「Haruna, hm?」 She allows the girl to slip out of her arms, noting Kyouka’s face has returned to its usual hard-to-read expression. Kouyou pauses to think before taking Kyouka’s smaller hand in her own. She can feel a very slight stiffness in the girl’s grip, as if the gesture is unwelcome, but chooses to ignore it. An irrational fear that Kyouka - almost old enough to be in high school now - will be lost forever in the crowd if she lets go lurks in the back of her mind.
She considers using mafia resources to sweep the park, but decides that can wait until after they have made sure the toy isn’t simply on a bench somewhere nearby.「For now, let’s look for her back the way you came, okay?」
◣ ✿ ◥ Any remnants of earlier tears were wiped away by the girl’s sleeve before she glanced around the park, remembering where she had and had not gone. A logical first step, of course, one that hadn’t crossed her mind until the initial anxiety faded. They hadn’t traveled too far, so searching shouldn’t take too long; of course, there was also the possibility that someone else already found it and took it with them, moved it–any number of undesirable outcomes, really.
“Over there,” she pointed not to where they’d just come from, but beyond there to an area obstructed from view where they’d spent a good amount of time, “is where I last saw Haruna.” One hand found Kouyou’s sleeve and gave a slight tug as though the girl meant to lead her over there.
The tighter grip is noticed, but no comment is given towards it. Instead he
silently wonders if telling her that she was allowed to do whatever she
wanted. To be honest, as long as it wasn’t anything particularly harmful, he
didn’t see the issue. While she was a member of the Port Mafia, she was
still a kid and most likely had kid-like interests to go along with it.
Babysitting would go a lot easier if she was doing something childlike, he
figures. “Probably,” Chuuya begins, not for certain the exact location of one,
but it’s more than likely that there’s one nearby. “I’m not sure where it is
right off the bat, but I bet we can find something.”
◣ ✿ ◥ So it appeared that her pre-planned explanation of improving accuracy and reaction time and such weren’t needed. Kyouka could never be too sure when it came to adults, especially now that said adults that took care of her were hardened criminals. Nodding, she thought back to the maps she’d memorised to figure out where the closest arcade was (or at least, the most probable location of one), and, ah, she was in luck. With no verbal warning, she changed direction, dragging the executive along with her. “There’s one this way.”
β hey kid, you want me to take you for ice cream or somethin'? β
◣ ✿ ◥ “Yes.” No hesitation in her voice–there was no question as to whether or not she wanted to get ice cream. Ah, but he asked if she wanted him to take her, right? The answer was still yes, even though she hardly knew him; she’d seen him around Kouyou before, but aside from slight formality, they’d never directly interacted. For the sake of politesse, she added, “Please.”
this trip only served as a mental reminder to maybe not promise such things in the future. kyouka was not about to let him get away without her reward, that he was sure of. her answer only made him shake his head. of course, she wouldn’t eat them if she didn’t like them.
❝ i don’t eat sweets all that much. ❞
◣ ✿ ◥ If only he was a slower learner, then she could’ve taken advantage of the fact that they didn’t know each other well in order to get more food from him, but as it stood, once would have to suffice. There were other people more willing to indulge her anyway; it was just satisfying coming from someone so standoffish. “A taste preference,” she summarised, nodding to show that she understood. “There are savory crepes. You can get them with stuff like meat and cheese.”
“Mm, maybe,” is his remark on the matter, deciding that he’ll take it with
him. Keeping the milk away from a cold source for a significant amount of
time wasn’t a good idea, but apparently it was better than leaving the
carton behind. When she grips his sleeve, Chuuya lets it happen because,
while he doesn’t exactly expect it, it’s better than her getting lost. He even
lets his arm fall so that it’s closer to her reach, feeling weirdly soft when he
soft it. What the hell… “Whatever, I guess. I’m supposed to be watching
you, but it’s not like I was given step by step directions on what to do with
you.”
