[The Fox and the Hare] - Chapter 29: The Fox and the Hare (Patreon)

Chapter 29 - The Fox and the Hare

"Is Nii-san leaving forever?" Eri asked, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

Naruto momentarily put down the clothes he was packing and came to her. Kneeling to be at her eye level, he cupped her face and gently brushed away a stray tear falling down her cheek.

"Don’t cry, Eri-chan. It’s just a training trip with Mirko. It’s only for a few weeks, I think. I’ll be back before you know it!"

"But I don’t want you to go! I want us to be together!" Eri cried.

Hearing Eri’s sobs, Kushina came to Naruto’s room and took the little girl in her arms.

"Nooo! Let me down! Nii-san! Don’t leave! Noo!"

As a yellow light started flickering on the tip of the horn growing out of her forehead, Kushina was forced to summon her chains and wrap them around Eri before her quirk caused a disaster.

Even as she took the little girl away into another room to pacify her, due to his sensitive hearing, Naruto could still hear her heartbreaking cries.

Although she was only 6 years old, Eri was far more perceptive than other children her age. Due to the torment and suffering that she had endured at the hands of her previous ‘caretakers’, she was forced to mature beyond her physical age. She could tell that Naruto wasn’t simply going on a ‘training trip’.

Her cries made him grit his teeth. His anger was not directed at her but at All For One. One man’s greed and thirst for power ruined the peace of his family. Now, his parents and his sister were going to become fugitives and live in hiding with secret identities. And he was going to live like a stray on the doorstep of a stranger, away from his parents and his little sister.

Feeling his nails starting to grow into claws, Naruto started taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly to calm himself down. Usually, it did wonders, but his rage wasn’t going away this time.

In his past life, his deepest desire had been to have a family. To be loved. Ever since he regained his memories after the Sludge Villain’s attack, his life has been almost like paradise for him. A supportive father, a loving mother, a comfortable financial situation, and, starting from a few months ago, an adorable little sister too.

‘It was perfect.’

He had not taken that life for granted. He treasured every single moment spent with his family. But it was still taken away from him.

He had never been a person who easily gave in to hatred, not even in his past life. It wasn’t only once or twice that he made peace with his enemies. He had forgiven things that most people would have never been able to, and he had given a chance even to the one who had destroyed his village and killed his sensei.

But now, for the first time in his current life, the seed of hatred had started germinating in his heart.

⁂

"Call us often, okay?" Minato said while squeezing his son’s shoulders with his hands.

"I will, every weekend, I promise," Naruto said.

"We’ll try to figure out a way for us to meet in secret, but that will have to wait two or three weeks at least. We’ll need to settle into our new lives first before figuring out the other things."

Now that it was time for them to part, Kushina couldn’t stop her tears.

"You’re acting worse than Eri, mom," Naruto tried to joke while she was hugging him as if her life depended on it.

"I’m going to miss you, Naruto. Call us often," she said the same words as her husband. "Any time you want to chat or you need our advice, call us."

"I will, mom, I promised, didn’t I?"

"Stay safe out there, okay?" Kushina continued. "Make sure you eat at least four meals a day. You’re a growing boy, and your quirk has just awakened again. You also still need to recover from the blood loss a few days ago. You will need plenty of food."

"No worries, I’ll-" Naruto tried to complain, but when his father shook his head at him, he stopped speaking and listened to her words.

"You should practise your martial arts too, never slack off. Your quirk keeps evolving and getting stronger, but don’t forget what brought you to the dance in the first place—what made you become as strong as you are now."

"Okay," he said and he nodded obediently.

"And if you find a girl you like-"

Although he wanted to let her get everything off her chest at first, Naruto couldn’t remain silent anymore.

"It’s not like I’m going to be away for years! I’m not going to marry anyone while I’m still in school, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll be fine!" he said exasperated.

