milliways_bar | (no subject)

"Light reading, Max?"

There's a Zenigata, smiling and bright, with a couple of books tucked under his arm, none of which relate to Lupin III or criminology, for a change, being fare too thin and softbacked.

He takes a seat near by, putting his books on the table; they all have titles that relate to raising a teenager in three ways: a traumatized child, an autistic child, and a queer child. Ami, after all, is all three.

"How have you been?" he asks, as he flags a waitrat down for some simple coffee. (Two cream, two sugar -- you only drink the black tar coffee on stakeout.)

"A bit, yes," Max says, looking up with a small but true smile for the Inspector. She'll resist the urge to make a 'light reading'/'photo' pun. "Even retro camera nerds like me have to keep up with the cutting edge of the field, and I'm keeping up as best I can."

Life is weird, right now, weirder than the usual teen experience, but even at the end of the universe she doesn't know if anyone would believe her. "What about you? Light reading?"

Though, now that she looks, those don't look like light topics.

Taking the cup from the waitrat as they serve him up, Zenigata chuckles a little as he settles back in his seat.

"Ah, did I tell you about Ami?" I've got guardianship of a young lady, and... well, we our first holiday together. I just noticed a few places I could learn more, that's all!"

Zenigata, ever training, knows he needs remedial fatherhood lessons. Sure, he Dads anyone he can, but.... that's because of years of previous failure. He just doesn't want to make all new mistakes.

"How's school been?"

Max's look brightens. "You didn't mention - but that's lovely, having a holiday together. I hope it went well!"

She knows teens can be difficult! Max happens to occasionally be a difficult teen, herself. It comes with the territory.

"School has been a bit of a lot, lately." She may have only been there a month, and it's a highly-strung school to begin with, but today in particular has been a doozy. "But I figure that's kind of to be expected, in an arts and science school. I'm getting along okay."

"Ah, yes, it was. I managed to get her, ah, uncle down as well -- he's very hard to reach," Zenigata said. It was... mostly true. Lupin is basically family, definitely the cool uncle, and it is really hard to pin him down for parent-teacher conferences.

"You know Japan does a very different schooling system than you do - competitive high schools are like competitive colleges. They take only the best," he says, thinking on it as he looks into his coffee cups. "America only does that for exceptional students in specialized schools."

Or rich ones, like everybody in the world does.

"It's great that her uncle was able to be there, too, and she got to spend time with you both," Max enthuses, unquestioning. "I bet that made the holiday really special."

She hopes it would. The titles of the books Zenigata has gathered paint a complicated picture.

"Yeah, for the most part in the U.S., which school you go to from primary through high school is determined by where you live. The only competitive schools are ones that specialize, like Blackwell, or higher-ed."

It's nice to have someone just say something uncomplicated and good about a more complicated matter. Sometimes it's just good to hear that you sort of did a good thing, even if it was more involved than they realize.

"Exactly. We have plenty of general track high schools, but they still provide education above and beyond what one might consider 'normal' learning," Zenigata says, between sips of his coffee. "My sisters went to one high school, I went to a different one."

"I had figured I'd finish out high school in Seattle," Max admits, smiling a little into her magazine. "The scholarship to go to Blackwell and study photography was... a real surprise."

It's still surprising, and amazing, and overwhelming sometimes.

"Does your..." daughter is probably the wrong word? "Does Ami go to a high school in Japan?"

"A surprise, but something you earned with your art!" Zenigata says with a smile.

The question doesn't dim the smile, though. He's still bright and happy as he says, "No. Ami's uncle pays for her private schooling in France. Personally I'd rather her be in a public school for more real-life experience, but her uncle insisted on specialized education."

That's a really simple way of going 'Lupin wanted to be involved, the therapists in the area were good, and it was safe...' but also leave out 'until the CIA and Lupin fucked it up real good.'