◣ ✿ ◥ Kyouka adjusted her grip when he moved his arm, getting a more secure grip on the executive. Whatever? That meant they could do whatever she wanted to, right? It was a pleasant response, especially after she’d given him a chance to dictate what they did for the rest of the day, and she planned to make use of it. In the back of her mind, she wondered who would give step-by-step instructions on babysitting in the first place, but she didn’t voice the thought. “Is there an arcade nearby? I like playing games.” If asked, she’d insist that it was a method of training too; she already had the argument laid out and ready to go.
◣ ✿ ◥ She wasn’t really crying over losing a toy rabbit–it upset her, sure, but not to the point of tears. Not on its own, at least. The girl hadn’t slept well the night before (blame bad dreams), so her emotional stability for the day was already low without being reminded of her losses. It’d only been a few months since she lost her parents, since she killed them, and that wound showed no signs of healing. Most days, she could suppress it and put on a brave face. Some days, not quite. But she was getting there.
The embrace wasn’t as comforting as it should’ve been, the motherly touch only salt on an open wound, yet she managed to stop herself from reacting. No more tears fell from her eyes, and she used the fabric of Kouyou’s kimono to wipe away the ones that already had. “Please,” she whispered, unsure how well the woman could hear her, “I’d like to find Haruna.”
◣ ✿ ◥ With a forlorn expression replacing her usual stoic face, the girl stared down at the rabbit in her lap–a real, live, breathing thing, not like the one dangling from her phone or resting in her bed. It had been a few days since she found it injured nearby where she trained during the day, and now that it had a chance to heal up, her guardian insisted that she release it.
“It’s a wild animal,” the woman had told her. “It doesn’t belong in captivity.” Kyouka understood the sentiment, sort of. But she was a child, not an adult like Kouyou said. She wanted to argue, yet by then, she knew it’d do no good. Kouyou had been generous in letting her nurse the animal back to health in the first place; in the back of her mind, the girl knew from the start that she couldn’t keep it.
The rabbit squirmed. Kyouka loosened her grip when she realised she’d been holding on too tightly before sighing and nudging the animal off her lap. It seemed to take the hint, and, with only a single glance back, began hopping away. Back to its own life. She hoped it would be a happy one.
After handing her the proper milk that she had wanted in the first place,
Chuuya gives an annoyed look, almost like a glare, to the skim milk box in
his palm. Just what was he supposed to do with this now? While he had
just fought that skim milk was actually milk, it didn’t mean that he actually
liked it. “Yeah, yeah,” he mutters, contemplating just leaving the milk there.
◣ ✿ ◥ As the girl sipped at her drink, she watched the elder. “Kouyou-san might like it,” she suggested; after all, even if she didn’t want it (and apparently neither did he), she didn’t think it should be thrown away. Wasting food was bad. After the statement, she stepped closer to him, her free hand reaching up to grip his sleeve–likely to prevent herself from wandering off should anything catch her interest. She didn’t want to get scolded for that. “What now?”
why did he promise this. why did he promise the young girl crepes if she did a good job on her last mission? he had expected for her to forget, to not take it to heart, but here he was–– next to the child as they made their way towards a crepe shop.
❝ …why do you even like these, anyway? ❞
◣ ✿ ◥ Of course she wouldn’t forget. Any mention of food (let alone the promise of such) was essential and therefore not to be forgotten; the second he mentioned it, the girl planned to hold him to his word no matter what, and since she had indeed done well, he had no right to argue. If nothing else, he should’ve learned that she didn’t take such promises lightly.
“Because they’re good.” Obviously. What kind of answer did he expect? “You don’t?”
“It is.” His response is just as blunt and to the point, firm on his opinion. It
annoys him that she asks for another one, especially when it wasn’t like
they could return the skim milk, but…. “Ch…” he starts, teeth grating to
make such a sound, before fishing out the appropriate amount of money
again. “If you’ll stop complaining about skim milk, then yeah.”
◣ ✿ ◥ Kyouka nodded as a means of confirming that she would indeed stop complaining before taking the money from him, replacing it with the skim milk, and padding back over to the vending machine to buy a new one. This time, upon putting in the correct and hitting the correct button, the correct drink came out. She took it and and returned to Chuuya’s side. “Thank you,” she said as she opened the drink, taking a small sip from it.
