Note: Ririko (Riri) is deathday1313's OC and does not belong to me. Permission was given to use the character in this story. Thanks deathday for that! :)
I'd never had a reason to call somebody dad before. I wasn't even sure how to call somebody that. To me, before I was adopted and the first couple months after I was adopted, it just sounded weird and I didn't want to do it. I'm 23 right and whenever Dad calls, it goes something like this:
-"Hi Rei, it's me." (that's dad.)
-"Hey… Dad. (that's me.) How's… Pops."
All awkward, ya know? 'Cause it's weird.
Not that Pops cares what I call him. Father woulda been a better name, in hindsight, cause he's one a those types. Pops is cold. He's a real hardass. He's a harsh motherfucker. OH!- uh. Can you not tell him I said that…. Thanks. Hey, stop laughing. I'm serious, please don't tell Pops that I called him a motherfucker.
Yeh, imma 23 year old, grown-ass adult who's afraid of his Papa finding out that he called him a motherfucker.
I'm not stupid.
Yeah. What was that? Oh. I didn't call them Dad and Pops right away. It took a while for me to warm up to the idea that they were my parents, let alone the idea that I actually had parents. When I was fourteen, which is the age when I was adopted, Dad was always "Mr. Onodera." And Pops was always "Mr. Takano." Dad thought me calling them "dad" and "papa" was important and pushed for it, but Pops told him to give me time. He was fair that way.
I always thought the last names thing was weird, you know like how they put the last names first in Japan. Sorry, I'm just thinkin about that now and… what's your first name, Mr. Yokozawa?
Taka- what?
… I'm not laughing. No, of course not.
…
Wait, I'm not Rei Onodera. Who told you that was my name?
I mean, obviously I'm his kid. Obviously. Of course. Yeah. I have a copy of the adoption papers somewhere back at my office to prove it, to back me up.
If you're gonna say something like, "Respect your elders, Onodera Rei", then say my name. It's Tanaka Rei.
Wait, no it's not. It's Rei Tanaka, 'cause I'm from New York and we don't do that shit. The name is just. The name. It's just a name.
That's why we never got it changed over, even after the adoption- names are stupid, meaningless, weird. It has nothing to do with anything else. Um.
When I was fourteen, I was Tanaka-Chan to , y'know what it was… Usagi, my tutor, always called me Takano-Chan when I went to study with him. He didn't know any better at the time. Pops was always the one to drop me off at tutoring, so he always assumed I was a Takano. I was Takano-Chan when I went over, Takano-Chan do this, Takano-Chan, study harder. Takano-Chan all the time.
It surprised me at first. But I remember bein cool with it.
What? Who are you, fuckin' Freud now, Takafumi?
How did that make me feel? Seriously?
What?
I am calm. Shut up.
…how did that make me feel…. I guess I just liked the name. It made me feel warm n' fuzzy on the inside.
I didn't have anything in common with Papa. We were so different. That's why we got into fights all the time. Not fist fights. Those were with different people. God, Riri hated me getting into fights, but she never told Dad or Papa. I remember Dad saying, "Masamune! Masamune! Leave the boy alone, he's just a kid!" And Pops going, "He shouldn't talk to his father like that, RItsu." It was his fault, anyway. But I guess I shouldn't have picked so many fights with my old man. I was already disconnected by blood, and the fights distanced us even more.
I have 2 siblings that are closer to Pops than I am. Ask anybody, they belong to that family. Usagi's boyfriend, Misaki, always talked about how much Riri and Nagi looked like Dad. I didn't get any comments like that. Ririko and Nagisa are both younger than me but they were adopted before me, so technically I'm the last one, the last kid, you see how that works…? Both're Onoderas 'cause Dad's father owns some book company… I dunno. It's called Onodera Publishing. It's just a really successful company. Having the name to back them up doesn't hurt their reputations.
Yeah. Apparently it's that big of a deal.
You heard of them?
Yeah, apparently everybody but me knows about my own Dad's company's rep.
Riri is like… God, how old is she now? I don't remember. I have to call her later. She was adopted too, just like me, but she's from Australia. God, I poked fun at her for that for a while. She picked up on Japanese faster'n I did though…. 'cause she's a girl.
That's what Papa always said.
NO- Y'know what sucks? When your Papa makes you repeat everything you say if you accidentally say it in English around him. Papa wanted me to learn Japanese fast. Papa's always like, "Say it in Japanese." Even now. I'm 23 friggin' years old, and whenever we talk on the phone he makes me talk in only Japanese. He wouldn't let me talk, damnit. Back then I coulda said, "Papa, I killed a man," and he would have said, "Say it in Japanese, Rei. Say it back to me in Japanese. It's the only way you're gonna learn."
… stop snickering. What's so funny?
It sounds just like him?
I guess….
He would always do that to me. Never to Riri, who didn't know more Japanese than I did back when I was fourteen and she was seven. Riri was the favorite. 'Cause she's a cute girl n' shit. Dad was right about her bein' smart 'cause she's smart and not just 'cause she's a girl, but she was the favorite no matter what anybody says.
And Nagi was the other favorite but for a different reason. As their first boy and as their first genetically related kid, he was special. He was a test tube baby and it made him a fuckin superstar. I got so sick of it. Nagi this, Nagi that. I got so fuckin' sick and tired of Nagi. One kid can only get so much attention…
… or lack thereof….
Nah, I didn't say nothing.
So, yeah. I came in late, I wasn't an Onodera, I didn't speak the language, I didn't belong. So I was a bitter kid.
Bein bitter is so exhausting, let me tell you…. You look like you know what I'm talkin' about, Takafumi.
Hell yeah I'm a smartass.
I hated being the last one adopted. I wanted to run away. I guess I still am running away in my own way. Sometimes I tell Dad that I'm busy when he calls me, and then I spend the rest of the day watching Adventure Time reruns with the kids. Don't tell him I said that.
Well, I'm just sayin, if you know Pops then you probably know Dad too, right?You worked with-? When?! When were you gonna tell me this?
… ah. I didn't know he used to work at Marukawa. That's where Pops used to work. He used to take me, Riri, and Nagi there sometimes….
Actually… I think Shiro's dad works at Marukawa now. Do you know him? His name is Misaki Takahashi…?
Oh. And you're his boss, huh? Weird.
No, no, a cool weird. Sorry Takafumi. What were we talkin' about? Um… god, I can't even remember. It's like, you know, god this is hard to explain.
When I started callin' them Dad and Pops, I forgot that there was a time when I didn't. I'm tryin', I'm tryin'. Dad was adamant about me callin him proper, and he was as much if not more adamant about me callin Pops proper. I was more or less forced into it.
… you have that look on your face…
Goddamnit Takafumi, don't go Freud on me again. I swear to fuckin' god. Don't ask me how it makes me feel.
Stop laughing. Jesus fucking Christ. What's so funny?
Look, it makes me feel like shit, okay? Not being Takano-Chan, not being a Takano, not being an Onodera, even if it is just a name, is terrifying. I spent so much time growing up as their son, but I'm still terrified that I'm not really their son. It's so stupid right 'cause it's just a name, right, but-
Fuck.
…
I'm leavin