Chapter Text
Sitting between his mom and a stranger that claims to be Mom's friend (and to be fair, Mom did act really, really nice to her) around a table of people he didn't know but his mom does is one of the most awkward experiences of Higashikata's five-year-old life.
He had to sit through many, MANY "You've grown so much since I last saw you!" (He doesn't know you.) and "You're such a big girl now!" (He's not a girl! But he is big now, thank you very much!)
The second worst part of the entire thing is that while there were other kids, they're all babies- even though his mom and her friends are around the same age! At least, he thinks they are. They look young. Older than his mom, though.
(He doesn't fully understand the implications of that, not until he's older and his peers are slightly more crueler.)
The actual worst part, though, was the noise. As much as his mother joked about how loud he can be, he doesn't think that he can make as much as a racket compared to where he is right now; people talking, chewing, there's a baby crying and it's so loud, and- and-
"Do you want to leave early, kiddo?" Mom whispered, and he noticed that he was holding on to his mom's shirt like his entire life depended on it.
He wiped his eyes (were those tears always there?), looking around the park- anywhere but the lunch table, like somehow, if he didn't look at it, he couldn't hear it.
"Mmm. No?" Higashikata tentatively said.
He was unsure if that's the right thing to say.
Mom hummed, and reached out to the cooler (when did that get here? How didn't he notice it?) and handed him... a vanilla ice cream sandwich, wrapped in plastic, unopened. Store bought.
He knows these. He would beg Mom to buy them at the supermarket often. The fish shaped ones, anyways- but these ones look like a regular ole' ice cream sandwich.
But hey, it doesn't have the red beans he always despised. That's a plus, but it looks more boring, so he figures it's fair. No more gross beans equals no more cool fish shapes. A perfectly logical conclusion, in his five-year-old mind.
Mom smiled. "There's a playground nearby," She points to said playground, colorful and big yet the perfect size for kids like him to play (he notices there was a boy with a hat on the bench, though). "And you can play there. I'll keep an eye on you."
Nodding, he played with the plastic. "When it's time to go, can you pick me up?" He asked, only for confirmation purposes.
"Sure, kiddo," Mom ruffles his hair, even with protests ("don't mess up the pomp, ma!" He cries, but she just laughs), before sighing, and continuing her previous conversation with her friends.
("-you've been raising your daughter all on your own, Tomoko?"
"Well, no, my dad comes over to help sometime. Actually, I've been thinking of moving back to dad's house-"
"Aren't you both living in the same town?"
"Yeah, but-")
Well. He takes it as his cue to leave. Jumping off the picnic bench, he was about to go straight to the playground and try to jump as high as he can to reach the monkey bars-
But he wanted to eat the sweet treat first. It's still cold, after all. It would be a shame if it melted and got all gross and sticky.
So. Walking over to the bench with the other boy, he asked:
"Hi!" He grinned, trying to show that he's Polite™ "Mind if I sit here?"
The other kid blinked, face covered in bandages (he didn't want to focus on that, so he looked at the hat, and realised it almost hidden away every single strand of his hair, except for that black tuft on the front) and Higashikata noticed how winded he looked (did he play before him? it looked like he did).
"Um," He eloquently said. It looked like he didn't expect another kid to come over. Which makes sense, it is getting kind of late. Higashikata can already see the sky turning orange-ish (And Higashikata wonders why it turns from blue to orange to blue again and he resolves to ask Mom about that later, because Mom is smart and she knows everything, her literal job is to know everything and teach kids older than him about them, so he must be right).
"Sure. 'M taking a break, 'nyways." He says, swinging his legs.
Higashikata nods, smile still somewhat present, and as he sits, the other boy realises something. "Wait!" He says, before pointing to the treat currently in Higashikata's hands. "Is that an ice cream sandwich?"
Higashikata fell silent, prying open the plastic cover before answering. "Yeah. You eat them a lot?" He asked, tilting his head
The other boy sulked. "Not anymore," He frowned, looking at the treat longingly. "Big Bro doesn't like buying anything that reminds 'em of Mom, so he won't let me buy one when we're shopping."
