This is silly. And short. But mostly silly. I'm also mean.
* * * * *
"Ah. Good of you to come today Mrs. Richardson. I know things must be busy with the war on, so we really appreciate you taking the time out of your day." The older man's greeting was met with a courteous bow by the recipient. "I was almost afraid you were going to miss out."
"Thank you for having me." Jintsuu felt no fewer than three dozen stares upon her as she straightened her back. She fought back a blush so immense it might as well have its own gravitational field. There was no amount of thanks great enough she could offer that Mutsu never tagged along. Even if she had been doing this for some time, it never quite got much easier.
As least once Jane's new homeroom teacher had gotten it in his head that she was Admiral Richardson's wife. It certainly didn't help that she was dressed in some of her casual best rather than her duty uniform. A long black skirt with a white, long sleeved blouse. Of course her hair was done up with her favorite green hair ribbon. She rarely went anywhere without it.
"Jintsuu! You made it!" The energetic holler of the little girl brought a smile to her face as she returned the frantic wave with a more demure one of her own.
"I promised you, didn't I?" Jintsuu smiled as she replied. Jane had seemed particularly insistent that she not miss this day. It wasn't uncommon for her to cover for the admiral owing to his often hectic and sometimes unpredictable schedule, Jane usually wasn't nearly this driven to ensure her presence. Hiei had been available too.
However given the fast battleship's recent wild hair in having random people sample her cooking, perhaps it was for the better. At least Hiei was improving. ...Sometimes.
"Well then. How about you join the everyone in the back and we'll get class started?" The teacher gestured for Jintsuu to take her place and she did so with a small bow.
It didn't take long for the students to become enraptured in the lesson.
While many of the parents watched their children, a few gave Jintsuu a rather bemused look. The mother of one of Jane's friends leaned in stealthily and whispered with a chuckle so as not to be heard. "Mrs. Richardson?"
"N-Nothing I say seems to convince him." There was a slight stutter in her hushed voice, but it was the blush on Jintsuu's face that truly stood out. "And some of the faculty only make it worse."
At least it was better now than it used to be. She and Jane did not share much of a resemblance. The fact they had completely different racial backgrounds notwithstanding. Combined with her apparent youth, Jane's young age, and Richardson's own age, there had been some very awkward and uncomfortable questions she'd been forced to convince people the answers to.
"If you say so."
Jintsuu frowned. Honestly, it was like dealing with Mutsu. Only less curvy and more inclined to gossip.
The frown turned upside down when Jane was called on to answer the question up on the board. The child bounded up to the smartboard and handily swiped the green digipen.
The light cruiser giggled when Jane seemed to go back and forth between one answer and another. There were two targets to choose from, but only one would bring her victory. She wanted to provide a bit of a hint, but it wouldn't be fair. Nor would it teach Jane how to solve the equation properly.
"Aaaand... There!" Jane circled her answer proudly after finally making a decision.
"Hmm..." The teacher adjusted his glasses as he inspected the work on the board. "Did you... Yep, you sure did."
"I got it right?"
"You certainly did. You almost reduced that fraction incorrectly, but caught it in the end. Well done." He offered a smile and gestured for her to take her seat.
"I told you those extra problems would help." Jintsuu offered up with amusement. Jane merely sagged in mock depression, as if the weight of the added few questions to her homework each night was threatening to crush her. The cruiser merely laughed merrily along with the class.
* * * * *
"That was certainly a fun class."
"Jane is a handful, but she means well and her pranks do brighten things up a bit." The assistant principal, an older woman with all the features of a well worn axe by the name of Mikawa, stated with a measure of amusement. "Normally we'd try to curb such things, but she hasn't acted out of any malice and does try to go out of her way to keep things on the level."
"That's a relief to hear. Things have been hectic at home, so I was beginning to become a bit worried." If Jane couldn't find an outlet for her energy at home, either through cooking something or causing some sort of managed chaos, then the rambunctiousness at school tended to skyrocket. And not always for the better. "Trying does not always imply succeeding."
