Dad seemed like he would be a boring person but he wasn't.
Dad could be mean to a lot of people a lot of the time. He could be mean to Sho and everyone else but…but he was nice to her. Well he mostly ignored her but on their days together he was very nice. Like now. They were sitting in bed together eating fries and ketchup. Dad didn't like to eat in the bed, normally, but he would eat in the bed if there was ketchup involved. He loved ketchup. He loved ketchup and her and watching TV in bed with her late at night. That was what they did on their days together. This was something that they had done together when she had been little. She wasn't little anymore. She was ten now, almost eleven, and she still stayed up late with her dad.
She liked spending time with dad. He could be fun….sometimes.
"Do you want to watch another one?" asked Mob. She would have thought, if she didn't know dad, that he wouldn't have liked this show. It was an anime and all the main characters were older kids and also fighting robots had no basis in reality, dad had said, but he liked this. He had said so.
"Yes. Let's see what happens next." Said Dad. He dipped his fry in his ketchup. He held everything up with his powers, he was careful not the ruin the bed, and Mob did the same. She didn't want to get kicked out of the bed. This was nice. Having one day to spend together was nice. Not like how before he had been ignoring her and pretending that she wasn't alive…or before that when he had been smothering her with his love. Well she still got smothered with his love but now she only got smothered with his love for one day a week.
"Ok." Said Mob. She let the episode roll over to the next one. They were watching it in English with Japanese subtitles to see what was different. Dad did that sometimes. He said that it made things more interesting. It just gave Mob a headache but she wasn't going to tell him that. They were having fun together and she didn't want to ruin it.
"This is one of the better theme songs." Said Dad as he finished off the last of their ketchup. He put their ketchup glass off to the side on his nightstand. Mob kept on eating her fries. She would have liked some more ketchup but she didn't say anything. She and dad were having fun and she didn't want to ruin it.
"I think so too. I heard an all English version on YouTube the other day, Hatori showed me, and it was even nicer than this…but I like this too because it's in Japanese and it's easier for me to understand. But I've been practicing my English. I can mostly understand what the people around here are saying. They just have funny accents is all." said Mob
"To them we have strange accents…though yours is more pronounced than mine. That's my fault, though, for not making more of an effort to teach you. I apologize for that, Daughter." Said Suzuki
"It's ok. I already know a lot of English. I know more than some of my friends, anyway. I had to write down a whole recipe in Japanese for Shibata and one time Hatori got lost so I had to be the one to lead up home." Said Mob. There's a flicker in dad's aura, there, and she wondered for a moment if she's said the wrong thing.
"Hatori is the one with the glasses and the skin condition?" asked Dad. Mob wished that people would stop making fun of Hatori's skin. He couldn't help that his skin was the way it was. He was trying to make it better and it didn't seem very nice at all to make fun of people's differences. Dad had weird eyebrows but nobody ever made fun of him about them….well not where Mob could hear. She wouldn't have let anyone make fun of her dad's eyebrows if she had heard. He couldn't his eyebrows just like Hatori couldn't help his skin or Sho couldn't help his scars or she couldn't help that she still looked like a little kid even though she was ten.
"Yes, that's him, but please don't make fun of his skin." Said Mob
"I wasn't making fun of him, I was stating a fact, he has a skin condition. It's very noticeable. If I were making fun of him I would have said that there were entire constellations and galaxies which existed on his face. That's making fun of someone." Said Dad. That made sense…for dad at least. Sometimes he didn't mean to be mean, sometimes he did, and it was hard to tell with him what he did and did not mean. Still, though, it wasn't nice to be mean about something that he couldn't help. He was doing the best he could and his skin looked a lot better these days….and she hoped that when she grew up she didn't have those sorts of skin problems.
"I guess that you didn't mean to make fun of him…but it's still not nice to point out other people's differences. He's my friend so please be nice to him." said Mob. She wasn't in love, or like, with him anymore but they were still friends and she could not just let people make fun of her friends like that…even if they didn't mean to…and even if they were her own dad.
"I'll point out whatever I want to point out…but if it upsets you then I'll make more of an effort to be tactful when talking about your friends." Said Dad. Mob didn't know what tactful meant but she was happy that dad was going to try and make an effort for her. He was always doing things for her. He even said that she could drink so long as she didn't get drunk. Now all she needed to do was figure out how to get him to be nicer to Sho…but not so nice that he let Sho drink. He was too little and also…also he should have been able to control his powers on his own without help. Mob didn't want Sho to ever do the things that she did.
Because he was better at controlling his powers than her.
He had said so many times before that she had been born right and he had been born wrong but in Mob's opinion he had it backwards. He looked like both dad and mom, mostly dad though but without the eyebrows, and also he had been born a boy. Boys got to do whatever they wanted to whenever they wanted to. Mob had to stay with dad for the rest of her life and stuff. Once Sho grew up and ran the world then…then he could be able to do whatever he wanted to. He could rule the whole world and then he could be on his own and he wouldn't have had to spend time with dad….