"I’m your mother! It’s my job to worry about you!" she shot back in reproach.  "As I was saying," she began now that he had become silent again, "if you find a girl that you like, don’t let your emotions and feelings get the better of you. You’re a celebrity now and a Top 10 Pro Hero in the making. With how handsome and popular you are, girls will be throwing themselves at you if given the chance. And it will only become worse after you get your Pro Hero License and start making good money."

When Naruto looked like he was about to protest again at her nagging, Minato also said:

"Listen to your mother, she isn’t wrong. The whole world is watching you now, both the good and the bad."

"Promise me one thing, Naruto. If you do find someone, please introduce her to us right away. Be cautious, and don’t fall for any pretty face. Some girls are very smart, and they can be quite heartless and devious at times. You must’ve heard of many cases before of men whose lives were ruined by the wrong woman. Finding a good partner is one of the most important things in life."

"True, if your life’s going to get ruined, at least find the right woman," Minato piped in.

"Now is not the time, Minato!!" Kushina yelled at him.

Turning her attention back to Naruto, Kushina blew out a long sigh.

"I’m sorry, I know I am nagging you, but I can’t help worrying about you."

She had meant to have that conversation with him at the right time instead of being rushed into it like that. She had wanted to give him her advice slowly, when the situation called for it, and help him make important decisions. Alas, life had other plans in store for them.

⁂

"Done saying your goodbyes?" Mirko asked.

"Yeah.."

His downcast face and sagging fox ears made her sigh in sympathy for him.

"Let me help you," she said, taking one of the two suitcases he was carrying.

"Thanks," he muttered.

Coming out of the reception area of the hotel, a black Toyota sedan was waiting for them outside.

"Are we taking a taxi all the way to Hiroshima?" he asked in surprise.

In general, Japanese people rarely travelled by taxi unless it was during the night when public transportation stopped operating because taxis were very expensive. It was cheaper and also faster to take the bullet train, especially for long trips such as the one they were about to make—there were almost 500 km between Musutafu City and Hiroshima.

"We’re not going directly to Hiroshima. I’d like to take you somewhere else first. Our first stop is Aichi Prefecture."

⁂

Mikatane town, located on the mountainside of Aichi Prefecture, a small town with not even 15 thousand inhabitants.

‘What are we doing here?’ he wondered. He had never even heard of that place until then.

A few minutes later, the taxi stopped in front of a traditional Japanese gate, on which hung a sculpted sign that said: Saint Eugene de Mazenod Orphanage.

"Can you wait two or three hours for us? Money is not a problem; I’ll pay you as if you were driving," Mirko asked the taxi driver.

"As long as I’m paid for it, I don’t mind," the driver said.

Once Naruto and Mirko got out of the car and took some grocery bags with them, the driver pulled into a shady area under a tree, reclined his seat, and, after pulling down his hat to cover his eyes, promptly fell asleep. As was the case for most of the overworked middle-class workers in Japan, the taxi driver had developed the ability to nap anytime, anywhere.

"This is the place where I grew up," Mirko said, momentarily stopping in front of the gate and putting down the bags in her hands to ring the doorbell.

A few seconds later, the gate opened, revealing a short, old woman. She was wearing a dark blue kimono, and her grey hair was tied in a bun at her back. At first glance, she appeared to be strict, but her face softened when she saw who the visitor was.

"Rumi-chan, you’re visiting us again! Come here!"

As the old woman opened her arms, Mirko hugged her frail body dearly.

"It’s good to see you again, Obaa-san."

Turning towards Naruto, she introduced him to her:

"This is Uzumaki Naruto. You’ve probably heard about him. He’s my favourite pupil."

"...I’m your only pupil," he deadpanned, and the old woman chuckled at their antics. But then he made a short bow and said: "Nice to meet you."

"Where are my manners? Please come inside. The kids will be so happy to see you!" the old woman said.

Not even five seconds after stepping into the courtyard, the fur on his tails stood on end as a stampede of children charged at them seemingly from all directions.

"Mirko!" "Rumi-san!" the children yelled as they crowded around the Rabbit Hero.

"How are you?"

"Who is this Onii-san?"

"What did you bring with you today?"

"I heard you’re the Number 3 Hero now!!"

