The Boy in the Park
Chapter Fifty-Four
"That's boriiinggg!" Konohamaru yelled that, with the class halfway through the lesson. "Oyabun-sensei! What about the fight against—"
The chalk flew with precision that only a mastery of the ancient Chalk-Arts could produce, slamming into Konohamaru's forehead with exquisite finality. There was a sharp 'Thunk' as the boy's head slammed against the desk on the back.
"Gah!"
"Very well," Shinku said. "As I was saying, concerning the theoretical purposes of the second Shinobi war—"
Shinku returned to his lesson while Hanabi Hyuga, a few seats behind Konohamaru, frowned. She had her doubts the man in question was the reason her onee-sama had suddenly taken a turn for the worst —her and the entire branch house. For the love of Kami: she couldn't even go back home without being called 'Little Onesan' now by the people in the street!
She kept her gaze on the teacher, until she felt a finger touch her arm. She turned, her face bothered from such an intrusion in her personal space. The girl next to her giggled and then whispered. "Neh, Hanabi-chan…you've got the hots for the teacher?"
Hanabi probably shouldn't have yelled back, but the thing did shock her.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"
"Language in the back rows!" Shinku bellowed. "Mo…Wait, Hanabi? Konohamaru, did you fake the voice of one of your classmates again?"
"N-No Oyabun-sensei! I swear I didn't!"
"I'm not an Oyabun!" Shinku sighed. "Fine, Hanabi? You'll remain after lesson for your punishment."
"Hai, sensei," Hanabi replied coldly. She wasn't sulking, of course…this was all a plan to find out more about the man in question.
"Oh…" Moegi whispered then with a smirk on her face. "Hanabi and the professor alone in the class," Moegi giggled.
"Shut up, insufferable plain-as-a-board kid."
"I could say the same for you," Moegi sniffed back, putting up a fake air of 'nobility'. "I'm Hyuga Hanabi, I will finish the academy in a year because I'm better than all of you."
"I said I would, and I will," Hanabi hissed.
"Silence back there!" Shinku said once more. "I'm trying to teach."
Hanabi rolled her eyes. Really, that man couldn't possibly be the reason her oneesama turned out like that.
When the lesson ended, she found herself staring as hard as possible in the direction of the man in question. He apparently felt it, because he tried a nervous smile. To be scared by her gaze…really, what a weak-willed individual.
"Now, Hanabi," he said, "Why did you yell in class? Something wrong?"
"Nothing," she replied dryly.
He raised an eyebrow. "Was there something wrong with Moegi?"
So he had some slight insight. Maybe some deduction…nothing important anyway.
"No," she clipped. "Nothing wrong, nothing strange, nothing to worry about. Can I go now, sensei?"
"Did she do something to offend you?"
"Why are you so keen on this? Isn't Moegi one of your 'underlings'? Shouldn't you be taking care to pin the blame on me rather than on her?"
"Actually, she's one of Naruko's Underlings…I just got roped in," he nervously chuckled. "And as a teacher, I am impartial. The fault goes where the fault has to go, not where we wish it should be. I don't know why you dislike me, but if you don't tell me the reason how am I expected to change my ways?"
"And why should you change? I'm the kid here, adults are always right," she bitterly retorted.
"Doesn't change the fact that I'd like to get along with every student in my care, so if you're feeling uncomfortable because of something, you can always tell me about it."
"And then what? What if I told you I spent years training harshly, coughing out blood to become the very best my father wished for, and then it's suddenly unneeded because my sister somehow grew up enough of a spine to become better than me in everything!" she bit her lips then, "And what if it was your fault then? Uh? Are you going to take responsibility for it!?"
Shinku closed his eyes for a moment. "So…"
He exhaled.
"You're jealous?"
Hanabi turned crimson, stomping her foot on the ground. "I'm not jealous of her! She's a wimp, a cry baby! Father never liked her before and now suddenly she's his favourite! It's not fair! NOT FAIR!"
She clenched her fists, shame burning her cheeks. "It was supposed to be me. He always praised me."
"And now he praises your sister?"
"Yes," she snarled out.
The man got down on one knee. "Don't you think this is how your sister felt, when you were the one being praised and she wasn't?"
She furiously looked at him, her heart painfully throbbing. That…that could be but…
"I…I don't…"
"Look, I can't say I know how you were brought up, but you know, for a long while all I did with Hinata was talk to her. She came out of her shell in her own way and for her own reasons. Maybe…you should start deciding what you want to do, rather than what you need to do to make your father praise you. Praises are fleeting. One day he'll tell you how good you are, the next he'll be angry for something else. People, all people, are like that. What he holds deep inside however won't change just because he stops saying that he is proud of you."
He smiled then. "Understood?"
She blushed, tears in the corner of her eyes before nodding carefully.
"Plus, now aren't you freer to begin with? Why not try to find something else to do? Something you can genuinely enjoy?"
"H-Hai, sensei," she meekly whispered. The next moment she found herself with a handkerchief pressed in her hands.
"There we go, now wipe away your tears and give me a smile."
She frowned. "A Hyuga never smiles. It defeats the purpose of appearing scary and powerful."
"Your sister smiles and laughs a lot, and let me tell you…she scares the hell out of me," he whispered in a low voice. "And do you know how much more scary she is when she's dressed in orange? I still have nightmares," he mock shuddered. "The scariest of nightmares let me tell you."
She giggled.
"That's a stupid thing to be scared of."
"Oh, trust me, she was holding on to a knife, an orange, and was going all 'Hey A-ni-ki-san who were you talking to this morning? You can't forget about Naruko-chan like this' and then—"
Well, now she understood why her sister liked to talk with him.
Since she was the second born…
Maybe an arranged marriage wasn't out of the deal?
Shinku's spine crawled with frost.
Hiashi Hyuga looked at the entire warehouse filled with teacups he possessed —he actually had a collection of teacups that he truly loved— and then felt the ground tremble for a moment.
The moment was over and…
All the teacups cracked.
They exploded to smithereens; be they ceramic cups, plastic cups, steel cups, gold cups, delicate cups, clay cups…they all cracked or broke one after the other.
Hiashi Hyuga walked outside his secret warehouse.
The Kitchen's cups were destroyed too.
"Ah…" he exhaled.
"All right," he acquiesced. "Prepare the castration squad!" he bellowed then, "Someone's going to lose it before the night falls!"
Every single healthy male Hyuga that did not belong to the Castration Squad suddenly disappeared in a flash that would have made the Yondaime —if he had been still alive— go with a 'That's copyright infringement you guys!' yell.
Shinku kept up a nervous smile as he walked back home.
Why did he feel as if his observers had suddenly spiked up in numbers?