Not that she didn't love her dad.
She did. She loved him and she knew that he loved her…and she also knew how smothering his love could be. She knew how much love he had to give and she knew what it was like when he gave it all at once. Right now he was keeping his love mostly to himself and only loving her on Sundays. That could change. People thought that dad was boring but he wasn't. He could go from nice to scary, from smothering to gone, in an instant…and it was kind of scary sometimes. Kind of very scary sometimes…and she knew that just because he wasn't scary now that didn't mean that he couldn't just go back to it tomorrow…or even in the next ten seconds…
So in some ways Sho was the lucky one.
Dad hit him and called him names and stuff but at least when Sho grew up he could be done with dad. It would be over when Sho grew up and took over the world when dad was done with it. Mob was stuck with dad for the rest of her life. She had no idea what he would be like when she was a grown up. She knew that he was being nice now but she also knew how fast he could change…and she had no choice but to spend her life with him…because she was Daughter. She was Daughter, not Son, and Sho had been born a boy and he had been born right. He could control his powers so he had been born right. He had been born right and she had been born….Mob….
But it wasn't all bad, at least, sometimes dad could be nice enough to be around. Like now.
"Thank you. I would like that." Said Mob. Dad went back to watching TV but his aura was on her. She didn't know why. She was just eating her fries…well they were called chips here but they weren't chips. She had made these herself in the oven. Shibata had showed her how. Hers came out better than his but that was because she watched the stove. Shibata was always doing too many things at once in the kitchen. Mom had told her, back when she had been showing Mob how to cook, that you shouldn't do too much at once until you were more confident in what you were doing.
Mob thought that she had done a pretty good job on these fries.
Dad had eaten most of them. He had also eaten most of the ketchup. Maybe she should have gotten him ketchup for Valentine's Day. A whole gallon of it. That way he could have it with everything. She wondered if he was thinking about what to get her for White Day since that was coming up too….well it wasn't as close as Valentine's Day but it was coming up….or maybe he would get her a Valentine's Day present since girls got those sorts of presents in this country.
She hoped that he was thinking about presents and holidays and not mean stuff.
"You've been spending time with your new friend, haven't you?" asked Dad. Mob looked away from the TV, not that it was a good idea because Minegishi had said that this show was dense, and over at dad. She wondered, for a moment, if dad was going to go back to the way that he had been before. If he was planning on telling her that she wasn't allowed to see her friends anymore. That she had to stay by his side for the rest of time.
She didn't want that.
She wanted to spend time with him, especially when he was being nice like this, but she didn't want to have to be by his side for the rest of time. She wanted….she wanted to be able to hang out with her friends. She wanted to be able to explore the city. She wanted to be able to play with Sho. She couldn't do any of that when she was with dad for the rest of time. She wouldn't be able to do any grown up stuff when she was with dad, too, not that she even knew what she would do when she was a grown up…but she didn't think that she wanted to spend her whole life with him. She knew that she wanted a boyfriend when she grew up and she knew that dad would never let her have one….
So she really hoped that dad and her stuck to Sundays as being their day. Not every single day of the week for the rest of time.
"Yes. Thank you for letting him come with us. I like hanging out with him a lot." Said Mob. Dad was looking away from her but his aura was still focused on her. She wished that he would just come out with it already. She knew that when he got like this, really quiet with his aura focused on her, and also he was starting to fidget with his powers, that something was on his mind. She wished that he would just come out and say it so she could focus on the show. She needed to know what happened next. She had to know so she would be able to make sense of the ending, Minegishi had said that it was very complicated, but it was hard to focus when dad was staring at her like that.
"He is…only your friend, right? I heard you and your brother speaking and….and I was just wondering if Hatori was only your friend." Said Dad. He still wasn't looking at her. She was glad. She was so glad. She was the most glad. She didn't want to talk about this with her DAD! Who she liked and didn't like….and this was even worse than they time that he had thought that she liked Shimazaki! At least then it hadn't been true! Mob drew her legs up to her chest, they itched as they rubbed together, and she rested her head on her knees. Why did dad have to go and ask her something like that!
At least it wasn't true anymore.
If it had been true then Mob would have had to tell dad the truth….and then dad would have beaten Hatori up. That was what dad had done when he had THOUGHT that she liked someone…so then it me sense that he would do it again to someone who she actually liked…and she didn't get it. For her entire life dad had told her that she had nothing to worry about but getting married to an esper and then having babies and being someone's mom…but none of that would happen unless she fell in love with someone and they fell in love back. Well she could go to an orphanage…but dad said that because she was a very powerful esper she would need to have babies of her own because then they would be powerful espers and then the world could be full of nothing but powerful espers…and stuff.