They were talking all at the same time, bombarding her with questions, but she didn’t appear to be annoyed by their behaviour. Taking a girl and a boy on her shoulders and two more children in her hands, Mirko let the gaggle of loud kids lead her inside the house.

Picking up Mirko’s bags as well, Naruto carried all the baggage inside by himself.

"Are you really the Number 3 Hero now?"

"Yes, it’s true," she said.

"You’re the most kickass girl Hero in the rankings! You’re my favourite hero!" a ten-year-old girl with a pair of cat ears on her head said, all the while looking at her with stars in her eyes.

"Mind your language, young lady, or Obaa-san will punish you!" Mirko admonished her lightly but secretly winked at her, making everyone giggle.

"Who is that?" a boy asked while pointing at Naruto curiously.

"It’s not nice to point fingers, Aoi-kun."

"Haha, sorry!" the boy said, flushing a little as Mirko ruffled his hair endearingly.

"He is Uzumaki Naruto. You’ve heard of him before, haven’t you?"

The orphanage did not have access to television, but the children were still up to date with the trending stuff in the country thanks to their classmates at school.

"But he has one, two, three, four—he has four tails. Uzumaki Naruto has three, no?" a little girl asked, counting Naruto’s fox tails with attention once again to make sure she got it right the first time.

"His quirk evolved again."

"Really? Did you evolve again?" a boy who looked rather similar to Jurota from Class B with his fur-covered skin said and looked at Naruto wide-eyed. "Did you get new powers?"

"I did. But I can’t show you. I can’t control it yet, it’s too dangerous," Naruto said, anticipating what the boy was going to ask.

The next 15 minutes were spent answering all sorts of questions for the curious children. But even their curiosity had to take a backseat when the old lady returned with a large tray filled with glazed chocolate cookies and small cartons of juice of varying flavours.

"You shouldn’t have brought them sweets again. Tonight is going to be hell," the old lady complained, but from the tone of her voice, Mirko knew she didn’t really mean it.

As the kids got into a small scuffle, fighting over their favourite flavours, the old lady went to separate them and handed the cartons of juice one by one to everyone.

As Naruto and Mirko watched the old lady scold the kids for behaving rudely in front of the guests, he asked:

"What are you going to do now that All For One knows about this orphanage? I heard him shouting after you when you were carrying me to the hospital. What if he decided to get back at you by taking revenge on these children? What about the other villains that you have locked behind the bars?"

"These children are getting transferred to other orphanages or put into foster care over the course of the next month. As for Obaa-san, she will finally retire. Aside from the pension she’ll get from the government, I have also set up a pension fund for her. It’s the least I could do for her," Mirko said.

"You care about her a lot, don’t you?"

"She’s the reason I am who I am today. My mother gave birth to me when she was only 15. She was still in school, and her parents, my grandparents, were pushing for her to abort me, to not ruin her future. But she didn’t want to do that. She ran away from home and, after giving birth to me, she left me in the care of an orphanage."

Mirko’s case was not exactly an uncommon reason for children being placed in orphanages in Japan. Many of the children in Japan’s orphanages weren’t truly orphans, but they were left there by their parents because they were unable to provide for them.

"When I was 3 years old, I was transferred to another orphanage. At the age of 7, I was transferred to another place once again - it was here. I lived here until the age of 12. After that, I was sent to an all-girls orphanage for teenagers. But I’ve never forgotten this place. This is the only place that made me feel like I had a home. Obaa-san was strict, but she was fair, and behind that brash attitude of hers, even as a kid, I could tell how much she cared about all of us."

He was filled with surprise as he listened to her words.

"How did you become a hero?" he asked.

From an orphan girl in a nameless town in the boonies to becoming the Number 3 Hero in Japan, that was quite the story.

"It wasn’t anything grand or special," Mirko said, laughing softly. "I didn’t have a noble purpose or anything like that. I’ve always been a rowdy kid. I’ve always loved fighting. Ever since I was a young kid, up until I was your age, I would get into fights with others almost daily. I told you how I got my nickname, didn’t I?"

