Dein Weg ist Mein Weg

Chapter 17: The father

Maho had only been intending to get a glass of water, but here she was. She had awoken in the middle of the night, and as she made her way towards the kitchen, she had overheard her parents arguing. Now she was standing by the door, trying her best to keep quiet and peering through the small crack between the door and it's frame.

"...and you know it's not right! You can't make her do it just because it's what you want!" her father said.

"I can and I will. We made a deal, remember? She is to be raised as a Nishizumi. And that means she will be trained in Sensha-Do," her mother replied coldly.

"But why won't you at least ask her about it? She's her own person, and should be allowed to do what she wants!"

"She is a Nishizumi, and that means she will need discipline. As soon as she turns 6 I will start to train her, just like my mother trained me." She paused and grinned at him. "Or would you prefer I go back on my end of the deal, just like you seem to want to do with yours?"

"Shiho... please..." Her father's tone softened, cowed by whatever yhe words meant. "I can't watch you do this to her, you know that..." He walked closer to her, and took her hands. "Please, my dear. I beg you..."

"I would suggest you-what was that?" Her mother turned to look at the door. Maho had accidentally bumped it, and the creak had alerted her parents to her presence. She saw her mother begin to take slow strides toward the door, and she ran as silently as she could back towards her room.

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That had been the last time Maho saw her father. The next morning he was gone, and her mother acted like he had never existed. And now, in the countryside of Kyoto, he stood before her again.

"H-hi dad..." Maho felt herself blush from embarrassment, and looked away from the door where her father stood. He had disappeared more than ten years ago, but he still looked just like she remembered him. He was tall and powerfully built. His skin was tanned and his arms were hairy. His brown hair grew curly on his head, even if it had begun to turn a silvery grey at places, and framed his face together with his rugged beard. "It's... it's been a while..."

He took a cautious step towards her. "Maho? Is... is that really you? What are you doing here?"

She felt so incredibly stupid. What had she been thinking? She hadn't seen or talked to him in years, and now she showed up unannounced on his doorstep in the middle of nowhere, just expecting him to take her in when she had run away from everything she had ever called home? How deluded had she been to think this was a good idea. He probably didn't want anything to do with her.

"Y-yeah... it's... it's me... I... I shouldn't have come here... I'm really sorry, I'll leave..." she bowed in a quick apology and was about to turn and leave. Where she would go she had no idea, but she didn't have time to think it over. Her father lunged forwards and held her as tightly as he could.

"It really is you, isn't it?" He spoke in a tender voice as he kept hugging her harder, refusing to let go. "You've grown so much... I almost didn't recognize you. But it's so, so good to see you again..."

Maho stood stunned for several seconds, not in the slightest prepared for her fathers reaction. But once she allowed herself to believe it was actually happening, she returned the embrace as well. "Yeah..." she said in a low voice as she nuzzled his shoulder. "It's good to see you too... I missed you..."

"I missed you too, Maho. Like you wouldn't believe... But... What are you doing here? How did you even find me? Where's your sister? Is everything alright?" He let Maho go, even if she wished he wouldn't, and took her by the shoulders as he looked at her. But that was when the dam burst. For a few beautiful moments she had forgotten all that had happened, and all that had brought her here. Now it all came rushing back to her in an unstoppable wave as she slowly shook her head back and forth, tears in her eyes.