Ambiguous

They advanced through a huge foyer where the Inuzuka greeted one of the servants and then went up the stairs to the study. It was a huge room with a large library that covered 2 of the walls, there was one of those old and heavy desks with a laptop on top and several office supplies and against one of the free walls there was a 3-seater sofa, with a very large rug in front of it.

The young woman advanced to the piece of furniture and unloaded the suitcase so she did the same, looking for her notebook at once to refocus on what they were going to do.

They had been there for about an hour, choosing to sit better on the mat because it was more comfortable and made it easier for both of them to see the computer screen, when there was a knock on the door. It was the servant who told them that it was time for the snack, she followed her now to a huge dining room where 10 people can sit and thanked for the food. It was one of those weird sandwiches that were on TV, not like the ham and cheese ones she knew, and it was accompanied by crispy potato chips but with a flavor that made it clear that they were not from a package. She didn't want to compare her afternoon snacks were usually a few cookies or bread and a cup of coffee or tea, nor did she want to dwell on the fact that the bathroom was almost as big as her room.

They decided that they would study for another hour and she would go home, so they went back to the studio and once again got busy researching and taking notes to better establish what they were going to do. She was just beginning to pack what she had used in her suitcase when the door to the room opened and a stern looking woman made her presence known.

"Hi honey," was the greeting and Hana got up all at once to run to the woman and hug her.

"Mom!"

"Are you doing your homework?" The dark eyes had settled on her, assessing her completely, so she nodded. "I don't remember seeing you here before."

"Tenten is new at school."

"Tenten...?"

"Tenten Ama," she clarified as she understood that the tone of question was because she was expecting her full name

"Ama?" She seemed to be thinking about something. "I hadn't heard that surname before – who are your parents?"

"Zhihao and Xiuying Ama," the woman's eyebrow raised.

"Their names don't sound known to me, but it's clear they're not from here. Where do they come from?"

"From China, they immigrated 15 years ago." When she was barely 1 year old.

"I get it... What do they do for living?"

"Dad is a production worker at the fish factory and mom works as a maid at the hotel..." Before she could say the name of the place where her mother worked, she noticed that the woman's look changed completely to one of horror, taking Hana by the hand and striding out of the room without closing the door.

"You brought home one of the beggars!" She didn't shout properly, but she spoke loud enough to hear her from where she was standing. It was unknown to her whether or not she was trying to disguise her accusation even though she had gone to speak separately. "What were you thinking?"

"She's my friend, Mom. She's a good student and my project partner."

"Have you been keeping an eye on her? Have you noticed that she's not taking anything with her?" She felt a punch in her stomach at those words and their not-so-hidden meaning. Feeling the urge to run to the bathroom and throw back the snack she had been given. "You haven't shown her your jewelry. Have you?"

"She is not a thief."

"You don't know anything about her parents or the pigsty she grew up in." She finished packing what she was missing. "I clearly told the principal Ōnoki not to receive those mendicants and you go and bring one to our house." She stood up, it was clear her place and that woman was part of those parents she had heard that tried to prevent her scholarship. "We must check her suitcase so she wouldn't go and be..."

"It wasn't my intention to cause a problem to Hana," she interrupted trying to keep her dignity and not to cry in front of the imposing woman who now saw her as if she was less than an insect. "I'm leaving."

"Tenten wait!" She heard the young woman shouting behind her, but she was already running to the front door, opening it to leave and continue her race now to the gate and when she finally left the huge property her eyes filled with tears without stopping her feet even for a moment.

She ran for several blocks without having any idea of where she was going, when she stopped she tried to locate herself or see a sign somewhere that would tell her where the nearest bus stop or subway station was, but there was nothing. She thought about looking on her cell phone, but her phone service did not include browsing, she only had a few minutes and the messaging application because it was the cheapest and she should only use it for emergencies.

That was just what she was needing, to be completely lost in the middle of a neighborhood that considered her scum, so it was impossible for her to stop crying. She walked without knowing exactly where she was going and it was then that a voice came out of nowhere.

"Are you all right?" She looked for where it came from and found a man standing a few meters away with a box of food in his hands. She noticed his face and the undeniable resemblance he had to Hana's mother, so by instinct she nodded, she didn't need at that moment someone else treating her badly. "People don't usually cry like that when they are well," she ran the back of her sleeve over her cheeks trying to wipe her face. "Can I help you with something?" She wanted to deny, to tell him that she didn't want anything from them.

"D-do you know where the bus stop is?" Unfortunately, she couldn't see anyone else in the area either, and it was getting too dark to keep wandering around.

"The bus sto..." He looked confused. "I have no idea," she wasn't surprised, someone like him should only know what a bus was because he saw them out the window while riding in a luxurious car. "But surely my phone knows," he rearranged the box to hold it with only one hand and took the device out of his pocket, typing something at once and then checking the results. "Let's see, let's see, north is that way so..." The man turned around trying to locate the map correctly. "That way, look," he showed her the phone screen and she got close enough just to be able to see, wiping her cheeks again, it was a couple of blocks further to the left from where she was.

