Mephisto's Game

Daddy Issues- Or Lack Thereof

The rest of the (cram) school day went by fairly uneventful. I would sit in any empty chair, preferably not near any of the other students. I would have sat next to Rin, but he always sat next to a blonde girl in a Kimono. Before starting each class, Rin would give me some advice; "Mr. Neuhaus is kinda creepy, so you should be careful around him," "Mr. Tsubaki keeps leaving class early, so don't be surprised if he does," and other strange tidbits. It was nice that he was trying to help, but his weird advice wasn't very useful. It's the thought that counts, I reminded myself as I walked home after my classes. My father owned an apartment in True Cross Academy Town, so that's where my home was now. It was really different from my old house in Germany.

I walked into the apartment building and up the stairs. The elevator was still out of order, which sucked because I was tired after all of my classes. I trudged up the last flight, and practically collapsed in front of my apartment's door. I dug around in my pockets for the key, and panicked when I couldn't find it. I checked the plastic plant next to the door, in case my father had left a spare key, and remembered that the key was in my bag. I felt embarrassed and looked down the hallway. There was no one there, but I couldn't shake my embarrassment. Great. Now I'm getting anxious about people who aren't even there. I went into the apartment, and locked the door behind me.

"Dad?" I shouted. There was no reply. "Are you here? I'm home." Even though there was no reply, I still checked all of the rooms for my father. I wasn't surprised that he wasn't there. I had been living in his apartment for three days, and hadn't even seen him once. I had heard him come in late at night, but I had been too tired to go see him. By the time I would wake up, he'd be gone. He hadn't even picked me up at the airport when I got to Japan, he had hired a chauffeur to do it for him. The only time we'd spoken was through letters, and I hadn't even seen him since I was a toddler. I had completely forgotten what he looked like. The only (proper) name my mother had called my father by was Sammy, as if he was an annoying child. When my mother was sick, before she had died, she had confirmed that it was my father that I was going to stay with. That was good because the only other way I knew my father was by his handwriting. So I was being forced to live with a practically nameless father who hadn't even shown up when I arrived. He was barely more than a stranger, just like any other person I happened to walk past on the street. No wonder my mom had hated him, he was a terrible father. My situation was less than inconvenient, and it really frustrated me. But I had no other place to go, so I had to make do with  it.

Maybe I shouldn't be so harsh, I thought as I grabbed a snack from the kitchen. For all I know, he could just be really busy with work or something. He did leave a note for me every morning, wishing me a good time at cram school and in Japan. And the kitchen was always stocked with food for me. Maybe he wasn't so bad, after all. I really couldn't judge him until I actually met him. Besides, my mom had probably judged him enough for two lifetimes. She had had many...choice words for him. I paused at that thought. He must be pretty bad if he made mom so angry. I decided to just stop thinking about him, it wasn't going to get me anywhere. I settled down at the desk in my room and started working on my exorcist homework.

                 

The next morning I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock. I reached to shut it off, and almost fell out of bed. I sat up and waited a moment to try and fully wake myself up. That's funny. I don't remember turning on the alarm on my clock last night. I left my room to go eat breakfast, and noticed a note from my dad taped to the bedroom door.

"My precious little Maddie,"  I read those first few words and frowned. He still treated me like a toddler, as if his leaving and my growing up had all been just an unpleasant dream. Except it was real. I wished he would stop addressing me like that. I'd have to talk to him about it, if I ever got to talk to him in person. I continued reading,"I'm sorry I can't tell you this in person, but you need to be told nonetheless. I've enrolled you into True Cross Academy, starting today. You need a higher education, so I can't have you skipping out on school. You'll attend normal classes there during the day, and cram school classes afterwards. Don't worry, I'll pay for all of your school expenses, but you have to make your own lunches. And you don't have to live in a dorm because we live so close by. Isn't that great? Good luck, my little duckling! Love, Daddy." "P.S. I've taken the liberty of setting your alarm clock so you won't be late. I've also put some school uniforms in your closet."

After reading the note, I had to read it a second time. It didn't seem like he was joking, unfortunately. Now I was really upset. Not only did he treat me like a child, but he's also forcing me to attend school. I hated school because there were so many people there who would judge a person in an instant. It made me anxious just thinking about it. "Calm down," I said to myself. "Just think on the bright side. At least I don't have to live in a dorm." It would have been really horrifying if I had to live in the same room as a bunch of strangers.

Trying to set my fears aside, I reluctantly started to get ready for school. I wasn't exactly sure how to wear the tie of my uniform. I decided to tie it in a bow. I think I've seen girls wear it like this in anime, I thought tentatively. I found another roadblock when I got to the kitchen. The fridge and cabinets were stocked full of fish, squid, rice, and other similar items. It was all Japanese food that I wasn't sure how to cook. Before there had been some food that I had recognized as German. It was probably too expensive to get German food for me all the time, though. I could probably cook the fish like I would have in Germany, but I didn't want to risk standing out too much. Or at all. I finally found a package of instant ramen. This will have to do, I thought. Maybe it will stay hot if I keep it in a thermos. It would only be lukewarm by the time I got to lunch.

As I walked to school, I realized that life in Japan was going to be harder than I had thought. Maybe even harder than being an exorcist.