"Too true." Mikawa pulled a manila folder from the recesses of her desk and placed it before Jintsuu. "Her grades are satisfactory. Physical education has top marks as always. Her mathematics are improving, but at the cost of her language and reading."
Jintsuu sighed. All her efforts...
"I suppose your work on the home front hasn't been as successful as you'd like." She raised an eyebrow at Jintsuu's dejected response to the news.
"Apparently not... Perhaps a change in strategy is needed. Or I need to find out what's influencing her and approach her from that angle." Her brown eyes narrowed in a serious expression as she began to contemplate how to best approach the issue. It didn't take but a moment before she blinked and blushed, apparently realizing she was still in the company of someone. "Ah! Sorry. I didn't mean to."
"Don't worry about it. You're a warship. It's what you do." Mikawa waved her off before folding her hands and resting them atop her desk. "However since we seem to be on the topic of Jane's home-life, how are things at home? You mentioned things where hectic?"
Jintsuu nodded and placed her hands in her lap, her long hair bobbing with the action.
"Yes. We've had new additions to the fleet and there's been more deployment lately. Jane does her best, but it has to be difficult for her."
"I can imagine. Especially with her father being Sasebo's CNO." The older woman let that statement settle for a moment. "But how are you doing? I see you here more than I see him. It can't be easy being married to a man like that. Why, my husband and I had some trying times thanks to our jobs."
"E-Eh?" Jintsuu's mind seemed to have ground to a screeching halt. "M-Married?"
"Oh, no need to hide it. It's written all over your face. And besides, they do say an admiral is married his ship after all." Mikawa's aged features cracked into a grin that was nearly predatory. It wasn't the most accurate wording, but it was close enough. "It can't have been easy to snatch him away from those battleships though."
"I-I-I didn't snatch him f-from anyone!" Jintsuu stammered her rebuttal, looking about the same color as a tomato.
"Ah, then he didn't need any convincing. I think he made a good choice if I'm perfectly honest. You're good for Jane and certainly more sensible than some of the other women he associates with." She sighed, willfully ignoring the unfortunate cruiser's downward spiral into lethal embarrassment. "Not to say they're not good women in their own right."
"B-But L-Lieutenant Commander M-Mutsu is always with him. Th-They've a-almost always been joined a-at the hip! I j-just help out around the house and w-watch Jane when he can't!" Her pleading protests fell on deaf ears even as she attempted to continue. "A-And H-Hiei's like a big s-sister to Jane." She honestly couldn't guess how Hiei felt about Richardson.The woman was absolutely inscrutable when she wanted to be.
"Hmm... Then you had best keep an eye on him so he doesn't wander. That Mutsu may be nice, but she's dangerous. Very dangerous." She made no mention of Hiei, not really having met the fast battleship more than once and only in passing. "You're still young, so you've got plenty to keep the admiral occupied. Just have some more confidence in yourself."
Jintsuu wanted to fade like an American submarine. Just vanish into nothingness.
The sound of a bell rang out.
"Well, I have another meeting to attend. It was nice seeing you again, Mrs. Richardson. I hope to see you more often."
Jintsuu wasn't completely aware of how she bad farewell to Mikawa, only that she did so with some sort of robotic politeness. She was quite glad she hadn't brought up Arizona. That could have turned into something far beyond her ability to deal with. Mutsu was plenty bad enough.
As she staggered down the hall to collect Jane and head home, she was completely unaware of the excited rumors being tossed about.
"They finally tied the knot?"
"Nah, they're just being open about it."
"But what about that bombshell?"
"Which one?"
"There's more?!"
"But she's so young!"
The rabble continued even as Jintsuu lost the ability to perceive them. All she had was a headache and a burning desire to wish she'd had Arizona stand in for this.
* * * * *
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