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Kiryu and Haruka walk down the street together, hand in hand. Daigo accompanies them, walking with his hands in his pockets. A comfortable place for them to rest. Though he occasionally glances at Kiryu’s hand gently holding Haruka’s. It must be nice, doing that with your dad. Or someone you consider to be your dad, at least. He heard Jingu was a piece of shit anyways. He moves his gaze back in front of him, as they were beginning to approach Club Sega, spotting it in the distance.
Daigo slips one of his hands from his pockets to fidget with his necklace, a habit of his. He lets his hand hang to his side for a moment, and right before he puts it in his pocket, Haruka looks over and grabs it. He looks down at her, taken off guard, though she only looks ahead, not a care in the world. As they walk she swings their arms, content with the situation she’s in.
They get close to the entrance and Haruka excitedly lets go of their hands, rushing up to the doors so she can get inside first. Daigo and Kiryu make their way there as well and the instant they step foot inside, the loud sounds of the arcade invade their senses. Haruka looks around, evaluating the prizes inside of the claw machines, tapping her little chin as she does so.
“Uncle Kaz, look at this!” She points at the glass, calling him over. In this claw machine, there were a bunch of plush cats. Kit Kats, he thinks they’re called… Or, actually, are they Kitty Kats? Daigo walks up behind them to survey what Haruka wants. “Which one do you want?” He asks, and Haruka looks up at him.
Haruka looks back at the selection, she hadn’t even decided yet. “I want.. the red one!” She says, settling seemingly fast for one. “Mm.” Daigo nods. “It suits you.” Haruka seemed to always incorporate red into her outfits in one way or another, and he did think it was a good color on her. Funny, red seemed to be Kiryu’s thing too. Or he was just really obsessed with that one dress shirt of his. Either way.
Smiling up at him, Haruka speaks. “Really? I was thinking it was more like Uncle Kaz.” Daigo looks over to Kiryu before returning his gaze back to her. “It’s definitely you, you’re way cooler than him.” He says, snickering a bit as Kiryu shakes his head, crossing his arms. Haruka giggles too, knowing he’s just playing around.
“May I have some money, Uncle Kaz?” Haruka holds her smaller hand out, until she’s given the money and she begins attempting to get the kitty she wanted. Daigo stands to the side of the machine, giving her directions as he tries to help her. “Uhh, a little further back..” He mutters, Haruka’s tongue stuck out as she focused. “No, no, that’s too far..” Until she finally gets it into position, and Daigo gives her a thumbs-up, signaling her that she was in the right spot.
Haruka rolls her eyes playfully, a grin on her face. “I don’t need your help, silly, I’m good at this game!” Daigo chuckles, putting his hands up defensively. “Alright, alright! You got a point.” But despite looking like it was in the correct position, all three of her chances miss. She sighs. “Oh no, I didn’t get it..” Her shoulders slump a little in disappointment.
Daigo and Kiryu look to each other for a moment, both opening their mouths to speak. But Kiryu speaks first, his voice both soft and gentle. “I’ll get it for you, Haruka.” He places a hand on her head before trying the machine himself, where he seems to be doing better, but also struggles. He finally knocks one off, though it isn’t the red one Haruka originally wanted, it’s the white one with black stripes. She bends down, grabbing the kitty to look at it. “Hmmm..”
Kiryu watches her examine the prize. It’s the wrong one… will she still like it? Should he say anything? “Sorry, Haruka. Let me try again..--” He begins, though he’s cut off by her abruptly standing.
She holds the plushie up, looking at it and Daigo side by side. “This cat looks like you!” Taking a step forward, she continues holding it out to him. “It kinda does.” He agrees, a small amused smile creeping up onto his face. “Take it!” She says, basically forcing it into his hands.
“Uhh, are you sure?” He asks, turning it around to look at its little feline face. “I mean, Kiryu won this for you, and everything.. I wouldn’t wanna just take it..” She gives a firm nod, sure of her decision. “I’m sure!” He continues to smile a bit, unsure of what to do with himself, but feeling thankful for the gift she gave him. Even if Kiryu was the one to win it.
Kiryu won this for her, and she still wanted to give it to him… Damn, she really was a great kid. He almost wishes they could’ve been kids at the same time, that he could’ve met her back then. He was honestly a little shit. Maybe right now he could’ve been a better person. Oh, whatever, this shit’s stupid. He didn’t want to ruin the fun time they’re having by getting emotional.
