Chapter 135: Haircut.
Chapter 135: Haircut.
They entered through the main door and walked into what seemed to be the living room. The floor was wooden and had a step up to remove your shoes at the entrance. They both then took off their shoes and walked into the main part of the house.
"I wonder where Nadia is? She said that she was dying to meet you yet she isn't here. Strange." Andrew said before he started to pick up on the scent of food drifting through the house from the kitchen.
"Nadia!? Is that you cooking?" He shouted and then opened the door as a cloud of smoke billowed it's Way out into the rest of the house.
"I thought I told you that I would cook dinner when I got home?" He said to the woman standing in his kitchen who had a guilty look on her face.
The woman known as Nadia had long blond hair that flowed softly down to her lower back and had emerald green eyes. Haru looked at the woman. 'Nadia? So she is European? I was kind of expecting him to have a Chinese wife since he seemed so traditional but this is a surprise.' Haru thought to himself as they argued mildly about who should do the cooking.
The attention then suddenly changed to Haru without him realising as the woman began to walk toward him and then wrapped her arms around him before giving him a peck on the cheek.
"It's lovely to meet you Haru. You're mother and I used to be pretty good friends before Well, that doesn't matter So what kinds of things do you like to do for fun? What are you studying at university? Is everything ready for you to attend classes?" She then began to ask even more questions to change the subject.
Haru smiled before trying to answer all of her questions. He then looked back to see that Andrew Had began top open all of the doors in the house to let the smoke free from the building. Nadia tried desperately to get Haru away from the kitchen so he couldn't see her mistakes and then they walked up to a wooden door together as she asked many more questions.
"Oh, would you look at that? We walked right toward Mei's room." Nadia said while trying to make it seem accidental.
"What do you say we introduce you to your older cousin?" She looked at Haru and then knocked on the door before he could answer.
Haru sighed. She was trying to distract him from the embarrassing scene he had just seen of her nearly burning down the house. But it was failing miserably.
The door then opened up quickly as a woman in her early twenties stood there and stared at them both.
"Mei, This is your cousin Haru. He is staying over for dinner tonight. I was wondering if you would like to talk to him while I make dinner with your father?" Nadia said with a big smile as she looked at her daughter.
"You're making dinner? Suddenly I don't feel hungry." Mei began to say and then she turned her attention toward Haru who stood still trying not to make this interaction anymore awkward than it was.
'Is this woman really trying to dump me on her daughter? I am not a cat' Haru thought to himself as Mei considered if she wanted to waste her time talking to her cousin that she had only just met for the first time.
"Sure, I guess I can talk to him for a while." She said while inspecting Haru up and down.
Haru got the feeling that something was wrong and started to feel quite unsettled with what she had just said.
Suddenly Nadia looked back at Haru before giving him a pat on the back as if to say good luck and then walked away back into the kitchen.
When he looked back he noticed that Mei hadn't said anything yet and was just staring at him. Seemingly debating something in her head.
"I have a question for you. Feel free to say no but, I need someone to practice on and I was hoping you would let me cut your hair?" She said with an innocent-looking smile and then awaited Haru's answer.
Haru then brushed a few remaining strands of hair out of his face.
'It is rather long and gets in the way a lot.' He thought while looking down at the strands of hair that reached his waist." He thought and then looked back at Mei.
"Sure, I don't mind. I was meaning to get it cut once I got here anyway." Haru smiled but before he could say anything else she grabbed his arm and then pulled him into the room.
"Here, sit down here." She said and then pointed to a chair she had at a dressing table in the corner of the room. There was a huge mirror in front of the table that was reminiscent of the inside of a barbershop. And to the side of the table, she had all of the tools to go along with it.
She seemed well practised in cutting hair or at least she had all of the things necessary to look practised. She then picked up a pair of scissors and then looked at Haru though the mirror.
"Are you sure you want to do this? This is your last chance to back out." She said and then moved the scissors closer to his hair.
"If you can really cut hair then it's fine. So I trust you not to make me look stupid." He smiled and then looked down at the things she had laid out on the table. It was all girly things like makeup brushes and jewellery so Haru had no interest.
"I will try not to make you look too stupid then," Mei said with a giggle before taking the scissors and cutting a huge amount of hair from Haru's head with one movement.
"Don't worry I own my own salon, I was joking with you. I have been doing this for many years so don't feel too nervous okay or I might accidentally cut off your ear." She said to put Haru at ease and then laughed like a maniac.
'This family seems pretty fun Weird but fun.' Haru thought as he sat patiently and waited for her to finish. He then looked back in the mirror as he felt a brush on the back of his neck.
"There we go. Done." Mei said with a cheery voice and then took a few steps back to look at her creation.
It was almost exactly like Haru had had his hair before it grew out. It just had more of a uniform style to it. He didn't mind how it looked and knew that he didn't make a mistake when he said she could cut it for him.
"So What do you think?" She leaned down next to the chair and asked him.
"Not bad at all. For a minute I thought you were going to make me bald." Haru sighed and then began to stand up.
"You should see the back then," Mei said and then began to laugh.
"I'm just joking. I tried my best. I wouldn't want to ruin the whole cool guy look you have going for you." She said with a mocking attitude and then pulled out a sweeping brush from her closet and began to sweep up all of the hair that was on the floor.
"So where did you come from? How come I haven't met you or your family before?" Mei started to ask Haru a few questions relating to his childhood and past life.
"I lived in Japan until about four years ago. But since then I have been living in Shenzhen with Zen." He explained.
"You lived with uncle Zen? I can't even imagine what that would be like." Mei sighed at just the thought of it alone.
"Why? It wasn't actually that bad." Haru smiled. He missed it already if he was completely honest but he wouldn't admit it that easily.
"Well, The last time he came to visit us he got really drunk and caused a scene at my twentieth birthday party. It was funny but was it not embarrassing to live with him all the time?" She asked. She thought that Zen was a complete clown.
But she didn't know the half of it. The reason Zen often acted like he knew nothing was because he didn't want his family to find about his dealings with criminals who wanted to hire his bodyguards. It was strategic acting dumb even if it didn't seem like it. Zen was an especially sneaky man.
Haru laughed.
"Yeah, that sounds like Zen alright. He used to come in at early hours of the morning and need me to help him find his bed. But when he wasn't out drinking he was always kind. He puts other people before himself. It's something that I can't do so I have respect for him." Haru smiled as he talked about Zen.
"You seem like you are close with him." Mei smiled and then sat down next to him.
"So tell me have you ever heard of cultivators? My dad is actually one of them. It's one of the main reasons we could afford to live in such a place." She whispered quietly as she let Haru in on their family secret.
Haru smiled. He was tempted to tell her so was he but then decided against it. The fewer people who knew about his strength right now the better. He didn't want to have to worry about people challenging him or making him a target. And the last thing he wanted was to put his friends and family in danger.
"No, What does that mean?" Haru played ignorant to what she just said and had her explain things to him to pass the time.