A small dojo in Tokyo City, Sunday
"Dad, are we done yet? This is totally embarrassing."
"Almost! And it's not embarrassing, it's educational! We're keeping traditions alive and sharing them with new generations!" Or at least with tourists. But for every fresh bunch crazy foreigners who were hoping to learn how to become a ninja in an afternoon, there was usually one person who was genuinely interested in learning about the historical truth.
"Em. Bar. A. Sing! How can you stand dressing up like this? And in front of people!"
Hachizou Akatsutsumi rolled his eyes as he collected another towel from the floor to place in the hamper. Lazy tourists. "Says the person who spent weeks making horns and a tail to wear so she'd look like a manga character?"
"Cosplay is totally different, dad. No one is trying to convince anyone we're really what we dress up as at Comiket."
"Hey! We are real! This is authentic shinobi and samurai techniques we're teaching them! We have documents!"
"Dad, you have an emoticon on your maedate."
"That's my crest! Our family emblem! A symbol of happiness and friendship. Totally a valid object for a crest." He pushed his chest out, proudly.
"Ah! The Smiley Face clan. Totally the fiercest of the samurai families."
"Maybe not fierce, but definitely awesome." Momoko's laugh was nice to hear; he'd missed it. Hachizou reached out and pulled her into a hug, laughing with her. "We do produce the best heroes."
"And the craziest of otakus." Her laugh turned to giggles and he felt the small tug she gave his dou as Momoko pulled away. "I'm glad I take after mom's side."
"Where did I go wrong, ending up with a daughter who prefers heroes and robots to military history?" He rolled his eyes fondly as he reached out to tug Momoko's hair. For all her denials, though, Momoko had turned out to be rather good at weapons and fighting, which meant some of his genre love had been passed down.
"Speaking of military..." Hachizou reached to remove her kabuto. "How is the war in Karla-chan's kingdom going?"
"Slow. Hobart and Ludmilla still aren't stepping down. Dinah and I have our own unit, now. We're doing some guerilla attacks and stuff, trying to help people and break Hobart's hold in the cities. The rest of the army's gone north to stop some stuff that's going on."
He nodded, running through various military options in his mind. "I have some more weapons you can take back with you. Some books on strategy, too, that you can give to your general." He wanted to go with her back and help!! Both because he was a military otaku and because this was his baby girl. And he had to trust that Momoko and her friends could do this. As his wife kept reminding him when he brought up the idea of a visit.
Still, maybe just a short trip to talk to this Jono person and...
The image of Kakiko's glaring face rose in his mind and he paled. Okay. No. He shook his head and handed her the kabuto. "I'm proud of you, you know. Being in the military isn't hero work."
"I know. Believe me I know." Her eyes rolled. "And it's lasting so long but there are so many times when there's nothing happening."
He nodded, pointing to the locker where she needed to return the helmet. "That's called a war. It can take years. You're lucky you're able to take time off and leave."
"Uhm. Yeah." She spoke, not moving, and he raised an eyebrow as she began fiddling with the piece of armor.
"Momoko?" She wasn't looking at him and his heart stopped for a moment; he totally knew this behavior. It meant she was about to confess something, but he had no idea what she could have to confess about this topic.
"Dad. Remember how I said that I wanted to move?"
He totally remembered. "And I said no."
Her head bowed even more over the helmet for a moment, then she stood up straight and looked him directly in the eyes. Almost challenging. "I'm going to do it."
"... You're going to move to Karla-chan's world?"
His otaku-self smacked him upside the head. That actually made sense. If the war was going to be a long one, and this one did seem like it would be, it would make sense that she'd consider it to be her home. That she'd want to move there would be an obvious step. The dad in him, though, still didn't want her out of his sight.
But more importantly, had she really thought this all through? Moving away from home was one thing but moving to another world involved a lot of different things. Problems. What if she got hurt? And money - how was she going to earn a living? Would she meet some boy there and get hurt? Or worse, married and he'd never see her again? And hadn't she just been wanting to move to another world so she could be a hero? Now she wanted to move to fight in a war?
"No, dad." Her tone had him looking up at her, his face changing from frowny and slightly panicked to just plain confused. "Not Karla's world," she continued. "Jaime's."
Okay. Now Hachizou was back to frowny. But only for a moment and then he was growly. "What?" That question mark was a grammatical necessity, since it didn't actually sound like a question. More like a threat. A threat that hopefully that young man could feel all the way across the dimensions.
"Dad, calm down. It doesn't have anything to do with Jaime. He doesn't even want me there." Momoko's sigh didn't affect him but it did make him look back at her. She sounded upset and his dad instincts kicked in again, making him want to threaten Jaime, now, for not being after his daughter.
Being a dad was confusing sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time, actually. He folded his arms and waited for more information, trying not to explode in a temper tantrum of NO's.
"I thought a lot about it." She continued. "Even after you said no, the last time. But it's more than what I want, dad. It's something I need. I need to be somewhere I can help people. Tokyo City doesn't need me anymore. Or at least not enough."
Your family needs you! He wanted to shout at her, but he kept quiet. She was always going to move out eventually, he'd resigned himself to that, but to leave their whole world... He kept his gaze firm and his arms crossed so he wouldn't be able to hug her to him... keep his first born safe forever.
"I've got it all figured out, I promise, dad! The Reyes'... I'll be in the same city as them and they said they'll be my emergency contact..."
"I thought you said Jaime-kun didn't want you there."
He watched her look away. "He says he's just surprised, but yeah."
"Surprised?"
"Well. I didn't tell him." She turned and walked to the locker. "Like with you and mom, I was waiting until I had everything done. He's a lot like you, dad. Thinks I can't do things on my own and tries to..."
What?! "I never said that, Momoko." Hachizou interrupted finally.
"You totally implied it when you refused to talk to me last time, dad."
"If I thought that, why would I let you go fight a war?"
He watched her shrug as she shut the locker door. "That's what I heard, dad. Everytime left the house to avoid me, I heard that you didn't trust me."
That had never been what he'd meant. "I left because I knew I would give in to you otherwise."
"What's wrong with that? I just want to be happy; isn't that important?"
"I'm your father, Momoko. I need to make sure you're safe as well as happy."
"How is moving not being safe?"
"Because you're not thinking of moving like an adult. You keep talking about being happy, being a hero... you gave up a perfectly good job that you trained a year for, just because you didn't like it." He took a breath, trying to figure out how to explain.
Turns out he didn't have to: "So they were right. You just thought I was being rash and stupid and not thinking it through?"
Relieved that he didn't have to say it, Hachizou sank into his armor, one hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "Well, there is precedent...?" And who was ‘they'?
"Dad, I think we need to have a talk." It was only a lifetime of experience (and a few extra pounds) that kept him upright when she glomped him. "I have a lot to catch you up on."
"Like?"
"Like, how does, 'I got accepted into a college' sound?"
That sounded like his daughter was maybe more grown up than he wanted to think.
