The Diary of Modern Cinderella

Chapter 1-1

Chapter 1

It’s been three years since mom had passed away. I’m not going to lie here that I do miss her sometimes. The same feeling becomes even stronger when I’m about to enter the middle school. It feels weird when mom is no longer with me during the first day of my middle school year. But I no longer feel that way when I’m in the second year. I guess that I’m already used to the feeling of not having mom around.

Throughout the year, I’m the one who is looking after the house. I admit that it’s a bit too much for me to handle it at first. Just like not having mom with me during the first day of school, I manage to do it just fine. Maybe it’s because I’m old enough to do the housework with ease. So, some of the things become much easier to do such as cooking and doing laundry. I no longer need dad to help me with the housework anymore.

My daily routine isn’t that different from the one I had when I was in the elementary school. Every day, I will wake up early and prepare breakfast for dad and me. I still have to wake up early even if dad is not around. Once I come back from school, I will begin to clean the house and cook dinner. I can only study and do my homework at night once I already finish the housework.

I don’t feel that the household chore is a burden to me since I always helped mom with the household chores back then. I don’t want dad to get himself bogged down by something petty like this. I want him to give his full attention on solving the case. I don’t want him to worry about me and other mundane things. Household chores are one of them.

My relationship with dad has changed ever since then. I become much closer to him a lot more than before. It’s not that I wasn’t even close to him when mom was still alive. It’s just that my closeness with dad and my closeness with mom were equal back then. But my closeness with dad overshoot after mom died. Well, it’s not that I’m complaining. I’m happy to know that our relationship is changing in a good way. And I don’t have anyone in the family other than him.

Like the last time, dad will always tell me about the criminal cases he had solved whenever he’s at home. I’m not going to deny that those cases can be violent and gory. Dad has been telling me about them even when mom was still alive. She was worried that those cases would give me a nightmare. Instead of taking mom’s warning, I ended up pestering dad to tell me more about them. It seemed like I didn’t even care about having a nightmare at all.

So, what makes me so drawn to the criminal cases that dad has been telling me? For one is because of my love for reading detective novels. Dad has a huge collection of detective novels in his room. He even has many political and military thriller novels. But detective novels seem to be my favorite among the many books he has. And I’ve been reading them since I was in the elementary school. I admit that it’s a difficult book to read, but I don’t care.

Dad only knew about it years later, though. He only discovers my dirty little secret while we’re talking in the kitchen. “So, that’s the reason why you seem to be so hooked on my criminal case stories? I find it weird at first that you love to hear such things. Your mom hated those kinds of stories. She even told me to stop. She didn’t want to have a sleepless night because of that,” dad says to me.

I chuckle when I hear dad’s response. “As much as I love reading such books, nothing beats the real thing. On top of that, I already have someone who is experiencing something similar in real life,” I say to dad. Dad smiles when he hears my answer. “You know,” he says, “It wasn’t as fun as you thought. You have no idea how gruesome it is to see a murder right in front of you. And it doesn’t help that the crime scene itself smells horrible too.”

Dad then stands up. “It’s getting late already. You should be heading to bed. We’re going to fetch grandma in Kannai Station tomorrow. She’ll be with you throughout the summer break.” He then lets out a loud sigh. “I wish that I can be with you during summer. It’s too bad that I have to get involved in a covert mission. I don’t know when it’ll be over. But I do hope that I can still spend the time with you before the summer break ends.”

I turn to dad as he’s about to leave the kitchen. “Dad, please be careful. I don’t know what kind of covert mission you have. But please be careful,” I say to him. He then heads to my direction and pats my head. “Don’t worry. I promise you that I’ll be back here safe and sound. We’ll go to the amusement park in Yokohama once I’m back, okay?” I nod at him. We then head upstairs. I need to get up early tomorrow. After all, grandma is coming here.

Dad and I head to Kannai Station the next day. We arrive at the train station a bit early, so we’ve decided to stay there until the bullet train arrives. The railway station is bustling with people because of the summer break. We thought that it must be hard to find grandma in this kind of situation. Luckily, we notice her when she waves at us with a smile on her face. I hug her as soon as we see each other. I miss her a lot.

Sure, dad and I always celebrate New Year with grandma in Sendai ever since mom passed away. But it’s a different feeling when I’m here to welcome grandma in Yokohama. After all, she hasn’t been to Hakone for so long. The last time she was here was during mom’s funeral. We’re the one who always goes to Sendai to visit her. So, she doesn’t have to go all the way to Hakone to visit us.

“I’ve got to go now. Sorry that I can’t come with you,” dad says to us. Grandma doesn’t even complain at all when dad has to leave us in a hurry. “That’s alright, Shinya. We can go back to Hakone on our own. Besides, Risa is here with me. So I’m not alone,” she says to him. Dad then looks at me. “I’ll be going now. Be a good girl and don’t cause any trouble to grandma, okay? I promise that we’ll go to the amusement park once I’m back, even if the summer break is over.”

