Kirika-chan and Tsuzuki

Kirika-chan and Tsuzuki

-Kirika-chan-

I love Papa, but he can be a bit… much. He acts like I am still a little girl. I am fifteen! He won’t let me wear lip gloss. I sat across from him at the table. School is starting next week. Papa wanted to go to high school in Nagasaki. I chose Tokyo.

“Tokyo? Tokyo?” Papa asked. I rolled my eyes as he started whimpering. He always does this when I shoot him down. He can be such a baby.

“Yes,” I said. He grabbed me by the hands.

“Are you sure?” Papa pouted at me. I pulled my hands away. Or I tried to. Papa wouldn’t let go.

“Papa! Papa!” I said. I managed to pull away. I frowned at him.

“I want to go to Tokyo for school,” I said. I folded my arms across my chest. He finally gave up after that. For now at least.

I love Papa, but he can be a bit much. He is the definition of an overprotective parent. Papa let me have a phone when I was twelve. Mama had to convince him that this was a good idea on that front.

“It will let you keep tabs on her,” she told him. She should not have said that. He will blow up my phone if I don’t reply back. It’s usually one to two-word texts. I get that he cares. But still! I have a life outside of home too. I’m busy sometimes. There are times where I can’t look at my phone. I complained about this to Mama.

“I’ll talk to him,” she promised me. I bowed my head.

“Thank you,” I said.

“How was your day?” Papa asked at the table. I didn’t look up.

“Fine,” I said.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. There was another pause. He wanted a full report. What was there to say? Nothing happened. I don’t know what he’s expecting.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you something. My Papa is a shinigami. This isn’t a joke. I am being serious. He really is a shinigami. Yes. Death follows me everywhere I go. And I mean everywhere! You would think that I was about to die. But no. That’s just Papa.

I chuckled for a bit.

Oh boy…

Today, Mama went to go see Grandma in California. It’s just me and Papa. Oh boy…

He tries to spend more time with me. I know, I know. I should be grateful. I have both of my parents in my life. They both love me. My life is great. But I wish that Papa would back off a little bit. I don’t know how to tell him either.

I looked up to see Papa eyeing me at the table.

“What?” I asked.

“You barely talk to me,” he complained. Here we go again.

“There’s not much to talk about,” I said. “What is there to say?”

“I don’t know. What are your friends like? How was your trip to Osaka? What are your plans for tomorrow? You never tell me anything about your life.” He’s whining at me again. I rubbed my temples. Why do we always go down this path?

I love my Papa, but he can be a bit much. Dating might as well not happen. Papa doesn’t trust the boys in my life. Akira-kun took time to win him over. Papa just glares at the other boys.

“Your dad doesn’t seem to like me,” they whisper to me when they are sure he is out of earshot. I roll my eyes. These boys are just my friends. Not all of them are pervs.

“He knows how they think,” Mama said.

“But they aren’t all like that!” I argued. I knew that would get me nowhere. Even Akira-kun gets nervous around Papa and he’s known him for years.

“Your dad scares me,” he told me three weeks ago while he and I were alone in the apartment.

“He means well,” I said with a shrug. Even I didn’t believe that.

“I don’t know what I am doing tomorrow,” I said in present day. There, I said it. I knew what was coming next. I needed to stop this before it got out of hand.

I stood up from the table.

“Hey, where are you going?” Papa asked.

“To take a bath!” I shouted. I walked down the hall before he could say a word.

Now, I can’t completely blame him. He had his own problems growing up.

“His father wished him dead,” Mama told me before she left.

“That’s horrible!” I said. She stared off out the window.

“He doesn’t want that for you,” she said. “That’s why he tries all the time. Your father may go overboard at times, but he does love you.” That was the problem. He loved me too much.

I hung over the edge of the tub. I love that man dearly, but he drives me crazy.

I groaned when I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

“Sweetheart, are you okay in there?” Papa asked.

“Yes, Papa!” I shouted. He just had to go and do that, didn’t he? I rubbed the sides of the bridge of my nose. Oh boy…

Owari