Sushi

"Brother, I'm sorry. I misunderstood you."

After dinner, Gekko Hayate finally came around. He lowered his head and went to apologize to Hanfu. "I shouldn't have said those things to you. Please don't be mad at me, okay?"

Looking at his little brother's pitiful expression, Hanfu couldn't help sighing. He patted Hayate on the shoulder and said with a heavy heart, "Don't worry. Even though you misunderstood me and hurt my feelings with your words, I won't hold it against you. You're my little brother, after all."

Gekko Hayate felt that something was off, but when he heard Hanfu wasn't angry with him, a happy smile finally appeared on his face.

"But!"

Hanfu's tone shifted as he began rubbing his middle finger and thumb together in a sleazy manner. "When I fell down the stairs, I dropped my pocket money. Ah, what a pain."

Gekko Hayate was confused. So had his brother been hurt by a classmate, or had he gotten hurt from falling down the stairs?

If he hadn't fallen down the stairs, why would he have dropped his money?

The more Gekko Hayate thought about it, the more confused he became. In the end, he decided to stop trying to figure it out and asked, "Brother, want to practice swordsmanship together tonight?"

"..."

Hanfu's fingers stopped moving. Was I... not hinting hard enough?

But when he saw the innocence in his little brother's wide eyes, Hanfu instantly understood. This little cabbage hadn't yet weathered life's storms. How could he know what that gesture meant?

Never mind. He was just a kid, after all. Let him be.

Hanfu waved his hand and said, "Little bro, I'm not feeling well, so I'm going to bed early tonight. I can't hang out with you."

"Oh."

Seeing the injuries on Hanfu's face, Gekko Hayate nodded sensibly, then ran off to practice swordsmanship by himself in the backyard.

When Hanfu returned to his bedroom, he saw Keiko tidying his tatami. There were also a lot of clothes that didn't belong to him in the room.

Clearly, Gekko Hayate was officially moving in with him.

Hanfu had expected this. Hayate came from a single-parent family, and his dad was off at the front lines. He couldn't live by himself, so he had no choice but to move in with them.

"Feng-chan, Hayate will be living with you from now on. Don't pick on him while you're sleeping," Keiko said.

"Don't worry. I'm not interested in chrysanthemums." Hanfu yawned and answered casually.

"Chrysanthemums?"

Keiko was an adult, but she hadn't experienced much of life. She didn't understand what Hanfu meant, but still cautioned him, "Feng-chan, Hayate is the future of the family. He'll inherit the Konoha-Style Kenjutsu, so don't lead him astray. Otherwise, your father will beat your bottom black and blue."

"Got it, got it."

Hanfu had a bad feeling. Now that someone else's kid had moved in, was he going to be used as a cautionary tale every day?

The thought was kind of depressing.

By then, Keiko had finished tidying up. She stood and headed toward the entrance, saying without looking back, "Feng-chan, Mom has a night shift at the hospital tonight. Take Hayate to school tomorrow morning, and be careful on the way, okay?"

"Sure, I'll keep that in mind." Hanfu nodded, then suddenly turned pale and hurried after her. "What about breakfast and our lunches for tomorrow?"

"Don't worry, Mom already made them for you!" Keiko turned around and smiled warmly. "They're in the kitchen."

"..."

Hanfu stared at her, expressionless. "They aren't rice balls, are they?"

She'd already promised to make something else!

Hanfu was so annoyed!

"No, this time I made sushi!" Keiko smiled. "You'll love it, Feng-chan! Well, bye!"

As she spoke, Keiko put on her shoes at the entrance. When she opened the door, she paused.

Hanfu immediately offered his "blessing." "Bye, Mom!"

Bang!

As soon as Keiko left, Hanfu dashed into the kitchen. He spotted two lunch boxes side by side, with a plate nearby holding about ten pieces of sushi.

Hanfu went over for a closer look, and his face darkened!

The sushi had rice, seaweed, sesame seeds... So aside from looking different, what was the difference between sushi and rice balls?

Hanfu was so frustrated he could barely breathe.

Then he opened the lunch boxes. The sushi inside all looked exactly the same!

Ah, he was too tired to care anymore.

Konoha Hospital.

As soon as Keiko entered the hospital, her colleague Matsuda Risa spotted her. "Keiko, you're here! Hurry, the meeting's about to start."

"A meeting? Is it about that news from noon?" Keiko recalled something.

At noon, news had spread around the hospital that an exceptionally skilled doctor would soon be coming to Konoha Hospital to exchange knowledge with Konoha's doctors.

It was important to note that the newcomer was a doctor, not a Medical Ninja!

"That's right, it's true. Come on, Keiko." Matsuda Risa urged her impatiently.

Keiko hesitated. "But if he's a doctor... is it really worth making such a fuss?"

Keiko was a medical worker herself, so she knew perfectly well how great the gap was between doctors and Medical Ninja. Many illnesses that were extremely difficult for doctors to treat could be easily cured by a Medical Ninja with a single Medical Ninjutsu!

And in the same amount of time, Medical Ninja could treat far more patients than doctors.

So, in Keiko's view, no matter how hard doctors tried, they could never measure up to Medical Ninja.

The difference was fundamental!

"Keiko, this time is different!"

Matsuda Risa said excitedly, "They say this doctor's medical skills are incredible, even better than those of Medical Ninja!"

"How could that be?" Keiko didn't believe her.

"It's true! I heard the hospital director held a meeting this afternoon about it and specifically assigned our medical department to receive this doctor! Tonight's meeting is about that!"

Matsuda Risa said excitedly, "Keiko, this is our chance. If we can learn something from that doctor, it could benefit us for the rest of our lives!"

"Really?" Keiko's eyes began to shine, too.

"Mm! I heard even the hospital director thinks highly of this doctor's medical skills!" Matsuda Risa said confidently.

Keiko nodded firmly. "I understand! Risa, let's go."

Soon, Keiko and Matsuda Risa arrived at the conference room.

Most of the medical staff on the night shift had already arrived, but they clearly couldn't all attend. After all, this was a hospital, and some staff had to stay behind to look after the patients.

Once the head of the medical department, Kamijima Chusei, saw that almost everyone had arrived, he got straight to the point. "Everyone, you should already know what tonight's meeting is about. That's right: a doctor named Shennong will soon be coming to our hospital, and our department will be responsible for receiving him..."

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