After school, Kiyoshi stood outside the main Uchiha household and took a deep breath.
His clothes were neat, his hands were clean, and his expression was already set to deadpan mode.
Perfect.
He raised his hand and knocked.
A dozen seconds later, the door opened.
Mikoto stood behind it in casual clothes, her apron still on and her hands wet, as though he had caught her halfway through cooking. When she saw Kiyoshi, she paused, then smiled naturally, genuinely surprised and pleased.
"Oh, Kiyoshi. Are you here to see Sasuke?"
Kiyoshi nodded, deadpan. "Yeah. He invited me two days ago. Said he'd be free after school today."
Mikoto stepped aside. "Come in. Sasuke's in his room. I'll go get him."
"No need. I'll wait for him."
Mikoto glanced at him and smiled. "All right, then. Come in and sit down."
Kiyoshi changed his shoes and entered the living room.
The main household's living room was larger than he had expected. There was nothing particularly special about it: a low table, a few cushions, and a bookcase against the wall. The window was open, and the evening breeze drifted in, stirring the curtains.
He had thought the clan head's home would be a little grander, but it was much like any ordinary home.
Mikoto returned to the kitchen and resumed her work. Standing in the living room, Kiyoshi looked around before his gaze settled on the coffee table.
A tea set sat on it, along with several cups that hadn't been put away and a plate of half-finished rice crackers.
He glanced at them, walked over, and began tidying up.
Mikoto poked her head out of the kitchen and paused when she saw him clearing the tea set.
"Kiyoshi, just leave those. I'll take care of them later."
Kiyoshi kept going, stacking the cups and returning the teapot to its tray. His movements were practiced, neither hurried nor slow, as though he were in his own home.
"I'm used to doing it."
Mikoto watched him, and the warmth in her eyes shifted a little. Her smile became more genuine, rather than the sort adults gave a well-behaved child.
"You do this at home too?"
"Yeah. I help tidy up while my mom cooks, and I wash the dishes after we eat. I'm used to it."
He was telling the truth. Before transmigrating, he had lived alone and done all of this himself. Afterward, Misa cooked and he helped clean up, so he really was used to it.
Mikoto said nothing more and turned back to her cooking. But Kiyoshi noticed that the corners of her mouth were turned up.
After putting away the tea set, he swept the rice cracker crumbs into his palm and tossed them into the trash. Then he sat down on a cushion to wait for Sasuke.
He sat sideways to the kitchen, with Mikoto's back visible in the corner of his eye as she worked.
He watched for a few seconds, then looked away.
Mikoto was easier to approach than he had expected. She put on no airs, spoke naturally, and smiled naturally, as though she really considered him an ordinary child.
But he also knew that was only the surface. A woman who could hold her place as the clan head's wife couldn't truly be there just to pour him tea. She simply didn't see him as someone she needed to guard against yet.
That's a good thing. And a problem.
"Kiyoshi, would you like some tea?"
Mikoto's voice came from the kitchen.
"Yes."
A little later, Mikoto brought out a cup of tea and set it in front of him. The cup was white, with a red Uchiha Gunbai painted on it, and the tea was hot.
"You mentioned last time that you liked tea, so I remembered."
Kiyoshi looked up at her.
There had indeed been a time when they had run into each other on the street and she had asked what he wanted to drink. He had casually answered tea. He had forgotten about it himself, but she still remembered.
Mikoto smiled. "Children usually don't like tea. They prefer sweet drinks like juice. When you said you liked tea, I thought you were an interesting little fellow."
Kiyoshi picked up his cup and took a sip.
It was green tea, light in flavor but with a pleasant sweet aftertaste.
"It's good."
"I'm glad."
Mikoto sat down across from him. Instead of hurrying back to the kitchen, she watched him drink, as though waiting for him to say something.
Kiyoshi set his cup down and looked at her, his face expressionless.
"...Aunt Mikoto, don't you need to cook?"
"The food's simmering. There's no rush."
"Oh."
Two seconds of silence passed.
Mikoto spoke first. "Kiyoshi, what do you usually do at home?"
"Read and train."
"Train? What do you practice?"
"Running, Taijutsu, and sometimes throwing Shuriken."
"By yourself?"
"Yeah."
Mikoto nodded without saying anything. But the way she looked at him changed, something more entering her gaze that she left unspoken.
"It's good for Sasuke to have a rival like you."
Kiyoshi looked at her. "Did he tell you about me?"
Mikoto smiled. "He didn't say that, but I can tell. Lately, he's been training harder after coming home than he used to. He talks about you over dinner too."
Kiyoshi remained expressionless and said nothing.
Mikoto continued, "He says your Taijutsu is very strong, and he can't get the better of you."
"...He improves quickly."
"Does he?"
"Yeah. He had a lot of openings on the first day. By the second, he was already using feints. He learns fast."
Mikoto looked at him and smiled, asking no further questions.
But Kiyoshi felt that smile was different from the earlier one. He couldn't say exactly how. It just felt different.
Giving compliments with a straight face seems to work pretty well.
Mikoto smiled without responding. But there was a hint of surprise in that smile, as though she hadn't expected the compliment, along with a little amusement.
[System notification: The host has been detected using the "deadpan compliment tactic." Face value +30 (Mikoto's affection increased). Awkwardness value +5 (the compliment was so earnest that it became a little awkward). Totals: awkwardness value 775, face value 900.]
Kiyoshi closed the panel and continued drinking his tea.
A little later, Sasuke came out of his room.
He paused when he saw Kiyoshi sitting in his living room, his expression a little complicated, as though he couldn't understand why Kiyoshi was in his house but didn't want to ask.
Kiyoshi spoke with a straight face. "Your mom invited me in."
Sasuke glanced at Mikoto, who smiled and nodded.
"Have a seat. I'll go check the soup." Mikoto rose and returned to the kitchen, leaving the living room to the two of them.
Sasuke sat across from Kiyoshi. With the coffee table between them, they stayed silent for two seconds.
"...What are you doing here?"
"Didn't you invite me?"
"When did I invite you?"
"On the training field two days ago. You said, 'Let's keep going tomorrow.'"
Sasuke paused, then remembered.
"...That was an invitation to spar, not to come to my house."
"Then where's your house?"
"...My house? Isn't this my house?"
"There you go."
Sasuke opened his mouth, found what seemed to be no flaw in that logic, and closed it again.
Kiyoshi continued drinking his tea, his face expressionless.
Sitting across from him, Sasuke watched him drink and kept feeling that something was wrong, though he couldn't put his finger on it. After thinking for a long time, he finally figured it out: Kiyoshi looked far too comfortable, as though he belonged right there, drinking tea.
A little later, Mikoto poked her head out of the kitchen. "Kiyoshi, come over for dinner the day after tomorrow."
Kiyoshi glanced at Sasuke, then at Mikoto.
"...Would that be all right?"
"Of course. I'm cooking anyway. It's only one more pair of chopsticks."
Kiyoshi thought for a moment. "All right."
Sasuke sat across from him, looking as though he wanted to say something, but ultimately said nothing.
A meal at the clan head's house? No reason to turn that down.
Was his first meeting with Itachi and Fugaku finally coming?
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