“Thank you, Haruka.” He speaks up, hoping there wasn’t an unnaturally weird pause during the time he was thinking. “Of course!” She replies, then looks at Kiryu to speak. “Thanks for winning me the toy, Uncle Kaz. You’re really good at these games!” Kiryu looks down at Haruka. “You’re welcome, Haruka. Are you sure you don’t want me to win you another one?”
Daigo cuts in before she has the chance to be selfless, though. “You know, actually, I could give it a shot. Since you gave me this one and all.” Haruka’s eyes light up a bit. “Really??” He habitually fidgets with his necklace again before digging into his pockets for the money he needs. “Yeah, really! Just watch, I’ll get you the one you want.” He tucks the gift from Haruka under his arm, freeing up his hands.
He slips the coins into the machine and gets right to work, and he keeps nearly missing the cat, knocking it over. “Fuck!” He says, before looking over at Haruka. “Oh, uh, sorry.” She just shrugs, not really phased. “It’s okay, I don’t mind. I’ve heard worse.” He pulls more coins from his pockets.
“Okay, cool.” He accepts it, going back to getting the kitty she wanted. He finally gets a good grip on it, and gets the prize. “Hell yeah.” He pumps his fist, reaching down to retrieve the toy and hand it to Haruka. “There you go! One Haruka themed cat, just for the girl herself.”
“Thank you!” She says, taking it happily. She gives it a hug before holding it next to Daigo’s. “Look! They’re friends.” He pulls it out from under his arm. “Yeah! They are.” Haruka goes back to holding her plushie against her chest. “Just like us.” Did he hear that right? Like us? They were friends? God, that’s so fucking cute. They did hang out from time to time, and he knew she didn’t dislike him, but this was still pleasant news.
He was happy that a 10 year old thought they were friends. Damn, that’s kind of sad. “Just like us.” He repeats to her. A sudden buzzing from Kiryu’s phone in his pocket interrupts the soft moment, as he pulls it out to check it. He takes a moment to read the notification that demanded his attention, before sighing.
“I have some things to do. Do you think you could watch her for a while, Daigo?” He turns to face him, placing his phone back in his pocket. “Yeah, sure, I think I have some free time.” He agrees, already thinking of things they can do together. What do ten year olds like doing? He’s not really sure, because they were different people at the same age, but he can guess at least. He’s not like a 50 year old man or something.
Kiryu places his hand on Daigo’s shoulder, patting it once or twice before returning it to rest at his side. “Thanks, Daigo. I shouldn’t take longer than an hour.” Daigos nods, the touch not lasting long enough for his liking. “Got it. I’ll keep her entertained. Won’t I, Haruka?” He asks, looking down at her for confirmation. “Mhm! Bye, Uncle Kaz! Stay safe!!”
Once Kiryu turns around and leaves the arcade, Daigo holds his plush up, tapping it against his chin a few times as he thinks of what to do next. “You wanna do anything else while we’re here, or do you maybe wanna… stop by a Poppo? I’ll buy you whatever you want there.” He says, a grin on his face as he already knows the offer is enough to entice any kid.
Just as he suspected, her eyes light up as her grip tightens on her plushie kitten. “Anything?” She repeats, looking up at him with a hopeful look on her face. He gives her an affirming nod and she smiles. “Okay! Can we stay here a little longer first, though?” She asks. Daigo nods. “Yeah, of course, don’t be silly.” He ruffles her hair a bit.
Daigo scans the arcade, looking for something else to do. His gaze lands on a machine, and he decides which game he wants to play. “Hey, Haruka. Do you want to play Space Harrier with me? We can see who gets the better score.” She nods, up for a challenge. “I’m gonna beat you!” She exclaims, as they make their way over to the machines.
They begin their competition, seeing who can get the higher score in the game. Daigo definitely wasn’t the best at this game, he has to admit, but surely he’s better than a 10 year old, right? He glances over for a split second though, seeing she’s doing pretty damn good.
Afterwards once they’re done, they compare their scores to see who did better. Daigo’s mouth is open slightly in shock, she did… slightly better than him?? He either sucks major ass at this game, or she’s incredibly good. Maybe a mix of both.
“I beat you!” She exclaims. “I told you I would!” Daigo shakes his head. “How did you do that? You’re great at this game.” He praises her video gaming skills, and she smiles pridefully. “Can we go to Poppo now? It’s like a prize for winning.” Daigo chuckles a bit. “Sure. I would’ve let you go either way, but yeah, it’s a prize.” He agrees. They walk out of the arcade, and begin walking hand in hand almost immediately as if it was natural. Daigo knows Kamurocho can be full of assholes and dangerous people, so he makes sure to hold her hand extra tight to keep her safe.
