OVERSEAS MIRACLES

CHAPTER 24

Settled Issues

"As the chairman of the academy, I should take necessary disciplinary actions. I was thinking of grounding you in school for two weeks.

"Does this have to involve uncle and auntie?" he raised his voice a little.

"Uhm, excuse me, evereybody. Mrs. Bracken, I guess there is no need to go to that extent." Kyoko inserted shyly.

"Kyoko, I don't care if he's my nephew! What he did to you is totally inappropriate." Kuu objected.

"Son, they are her host parents. Whatever happens to Ms. Kyoko is the concern of your aunt and uncle. But let us calm ourselves for a bit and let's settle things straight." Mrs. Bracken explained to her son.

"Ah, so this is the reason why you brought me here, huh." France assumed mockingly. 'Her host parents?! I thought she lives in one of the academy's dormitory.'

"Dear, Ceecee. We don't want to ruin the serene atmosphere of our tea drinking." Julie spoke gently as she placed her hand on France's shoulder.

"Oh, sorry." He slumped.

"Come to think of it, I haven't thought that way earlier not until Kuu asked if you were classmates with Ms. Kyoko. Now, you just made me realize that this is a fortunate opportunity to discuss the matter." She grinned thoughtfully.

Well, it's true that he did force that action on me though. But I guess it's too much to give a break away from school." Kyoko uttered bluntly, making the guy cringed. "Well, when I was in middle school, students who were reported to the disciplinary adviser will be allowed to enter the class but they have to stay behind to do library, CR or hallway duties." She added.

"If we put it that way, I guess I prefer him to do the comfort room duties." Kuu suggested eagerly.

"Uncle! I prefer to be grounded rather than to do the library or the CRs!" France protested quickly.

"I guess letting you do the CR duties would give you a mind blowing lesson." Julie commented with a smile.

"Not you too, Aunt Lily!" France grumbled, making the rest laugh at his reaction.

"What can you say, Ms. Kyoko?" Mrs. Bracken inquired the teen.

"Uhm… What can I say? I can't just dictate of what to do. But If you ground him, he will miss a lot of lessons…" she eyed the guy who is looking at her back with narrowed eyes.

"Ah, okay. I get it now…" Mrs. Bracken raised a thumb.

Minutes later, everything is settled and they are now enjoying the rest of the tea ceremony. They kept on talking, which was lead by Mrs. Bracken and Julie would cheerfully laugh at the memories that they shared especially when they involve France in their conversation which made him whine from time to time when his mother shared one of his childhood embarrassing moments. Kuu on the other hand kept on talking to his dear daughter about her other experience in Japan. It was a very lively atmosphere for everybody to enjoy.

Kyoko kept on laughing at her 'father's antics. This immediately caught the attention of the guy as he heard the cutest giggle that he had ever known. But then, he was confused of what they are talking about since they are speaking in Japanese. 'Damn, how could be that girl act different from before?' he thought in annoyance.

Julie was the one who first produced a slurping sound from her drink then followed Kuu.

"Wow, you both create such a sound." France commented.

"In a Japanese tea ceremony, before you consume everything in your drink, you must create a slurping sound, indicating that you are done and you really liked and enjoyed your tea.

"What? Does it have to be that way? But I already drank everything in my cup." He said anxiously. "But I really do love the tea and enjoyed drinking it very much." He added frantically.

Kyoko chuckled at the concern of her classmate. "Don't worry, we understand. This is your first time, right?" she asked smilingly. Then the adults nodded at her presumption as well.

"Yeah. Thanks for the tea." He just muttered as he bowed his head. 'That smile right now is too attractive.' He exhaled in relief. 'What am I saying? Gah!' he mentally screamed.

After the tea ceremony, all of them were back to their casual clothing. It's already 12:00 o' clock midnight and everybody is starting to feel sleepy.

"Aw… that tea ceremony was great! I had fallen in love with Ms. Kyoko's performance. It's the most elegant and beautiful tea ceremony that I had ever experience." Mrs. Bracken praised.

"Well, she's not my girl for nothing, right Jules?." Kuu as he wrapped an arm around his 'daughter's' shoulder.

"Very true." Julie replied with a proud beam displayed on her face.

"Otou-san, Okaa-san… You're too exaggerating."Kyoko pouted.

"Oto- sa Oka- what?"France fumbled at his words.

"Otou-san and Okaa-san means father and mother in Japanese respectively." Julie corrected.

"Oh, I see." France said. 'She seems like a real daughter to them. I want to discover how special this girl is.' He mentally noted.

"Why don't you two stay for the night?" Kuu suggested.

"Yeah. It's already late."Julie added.

"Thanks for the offer, Kuu, Julie. But France and I have to leave. We have class tomorrow, you know. How about t for our next visit? I'm pretty sure we can stay when the time comes."

"Okay. We understand." Julie nodded.

"Well then, we have to leave. Goodbye, Julie, Kuu." She wrapped Julie into a tight embrace

"Good bye, Aunt Lilie and and Uncle Kuu." France followed.

