In all honesty, Sumi had been hoping that Brandon and Lily would be coming as well, but she supposed they weren't actually her parents. Her father had at least been trying. Now that her interest in animals had some sort of basis, he had even allowed her to introduce him to many of her animal friends, primarily Zei and Tippy. He still seemed a bit awkward when speaking to them, and along with that, he was still taking work phone calls the entire time he had been there. In fact, the only time he had actually turned his phone off, she noticed, was when he was in the presence of a teacher. He had a great deal of respect for teachers, so he would at least offer them the his full attention even if he still left his daughter to be number two to his phone's attention. Even at that moment, she was picking at some of her fruit bowl with little interest as he spoke with one of the people from work.
At least Zei had been able to sneak into the cafeteria to keep her company even if he had to do his best ot remain out of sight under the table where she would sneak him a few pieces of fruit.
"I should be back in just a couple more days," her father spoke in Japanese to the person on the other end of the line, "There's nothing really to be concerned with. There never really is." Part of her wondered if he was talking about her or if it had been something work related that garnered that response. She had the feeling it was the latter.
"I wonder if he would notice if I went outside with you?" she whispered Mandarin under the table to Zei. Their relationship had been getting a little better, but her father still wasn't as aware of her as her grandfather had been. It was almost like his interest in her was more out of obligation at times. Her 3DS sat on the table with a new game he had brought for her. She had played around with it for a bit, but that was mainly just to see what the new game was like and for her to try and show him she was pleased with the gift. She let her hand fall under the table to stroke Zei a few times, hoping she wasn't seen by the teachers doing so. If there was one thing that could get her father to pay attention to her though it would be being caught breaking a school rule.