In hindsight, that should've made Higashikata realise that maybe something was off with this kid's home life; but he was five, and hasn't understood the idea of subtext or hidden meanings of a sentence, so he takes it as face value.
"Bummer," He says, sighing, taking the sandwich out. "They taste really good."
"I know!" The other boy suddenly throws his hands up in the air, which made Higashikata blink. He was pouting as well, and crossed his arms after his first grand gesture. "But I can't buy 'em because Big Bro said so!"
And Higashikata looked at the treat in his own hands, stuffing the wrapper into his pockets. Even though he's five and can't understand context clues or subtext in general, he understands that sharing is caring, which was drilled in his head from the very moment he can understand language.
So he broke his ice cream sandwich in half, and the other boy, who apparently looked away when Higashikata was thinking to himself, snapped to see what happened.
Higashikata just did what he did.
"Want one?" He offered, his smile now more smaller, unsure, waving around the piece. The other boy just looked surprised that he would even do that for him.
"You didn't..." The other boy blinked. "You didn't hafta do that!" He yelled suddenly, which almost caused Higashikata to drop his own half.
"Well, I did," He countered, suddenly on the defensive. "And the ice cream's gonna get sticky and gross if you don't take it, so… And if your Big Bro tries to argue with you, you can say that you didn't buy 'em!"
The other boy's eyes were still wide, and he tentatively took the half. And bit into it as soon as it was in his hands. "Hey!" Now it was Higashikata's turn to yell, eyes wide. "You didn't say thanks!"
He was met with muffled noises from the other boy, so he gave up on that part.
Rolling his eyes and huffing, Higashikata took a bite on his own half as well.
For the other boy's part, he seems very grateful for the ice cream sandwich, so Higashikata guesses that he can let it slide-
"Ryuko!" A voice called out. (And while it's a perfectly gender neutral name and he's fine with it, Higashikata feels like that name doesn't fit him. Maybe he could change his name. Something that starts with J, maybe?)
"Yeah?" He calls back, and turns around to see his mom walking to him.
Looking back, Higashikata should've paid attention to the sky more, it's more purple than orange now (purple is his favorite color, he thinks, alongside yellow-)
"Kiddo, we're leaving!"
"You're leaving? Now?" The other boy stopped devouring the sandwich for a moment, looking incredibly saddened.
"Well. Yeah," Higashikata says, taking out the plastic wrapper and putting his half eaten sandwich back in. "I don't live here. I live in Morioh-Chō."
"Oh. I live… Around here!" The other boy points to the row of houses that surrounds the park. "But you sure you can't stay?" He asked, and Higashikata could compare him to a lost puppy right now.
"Positive, kid," Mom suddenly said, already by Higashikata's side. "Where are your parents? Shouldn't they be picking you up?"
"I have Big Bro for that! And I can walk home!" The other boy protests.
Mom made a face, and not an angry one like when some guy at the supermarket said something to her. A sad one. "If you say so… Ryuko, say bye-bye to the nice boy, okay?" She says, ushering Higashikata back to the picnic bench.
That name still needed changing and Higashikata still needed to tell Mom that he wanted to change it, but he nodded anyway.
"Bye-bye!" Higashikata waved, already standing up and clutching Mom's pant leg. "Hope we can meet again!"
That last part was something he picked up from Mom, she's been saying that a lot lately.
The other boy waved as well, but with more gusto. "Bye-bye! And okay! I'll visit Morioh when I'm older to see you! And we can eat lotsa ice cream sandwiches!"
Mom simply chucked. "Kids…" She mumbles, before suddenly picking Higashikata up, carrying him. "Mooom!" He says, before realising it's no use. His mother has embarrassed him in front of another kid by effortlessly picking him up like a baby. He can already feel his cheeks burn.
Ah, well.
At least he still has his ice cream sandwich. He can eat it later in the car.
Higashikata wonders what would happen to the other boy. And in true, childishly innocent fashion, he figures that his mom would pick him up, just like what Mom did to him.
So he's content, and a part of him wonders if he made a friend.
(He did.)