"Well, see you in school, Ms. Kyoko." Mrs. Bracken gave her a wink.

"Oh, yeah. Good night, Mrs. Bracken." she beamed and nodded in return. Turning head to face France, he just gave her a nod and turned his back.

Julie had called Mr. Winston to escort their visitors outside to their car. Once Mrs. Bracken settled herself on the passenger seat, France silently turned the ignition of their vehicle.

"You hav-" her words were cut when France suddenly went out of the car.

"Just a moment, mother. I have forgotten something." He said hurriedly.

Before Mr. Winston closed the main door, he heard someone calling him outside. He took a peek and saw the lad in a jiffy in front of him.

"What is it, France?" he asked.

"I forgot something inside. May I come in?" France asked.

"Oh, sure. If you need something from Master Kuu, just go upstairs. I guess he is still walking to his room." Mr. Winston opened the door to allow the lad's entrance.

"Okay, thanks." France nodded and rushed to the second floor of the mansion. He called out for his uncle before he could touch the door knob of their room.

"Oh, France, you came back. Have you and your mom decided to stay?" he asked in a little excitement.

"No, uncle. Actually, I want to speak to Ms. Kyoko." He admitted.

"Oh, you wanted to give her a good night kiss?" Kuu guessed with a hint of menace.

"That's not it. Geez, it's something about our assignment." He answered truthfully.

"Is that so? I guess she's still in the kitchen or the tea room. If you both need to do your assignment together, please do it here." He said promptly.

"Ouch!" someone yelped behind them.

"Ms. Kyoko, are you okay?" Mr. Winston quickly went upstairs to aid Kyoko.

"Ah, no. I'm fine, Mr. Winston. I was not minding where I stepped on." She said quickly.

"Kyoko, what just happened?" Kuu approached.

"It was just a small slip. I'm fine really. I can stand up properly. See?" she stood from the floor.

"That's good. Then, good night, Ms. Kyoko." Mr. Winston said in relief as Kyoko returned the greeting.

"Ah, dear son. France here has something to say to you." Kuu presented the guy to her.

'That guy again?' her brows twitched.

"What is it, France-kun?" she asked innocently, fighting the urge to snob him.

"What's with the kun in my name?" he asked as his face wrinkled in wonder.

'Ah, sorry! Hehehe. Hard habits die hard." She laughed at her mistake. "Anyway, what is it, France?"

"First, I would like to apologize for forcing a kiss on you. I know what I did was wrong and I hope you'll forgive for that. I was such a jerk." He admitted in defeat as he bowed apologetically.

"Oh, okay." She was surprised that he just went back just to say sorry to her. This is not something she was expecting from him. Probably, despite for being such a playboy, he still has a good side in him. The thought had just reminded her of her beloved Ren.

"Did you forgive me, already? I am really sorry-"his words were interrupted.

"France, you don't have to apologize twice. Once is enough." She said clearly.

"Oh, thank you." He replied. Staring at her face, he saw something that could make his mind lose. He can't exactly explain why but there is something in this girl that had made him realize something.

"Is this why you came back?" she asked, snapping him back to his consciousness.

"Ah no. Aside from that, about our assignment, we have to meet tomorrow after class so that we can decide on what to do. Uhm, where do you suggest us to meet?" he asked, placing his hands in his pockets.

"Just do your assignment here, France. I don't want you to take her somewhere." Kuu interjected. France turned his back to the person who spoke. He was not aware of his uncles presence and it surprised him.

"That's fine with me, uncle." France replied coolly. 'Dammit. I forgot he was still here. This means he had heard what I have been apologizing to her. That's great. Really great indeed.'

"Good. Now, I'll just go ahead. Good night, you two." Kuu kissed his 'daughter's forehead before he left.

"Good night, Otou-san." She hugged him.

'Since when did Uncle Kuu turn into a very protective father? Am I really that kind of an ass already?' he mumbled.

"Uhm, what is it, France? You were talking to yourself." Kyoko interrupted him.

"No, nothing. Anyway, take note of tomorrow. Got it?" He reminded.

"Oh sure. I'm looking forward to this. Let's work together." She said in determination and presented her right hand to him for a handshake.

A smile crept at his face when he saw the glint of determination was ignited in her golden eyes.

"Yeah." He said as he returned the handshake. 'This could be interesting, Kyoko Mogami.' He grinned inwardly, plotting something that will make his day interesting for tomorrow.

Haha, I thought I was not able to post a new chapter. But I did!

Hey, readers! Thank you so much for giving me lots of reviews. I really did enjoy reading them and it had motivated me to keep on writing… Also, some of you gave some suggestions. Hmm, it did somehow gave me a new idea of what to include in the future chapters. Yayyy! Thank you so much!

Lately, I just noticed that the past few chapters where at its slow pace. Actually, I just want to settle some issues for this story so that it can somehow serve as a guide sooner if I had planned on something.

Oops.. Reviews please…

THANK YOU!