"Thank you."

"You study at the same school as my sister," he commented after putting the device back in his pocket and pointing to the coat of arms of her blazer. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka," he extended his hand to her and she shook her head before running back in the direction she knew the bus stop was. She wasn't going to go through that again.

.

When she opened the door of her house she could immediately see her mother coming towards her with a worried look, even though she had written to her when she was on the bus and said it wouldn't take long, the truth was that she was near the school, which means at the other end of the city, and the traffic had been a nightmare.

She went forward to take refuge in her mother's arms and again the tears came, telling her what had happened between hiccups. She fell asleep with her head in her lap as she stroked her hair and whispered that it was all right, there was nothing wrong with being humble and she didn't deserve those words.

She cursed everything at the sound of the alarm, for starters the government for not being able to finance her former high school and that had triggered everything else. She hadn't applied for that scholarship, didn't even know that school existed until she was practically forced to attend with the lie that it would be a good thing for her life.

She reluctantly got ready to go to class, since the first day she had heard from her classmates the derogatory comments and it was obvious that for a child to think that way is because the parents did too. So it would have been exactly the same with any other mother.

In the first class Michiko told her that she looked down and she just denied, she didn't want to talk about it and have to explain what had happened. Maybe she could talk to the chemistry and english literature teachers to allow her to present the project alone, even if it meant a decrease in her grade, it didn't matter. They were walking together to the next class when Hana appeared in front of them and her friend greeted her normally, she just struggled not to turn her back and go to another hallway.

"Tenten... can we talk?" Her voice was embarrassed.

"I'm going to class."

"Please... I know what you might be thinking and... please?" She repeated

"I'll wait for you in the classroom," Michiko could feel the tension, she cursed under her breath for leaving them alone.

"Don't worry, I won't go again and I'll finish the project on my own."

"No Tenten, it was all a misunderstanding." Yes, sure. "My mother didn't mean... well, she did..." She admitted, "but that's just the way she is, she's a proud woman, quite arrogant and has always been supremely classist, not understanding that times change and money is not the only thing that matters in people."

"Hana, it's ok, your mother made it clear that she doesn't want me in her house," she shrugged her shoulders. "I understand what my place is."

"Don't say that Tenten, the truth is that I... I like that we are friends, I like you better than most of our classmates," she had noticed that. "What do you say?"

"We can continue the project in the library again."

"We had to go to my house for a reason," right. "I talked to my mother, she promised me she will not say anything and let us study in peace."

"Hana..."

"Come on Tenten, besides you know that it's a monstrous project that you can't do alone."

"All right," she accepted, knowing inside that she was going to regret it again.

That day they went out for recess as normal, again the three of them as if nothing had happened. She had to admit that she liked Hana for her simplicity and was the complete opposite of her mother.

The rest of that week was quiet, until Friday when again they went in the car to the Inuzuka's house, she tried to remind herself that everything was fine, the young woman did not watch her or distrust her but still unconsciously as they approached the huge dwelling she started to keep her hands in sight to avoid any possible new misunderstanding or accusation against her.

.

The months passed slowly and the end of the school year was approaching, and with it came the time to hand in the classroom projects and study for the last exams. Tsume was the name of Hana's mother, and as promised, she had not spoken to her again. Not every time she went to that house she passed her, but the times she did the woman saw her just like that time, as if she were an insect and she could swear that her eyes followed her if she moved around the living room or passed her on her way from the study to the bathroom a couple of doors away.

That afternoon they had already put aside the project and had gone to study for the exams, project or not, all the subjects had that evaluation that had a great weight in the final grade, so they could not leave that part aside.

Hana was having trouble with physics and the calculation of thermal equilibrium, so on a blackboard that had been placed in the study for them, she was trying to explain one of the exercises, she was clearing the equation when the door opened.

"Hello little-flea," she stared at the man, he was the one who had given her the directions to the bus stop some time ago.

"Kiba!" Hana put aside the notebook in which she was taking notes of what she was explaining and ran towards the man who was looking at her carefully.

"You're the girl from the other time," she nodded, trying to hide her embarrassment at the thought that she had run off without explaining anything

"I'm Tenten."

"Well, it's nice to see you again Tenten," he passed his hand tousling the Inuzuka girl's hair. "I'm hungry, have you eaten yet?"

"No, are you going to be a cute brother and invite me to eat?"

"What do you want little-flea?"

"Let's go to tsukune's place! Please, please, please, please." It was clear that she was left over in that scene and that if they were going out to eat it was time to leave, so she put her things in the bag.

"What do you say Tenten? Do you like tsukune? Because my sister loves it and there is a place relatively close to here where they make a great one." She remained silent, "if you don't like it they also sell other grilled things, like yakitori or calamari."

