Otousan
The group of six girls was around a low table, sitting on pillows. Books and papers were all over, as they were all studying. Four of them had a mid-year exam coming up, one was studying just for the hell of it, and the other had tagged along. She was almost asleep now, her pink hair mussed out of its unusual odango fashion from her leaning her head on the table. Two cats observed the followings from the windowsill, their tails intertwined.
"Ami, I don't get it."
"Usagi," the girl responded, looking up from over the edge of a textbook. "It's actually very simple." She stood up, walking around the table to her friend. She sat down next to the blonde girl. "You see, in this equation the 'a' would be 3, 'b' is -5, and 'c' is 10. Then, you write over here... are you paying attention?... X equals 'b' plus or minus... Usagi, you're not paying attention!"
"Ami, just let me fail again."
"Usagi, you learned this last year! Don't tell me that you don't remember!" Ami was very vexed at this point. She had no patience right now. Not with everything that was happening to her family.
"I don't get it either, Ami." The other blonde girl spoke up. Her hair was held back out of her face with a red ribbon. "It's all just numbers and letters. It doesn't make any sense."
"Minako, not you too. You get it, don't you, Mako?" She turned to the brown-haired girl who was shaking her head. "Argh! You're all hopeless!" She stormed out of the room.
"Ami-chan! AMI-CHAN!" Usagi's calling had no effect. "What's wrong with her? She's been grouchy for the past few days."
"Well," The girl with long black hair spoke now, "if she hasn't told us yet, then maybe she doesn't want us to know. We shouldn't bug her because of it."
"But..."
"Rei's right." Makoto was speaking. "She'd tell us if something was really wrong. And hey, everyone goes through phases where they're mad all the time. She'll get over it."
"Yeah, Usagi. Maybe... I don't know. Maybe her fish died."
"But I was at her house yesterday and it was alive. Maybe she's just mad because all of her friends are bad at school."
"But she's always been very tolerant about your grades." It was Rei speaking now, of course; she, unlike Usagi, Minako, and Makoto, was doing well in school.
It was then that the other person in the room woke up. She was groggy for a few moments. The four girls had stopped their arguing, knowing that the girl hated it.
"Usagi," the girl asked, still partially asleep, "Where'd Ami go?"
"Well... she had to go home for dinner, Chibi-usa-chan." It was not Usagi speaking, but Makoto, who was best at coming up with things like this.
"Speaking of which, mom wanted us home by seven. We're having a big family dinner tonight." Usagi stood up, her long blonde pigtails finally stretching out and reaching almost to the floor.
"Okay." Chibi-usa stood up and walked over to her "cousin." "What's mom making tonight?"
"I don't know. Rei," She turned to the black-haired girl, "Thanks for having us over."
Rei nodded. "Anytime, Usagi-chan." She turned to help the other two girls with the formula.
Ami sat on her bed and sighed. She didn't feel like doing her homework tonight. It was quite an unusual feeling. She just wanted to sleep.
She buried her face in her pillow, hearing two voices downstairs. Her mom and her mom's boyfriend; she knew his voice by now. Sure, she has enough time for him, but.... Ami hadn't seen her mother all day. She didn't even know if her mom knew she was home. She had had to cook dinner tonight, which ended up being a microwave dinner. She had eaten it while attempting her Math homework. Papa... why did you have to do this? Why do you have to screw things up? The phone rung, so she picked it up and put it to her ear and mouth.
"Moshi-moshi. Kore, Mizuno no ie desu. Ami desu." (2)
"Ami? Hi! I haven't seen you in forever...."
She couldn't place the voice. "Who is this?"
"I'd think you'd recognize your father's voice... but we haven't seen each other in... how long has it been?"
Ami sighed. "Ten years. At least."
"Well, I'm coming by in a few days, you know. I'll be staying with you, so we can catch up on everything. I can't believe it's been ten years since I've seen my own daughter." Why couldn't you have just stayed away?