"Oh, yeah, Tiger Bunny," Naruto said with a chuckle.

"It was Obaa-san who first suggested to me that I use my strength for the sake of others. Frankly, I didn’t care about doing good deeds and all that stuff when I was a teenager. But her suggestion gave me an idea: becoming a pro hero would let me beat up people without getting in trouble with the law and even getting paid for it. For me at that time, it was an absolute win!" she said, spreading her arms.

Both of them started snickering.

"But, as I became more mature mentally, I started taking my job more seriously. Now, more than ten years after I got my Pro Hero Licence, while I still love fighting and beating up villains just as much, people’s safety always comes first for me. A Pro Hero’s number one purpose is to rescue the people in need."

"Hey, Onii-san, do you want to play with us?" a boy came over to them while they were talking, bouncing a soccer ball.

"Yeah! Come play with us! Let’s play soccer!" another boy said and grabbed Naruto by the hand.

"Mirko-san, you come with us too! Pleaseee! Let’s make two teams, girls versus boys!" the cat-eared girl said.

⁂

Although she told the taxi driver she would get back in three hours, it was already evening by the time they returned. To their surprise, the taxi driver was still asleep even after all that time. Being such a small town, it was quiet, and there was hardly any traffic on that particular street.

"I’m sorry. We’re way later than anticipated," Mirko apologized.

"No worries, no worries!" the driver said as he got out of the car and stretched his body. "I got paid for sleeping. I haven’t had such good sleep in months. I’ll also be able to pull an all-nighter thanks to the rest I got today. If only all days were like this, haha!"

Once the taxi driver turned on the engine, Mirko got in the backseat next to Naruto, and they went on their way.

"How was it? Did you like the orphanage?" she asked.

"It was something different. And the children were also so well-behaved; they reminded me of my little sister. I liked it, but... why did you bring me here today?"

"You seemed down. I wanted to take your mind off your problems, if only for a little while," Mirko said.

For a few moments, he was silent.

"Thank you, Mirko," he said eventually. "You’ve been a great help to us. Not only have you saved my life two times already, you’ve even offered to take care of me in this tough situation."

"What can I say? You’ve grown on me. How could I let a kid as honest and good as you stay on the streets?" she smirked and ruffled his hair.

"There was never talk about me being left on the streets. And stop that!" he said, swatting her hand away.

But she sneaked her arm around his neck and caught him in a headlock, mashing his face into the side of her breasts.

"What are you doing?! The driver is watching us!" Naruto said in a harsh whisper.

The driver chuckled as he watched in the rearview mirror how the Rabbit Hero gave the fox boy a noogie while he was struggling to get out of her grasp.

"So the rumours that the two of you were close weren’t just tabloid talk," the driver said meaningfully, still chuckling.

"We’re not close that way!" Naruto refuted his words as she finally let go of his neck.

"Not yet," Mirko added right after.

"What?!" he asked wide-eyed.

"What." she said back, a shit-eating grin on her face when she saw him flushing a deep red colour.

Eventually, she couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore, and she started giggling uncontrollably.

"Don’t you dare! Gimme that! Or put it away! NOW!" he shouted when he saw her taking out her phone and trying to snap a photo of him.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t do much against her while they were in a car. Five minutes later, all he could do was watch how she sent that photo to his mother on CrossChat and how she started texting with her.

While Mirko was busy chatting with Kushina through text messages, he fell into thoughts as he looked at the passing scenery outside.

‘Yet another thing destroyed because of All For One.’

Now that AFO knew about the orphanage that Mirko was sponsoring, in fear of his retaliation, it had to be shut down. There were only around 20 children between the ages of 6 and 12, but even so, he could tell that the old lady was taking good care of them.

‘Other orphanages are much worse.’

Caretakers in other orphanages didn’t pay much attention to the kids, and it wasn’t a rare occurrence for the older kids to viciously bully the younger ones. Many orphans committed suicide even before reaching the age of maturity, while others lost hope after facing the difficulties of Japanese society as grownups. Being an orphan in Japan was not easy even as an adult. As he had been an orphan in his past life, Naruto was particularly sensitive to such matters.

