The Transfer Student

Chapter 19: Gambling Problems

"Yeah! Me! Me!" they all cheered, completely overpowering any and all other sounds.

I smiled and looked at Mika-Sensei for the greenlight. She nodded her approval.

"Come on, kids!" I opened the door to the playground.

They flooded out, nearly pushing me over. The power of kids, eh?

"A curious hobby" Sasuke came up behind me with his hands in his pockets.

I shrugged, "It beats spending time at your place" I smirked.

He punched me lightly, "Why can't you be as nice to me as you are to these kids?" he griped.

I forced a laugh, "And let you sit on my lap?! No way!" with that, I began to patrol the playground, making sure that everyone was doing okay.

"That would be nice" Sasuke murmured in my ear, catching up.

I pushed his face away, "Jeez, can't you even set a moderately good example for the kids. We don't need another pervert like you out there".

He laughed before backing off.

"That's mine!" someone suddenly called out.

"No! Mine!" another argued.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's all the ruckus about here?" I said sternly as I located the noise.

Two boys were fighting over a firetruck toy.

"I found it first!" the first boy grumbled.

"No! I did!" the second boy responded harshly.

"Okay, okay, calm down, boys" I shushed gently, "How about you guys play together and share it?" I advised, "Then you can both play with it at the same time".

They seemed hesitant about it.

"Okay, let's see" I picked up the toy and ran it across the ground in front of them, "Oh no! Look! There's a building on fire and there's a puppy that's trapped inside!" I exclaimed, pointing at the slide.

They followed my finger, then looked back at me, seemingly more excited.

"Quick! Someone has to use the hose to put the fire out!" I said as I pulled out the miniature fire hose on the firetruck, "And someone else has to use the ladder to save the little puppy!" at the same time, I lifted the little ladder on the toy, "Who's going to go save the day?!" I wondered aloud.

"Us!" the boys shouted and unison before grabbing the toy and racing towards the slide, making siren noises all the way.

I straightened up and watched them play for a bit, making sure that everything was going according to plan.

"That was so predictable" Sasuke chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That's the beauty of being four" I sighed.

"I can't believe that you get volunteer hours for this" he shook his head, "How many hours do you have so far?".

"A hundred if I don't count today's hours" I said nonchalantly.

"You're kidding me, right?!" Sasuke exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes at him, "Two hours each time I come, I only have to work fifty days. It's December. Can you put two and two together and get four?" I taunted.

"Hmph, I've only got three hours" he mumbled, "And that's from doing legit work, like working at the animal shelter".

"And this isn't legit work?" I challenged.