Extra 17: To Love Ruto (32)
Extra 17: To Love Ruto (32)
"So, is your teacher coming today for a registered visit to talk to your father?" - Kurama asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, but my father is busy with his work, again he is on deadline" - replied Mikan with a frown.
"I don't have anything to do today, so I don't mind helping you" - replied Kurama as he looked at the girl - "Though I'm not sure how your father acts or what he normally talks about"
Mikan left for a few minutes, only to return with a large row of books.
"Mangas?" - Kurama asked in surprise.
"Yes, it's all my father talks about when he comes home" - Mikan replied with a frown - "You can also use this, it's a bit rushed, but this is a basic description of how my father acts with us and with strangers."
"Hmm, I think I can work with this" - nodded Kurama before smiling slightly - "Ok, give me a few minutes, and I'll show you my interpretation."
"Ok" - nodded Mikan as he quietly withdrew.
30 minutes later, Mikan went to open the door, only to be surprised to see her father - "Dad?"
"Hello, Mikan-chan" - Saiba said while smiling slightly - "And Rito?"
"He went to his girlfriend's to hang out" - Mikan replied while shaking her head.
"I still can't believe my son has a girlfriend" - said Saiba as he started to cry - "I'm so proud of him!"
"Dad" - muttered Mikan as she grabbed the bridge of her nose - "Better save that for another time, what did you come here for?"
"Can't I come to see my daughter when she needs me?" - Saiba asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you were stuck with the deadline of your new project" - said Mikan as she shook her head.
"Oh, I am" - nodded Saiba as he laughed lightly, only for his body to be surrounded by a smokescreen.
Mikan started coughing from the surprise attack, only to see how Kurama was standing where her father used to be - "Huh?"
"I think I did a good job" - Kurama smiled as he looked at the girl.
"All the time, it was you?" - asked Mikan with surprise.
"Yeah, let's just say that my old line of work, conditioned me to impersonate other people" - replied Kurama while shrugging his shoulders - "Honestly, I never used these skills, but now I see that they're going to be useful"
"I'm surprised, your ability to pretend to be my father is perfect, now I'm thankful that I asked you, and not Rito" - said Mikan while nodding with a small smile. Just thinking about the possibility of Rito's "illness", taking over, made her expression distort.
"When will your teacher arrive?" - Kurama asked as he cocked his head to the side.
"Oh, in half an hour" - replied Mikan after seeing the time - "Half an hour?!"
Kurama let out a small laugh when he saw the girl's cute reaction - "Ok, I'm going to prepare some last things."
"Please don't be so late" - Mikan replied seriously.
"Relax, I'm responsible with my work" - replied Kurama calmly as he disappeared from the place.
* * * * *
"I'll finally get to meet Saiba Yuuki sensei" - muttered a beautiful woman with dark brown hair, light brown eyes. She was wearing a white blouse, red glasses framing her face, and a long wine red skirt.
She slowly pulled out a copy of one of Saiba's manga, as well as the surprisingly good new Shojo story the Mangaka had released last month.
"I'm surprised how talented he is, I mean, not every Mangaka can go from a fighting genre, to a romantic comedy" - the woman muttered with a small smile.
The woman slowly walked towards the door, when she saw with surprise how a handsome white-haired man, came out of the neighboring house. She was surprised to see someone so handsome, more so when for some strange reason, his appearance reminded her of one of the important characters in the story of her favorite Mangaka.
The teacher remained silent as she watched the white-haired man walk in her direction with a smile. She could feel her heart beating a mile a minute the closer the handsome man got.
"Hello, come to see the Yuuki family?" - The man asked with a smile.
"H-Hai!" - The teacher exclaimed with a huge blush on her cheeks.
"What a coincidence, I also came to talk to Saiba about something" - smiled the white haired man as he seemed to be thinking about something - "Oh, sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Kurama Uzumaki, PE teacher of Seinan school where Saiba's eldest son studies."
"M-My name is Reine Tachibana, and I'm the head teacher of Mikan-chan's class" - replied Reine as she felt her heart pounding from the huge coincidence between the two of them.
"It's my pleasure" - smiled Kurama as he walked towards the entrance of the Yuuki residence.
Reine looked at Kurama curiously as she followed him closely.
"Huh? Kurama-san?" - Mikan said with surprise, more so when he saw Tachibana sensei behind him - "Do you need something?"
"Yes, I came to talk to your father" - Kurama replied while winking at her.
"Oh, sure, though it's going to have to wait because now he will have a meeting with Tachibana sensei" - replied Mikan while looking at the teacher.
"Relax, I can wait" - replied Kurama as he entered the Yuuki residence.
"Is he your brother's teacher?" - Reine asked as she looked in the direction where Kurama had disappeared.
"Yes, he usually comes when my father is not working to talk about Rito's performance, and the trouble he got himself into" - replied Mikan as she made up an excuse.
"Is your brother a troublemaker?" - Reine asked with surprise.
"Yes, although since Kurama sensei showed up, he doesn't get into so much trouble, he even managed to confess to the girl he liked" - replied Mikan while shaking her head.
"Oh, that means he's a good teacher" - nodded Reine with a small smile as she looked again in the direction where the other teacher had disappeared.
"Mikan? Where are you?" - asked a male voice.
"I'm coming, daddy!" - Mikan exclaimed with a small smile - "Ok, I think daddy is now available."
"Hai!" - exclaimed Reine excitedly, only to cough falsely to hide the embarrassment of having overreacted - "Ahem! Sorry about that!"
Mikan decided to ignore this, and led her teacher to the room where her "father" was, only to see how "he" was laughing along with Kurama. This left her confused because it shouldn't be possible for there to be two Kurama, unless the white-haired man had the ability to create an exact copy.
"Seriously, your stories are a great source of inspiration for my stories" - Saiba said as he shook his head, then looked at the beautiful woman accompanying his daughter - "You must be Tachibana sensei, Mikan has said many good things about you, that's why I'm thankful"
"N-No, Mikan-chan is a good girl, smart, and very mature for her age" - replied Reine while moving her hands erratically.
"I'm sorry, it's my fault" - sighed Saiba while shaking his head - "I keep myself locked up in my studio, working all day, while her mother is out of the country on her fashion shows, so we have forced our little daughter to bear all the responsibility. I'm ashamed as a father to hand over so much weight to my poor Mikan-chan."
"D-Dad" - Mikan muttered as his ears blushed because even though he wasn't her real father, it was embarrassing to hear this kind of thing.
"Ha ha ha ha!" - Saiba could only let out a laugh as he saw his daughter's embarrassed face - "Ok, sorry, I know I don't say this kind of things, but you have to know, I'm proud of you, Mikan-chan, and I'm sure your mother must be too."
Reine smiled slightly, as did Kurama.
"It's a beautiful family interaction" - nodded Reine as she looked at her student - "I was honestly a little worried, Mikan-chan is a good girl, but when I heard that her father was all the time working, and her mother was out of the country, I started to worry that she was overworking herself, but now I see that she's not as lonely as I thought, although I would recommend that she had fewer chores, maybe then she could take a break, and she could spend time with her friends"
"I'm going to talk to Rito about this, and I'm going to make sure I spend more time at home" - Saiba replied seriously - "That's a promise"
"Ok, we'd better get on with the talk" - nodded Reine as she gave discreet glances to Kurama, who only smiled slightly, embarrassing the woman even more because it was obvious that he knew she was watching him.
Mikan was silent as she shook her head, although she had to admit that Kurama was doing a good job. He had not only functioned as a replacement for his father, but he was also keeping the teacher busy, in an unorthodox way.