"I don't like him like that….ok? So please don't beat him up or anything like that. We're just friends and stuff and not boyfriend and girlfriend…and we can't be boyfriend and girlfriend anyway because he's nineteen and I'm ten." Said Mob. She hoped that was enough for dad. She really did. She didn't want to talk about this with dad. Maybe mom, because she was a girl too, but not dad. Dad should have asked Sho if he liked someone…or maybe not because she was pretty sure that Sho didn't like girls and only liked boys and she was pretty sure that dad would not be happy about that at all…even though he should have just been happy for Sho when he found love because love was the best thing ever…
Dad had better not have even thought about beating up Sho's boyfriend if he ever got one….and if he did Mob would do….something.
"Very well….and I wasn't planning on beating him up. I was planning on telling you that you could do so much better." Said Dad. Mob did not want to talk about this. She never wanted to talk to her dad about liking someone….ever! If she ever ended up liking someone and becoming his girlfriend then dad could find out on the day of her wedding…or when she had a baby in her stomach…or when she was at the hospital having the baby….or after the baby had been born. But not before. She knew how he would be if he found out that she liked someone….he would be mean like he had been just now or he would beat him up…and Mob didn't want any of those things.
"That's not nice either, dad. Please don't say things like that. He's a very nice person. You just don't know him. He knows a lot of really fun games and cool shows and he always has nice sweaters on and also his glasses are cool…and stuff. But I don't like him like that…but you should still be nice to him…or at least not mean." Said Mob. She knew that she was on dangerous ground…or rather bed. She knew that she shouldn't have been telling her dad what to do…but he should not have been mean to her friends. If she got punished for this then she got punished for this. She just could not let dad be mean that.
"I can act in whatever way I want to…but I'll take your feelings into consideration when I interact with your friends. I don't know why you're so attached to those people but I know that they mean a lot to you and as your father I have to encourage your social development." Said Dad. That was dad speak for 'sorry I was so mean and I'll be less mean to your friends from now on because I love you' or something like that.
"Thank you, dad." Said Mob. She yawned and leaned back in the bed. Her fries were done and dad's fries were done and now they could get to the part of the night where she cuddled up with him and they got tired and went to sleep and stuff. Well they would go to sleep later. She liked this show and dad liked this show and dad was in a good mood and she was not going to waste that. Dad had been in a such a bad mood all year…or maybe more like a weird mood.
Dad had been weird all year.
Maybe he would be more normal…or less weird…next year. Well it was next year. After her birthday, maybe. He had been weird since her birthday. Since he gave her baby Mukai. He had given her baby Mukai for a birthday present and…and that had been a very weird present to give her for her birthday. Yes, that had been when it started. First he gave her baby Mukai and then he went away…and then he took baby Mukai away…and then…and then she didn't want to think about it. She didn't like to think about baby Mukai and how she was gone now…well not gone. She was just on to bigger and better things. She had her own family now with a mom who loved her very much…and Mob missed her…
And she really hoped that dad didn't give her another baby for her birthday.
And she wished, too, for him to be normal next year…or at least as close to normal as he could be. He had always been sort of weird but he had never been weird to her like he was now. He was weird in how he wanted her near him and he wanted her away and he was always ignoring her and then he was holding on to her really tight and then he wanted to cuddle her and then he was kicking her out of bed…and she just didn't get it sometimes. She just didn't get him sometimes….
But maybe next year would be better.
She snuggled in close to dad. He put an arm around her and rested his head on top of hers. He reached down and held her hand. He did that sometimes but not usually when she was awake. She woke up in the middle of the night sometimes and dad was holding her hand and keeping her close. Sometimes when she tried to get up he just held her tighter even though she knew that he was asleep. She didn't get it, why dad kept her close but pushed her away, and she never would.
So she wouldn't ask.
She yawned and rested her head above dad's heart. She could hear his heart beating. It was beating fast. What was he thinking about? This episode wasn't scary. Not like the one before when the blue haired girl almost died. This one was just about them learning to dance and stuff so they could beat the twin monsters. That wasn't scary at all but dad's heart was still beating really fast. She…she actually had no idea what scared him. She had never seen him scared not once in her entire life. Even when people tried to kill him he was never scared…well Sho had said so. Mob had never been there when anyone had tried to kill dad but…but she took Sho's word for it. Dad was the bravest person she knew. He hadn't even been scared when mom left. Just mad.
Dad didn't have a lot of feelings…but he did have feelings….but they were just hard to understand.
"Dad?" asked Mob
"Daughter?" asked Dad. He never used her name. Even when she had been little he had never used her name. Even when they were alone together he never called her by her name. She wondered if he had called her by her name when she had been a baby. She couldn't remember. She remembered that when she had been really little he called her 'Girl' and Sho 'Boy' but never by their names…but he must have known their names…but that didn't matter. There was no changing dad's mind about this.