As they make the short walk to the store, Haruka makes a comment. “You’re holding my hand really tight.” It’s more of an observation than a complaint, but Daigo asks this next question anyways. “Sorry. Does it hurt?” He loosens his grip a bit, feeling his face heat up slightly. That’s kind of embarrassing… She shakes her head no, thankfully.
Walking through the automatic doors, Haruka already begins walking through the aisles to find something she wants. She wasn’t going to be greedy though, only planning on getting one or two items, but this meant she had to choose even more carefully. Daigo grabs an energy drink for himself before walking up behind Haruka, moving his eyes to what Haruka was looking at.
“Whatcha getting?” He asks, looking at the selection of candy in front of them. “I don’t know… maybe… this!” She says, grabbing a bag of konpeito. “Ooh, good choice.” He says, approving of her choice. “Anything else?” Haruka looks up at him. “I wanted a drink too, if I could have one.”
“Pff.” He lets out a huff of air. “Of course you can have a drink! Just probably nothing like this, though.” He taps on the can he’s holding, not exactly wanting to give a 10 year old an energy drink, or anything like it.. Haruka nods understandingly, and walks off to look at the drinks they have in the fridges.
Daigo follows behind her, crossing his arms to get comfortable as he waits for her to make a choice. She seems to spend a little while going between the different fridges, unable to choose something, so he decides to help her out a bit by pointing things out. “Look, here’s like, nectar juice.” He points to it. “How’s that sound?”
She opens the fridge, grabbing it and examining it before ultimately accepting it, as it seemed there was nothing better. “This is good. Do you like these?” She asks as they begin walking towards the freezer area, planning on getting some ice cream. “Nah, not really actually. I think you’ll like them, though. So don’t worry.” Daigo answers, looking at the selection of ice cream.
“Anything looking good to you?” He asks, but they both seem to be feeling indecisive today, staring at their options. “Hmm..” She says, though they only continue to stand there. Daigo sighs, grabbing some packaged ice cream cones. “Let’s just get these. Do you like vanilla?” She nods politely, fine with really anything that would’ve been offered to her. “Alright, cool. Let’s get going.”
As they walk towards the counter, Daigo begins fishing his wallet out of his back pocket, getting their items scanned and paid for. He didn’t really care how much it cost, so he didn’t pay much mind to their total price.
They get their items bagged and leave the store, heading to the nearest park to sit down for a bit and enjoy what they got. “If you wanna swing first, you should probably swing first.” He warns. “I wouldn’t eat all those sweets and then go play. Bad idea, found that out the hard way.” Daigo sits down on the bench, stretching out a bit to get comfortable.
Haruka giggles a bit and shakes her head, opening the bag of candy. “No, it’s fine. I don’t want to play.” Daigo shrugs, and cracks open his drink, immediately taking a sip. Haruka comes over and sits by him on the bench, eating her candies. “You want one?” She offers up, holding some out to him in her little hand. “Yeah, sure.” He says, grabbing the candy from her and shoveling it in his mouth. “Thanks.”
Daigo fishes their ice cream cones from the bag, wanting to get them finished pretty quickly so they don’t melt and make a mess everywhere. He hands Haruka her cone, unwrapping his own. He sets his drink down, really hoping it doesn’t spill in the meantime, before beginning to enjoy his ice cream.
Haruka spots something shiny and silvery as Daigo enjoys his ice cream, and she decides to comment on it. “What’s that?” She asks. “What’s what? This?” He asks, sticking his tongue out. “It’s just a piercing.” He answers simply, continuing to lick his ice cream. “It’s cool.” Haruka says. “I want one of those when I’m older.” Daigo smiles a bit. “Yeah? I’m sure one would be awesome for you.”
Haruka’s legs swing as she sits on the bench, eating her ice cream, completely content with the day so far. She grabs her candy, and sprinkles it on top of her ice cream. Daigo watches her. Damn, that actually looks good . “Do you often Frankenstein your foods?” He asks, chuckling a bit. “I guess.” She answers. “I like making things.” Daigo nods. “Yeah, that’s cool. Keep your creativity.”
Since they had been at the arcade, the sun had set and it was now a cool night, a comfortable temperature. Especially comfortable for Daigo, who was always in his jacket. That gets him to thinking, though, and he looks over to Haruka, examining her clothes.
“Are you cold? Your sleeves look way too thin.” He asks. Her sleeves were thin, he assumed it was probably one of those shirts meant for early fall or something, but was kind of shitty for the current temperature.