"Papa-san?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you... for your postcards and drawings. I have them on my wall." Ami looked up to the beautiful sketches above her desk. Many of them had water in them. There was a beautiful one deep in the ocean, and there was a mermaid in it. It wasn't coloured, but Ami had always imagined her with a green-blue fin, and dark blue hair like her own. The sketch was slightly rough in some places, so she couldn't tell if the mermaid had short hair or if it was pulled back in some way.
"Ami-chan?"
"Hai?"
"I have to go. I'll see you soon, though. Shitsurei shimasu (3)."
"Sayonara...." (4) She heard the phone click on the other end. She put the phone down on the receiver.
After a moment of pondering, she picked up the phone again. She dialed a familiar number.
"Moshi-moshi." (1)
"Moshi-moshi, Mako-chan." (1)
"Aa, Ami-chan! What's up?"
"Makoto... I have to talk to someone about something and... well, you'd know most about this, I guess, and best to talk to."
Makoto briefly wondered if this was what was bugging Ami so much lately. "Sure. What's wrong?"
"Can I just come over or something? I need to just get out of the house right now."
"My apartment's a mess."
"I'm sorry... did I interrupt you when you were cleaning?"
"No. I'm doing that this weekend."
"Do you want to go somewhere else?"
"Sure. Wanna meet at the fountain in the park?"
"Alright. In about ten minutes?"
Ami nodded, even though Makoto wouldn't be able to see her actions over the phone. "Alright."
Ami put on her coat over her light blue tee shirt and overalls. As she was on her way out the door, she grabbed her brown loafers. "Mama! I'm going for a walk."
She didn't even wait to see if the woman would respond.
The elevator was empty when she went to the ground floor of the condo building. There was a marble entranceway, which was scratched from so many people walking on it. The red carpet with various pieces of furniture around made it look like an expensive hotel.
She walked by all of this. It was familiar. There was nothing ever different in this building: The owner's dog always was behind the counter, making a racket; there was a group of teenagers hanging out on some of the couches; slow music could barely be heard because of the noise in the room. She walked past all of it until she reached the door. She didn't pause there for longer than it took to open the door and step outside. It was about a ten-minute walk to the park, and so she let her mind wander.
Makoto was sitting on the marble bench around the fountain. Every once in a while a few drops would splash up onto her coat, but she didn't notice them through the thick dark brown fabric. Underneath her coat she wore a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved dark green shirt. She pulled the collar of her jacket up around her neck. Doing that exposed the area between the ends of the sleeves of the jacket and her pink mittens, so she brought her hands to her lap.
"Makoto!"
"Aa, Ami-chan!" Makoto looked at the girl who sat down next to her. "So, what's wrong?" She watched as Ami looked to the ground.
"Papa is visiting soon."
"But... that's great! I mean... Isn't it?"
Ami looked up at her friend. "Mama and I have gotten by fine for the past ten years without him. And... I don't really know him. Mama has a boyfriend now, too. And it's no secret that she had an affair when she and Papa were married."
Ami felt hands on her shoulders. "Look at me, Ami. Spend all of the time with your parents that you can. Because once they're gone, you will wish every day that you could just talk to them one last time. To tell them that you love them. Don't waste this time that you can have with them. Trust me."
Ami leaned forward and hugged her friend. "Arigatou, Mako-chan." (5)
"Ohisashiburi desu ne...." (6)
===============
GLOSSARY
(1) Moshi-moshi. - Hello (telephone greeting)
(2) Moshi-moshi. Kore, Mizuno no ie desu. Ami desu. - Hello (telephone greeting). This is the Mizuno house. [this is] Ami speaking. (lit. Hello. This is the Mizuno's house. [This] is Ami.)
(3) Shitsurei shimasu. - Goodbye (lit. Excuse me)
(4) Sayonara - Goodbye
(5) Arigatou, Mako-chan - Thank you, Makoto.
(6) Ohisashiburi desu ne.... - I haven't seen you for a long time.
Okay, don't ask what inspired this, because I don't know. However, BSSM and all related characters and all that good stuff aren't mine. They're Takeuchi Naoko-sama's. And Kodansya, too, I think. And maybe other people. TOEI? I'm not sure. But I'm sure that they know who they are and all that good stuff.