I smile when dad insists on going to the amusement park even if the summer break is over. It’s amusing to see that dad seems to love going there even though a roller coaster ride terrifies him the most. I guess that I should forget about it if I’m going there with dad. There are other things to do, anyway. So, I’m pretty much okay if I don’t get to ride one.

Both grandma and I head to Yokohama Chinatown after dad leaves us. The place itself is bustling with people. And there are many restaurants and food stands along the street. Of course, these are Chinese dishes, with some of them have been Japanized to some extent. But I don’t care about it. The only thing I care is not to miss the opportunity since we’re already here in Yokohama.

We then head inside a Chinese restaurant that sells authentic Chinese food. The price is reasonable too, so there’s no reason for us to say no. Grandma doesn’t seem to mind at all about me wanting to have Chinese food. After all, I doubt that she can get something like this in Sendai. My eyes glisten as the waitress starts to bring a plate of steam buns. I’m not going to deny that it feels like in heaven when the steam bun starts to melt in my mouth as soon as I munch it.

“Risa, I’m curious,” grandma says to me, “Have you ever thought about your dad remarrying again?” I almost choke when she asks me that. “Remarrying? What do you mean by that? Did he say anything about marrying someone to you?” I ask her with a surprised look. “No, it’s only a possibility. I want to know about your thought. Are you okay with his decision to remarry again?” she asks me again as she puts another steam bun on her plate.

I remain silent for a while when grandma begins to address me about this issue. To be honest, it never crosses my mind that dad wants to remarry again. I thought that we’re doing alright with only the two of us. Well, that’s only my opinion. I have no idea what dad is thinking, considering that I’ve never asked him about it. Maybe dad does think about remarrying again. But he never talks about it. He’s worried that I will oppose his decision.

“I don’t know,” I answer, “It depends on the person he wants to marry. I don’t mind if she’s as kind as mom and willing to look after me. I doubt that anyone wants to marry someone like dad, considering that he may not be at home most of the time. And it doesn’t help that he already has a daughter too.” Grandma chuckles when she hears my answer. “So, you’re telling me that he doesn’t stand a chance against the other bachelors?”

I blush when I hear grandma’s word. “No, that’s not what I mean. To be honest, it’s hard to guess dad’s age. And he doesn’t even look like someone who is already married and has a daughter. Even some of my friends also think that dad is hot for someone in his age. So, he has a chance even among the bachelors.”

Grandma then pours Chinese tea on my cup before she continues. “So, you’re okay with him remarrying again as long as he’s happy? Is that what you want to imply?” I nod my head slightly. “Yup, I guess that I’m okay with that as long as he’s happy. And his new wife can treat me like her own daughter. I know that she will never replace mom. But I will still treat her with respect even though she’s only my stepmother.”

We then head back to Hakone after we have our lunch. Throughout the journey back to Hakone, I can’t stop thinking about grandma’s question. It bothers me a bit, considering that dad and I never have a serious discussion about an issue like this. We usually talk about the criminal cases and the detective novels I’ve read whenever we’re together. An issue like this never seems to pop out during the discussion, even if we have nothing to talk about.

Dad comes home a week before my summer break is over. I’m glad to find out that dad is coming home in one piece without any injury at all. “Of course I’m going to be safe. You and your mom’s protective charms have been protecting me all this time. I’m lucky to have two women praying for my safety,” dad says to me in a joking manner. I only chuckle when dad says to me in his carefree attitude.

“So, do you still remember your promise?” I ask dad. He laughs when I ask him. “Of course I am! Have I broken any of my promises to you before?” I laugh when I shake my head. He’s right, after all. He never breaks any of his promises to me before. Dad is the kind of person who will keep his word. He never fails to keep his promise despite having a hectic job.

“We’ll go to the amusement park in Yokohama tomorrow. We can spend the rest of the day there if you want to. But please, don’t drag me to come with you for a roller coaster ride. You can play whatever you want, except that.” I nod my head, promising him that I won’t drag him to come with me for a roller coaster ride. Even if he doesn’t want to, I’m old enough to ride it on my own.

We head to Yokohama the next day with a car. We have to head there early so then we can play as much as we can. Of course, we don’t plan to stay until the amusement park is about to close. But then again, it doesn’t hurt to stay there until the night time. After all, the amusement park itself has beautiful scenery at night. It’s all thanks to the illuminating Ferris wheels. Now, it all depends on dad whether he wants to stay until the night time or not.

As soon as we reach the amusement park, we head to the food court instead. I find it weird that we’re heading there right away. I thought that dad eats plenty during breakfast. Maybe he feels hungry after a long drive. But it doesn’t make sense to me since it only takes an hour drive from Hakone. I have no idea what dad has in mind. Maybe he wants to get something light before we begin our main agenda.

Once we’re there, dad then grab a chair and sit down. He then instructs me to sit down as well. “What are we doing here, dad?” I ask him. Dad is fiddling with his finger when I ask him about it. “We’re going to meet someone here. It seems like we’re a little bit early,” he answers. He then begins to check his smartphone to see if there is any incoming message from his chat app. A smile carved on his face after he’s checking his phone.