"Are you ok?" asked Mob
"I'm fine. I'm enjoying our time together." Said Dad. He ran his other hand through her hair. She liked it when he did that. He liked her hair and her skin and stuff. He said that she was soft and stuff. She didn't think that she was soft, she thought that she was normal, but dad's skin was dry and stuff. He needed some moisturizer. Minegishi had taught her about moisturizer. Skin was your most important organ, Minegishi had said, and you had to take care of it or you'd end up like Hatori…and she didn't want to end up like Hatori. Everyone made fun of him.
"Me too. Do you want to watch another episode?" asked Mob. She yawned and leaned more into dad. He was warm. He was comfortable, too, since he stopped sleeping in his shirt with buttons. He slept in his undershirt and daytime pants. She wondered if she should get him some pajamas for his birthday.
"We can stop watching whenever you start to get tired. You've been yawning. I know that you need more sleep than me. I know that now, I mean. I've been doing some research." Said Dad. He did that a lot. When he didn't understand something he looked up the answers on Google and in books. He had wanted to know why she kept on falling asleep during the day after they had been up all night…even though Mob didn't think that he should have needed to Google that. Of course she would be tired after being awake all night. What else would she be? She didn't say anything though. She didn't want to be mean to dad.
She didn't want to be mean to anyone.
She tried not to be mean. Sometimes she said things that came out wrong but she never tried to be mean. Dad could be like that too. He said mean things sometimes, like whenever someone messed up he called them a failure because they had failed…and also he said mean things to Sho even though he could never be a failure or fail at anything…but that was just dad not being sure how to talk. Mob had the same problem sometimes. She got it from him. She just had enough of mom inside of her that she could try and be better. She saw when she had said or done something wrong and then she tried to fix it. Like mom used to.
Dad was always saying how Mob had a lot of mom in her. It made her happy when dad was nice like that.
"I hope the red haired girl learns to be nicer. She's always so mean to the main boy. I don't get why." Said Mob. She didn't get it when characters were like that, all mean for no reason, but dad might have. He had been watching TV since before she had been born. This was a really old show, too, it had come out when Minegishi was little and Hatori had been a baby. Dad might have seen it…or something. Maybe not. He didn't watch a lot of things that weren't the Galaxy Express and other REALLY old stuff.
"Well he is spineless. I can't stand spineless people and neither should you." Said dad. He ran his hand through her hair while he said that. Mob didn't get it. How he could say something so mean but also act so nice at the same time.
"Why is he spineless? He seems like a nice person. He does stuff to help people and he's a good giant robot pilot and also he lets the red haired girl be mean to him because he's a good friend to her. What's so bad about that?" asked Mob
"Everything. He just lets people walk all over him. If he didn't want to pilot the robot then he should not have piloted the robot. Simple. Though I have no idea why he wouldn't want to pilot a giant robot." Said Dad
"Because it's scary. I mean I think that it would be scary. Fighting monsters from outer space in just a giant robot and not having any powers. I mean I could do it if I had my powers but not without them because with my powers I can fly and also I think that I might be strong enough to just pick one of those monsters up. I mean…I don't know. I don't know how strong I am but I get the feeling that I'm that strong." Said Mob
"Yes, our powers would make it easier, much easier. You're right. You could very easily defeat one of those monsters all by yourself….but we don't have to worry about fantastical like that…and even if we did I know that you or your brother would never be so spineless." Said Dad
"But we would get in the robot if you asked us to. Well I know that I would get in the robot….and I think that Sho would get in the robot if you asked him to. I don't see what's so bad about that. What's so spineless about that." Said Mob. Dad kissed the top of her head.
"You're a good Daughter. You obey me and that's not spineless, that's smart, you're right. You're right. You're right and…and I love you for it." Said Dad. He kissed the top of her head again and then just sort of stayed there in her hair.
"I love you too, dad. Do you want to watch one more before bed?" asked Mob. She sort of liked that dad loved her…and also she sort of…didn't. She sort of felt smothered then. Smothered and sort of…not good. But that made no sense. She loved her dad and he loved her right back. So she should have been happy that her dad loved her…and she was happy. She was so happy. She was the happiest person in that bed.
"I would enjoy that." Said dad. Mob let the next episode roll. Dad was still holding her hand and he was still holding her on his chest…and this was comfortable. She had seen mom and dad laying together like this sometimes before when she had been little. She saw Minegishi and Shimazaki laying together like this too. This was comfortable. Sort of smothery….but comfortable. Like dad. He smothered her with his love but that didn't mean that it wasn't nice.
Dad looked like he wouldn't have been a very loving person but he was. His love wasn't always the nicest, or the most comfortable, but he still loved her more than anyone else in the whole world.
And she was happy about that…she really was.