much else, he had no idea they would react like this. Ren had a small smile on his face as he looked at his wife and son, further surprising Samuel who had rarely seen his father showing an actual expression. "Welcome back." he said, putting on his glasses.