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The hotel room where Tooru is staying consisted nothing but the bare minimum. The plank wood underneath his feet creaked with every step he took to roll his luggage into the room, and then flopped himself onto the bed with limbs sprawled across the white plush mattress. A sigh blew from his tired lips of his long travel and conference with the staff, getting lost into his thoughts as his eyes stared at the blank ceiling above him.

Already, his mind was full of Tetsu when he left him with his sister in Tokyo. Each and every time he leaves, it doesn't get any less harder. But for some reason, this time he felt a different kind of melancholy during his trip to Miyagi and he couldn't help but to remember the last words his son said to him.

It was early afternoon when Tooru loaded the last of his duffel bag into the back seat of his white Jeep Wrangler. When he turned, there was a miniature version of himself standing right behind him and his aunt standing afar beside the front door.

With a small smile, Tooru knelt down to him. "Don't miss me too much, Tetsu. Remember, you're the man of the house while I'm gone. Take care of auntie and Oba-chan for me."

Just when he thought his son was going to swim in a brink of tears, Tetsu's eyes remained dry which rose his brows in concern.

"It's okay, Daddy. I won't cry anymore when you leave." With that, he threw a tiny thumbs up at his father's mused face.

Entirely shocked at Tetsu's new profound behavior, Tooru wasn't sure if he was supposed to be proud of him or feel neglected. Because now, this is the first time he heard him ever say those words in spite of his past being so attached to him.

The thought of his own son detaching himself indeed scared the living hell out of Tooru. Where did the time go when he would always see Tetsu bawling his eyes out and beg him to stay? This felt far worse than leaving him in a crying state, and for once he was the one who felt like crying - wondering if this is how parenthood is; that one day their children will grow distant from them.

Tooru mumbled while throwing an arm over his face. "Why am I the worst?"

>>>

Last night you didn't receive a call or text from Tooru. Focused eyes glued to the screen of your cellphone when you walked down a street to a series of houses in a close range, glancing at the last chat you had with him before he went awol. You huffed and tucked your phone away to let yourself off from dwelling into things so deeply since the man stated clearly that he wanted to take things slow, which you also agreed to willingly.

In conclusion to ease your mind, he perhaps had a long day.

"Where do I have to go again?" you said to yourself while turning to each way at an intersection.

You were bad at directions, even Koshi's simple and thorough directions still got you lost in the outskirts of the city - an area you weren't too familiar with. The idea of him trying to mug you came across your mind but you trust the man too much to think that he'll ever want to rob you. From what you remember in middle school, he is as sweet as honey and will never hurt a fly unless the fly wants to hurt him.

A bit nervous, your attention was turned when you heard a faint laughter and a couple of shouts was emitted behind a fence along with trees and tall hedges. Your curiosity took an interest of the noise and peeked through a gap in between the hedge to find a small playground behind the fence. Kids were running around. From the looks of it, it looked like a school with kids no older than six. A miniature daycare, you presume.

But your eyes trailed where the sound was coming from until you spotted a familiar boy playing amongst the children, wearing a light blue smock and black shorts.

"Tetsu!" oddly, your voice broke from your lips when you walked through the gate and his brown bug eyes meandered their way to you.

He paused in the middle of his chase as a gleaming grin stretched on his lips, now running towards your direction to envelope your legs with a hug. "[Name]! You're here!"

"So this is where you go to school, huh?" you sang and he nodded in approval.

Tetsu took a step back with arms raising in a 'T' stature. "This is what I wear, see?"

You simply laughed at the boy turning his body around for you to look at his outfit. It was incredibly cute that even preschools have their own uniforms for kids to wear. His little hand reached up to grab at your pants, tugging it with eagerness to bring your attention on him again.

"Say, [Name]! We should play! I want to go eat!"

"R-Right now?" you questioned and his smile only grew bigger.

"Yeah! Right now! Right now!" he chanted happily. You haven't had a minute with the boy and he's ready to splurge your money already.

A body approached to where you are, a lady around your age in particular wearing a earthy-green daycare apron that hung around her neck. "Excuse me, are you may be Oikawa-kun's mother?"

The assumption made you freeze a little but your hands shook defensively. "Ah, no. I'm just his friend."

"Is that so? I'm sorry, but if you're picking him up, I can't let him leave unless he's with a guardian," she said sadly and you can understand the restriction. But when you looked down at Tetsu to give him a proper farewell, the expression he made didn't seem to like the idea.

"But I wanna go home with [Name]! She hugs and sleeps with Daddy!"

Crap! So he did see that!

"I-...I did not sleep with him!" you corrected him but couldn't deny the hugging part.

"Whaat? But you were sleeping in his bed."

"My, my," probably getting the picture, the woman had her hand over her mouth whether she was taken back at the information or embarrassed to hear it. Cutting in the conversation, her throat cleared. "Erm, I can call your family to give [Name] permission, Oikawa-kun."

"Please, please, please! I want to talk to auntie!" Tetsu chased after the woman to walk inside the building. A moment later, you unsurely followed after in case you were going to be questioned in some way, some how. With shoulders slumping, you didn't think you'd find yourself spending the afternoon with Tetsu.