The group of six girls was around a low table, sitting on pillows. Books and papers were all over, as they were all studying. Four of them had a mid-year exam coming up, one was studying just for the hell of it, and the other had tagged along. She was almost asleep now, her pink hair mussed out of its unusual odango fashion from her leaning her head on the table. Two cats observed the followings from the windowsill, their tails intertwined.
"Ami, I don't get it."
"Usagi," the girl responded, looking up from over the edge of a textbook. "It's actually very simple." She stood up, walking around the table to her friend. She sat down next to the blonde girl. "You see, in this equation the 'a' would be 3, 'b' is -5, and 'c' is 10. Then, you write over here... are you paying attention?... X equals 'b' plus or minus... Usagi, you're not paying attention!"
"Ami, just let me fail again."
"Usagi, you learned this last year! Don't tell me that you don't remember!" Ami was very vexed at this point. She had no patience right now. Not with everything that was happening to her family.
"I don't get it either, Ami." The other blonde girl spoke up. Her hair was held back out of her face with a red ribbon. "It's all just numbers and letters. It doesn't make any sense."
"Minako, not you too. You get it, don't you, Mako?" She turned to the brown-haired girl who was shaking her head. "Argh! You're all hopeless!" She stormed out of the room.
"Ami-chan! AMI-CHAN!" Usagi's calling had no effect. "What's wrong with her? She's been grouchy for the past few days."
"Well," The girl with long black hair spoke now, "if she hasn't told us yet, then maybe she doesn't want us to know. We shouldn't bug her because of it."
"But..."
"Rei's right." Makoto was speaking. "She'd tell us if something was really wrong. And hey, everyone goes through phases where they're mad all the time. She'll get over it."
"Yeah, Usagi. Maybe... I don't know. Maybe her fish died."
"But I was at her house yesterday and it was alive. Maybe she's just mad because all of her friends are bad at school."
"But she's always been very tolerant about your grades." It was Rei speaking now, of course; she, unlike Usagi, Minako, and Makoto, was doing well in school.
It was then that the other person in the room woke up. She was groggy for a few moments. The four girls had stopped their arguing, knowing that the girl hated it.
"Usagi," the girl asked, still partially asleep, "Where'd Ami go?"
"Well... she had to go home for dinner, Chibi-usa-chan." It was not Usagi speaking, but Makoto, who was best at coming up with things like this.
"Speaking of which, mom wanted us home by seven. We're having a big family dinner tonight." Usagi stood up, her long blonde pigtails finally stretching out and reaching almost to the floor.
"Okay." Chibi-usa stood up and walked over to her "cousin." "What's mom making tonight?"
"I don't know. Rei," She turned to the black-haired girl, "Thanks for having us over."
Rei nodded. "Anytime, Usagi-chan." She turned to help the other two girls with the formula.
Ami sat on her bed and sighed. She didn't feel like doing her homework tonight. It was quite an unusual feeling. She just wanted to sleep.
She buried her face in her pillow, hearing two voices downstairs. Her mom and her mom's boyfriend; she knew his voice by now. Sure, she has enough time for him, but.... Ami hadn't seen her mother all day. She didn't even know if her mom knew she was home. She had had to cook dinner tonight, which ended up being a microwave dinner. She had eaten it while attempting her Math homework. Papa... why did you have to do this? Why do you have to screw things up? The phone rung, so she picked it up and put it to her ear and mouth.
"Moshi-moshi. Kore, Mizuno no ie desu. Ami desu." (2)
"Ami? Hi! I haven't seen you in forever...."
She couldn't place the voice. "Who is this?"
"I'd think you'd recognize your father's voice... but we haven't seen each other in... how long has it been?"
Ami sighed. "Ten years. At least."
"Well, I'm coming by in a few days, you know. I'll be staying with you, so we can catch up on everything. I can't believe it's been ten years since I've seen my own daughter." Why couldn't you have just stayed away?