"I..."

"Or are you a vegetarian?" She denied

"Come on Tenten, and tomorrow at recess you can finish explaining what you say?" No, her pocket said no because she couldn't afford a meal outside.

"I think I'd better go."

"Come on, I'll take you home later."

"No!" She tried not to show all her vehemence in that word, but she still sounded emphatic. "It's not necessary..."

"To the bus stop?" She bit her lip before agreeing and following them to the car Kiba was driving, she knew about cars almost as much as she knew about embroidery, which means nothing. But that was an expensive silver car, he opened the back door for her and the copilot's door for Hana.

From her seat she listened to them talking, he complaining that he was also in the final stretch of the semester and that was why he had not been around the house so much lately, although that day he was bored and that's why he decided to go. He was studying International Economics and Finance at a university specializing in business that no one in her previous high school even dreamed of going to, with what a semester there was cost a family like hers could live more than a year comfortably and even have money left over, plus it was a few minutes outside the city in what was once a small town and was now something like a university town where only the students and teachers of that faculty lived.

She was surprised to arrive at the restaurant and see that it was a simple place, it had just a couple of tables and almost passed for a street food stall. There was an unoccupied table that was against a wall so it only had 3 chairs, Hana sat down all at once leaving Kiba in the middle chair, so she took the one on his left side.

He clarified that he was inviting both of them and then got up to go to place the order, since the order was to be placed directly at the cashier's desk. He came back shortly after saying that they would soon bring the food and was talking for a long time, asking her a couple of things but nothing inquisitive like his mother, but her age, how long she knew Hana, what she did in her free time and then the conversation returned to focus on what he was saying, he talked a lot but it was entertaining to listen to him.

Laughing all around when he told of his antics when he was their age and that if there had been a military internship for children of rich parents, no doubt his mother would have sent him there. She had eaten a calamari brochette and a beef brochette, noting that it was indeed a delicious place.

"I'll go wash my hands," it was Hana who spoke.

"Me too."

In the place they didn't skimp on the sauce and although she had wanted to avoid it so as not to give a bad impression, her hands were a mess. Although, well, they all ended up the same. When they came back it was Kiba's turn to go to the washroom and after that they stayed a little longer while they finished their drinks.

There was a bus stop near where they were and it was closer to that one than waiting for a ride back to their neighborhood, so they escorted her to the place and waited until she got on, for a moment her heart raced at the way the man was looking at her, but she shook her head as she sat down in one of the few free seats.

Her mind was thinking about the stories and how much she had laughed in Kiba's company, though that wasn't exactly what she was focusing on, for a moment it had seemed to her that he was smiling at her and that he had lightly brushed her hand as she went to grab a napkin, it was silly to analyze something like that.

Had he liked her? Yes, besides that despite the resemblance to the horrible woman he had for a mother, he was attractive and looked as uncomplicated as Hana. Not bothering to ask her last name or where her family came from, though that could also be because he assumed that by wearing that uniform she was of the same social class as them. So, she again denied any lucubration her imagination could create, he was a man who had been nice and that was it.

Her mother offered her some dinner when she got home and she refused, she was full from what she had eaten with the Inuzuka brothers, so she went to organize her uniform for the next day and also to change some of the notebooks in her suitcase, despite having a locker, she was used to carry the necessary things with her and not to discover that she had left a book behind and not be able to do her homework for something as silly as being clueless.

When she opened the suitcase the first thing that caught her attention was a folded sheet of paper, she opened it, it was from a small agenda, one of those pocket ones and it did not have any mark or anything to discover more about its origin, it only had in what looked like a hurried handwriting a phone number and nothing else.

That wasn't her handwriting and she didn't remember ever receiving anything like that, but she couldn't explain how she had gotten to that place either. She reached for her phone and saved the unnamed number, not wanting to call a stranger by accident, she went to the messaging app to update the contacts and see if by any chance whoever had left that note was using that app, tossing her phone onto the bed as she let out an exclamation of surprise when she recognized the person in the tiny photo.

"Are you all right, daughter?" Her mother had peeked out when she heard her.

"Yes, I'm sorry... one of those prank pictures." She excused herself, as soon as she was alone again, she took the device in her hands and bit her lip.

Had she fallen asleep on the bus? Was she dreaming? She took a deep breath to give herself momentum and open up a new conversation

Tenten:

Hello?

First a single arrow appeared, so she continued in what she was doing. She was imagining things or maybe in a food intoxication and that's why she thought she saw what it wasn't. She picked up her phone once more to enlarge the image and see that yes, it was Kiba in the picture, in the background she could see what appeared to be Big Ben. Because she was looking at that she didn't notice that the second arrow appeared and the two changed to blue color.

(Unnamed):

Tenten?

I'm Kiba

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Hope you like it!