‘If they also happened to have a troublesome quirk or an appearance that’s not conventionally attractive…’

He sighed. Deep down, he wished he could help those children, but he was only a child himself. He didn’t have that kind of money or influence.

‘At least not yet.’

Furthermore, a powerful enemy was out to hunt him down. While he was not particularly worried for himself, even if he had the money to support others, he wouldn’t be able to do it out of fear that the villains would harm them—Mirko’s current situation was the perfect example.

"But what about your mother?" Naruto suddenly asked. "That guy threatened to go after her too."

Mirko put her phone down for a moment to answer him.

"My mother… …I don’t think she’ll be in any trouble. She was living in the United States with her boyfriends the last time I checked up on her."

"Boyfriends? As in plural?" he asked, doubting his ears for a moment.

"My mother and I… we are very different from each other. We have very different values and behaviour. So we don’t talk that often. As long as I know that she is safe, that’s all that matters," Mirko said, not wanting to delve too deeply into details.

"Ah, I didn’t mean to pry."

"Don’t sweat it. More importantly, how do you feel about getting your Provisional Hero Licence next week?"

"I thought only second-year students and above could take that exam."

"Yes, normally, you need to be older for that exam and you also have to take it together with many other contestants. The regular exams will be held in September. But, considering how villains have targeted you and your family, I’m sure they can make an exception for you at my request. Besides, is there any question about your strength and your character after how you risked your life at USJ to protect your fellow classmates from Nomu?"

"That would be awesome. That means I can tag along with you whenever you do your hero work, right?"

"Yep. Isn’t that exciting?" she grinned at him. "Once you become my sidekick, I’ll even change the name of the agency. ‘The Fox and the Hare’ - how about it? Doesn’t it sound catchy? Isn’t it awesome?"

Her excitement was infectious, and he found himself smiling with her too.

"Taking me in, offering me to take the Provisional Hero Licence exam, and even coming up with a new name for the agency. You’ve really put a lot of thought into this! It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing like you told my parents."

"Guilty as charged," Mirko said, an unrepentant smile on her face.

"If I didn’t know any better, I’d be afraid you’re scheming something against me," he narrowed his eyes at her.

"You, afraid? You’re the fox and I’m the hare. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?"

"You may be the rabbit but I can’t imagine you being afraid of anything," he said.

"Haha! You know me so well!" she said, raising her hand for a fist bump.

⁂

Aine: "Omg, look at these two!!!"

DaichiBoss79: "I have a confession to make. I think I might be gay. I am going to sue Uzumaki Naruto for making me gay."

LetMeINNNN: "lololol"

Tobirama4life: "@DaichiBoss79 Kys faggot."

Moderator message: "User Tobirama4life has been muted for 24 hours. Please keep the conversation civil."

DaichiBoss79: "Lol, retard got what he deserved."

Moderator message: "User DaichiBoss79 has been muted for 24 hours. Please keep the conversation civil."

Le-Juanito: "Lmao, dude fell for the classic blunder."

Yvvie2189: "That guy Daichi might have been onto something. I’m a straight dude myself, buuut-"

KaneTheGoat: "Bruh, how can a straight dude thirst over another dude when there’s a rabbit goddess right next to him??"

TheLastSamurai: "They’re so cute together, holy hell! THE FOX AND THE HARE! MAKE IT HAPPEN!"

PrinceAmon: "I thought it was just rumours on the internet, but she’s really all over him. Someone call the FBI!"

zZGreatDaneZz: "Fr fr, the thirst is real."

JohnnyySnow: "What’s the age of consent in Japan?"

HarambeIsBae: "Lol chill you pervs. She’s just teasing him. Go out and touch some grass."

AkariFromTokyo: "Honestly, I’m just happy he looks like he is okay. They said on the news a few days ago that he was in the hospital with severe stab wounds after the villains attacked him. I was so worried about him."

