REBORN: Sasagawa Kaori

Chapter 3: Made in China. Water resistant. Shock resistant.

"Careful! We don't want her to get hurt on her first day into the family." Ryuusuke scolded. He picked the two off of me so I got a closer look at him. Holy crap was my new dad a sexy beast!

He had silver hair like Ryohei but he was pale just like Kimiko so I don't understand why Ryohei was so tanned. Always running in the sun, maybe? He was average height but you could easily tell he was a boxer from his posture as well as his toned arms that showed through his clothing. A button up shirt, dress pants and a leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up.

"Nice to meet you, Kaori. I'm Ryuusuke, your father." Kinda figured. I ain't stupid.

"Hello, thank you for letting me stay." I said bluntly but with warmth.

"Have you had dinner yet?" I was not allowed a verbal answer before my stomach growled. I flushed in embarrassment. "I'll take that as a no." He handed Kimiko a bag of what I presumed to be food. "There's some leftover sushi Hibari gave to us." Sushi! Yaaas! My favourit- WAIT! HIBARI?! HIBARI KYOYA, HIBARI?!

"That was rather nice of them. How was Kyoya by the way? He's finally five!" Kimiko gushed.

"He's fine, though he's still just as grouchy like his grandfather."

"That just reminds me! Our little Kaori-chan here has the same birthday as Kyoya!"

Ryuusuke turned to look at me again. And yes, I was still blushing. "Really? What a coincidence. I have a feeling they'll grow up to be great friends!" There it is, the oblivious side of every character in khr. Still, I can't imagine Hibari Kyoya having any friends besides animals like Hibird and his box animal Roll.

Kimiko set the sushi in the takeaway box on the table and gave me chopsticks to eat with. Do you see the problem? No? Well let me tell ya, I can't use freaking chopsticks even though I used to be Chinese! My parents were pissed. I've lived in Australia for all my past-life and we use our hands and forks over there! 

Now, I picked up the pair of chopsticks and tried to grab a piece of sushi. Cue fail and cue sweat-drops and laughter from my family. I tried again, and cue fail and more laughter.

It's official, I hate chopsticks!

"Kaori, would you like to use a spoon instead?" Ryuusuke asked.

I shook my head. Who he hell uses a spoon to eat sushi? "No thanks. Can I use a fork instead?"

And he handed me a metal fork. It felt odd in my hands, it felt heavy; really heavy. Goddammit, I almost forgot how weak normal children were! Eventually though, I adjusted to its weight and began eating the sushi in peace. There was salmon, tuna, unagi and chiken. All of which were my favourite. In what seemed like no time at all, I finished my share. So I do still have my appetite then.

After I finished dinner and a small bowl of ice-cream, Kimiko and Ryuusuke showed me to my room which I shared with Ryohei and Kyoko. They told me I could move into a guest room whenever I wanted too after all, their house was rather big. Well, bigger than the two bedroom apartment I owned previously. I didn't realize it earlier but their house was a typical two-story house and had around three spare bedrooms, one of which had its own toilet and bathroom. Obviously, I called dibs on that one. I planned on moving that room when I turned eight. 

"Hey, Kaori. Kimiko and I were thinking to enroll you into grade-school soon." Ryuusuke announced. I hummed for him to continue. "But we're still not sure about it yet. I mean, you still haven't received any education yet." On the contrary, I already have a degree in medicine. "Do you want to be home-schooled?"

Feigning ignorance, I replied, "What's home-school?"

"Home-school is when you learn at home from your parents or someone else." He explained.

I nodded. "But I want to go to school with Kyoko and Ryohei." I said in a childish tone. Ack! what is with this mushy crap?! "I promise I'll work hard."

"Alright then, how about this? You get home-schooled to make up for pre-school and we'll see how you go. If you do well then you can go to the same school as Ryohei in two years, once he's old enough." But you don't even learn anything in pre-school! Why do I need to have to make up for not going?

Reluctantly, I nodded. "You promise." Nod. "But what if I do really, really, really, well? Does that mean I'll get to go to school early?"

He thought for a second and then Kimiko came in too with Ryohei and Kyoko. "Hello dear. How's Kaori?" She asked.

"Kaori wants to know if she can go to grade-school this year if she exceeds our expectations." Ryuusuke told her.

Kimiko looked at me again. "If that's what she wants then it's fine. Who are we to get in her way of learning?"

"B-but what if she gets bullied at school? What if she lags behind for not going to pre-school?" Ryuusuke looked like he was going to burst into tears. Turns out, he was a rather clingy father who was definitely one for the waterworks and dramatics. I honestly pictured Kimiko to be the type but nope, she was most certainly the mature one.

"Hush darling! have some faith in our daughter, I think she'll do fine!" She scolded then continued, "Won't you Kaori?"

"Of course!"

"But we don't even know if we read yet!" Ryuusuke exclaimed.

Kimiko sighed and took off her watch. "If she can read this then she gets to go to school. Deal?"

"Fine!"

She passed me her watch and instructed me to read the tiny letters engraved. "Made in China. Water resistant. Shock resistant."

Ryuusuke looked shocked but then quickly recovered. "It's no use if she doesn't understand what it means though."

"Ryuusuke, that was not the de-"

"Made in China means it was manufactured in a country called China which has the highest population on Earth. Water resistant means you can wear it while swimming for certain amounts of time, depending on how deep the water is. Finally, shock resistant means it can sustain minor impacts without damaging the internal mechanism." I explained. Now it was Kimiko's turn to look at me in shock. Shit. I just blew my ignorant and childish cover. 

"Wow! Kaori-neesan is extremely smart!" Ryohei burst out. Since when did he get there? Oh, he walked in with Kimiko.

"Kaori-neesan is the best! Can she read us a bedtime story?"