"Papa-san?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you... for your postcards and drawings. I have them on my wall." Ami looked up to the beautiful sketches above her desk. Many of them had water in them. There was a beautiful one deep in the ocean, and there was a mermaid in it. It wasn't coloured, but Ami had always imagined her with a green-blue fin, and dark blue hair like her own. The sketch was slightly rough in some places, so she couldn't tell if the mermaid had short hair or if it was pulled back in some way.
"Ami-chan?"
"Hai?"
"I have to go. I'll see you soon, though. Shitsurei shimasu (3)."
"Sayonara...." (4) She heard the phone click on the other end. She put the phone down on the receiver.
After a moment of pondering, she picked up the phone again. She dialed a familiar number.
"Moshi-moshi." (1)
"Moshi-moshi, Mako-chan." (1)
"Aa, Ami-chan! What's up?"
"Makoto... I have to talk to someone about something and... well, you'd know most about this, I guess, and best to talk to."
Makoto briefly wondered if this was what was bugging Ami so much lately. "Sure. What's wrong?"
"Can I just come over or something? I need to just get out of the house right now."
"My apartment's a mess."
"I'm sorry... did I interrupt you when you were cleaning?"
"No. I'm doing that this weekend."
"Do you want to go somewhere else?"
"Sure. Wanna meet at the fountain in the park?"
"Alright. In about ten minutes?"
Ami nodded, even though Makoto wouldn't be able to see her actions over the phone. "Alright."
Ami put on her coat over her light blue tee shirt and overalls. As she was on her way out the door, she grabbed her brown loafers. "Mama! I'm going for a walk."
She didn't even wait to see if the woman would respond.
The elevator was empty when she went to the ground floor of the condo building. There was a marble entranceway, which was scratched from so many people walking on it. The red carpet with various pieces of furniture around made it look like an expensive hotel.
She walked by all of this. It was familiar. There was nothing ever different in this building: The owner's dog always was behind the counter, making a racket; there was a group of teenagers hanging out on some of the couches; slow music could barely be heard because of the noise in the room. She walked past all of it until she reached the door. She didn't pause there for longer than it took to open the door and step outside. It was about a ten-minute walk to the park, and so she let her mind wander.
Makoto was sitting on the marble bench around the fountain. Every once in a while a few drops would splash up onto her coat, but she didn't notice them through the thick dark brown fabric. Underneath her coat she wore a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved dark green shirt. She pulled the collar of her jacket up around her neck. Doing that exposed the area between the ends of the sleeves of the jacket and her pink mittens, so she brought her hands to her lap.
"Makoto!"
"Aa, Ami-chan!" Makoto looked at the girl who sat down next to her. "So, what's wrong?" She watched as Ami looked to the ground.
"Papa is visiting soon."
"But... that's great! I mean... Isn't it?"
Ami looked up at her friend. "Mama and I have gotten by fine for the past ten years without him. And... I don't really know him. Mama has a boyfriend now, too. And it's no secret that she had an affair when she and Papa were married."
Ami felt hands on her shoulders. "Look at me, Ami. Spend all of the time with your parents that you can. Because once they're gone, you will wish every day that you could just talk to them one last time. To tell them that you love them. Don't waste this time that you can have with them. Trust me."
Ami leaned forward and hugged her friend. "Arigatou, Mako-chan." (5)
"Ohisashiburi desu ne...." (6)
===============
GLOSSARY
(1) Moshi-moshi. - Hello (telephone greeting)
(2) Moshi-moshi. Kore, Mizuno no ie desu. Ami desu. - Hello (telephone greeting). This is the Mizuno house. [this is] Ami speaking. (lit. Hello. This is the Mizuno's house. [This] is Ami.)
(3) Shitsurei shimasu. - Goodbye (lit. Excuse me)
(4) Sayonara - Goodbye
(5) Arigatou, Mako-chan - Thank you, Makoto.
(6) Ohisashiburi desu ne.... - I haven't seen you for a long time.
Okay, don't ask what inspired this, because I don't know. However, BSSM and all related characters and all that good stuff aren't mine. They're Takeuchi Naoko-sama's. And Kodansya, too, I think. And maybe other people. TOEI? I'm not sure. But I'm sure that they know who they are and all that good stuff.