Haruka shakes her head, but he sees the way she subtly shivers, even with her vest on it wasn’t doing much to keep her warm apparently. “I’m fine.” She says. Of course, she’s just trying to be considerate and not bother him, but what bothers him is her being cold for no good reason.
He sits there for a moment before taking his jacket off, the chill night air hitting his bare arms immediately. He holds his jacket out, offering it up to her. “Take it.”
She hesitates, but grabs it soon after. “Thank you.” She says softly, slipping it on. It’s big on her, and she looks cute practically swimming in Daigo’s jacket. He nods, ignoring the cold he feels. “Of course. You can keep it on until Kiryu gets back, then I’ll give him shit for not giving you a proper jacket.” He stops talking, and with that, there’s a few moments of silence. He seems to be thinking, until he speaks up again. “Maybe I can buy you one of your own sometime, if I spot another.”
“Hehe.” All Haruka replies with is a giggle, swinging her feet some more. Their ice creams are done, and now they have to think about something else to do. Suddenly, an idea comes to Daigo’s mind. “You wanna listen to music? My iPod should be in my pockets, somewhere.” He says. Haruka nods, feeling around in his full pockets. What in the world was in here? An empty wrapper or two, some crumbs, a pack of cigarettes and a lighter… A baggie.. She should stop snooping around. She grabs the iPod and earbuds, but when she pulls them out, the baggie falls out onto the ground.
“Oh! Sorry.” She says, bending down and planning on getting it. But Daigo was quicker than her, grabbing it up and putting it in his pants pocket instead. “What was that?” She asks, curious. Daigo clears his throat before speaking. “... Nothing important, don’t worry about it.” She just shrugs and accepts it, not wanting to pry any further into his private business.
“Alright, so, give here. I’m about to show you some good music.” He moves past the last interaction, reaching out for the iPod. They each put one earbud in, and proceed to listen to music together. This whole genre is new for Haruka, and she listened to each song that came on carefully to survey how she felt about it.
Daigo’s phone begins ringing, and once it does he pulls the earbud from his ear, handing it over to Haruka, allowing her to listen to it on her own now. He pulls his phone from his pocket. “Hello?” He asks, shifting to get more comfortable on the bench while still leaving Haruka some room to sit. “It’s Kiryu. I’m done now, where are you two?”
Daigo has to think of the name of the street they’re on quickly. “Uhh, we’re at…the park by Tenkaichi Alley.” Kiryu hums. “I’ll be there in a bit.” Hanging up the call, Daigo stuffs his phone back into his pants pocket.
By the time Kiryu got there, the two were listening to music again. The session was cut short however when Haruka spotted Kiryu, getting up to greet him after removing her earbud. “Uncle Kaz!” She says, a smile on her face. “Look what Daigo got me!” She holds up her bag with her drink and now mostly empty candy packaging in it. Kiryu nods. “That’s nice. What are you wearing?”
Haruka looks down, almost like she forgot what she was wearing, before speaking up. “Oh yeah! He let me borrow his jacket.” She slips out of it, walking back to Daigo to return it to him. He stands up, taking it from her, and puts it back on, the warmth immediately embracing him. He shoves his iPod and earbuds back into his pocket.
Daigo walks over to Kiryu, stopping in front of him. “You should probably get her a good jacket or something, she was cold.” He says bluntly, he doesn’t really mean to be rude, but he worries it comes out that way. “I was planning on taking her shopping just after picking her up, actually..” He says, and Daigo just nods in response. “Okay, good.”
Kiryu takes Haruka’s hand in his. “Thanks for watching her, Daigo.” He nods again, this interaction feeling kind of awkward to him. “Yeah, no problem.. Have fun shopping.” He says, looking down at Haruka. “I will! Bye!”
“See you.” Daigo says as they walk off, chatting to each other and holding hands. He walks back over to the bench and sits down once more, grabbing his mostly-empty energy drink to mindlessly sip on it. He couldn’t help but maybe feel a bit angry at Kiryu in a way, seeing the way he was so caring of her. It’s not like Kiryu didn’t care for him at all, that much he knew, but if he wanted to be there for him he could’ve at least tried to do that for him.
He’s a grown ass man, he shouldn’t care. But with two fathers now who didn’t seem to care as much as he’d like, he has to start to wonder if the problem is with himself.
It’s fine. He’s glad Haruka is happy and taken care of, after everything she’s been through. He hopes she can at least experience that kind of love he never really got. He hopes that he can help give her that.