Chapter 52: Chapter 51
"...Together?"
"Yeah! It's more fun to play together."
Is that okay? Megumi had never played with anyone outside his family before. It felt unfamiliar and a bit scary.
But, more than that, it was intriguing and pleasant.
Toji and Zoro, who had approached by now, stood next to Megumi. Tsumiki politely greeted the two.
"Hello."
"Ah. What's your name?"
"I'm Tsumiki."
"I'm Zoro."
"Toji."
"Nice to meet you!"
There was no awkwardness in her straightforward response. It might seem trivial, but it was quite rare for someone meeting Zoro and Toji for the first time.
Toji had a large presence but seemed almost invisible, and Zoro, with his green hair and hard-to-ignore aura, often elicited various awkward reactions from people seeing them for the first time.
Megumi cautiously asked,
"Can I, play? With Tsumiki."
"Sure."
"But don't run on the stairs."
With permission from Zoro and Toji, Megumi's face lit up. Tsumiki, looking excited, firmly held Megumi's hand.
"Then, shall we go over there? Let's go on the slide!"
Tsumiki bounded away, and Megumi was swept along in her enthusiasm.
Soon, with laughter, the two kids began to dash all over the playground.
They took turns sliding down the slide and then ran around the playground perimeter, heeding Zoro's advice not to run on the stairs at all.
"Good kids," Zoro thought to himself.
Toji watched Megumi with a pleased expression.
"Like father, like child. Already making friends with girls."
Zoro made a disgusted sound.
"They're too young for that kind of talk. Besides, they can just be friends."
"Between boys and girls?"
"What does gender have to do with anything?"
"You don't have friends, do you?"
"...I had one."
Zoro remained consistently vulnerable to such remarks, reminding him of Kuina, who would habitually say that. Even after becoming the strongest swordsman, those words never faded from his memory.
Click.
He touched the hilt of his sword, wondering if Kuina might have been reborn in this world too. Probably not, but the thought occasionally crossed his mind.
Noticing Zoro's somber, distant expression, Toji quickly changed the subject.
"If you ever want to get married, bring them over. I won't object."
"...Toji. I'm five."
Zoro looked at him as if he had lost his mind, and Toji chuckled. Indeed, this expression was much better than the previous one.
...
"What are you drawing?"
"Tsumiki!"
Megumi, holding a brown crayon, spoke cheerfully. Toji closely observed something on the sketchbook mixed with apricot and brown colors that Megumi had drawn.
'Looking closely, it seems like that girl's face might be…'
…What face? It was just an apricot circle with brown mixed in haphazardly. It was impossible to tell where the eyes were or where the hair was supposed to be.
For the past two months, Megumi had played with Tsumiki every single day without fail. If the weather was nice, they played outside; if it was too hot or rainy, they came to Toji's house to play. They often played just the two of them, but there were times when Zoro or Toji joined in.
They ate together, played until they were both exhausted, and sometimes fell asleep side by side. Although Tsumiki was older than Megumi, the difference was just a year, making them close companions.
As this lifestyle continued, Zoro and Toji grew somewhat accustomed to Tsumiki's presence.
'Not as warmly as Megumi treats her, though.'
Hence, there was a slight distance between Zoro and Toji, and Tsumiki. Neither Toji nor Zoro paid it much mind.
"When is Tsumiki coming?"
"She can come if her mom allows it."
She probably will. Toji's lips twisted.
Initially, her mother had come to the playground to pick up Tsumiki. She asked Toji if her child had played well with his kids and if they had eaten anything together, making Toji think she was interested in her child.
"Did you feed her eggplant rice bowl?"
"...She said she doesn't like eggplant."
"Oh, is that so?"
There were odd things even then. The mother didn't seem to know what Tsumiki liked or disliked about food.
After asking a few times, realizing Toji had a decent income and that Megumi and Tsumiki were taken care of together, Tsumiki's mother seemed to wait for the right moment to detach her interest from Tsumiki, as if she had been looking for a chance to pass her off. Toji was baffled by her attitude, which seemed like she was just waiting for the right timing.
'...But it's not my place to criticize.'
Had it not been for Zoro taking him away, Toji would have continued to live in neglect as well.
