Overprotective
Today was one of those days where the only conclusion that Ayako could arrive at was that the men in her life were behaving very strangely. The events which led her to this conclusion began rather innocuously in the morning. It was a rather fair morning, the sky was a brilliant blue and nothing in the weather suggested that a tempest might be brewing or that there was an undercurrent of strange meteorological events that could have had the effect of influencing the whims and fancies of the men in her life. Nonetheless, the day while beginning as any normal day would unfold did take a rather peculiar turn.
It all began at breakfast when Ayako's mother, being the observant woman that she was, noticed that her daughter's step had become a tad lighter and that her usual dread and complaints of Mondays were rather absent. Ayako's mother, being blessed not only with keen observation skills but a healthy sense of curiosity, took it upon herself to unearth the reason or reasons behind this change in demeanor.
"So Ayako, is there any boy you're interested in lately?" Subtlety, sadly, was not one of the traits Ayako's mother was blessed with. Fortunately, her husband had found her candidness appealing and had often said that it was her frankness that drew him to her.
Ayako nearly spat out her drink and felt the colour rise in her cheeks as the thought of one particular individual flashed across her mind. In her hurry to cover up the heat rising to her face, she failed to notice that her father had the same reaction as her and had splattered his coffee all over the front page of his newspaper.
"N..no, there isn't anyone" Ayako said in what she believed to be a neutral tone that betrayed nothing. Ayako's father deftly folded up the coffee stained newspaper and placed it neatly by the side of his plate. He picked up a knife and began to butter his toast rather vigorously.
"Ayako, I want you back home by 8pm every day" He said simply. He failed to notice the inordinate amount of crumbs he was accumulating with each stroke of his knife on the bread.
"But I have night school at that time" Ayako said, frowning at the sudden imposition of a curfew.
"Well then, I want you home every evening by 10pm after night school"
"But that's when I come home every night anyway" Ayako said.
Ayako's father set down both his butter knife and the remains of what would have been formerly called "toast". In a gentle but serious tone, he began to address his daughter.
"Ayako, I think we need to have a talk. You're a teenager now and I expect that at some point in your life, you may find yourself attracted to members of the opposite sex."
Ayako sat back in her chair, somewhat incredulous. Was her father trying to give her the rudimentary "birds and the bees" talk? Curious to see how her husband would handle this, Ayako's mother also ceased her usual bustling and operations in the kitchen, and trained her ears to listen to what her husband had to say.
"Now, it may be the case that some of these members of the opposite sex may even appear sweet and endear themselves to you. In such cases, I want you to always remember one thing" Ayako's father said calmly and paused to take a breath. Both Ayako and her mother leaned forward as they waited for him to complete his sentence. Ayako's father, however, took his time before arriving at his conclusion. He gulped down the remainder of his coffee, re-folded the napkin on the table and then after setting all these things aside, he levelled an even gaze at his one and only daughter.
"No matter how sweet the boy is, no matter how nice, always , always remember ... ... to say no and crush him under your foot. All boys at that age are just a mess of hormones and ... ..." Ayako's father began to say savagely and would have continued his tirade if not for the helpful interruption from his better half.
"Dear!" Ayako's mom interjected disapprovingly. Really, she had hoped that he would be sensible and not over-react. Much to Ayako's relief, her mother shoved a lunch bag into her hands and shooed her out of the house with the excuse that she was late for a special early assembly today.
And so, with that strange behavior of her father which Ayako put down to as him just being over-protective, the events of the day surrounding the men in her life unfolded. She could not have anticipated that the strangeness she found in her father that morning would also exhibit itself in Sakuragi Hanamichi later that day.