The Boy in the Park
Chapter Twelve
"Onii-sama, please come back home," his sister said, her green eyes looking at him worriedly. "Mother's sorry."
He flipped a page of his book, as he looked at Sakura with a half-bored and half-contrite expression. The girl's hands were wringing against themselves, probably in stress.
"No," he replied calmly. "Is there anything else?"
She looked dejected for a moment, but then shook her head and left. It was the fifth consecutive day she had been doing that. It was the fifth day in a row that he had a sour mood.
It wasn't that he 'hated' his sister. It just…it was difficult to understand why she'd now go to such lengths. He flipped through the pages of the work he had to do, and began to calmly write and set down the marks of a first year class.
It was boring work, but if he kept this up by the time Naruko graduated, he'd be already teaching the brats —which meant a pay raise. He had just finished compiling the marks, when Iruka brought Naruko in the teacher's lounge for a scathing tongue-lashing. It was a common sight since the day the girl had found out where he was most of the morning.
While he actually was sort-of touched, it wasn't as if he was going anywhere now, was he?
"Aniki!" Naruko said the moment Iruka stopped to catch his breath, latching on to his chest and pouting visibly. "Iruka-sensei is meaaannnn!" she whined out as she made her Naruko-Trademarked Fake Crocodile Tears. "He hits me!"
"T-That's not true!" Iruka spluttered.
"Muuuh…what if it scars? I'm not going to be a bride then!" she whined once more, showing her completely normal scalp —it was already ruffle-proof after all.
"Naruko," he sighed and patted the girl's head once —that made her go on her usual purring answer. It had to be some sort of innate genetic makeup: if someone patted her head, she reverted to a cat-like behaviour.
"Nyah?" she said between purrs. He rolled his eyes.
"You're not a cat, Naruko. And you have lessons: come on, don't waste Umino-san's time," Naruko pouted. She stretched —just like a cat— looked back with a boring look at Iruka, the type cats give when they go 'Really? Do I, supreme God-Cat, have to go there?' and then snorted softly as if she had decided it was too much trouble getting up.
"And I have work to do," he added also, seeing how she wasn't moving. "If I don't work, I won't be paid, and if I'm not paid, I can't pretty much offer you ramen now, can I?"
Her eyes shone. "We're going to eat ramen after school?"
"No," he sighed. It was far too pricy to do so daily, now that he also had rent to contend with. "But if you graduate, I'll offer you all the ramen you can eat at Ichiraku."
He knew he was condemning himself to poverty. He just knew.
He hoped Teuchi would offer the first bowl on the house…and the second, the third and maybe all the way up to the fifth.
The girl pouted, but jumped off his lap. "I'll show you Aniki! I'm going to ace this test this time, 'ttebayo!"
Considering she had failed the second one and was now going for her third try, he just smiled. "All right, I'll believe you," he winked at her, as she left— not before screaming to the top of her lungs.
"Come Iruka-sensei! We're distracting Aniki from working…and he has to pay ramen!" Iruka stammered a moment more before following the blond bullet out of the teacher lounge. He returned to his assignment instead.
After school, he began to walk towards the market only for Naruko to immediately dash from her spot on the swing to right against him. It was sort of endearing —like having a personal duckling— how the girl just…followed him around.
"Neh, Aniki? Where are we going?" she asked.
"To the market," he replied with a shrug. It wasn't that difficult. He was barely an assistant teacher who had to pay rent: he sustained himself thus on cup ramen and cup-anything and instant coffee and whatnot. He rarely even had to spend more than half of his salary on food —considering the other half went to the rent.
"Oh! That's boring!" Naruko pouted. "Neh, can we train on the Bunshin some more?"
He admired Naruko. Really, she was literally unable to do the Bunshin —and not for lack of trying— but she persisted. He had tried telling her to use more chakra, less chakra, train more with control and the girl had done that and more, and yet nothing seemed to work.
Really, it was as if the Bunshin was literally against her.
"After I buy the groceries," he replied. He sighed. He really needed some free time to just read a book, but he couldn't just leave Naruko alone. The girl had no one else. If he felt lonely, he could always go and chat with a few —admittedly sparse— friends from school, or if he felt masochistic, he could try his mother —his father was actually the only one who didn't care and still waved at him with his carefree attitude. Naruko had him and the people of Ichiraku ramen. If he wasn't there and the Ichiraku folks were working…she was alone.
He knew she trained because she had nothing else to do —apparently, it took her but a couple of days to 'devour' through a book, and books were costly.
He was actually glad that when he had left, he had brought all of his books with him. He wondered what they had done with his old room: probably converted it into a closet or storage of sorts.
Buying food went by smoothly —after all everything was on sale, the prices were even and the total didn't go beyond the five hundred ryos. You can't cheat on that, no matter how hard you try.
And the machines never lie —especially when they ring you the receipt.
With his plastic bags in hand —with Naruko already taking care of the last two, because she wanted to help— they walked towards his apartment. He hummed along the way as Naruko told him of the daily routine at the academy, with…
"Naruko," he asked suddenly, caught by a flash of insight. "Do you come by every day to check if Sakura convinced me to go back home?"
The girl skipped a step, barely holding on to her balance as she made a 'waah' sound.
"W-What? Nah! Aniki…" she stammered.
He chuckled. "You're really a worrywart, aren't you?"
She pouted and snapped her head to the sides with an 'indignant' look. "That's not true!"
"I'm not going anywhere…how many times will I have to repeat that?"
"B-But she's…" Naruko mumbled a 'your family'.
"I have only one person who calls me Aniki," he replied then softly. "And there is only one person I call Imouto," he added then. "So, who do you think is my family?"
The way her eyes were wide and her face morphed in shock was actually somewhat silly. She was looking with her bright and big cerulean eyes his way, all teary and sparkly, and with her frame slightly trembling.
"Really," he sighed, "What is it with you and believing I'm going to leave any moment soon? Sorry to tell you, but I'm here to stay," to prove the point, he opened the door of his apartment…that was right next to Naruko's. "See? No luggage and no moving out."
The girl entered behind him, as he dropped the bags on the cheap plastic table and turned to give a condescending and half-smiling look to Naruko. "Want to have dinner together, Imouto?"
That was the first time he offered dinner to Naruko…but it truly wouldn't be the last and, in retrospect, maybe his wallet wouldn't have suffered that much if he hadn't.