From this side, it wasn't a bad situation at all. Megumi really liked Tsumiki, and Tsumiki was very kind to Megumi. For Toji, the cost of one more child's food or toys was trivial.
Even though he had a lot of extra money disappear because he didn't spend the cash he received from assassination jobs on gambling but just kept it piled up inside his weapon storage spirit. Still, it wasn't like he couldn't afford to feed and take care of one more child.
Tap-tap, tap.
Toji's sensitive hearing caught the light and cheerful sound of footsteps. He felt a familiar small presence at the entrance and heard a knock.
"Please open the door!"
"Tsumikiii!"
Megumi sprang up and ran towards the door.
'I don't think I've ever greeted anyone like that.'
Feeling oddly uneasy, Toji approached the door. Megumi was hanging onto the doorknob, struggling.
"It won't open."
"It's too heavy for you to open."
The metal door, equipped with several security devices, was too heavy for a child not even three years old to open.
Toji detached Megumi and easily opened the door. There stood Tsumiki, always with her gentle face.
"Tsumiki!"
"Megumi!"
Megumi bounced in place. Tsumiki quickly took off her shoes and entered the house.
"Did you sleep well? What shall we play today?"
"Um... draw pictures."
"Good. Let's draw pictures together."
The chatter of the two young children wasn't bad at all. Megumi indeed liked Tsumiki.
Click.
After washing up and changing clothes in the bathroom, Zoro shook his slightly damp hair. Then, he noticed Tsumiki.
"Ah, you're here. Tsumiki."
"Hello."
"Yeah."
"Tsumikiii."
Megumi tugged at Tsumikii's sleeve. Zoro saw this and sternly corrected him.
"Megumi, you shouldn't pull on Tsumiki's clothes."
"It's okay."
"Really?"
"Yes! These clothes are too small anyway."
"...If you really dislike it or it's not okay, say so."
"Yess."
Tsumiki sat down with Megumi in front of the sketchbook. What to draw? A dog? A deer? A frog? Holding a crayon each, their heads huddled close together as they talked, resembling sparrows.
Toji approached Zoro.
"Is it okay?"
"...? What is?"
"It seems like Megumi plays with Tsumiki more than with you."
"It doesn't matter. I don't mind."
If Megumi and Tsumiki are happy, that's good enough. No matter how much Zoro and Toji try, playing at Megumi's level was impossible. Being tenderly caring was also hard due to their personalities. Tsumiki was able to fulfill that role.
'Whether it becomes a bond of affection between family or friends, a love between partners, or just a fleeting emotion, it's still unclear.'
Either way, it wouldn't be bad. The more people who love Megumi, the better.
'Seems like we're spoiling Megumi too much...'
"I want to draw a dog on the floor."
"No, Megumi."
That's how absolute nos are handled. Despite seeming overly gentle, Tsumiki surprisingly had a firm side, which Zoro found likable.
Tsumiki looked at Toji, as if remembering something, and stood up.
"Sir, I have something for you."
"...?"
Tsumiki pulled something crumpled from her pocket and handed it over. Toji unfolded it to find a 10,000 yen bill.
It was a lot of money for a four-year-old to be carrying around. Toji flicked the 10,000 yen bill and asked,
"Where did you get this?"
"From the uncle at our house."
"The uncle at our house," so probably not her biological father, but likely a stepfather or a man living with her mother.
"Why?"
"He said... not to stay home when there are guests..."
"...Even at night?"
"Yes. When I said I was going out, he told me to give this to the adult there..."
So, it's for accommodation? Utterly disgraceful.
Toji was about to refuse but stopped when he noticed Tsumiki subtly looking around, as if thinking she'd be driven out if he didn't accept.
After stuffing the money into his pocket, Tsumiki's face brightened.
"I'll be here for a few days."
"Umm, tomorrow, tomorrow... Ah, the day after tomorrow! Until the day after tomorrow."
Then, I need to buy a lot of food. Toji thought. Since they were running low on food at home and had one more mouth to feed, it seemed like a trip to the store was in order.
Toji glanced at Tsumiki.
"...Is there anything you want to eat?"
"Tomatoes!"
"Got it."
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