Gran Gran's Dictatorship Is Officially Over

I stared at the mayo art on my chicken, mind racing. The way R had drawn the face… only Dad did it that way.

My chest felt tight, a mess of happiness and confusion swirling inside. Could R really be...? But how? Why?

"Why everyone look like statue? Food getting cold! You want eat frozen chicken instead?"

I glanced at her, then back at R. No way could I tell Gran Gran what I was thinking. She would either laugh it off or worse, start ranting about how the stress was making me lose my mind. And maybe I was crazy, but something deep down told me I wasn't wrong about this.

"Itadakimasu," I managed, picking up my chopsticks.

***

I had to drag Little Shit back upstairs, his tiny claws scraping against each step as he moaned and clutched his belly. For something that normally only ate melon bread, he'd sure gone wild with the PFC. At least Dad's portion hadn't gone to waste.

"That's what you get for being glutton," I muttered, hauling him onto my futon where he immediately curled into a miserable ball.

My eyes drifted to R, still standing silently in the corner. That mayo art... I needed to know for sure.

I dug through my closet, pushing aside old textbooks and manga until I found the beaten-up carrying case. Inside was my ancient handheld console, probably worth something now if I bothered selling it. But some things were worth more than money.

My fingers traced the worn Super Bash Sisters cartridge before popping it in. The familiar startup jingle filled my cramped room as I held the console out to R.

"Here. Show me if you remember how to play."

R's pointed fingers delicately took the console and set it on the floor.

The character select screen appeared. Without hesitation, R's finger moved to Waria.

Dad only picked Waria.

Every single time we played, he'd choose that stupid character just to annoy me.

"Dad...? It's really you...?"

R seemed to shimmer as I threw my arms around him, not caring how the sharp edges dug into my skin.

"Welcome home, Dad."

***

I woke up with drool on my pillow and console buttons imprinted on my face. Fragments of last night's gaming session drifted back - R's crystal fingers awkwardly fumbling the controls, Waria running straight off cliffs, the sorts. For someone who used to be ok at this game, Dad seemed to have forgotten everything.

My eyes snapped to the corner where R usually stood watch. Empty. The familiar silhouette was missing, leaving just my pile of unwashed clothes.

"Dad?" I croaked, my voice still rough from sleep. No response.

I stumbled down the stairs. The sound of Gran Gran's voice rang from the kitchen, along with Little Shit's squeaks.

"Away from pantry! No more melon bread for you, you potato!"

I rounded the corner to find Gran Gran wielding a fly swatter at Little Shit, who had somehow wedged himself halfway into the pantry. Sae sat at the table looking like she'd been dragged through seven containment zones, dark circles under her eyes as she flipped through the morning paper.

And there was R, hovering near the table, crystal form bent towards Sae's coffee mug. The way he stared at it reminded me of how Dad used to zone out at his own morning coffee, claiming he couldn't function without it. But obviously R's smooth crystal face couldn't drink anything, no matter how much he seemed to want to.

I slid into the chair next to Sae, my mind racing. If anyone would understand about R being Dad without thinking I'd lost it, it'd be her.

"Hey, Sae..." I fiddled with my sleeve. "I think... I think R might actually be Dad. Like, his consciousness is in it or something?"

Sae's coffee cup froze halfway to her mouth. She stared into the dark liquid, her expression unreadable. The silence stretched until I started wondering if I should just laugh it off as a joke.

Finally, she set down her cup.

"That makes sense."

"Huh?"

"HQ called an emergency meeting yesterday regarding the S-grade crystal kaiju. It's been in containment and dormant since the earth's end was announced, but now it's showing signs of activity and threatening to break containment. Command disclosed that it's been... transferring consciousness. All those missing people? Their minds have been scattered into the white crystals appearing around the world."

Dad…

"During that meeting, we called for a vote. Whether to use nuclear weapons to end it."

The unspoken words hung in the air between us. I thought about R drawing Dad's signature mayo art last night, about all the little ways he'd been trying to tell me who he was. If Sae had voted differently...

"Thank you," I whispered.

She just nodded, finally taking a sip of her coffee.

Little Shit rocketed out of the pantry with Gran Gran hot on his heels. But I barely noticed the chaos.

Dad was still here. That's all that mattered.

My phone buzzed. I checked the caller ID. Koyuki? She never called. Like, ever. Our entire friendship was built on her sending perfectly punctuated texts at weird hours.

"Hello?"

"I got it!" Koyuki's voice burst through the speaker with so much enthusiasm I had to double-check the caller ID just to make sure it was really her.

"Got what?"

"The penthouse! Your penthouse!"

"...what?"

"The real estate agent called. With the world ending and all, no one's buying the penthouse, so they cut the price in half."

The phone slipped from my hand, clattering to the floor. Dad tilted its head in concern as I scrambled to pick it up.

"You... the penthouse... with the view of Mt. Fuji and the rooftop garden?"

"The very same. The paperwork's being processed now. Consider it an early graduation present."

I slumped against the wall, my legs giving out. Dad moved to catch me but stopped when he realized I wasn't actually falling.

The Tokyo penthouse. Finally, my ticket out of this town.

***

I looked around our makeshift graduation venue: really just classroom 4-B with the desks pushed aside. No fancy gowns or ceremonial music, just us in our wrinkled uniforms that had seen better days, and Little Shit perched on my head.

My eyes drifted to Gran Gran, who was busy chatting it up with Kurumi's mom. Her hands flew through the air as she described something, while Kurumi's mom nodded along.

I couldn't help but smile. After months of just having kaiju to talk to, Gran Gran must have been starved for actual conversation.

"Tatsuhara Ryūka."

Fujita-sensei's monotone voice cut through my thoughts. Right. The diploma. The piece of paper that was supposed to be my ticket to Tokyo, to that penthouse with the view of Mt. Fuji. Funny how things work out.

I stepped forward, dodging Little Shit's attempt to snatch the diploma with his tiny claws.

"Congratulations," Fujita-sensei said as he handed me the paper.

I smiled back, clutching my perfectly ordinary diploma that somehow felt extraordinary.

After the families filed out of 4-B, I pulled Dad aside into the empty hallway. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows through the windows, making him sparkle.

"Hey Dad, now that Gran Gran's dictatorship is officially over..." I dug a crumpled piece of paper from my uniform pocket. "I made something while you were away."

Dad's head tilted as I unfolded it.

"A bucket list. All the places we never got to visit because Gran Gran was being… Well, you know how she is."

Little Shit poked his head out of my collar to peer at the list, nearly falling out in excitement when he spotted 'Seven Flags' written in big letters.

"Yeah, we're definitely hitting up the amusement park first. Believe it or not, the Inky Inferno is still there."

Dad shimmered, and I swear I could feel him smiling even without a face.

"We've got about a month before everything goes kaput, so... What do you say? Want to make up for lost time?"