HinamoriChan: "I happened to be at the private hospital in Musutafu to get my burns treated after my daughter’s fire quirk went out of control when I saw Mirko bringing him to the emergency section. Both his and her clothes were soaked with his blood. I thought he was going to die."

zZGreatDaneZz: "@HarambeIsBae stfu gorilla fucker."

Moderator message: "User zZGreatDaneZz has been muted for 24 hours. Please keep the conversation civil."

SherrySAO: "These guys are wild lol."

ItzYaBoiTyler: "I love the internet lmao."

Haruki-02: "Look at 49:32. Who would’ve thought Mirko’s mother was a teen mom!"

YagamiDark: "Apparently her mother also has a harem of boyfriends lol."

JiraiyaAtHome: "If Mirko’s mom is as bad as I think she is, I wouldn’t mind being halfway on the train for her."

Jurahanyo: "Anyone got a picture of her mom? If Mirko is already this hot, imagine her mother. Rabbit MILF."

Ararararara: "MILF! MILF! MILF! asfhaskjfhakjsfhjashfkas. Sorry. I was wiping something off my keyboard."

BootyCallSam: "@JiraiyaAtHome, @Jurahanyo, I could be going 35th on her and still kiss her open mouthed"

Hanabi-Reina: "You guys are really gross. Off to horny jail with you lot."

Moderator message: "User JiraiyaAtHome has been muted for 24 hours. Please keep the conversation civil."

Moderator message: "User BootyCallSam has been muted for 24 hours. Please keep the conversation civil."

Moderator message: "User Jurahanyo has been muted for 24 hours. Please keep the conversation civil."

Moderator message: "User Ararararara has been muted for 24 hours. Please keep the conversation civil."

MilfSupremacy: "@Hanabi-Reina so you’re the mod that’s banning people left and right, huh? I bet you’re a 300 lbs cunt with Cheetos-caked fingers and a triple chin. Change your name to Jabba The Cunt."

Moderator message: "User MilfSupremacy has been muted for 7 days. Please keep the conversation civil."

YagamiDark: "Lmao Savage."

SherrySAO: "Rest In Pieces"

BeastoJeanisto: "What an incel ROFL. Rest in piss you won’t be missed."

After Mirko and Naruto arrived at her apartment in Hiroshima, she opened her laptop to catch up with the news and her other social and mass-media duties. But when she logged in on CrossChat and saw the top trending post in her feed, she was stupefied.

Their taxi driver had recorded their entire drive from Aichi Prefecture to Hiroshima and posted it on CrossChat!

"I’m going to kill that guy!" she shouted.

Thinking back, she had noticed the phone mounted on his car dashboard, but she had not given it any importance because most taxi drivers had phone holders like those, using them for accessing GPS services and the like. The screen of the phone didn't look like it was filming either.

If the invasion of her privacy was not bad enough, the comments section was one of the most vulgar and toxic she had seen in years.

⁂

Mirko wasn’t the only one dealing with a massive headache at that moment. Less than an hour after being posted, that secretly recorded video blew up in popularity, with thousands of people watching and commenting on it. Now, his classmates were pestering him with text messages. He even had two missed calls from Mina and one from his best friend, Izuku.

‘Luckily, there are a few weeks left before the start of school. All this ruckus should die out by then, right?’

It would be a massive lie to say that he was not affected by Mirko’s teasing and jokes. He did not lie to her when he complimented her beauty. She was also the main reason he didn’t have eyes for the girls around his age at school, despite how good-looking they were.

‘But I’m still just a kid to her, probably. She’s quite a bit older than me…’

Muting his phone, Naruto decided to stop thinking about it. His small crush on the Rabbit Hero was hardly a priority in his mind at that moment. With the threat of AFO killing him and his family, he didn’t have the leisure to entertain thoughts of romance.

Changing into his gym clothes, he left the apartment and went to the rooftop. As he started working out, he slowly familiarized himself with his increased physical abilities after his quirk’s awakening.

⁂⁂⁂