Koshi came to your head when you looked at the clock above while the lady dialed up the number to Tetsu's aunt house as the boy waited patiently at her feet. Your hand drew your phone out to give a brief response to him that you may be late, or perhaps you've been caught into a rope. After a second, he replied back with an assuring sticker.

The phone was given to Tetsu, hearing him banter about spending the evening with you and promise to come home before dinner. Just like with you, he mercilessly begged until you can hear the whimper in his voice, and you were sure that his aunt is awfully overwhelmed by his tone.

"Put her on the phone," you can hear the feminine voice from a far before Tetsu waved the phone to you with his small two hands.

You gulped at the opportunity in talking to someone in Tooru's family other than Tetsu - his older sister to be exact. Straightening your posture, you took the phone from his hands and carefully put the plastic device against your ear.

"Hello, this is [Name] speaking," you said formally, maybe too formally.

"Is this true? You know Tetsu and my bratty-ass brother?" the sound of her voice sounded aggravating which you took no personal offense of. Perhaps, she just want you to feel intimidated.

"Yeah, sorry for troubling you," you stated.

"Well, I don't mind someone else picking him up but as long as he's back here before dinner, it should be fine. If I don't see him by the time, I won't be calling the cops instead, I'll butcher you myself!" The threat itself was more than enough to know that she'll murder you at whatever cost.

"You got it, boss!" you saluted, almost sounding like Yamaguchi on his first day of work. "I'll leave my number with you if you have concerns, and I'll definitely let Oikawa know that I'm with his son."

"Okay, okay. Make sure he gets home safe," the woman finished. After stating your phone number to her and receiving the address to the residence, she suggested you to give back the phone to the daycare worker. You looked down at Tetsu who overheard the conversation.

By the looks of it, he seemed to be overjoyed of the results and cheered. "Yay! Taiyaki~! Taiyaki~!"

Seems like your afternoon will be taken by the boy, he was zealous at the thought so you gestured him to go and claim his belongings. "Get ready. I'll wait here."

Tetsu nodded and frolicked to the classroom to get his miniature coat and bag. Fishing for your phone, you thought you should alert your childhood friend about the sudden change of plan.

As you pressed on his contact number, you brought your phone to your ear.

"Hey, [Name]. Where are you?" his voice shown a bit of concern.

"Sorry, Suga, to drop this on you last minute but something came up. Can we reschedule another day?"

He paused for a second to make a curious hum but eventually came to an understanding. "Yeah, no problem. We'll see each other another time."

Despite his light hearted tone, you can still distinguish the disappointment in his voice and you can guess that he looked forward in meeting you. So you quickly told him, "I'm sorry! I'll pay for lunch if anything."

Koshi just laughed at your desperation. "It's alright! Just give me another call after you're done, 'kay?"

You gave your little promise before hanging up on the phone to wait for the exciting kid. Leaning against the front entrance of the building, you watched each child walking with their parents hand in hand.

"Oh, is that girl his mom? She looks really young," a voice you faintly heard from the distance with two other women at a corner of the building. "No wonder his dad is been looking tired lately. All the responsibilities are on him. For once, Tetsu is being picked up on time."

"I heard she abandoned him when she gave birth."

"Are you sure? I heard that he doesn't have a mother."

The conversation didn't sound pleasing from the tone they're spewing out. The gossip didn't worry you at the least, but you were more perturbed that the adults at this preschool almost knew everything about Tetsu's background. The fact that he has one parent is such extraordinary news to them. You pitied them if this is their way of entertainment and it brought to your attention if Tetsu has to hear it every time he leaves from school.

Most of all, you wondered how Tooru felt whenever he picked him up.

"[Name], I'm ready!" the small voice next to your feet cut you from your trance, not realizing that he's been there for a good minute with his school hat sitting at the top of his head. "Can we have taiyaki now?"

"S-Sure thing," you smiled back to him, motioning your head so he could follow your lead.

With his bag across on his plump chest, Tetsu trailed behind you with eyes glued to your back. By strolling pass a few parents who are also leaving the school ground, his brown optics gazed amazingly at the mothers holding their child's hand protectively.

"[Name]!" Your head turned, stopping abruptly for him to catch up to your feet.

You hummed, "What is it?"

"Can...," he murmured with his head hanging low shyly, but you didn't rush him to speak. "Can we hold hands?"

You didn't know why he was acting so timid, considering that this isn't the first time he held your hand but you didn't question him and grinned at the boy. Awkwardly having your palm up, you offered him your hand and his eyes brightened at the small gesture, running to your side and grabbing it.

The act itself is nothing significant but to him, it held so much meaning by the beaming smile he curled on his face. A glowing blush reddened at the apple of his cheeks while mimicking your pace next to you like a little duckling.

Tetsu began to sing words that didn't rhyme with each other, nonetheless, you chuckled at his free spirit marching with his baby feet.

Maybe it was a good choice to spend the afternoon with Tetsu.

On your way out, you couldn't help but notice a few kids a little bigger than him staring at the little boy out of bewilderment or disapproval.

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Posted: 05-01-21