I followed Misa's lead and made my way into the house. She led me past a small sitting room into a kitchen that joined into a small dining room.
Misa's father, I think Mio introduced him as Kiyoshi, was working at the stove, a steaming pot in front of him. There was a hall that led to three doors beyond the kitchen, but all were closed, and I felt it would be rude to go exploring someone's house when they'd just invited me for dinner, so I just sat down at the dining table next to Misa.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked, feeling very out of place.
Mio tutted as she joined us at the table. "There is no need for that, Kagen. Relax and make yourself at home. The meal is already prepared."
Kiyoshi hefted the pot he was working with at the stove and carried it around the table, ladling a helping into each of four bowls set around the table. I didn't recognize the soup. It had a dark broth with vegetables and chunks of meat.
When the soup was served, Kiyoshi set the pot back on the stove and sat down next to his wife, a seat which, incidentally, happened to be right next to me.
"So, Kagen Nara," Kiyoshi said, turning to look at me, leaving his soup untouched. "My daughter tells me the two of you have made substantial progress in your training."
I nodded. "I believe we have, Hyuga-san. Both Misa and I have gone up in the class ratings thanks to each other's help."
Kiyoshi nodded, his expression and feelings otherwise unreadable. "Do you intend to continue the arrangement you have with my daughter?"
I was taken aback by the question. I'd thought Misa's parents would approve of us working together given the clear progress we'd made, but this line of questioning was causing me to doubt that.
Carefully, I said, "I had hoped to. However, if Misa does not wish to continue training together, then we'll stop. I won't hold any grudges or hurt feelings."
"I want to keep training with Kagen, Father." Misa spoke up, a stern frown on her face as she narrowed her eyes at her father.
Mio clapped her hands together, an amused smile on her face. "That's that then. Let's move on to other topics. Kagen-san, Misa tells me you are already able to water walk."
"Yes, Hyuga-san, I–"
"Oh, I think you can call me by my name, Kagen-san." Mio said warmly.
"Thank you, Mio-san. Please just call me Kagen. And yes, I am able to water walk. It took me a little while to become good at it, but I can confidently say I am now proficient with the technique."
"Hm, would you be willing to teach Misa how to water walk?" Mio asked innocently, her eyes searching for something as she watched me closely.
"Of course. Misa is my friend, and I've learned a lot from her. She won't need my help tutoring her soon, so we'll be able to work on chakra control together." I said.
"Wonderful!" Mio said, a bright smile on her face. She looked down at my untouched bowl and her smile turned into a small frown. "Please eat, Kagen. My husband makes delicious soup."
The conversation died down as everyone began eating. Mio was right, Kiyoshi made excellent soup. I still wasn't sure exactly what said soup was called, and was a little scared to ask if I was honest with myself, but it was good nonetheless.
And I would have never thought that a male Hyuga would be so good at cooking. I always thought of them as arrogant and too prideful to do this. But color me suprised.
As the meal progressed, we made small talk about the Academy and how Misa and I got along with our classmates as well as our overall standings in the class.
I was still on top academically, but overall I was ranked fourth behind two Uchiha and a Hyuga Mio told me was from the main branch. Misa was ranked seventh.
She'd stormed up in the rankings ever since we'd started training together. While my class ranking really didn't matter all that much to me, I wanted to be as strong as I could.
I wanted to grow to be so powerful that other villages labeled me as a flee-on-sight threat. The fact that my working towards that goal put me high in the rankings in my Academy class was just an unintended side effect of working to pursue my goal.
When the topic changed to our training, Mio and Kiyoshi both grew very interested when my use of chakra strings was mentioned.
"You are able to throw kunai with your chakra strings?" Kiyoshi asked, leaning into the table in interest.
I nodded. "I've been working on using chakra strings for awhile, but I've only recently been able to throw them with any accuracy. I still need to improve, but I'm able to hit stationary and slowly moving targets now."
Mio was silent, her lips pulled into a thin line as she adopted a considering expression.
"Will you teach this to Misa as well?" Kiyoshi asked, his hands steepled in front of him, his elbows resting atop the table.
"He has already agreed to help me, father." Misa said, drawing some of his attention away from me, a fact I was grateful for.
Kiyoshi regarded his daughter for a moment then nodded sharply. "Good. I look forward to seeing your progress, Misa."
Dinner wound down fairly quickly after that. We'd all finished out soup, so we gathered our dishes and cleaned them. Misa and both her parents walked me to the Hyuga Compound's gate to see me off.
"Thank you for coming, Kagen." Mio said, bowing shallowly. "Please come again some time. I think we all enjoyed your company."
Kiyoshi stepped forward and looked me in the eye. "Thank you for helping my daughter to improve. I look forward to seeing how the two of you grow in the future."
I bowed at the waist and said, "Thank you for hosting me and for the meal. It was delicious." I looked past Mio and Kiyoshi to Misa. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
She nodded. "I will see you there, Kagen."
My goodbye's said, I turned and exited the Hyuga Compound, making my way home.
---------Author Notes--------
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