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"That one is HUGE," exclaimed Eri, stretching her little hands joyfully in the air when she saw the pumpkin Shouta had brought to the U.A. railing.
"Where did you get that "monster"?" asked Hiazshi, irritated. He had been taking care of little Eri for the past few hours, which Shouta wasn't really thrilled about. He knew what kind of person his best friend was: loud, annoying and sometimes very exhausting. Actually not at all what Eri needed at the moment. Therefore, he answered in a testy tone, "I helped a greengrocer carry some boxes during my patrol and as a thank you he gave me this pumpkin."
"And you thought we'd do...what... with it?" the blond continued to ask.
"It's Halloween soon, after all, and Eri told me that she read a book with Togata where the kids cut faces into pumpkins and she wanted to do that, too," Shouta replied sharply. His gaze softened as he looked to the little girl who was walking around the giant pumpkin in amazement.
"I see. Well, let's get right to it then," the blond enthusiastically suggested. "I'll go to the canteen and see if we can get some knives, spoons and bowls."
Shouta pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and showed Eri a few possible faces they could carve into the pumpkin. But Eri didn't like any of the suggestions and grimaced in offense when Shouta ran out of pictures. He and Hizashi weren't particularly talented artistically either, so the choice of possible grimaces for the pumpkin was rather slim anyway. Well, the blond was very musical, but that didn't help them in this case.
The black-haired man sighed and when Hizashi came back, he saw right away that it obviously didn't go very well. He put the things he'd picked up on the floor, knelt down next to Eri, and asked her gently, "Can't make up your mind, little listener?"
"The faces are all goofy," Eri grumbled, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"In our book, the kids cut really great faces into the pumpkins, and even whole pictures."
"I guess those kids were all very great artists then," Hizashi quipped. Eri looked at him in offense, but then tears formed in her eyes and she asked, "Does that mean we can't make a face for the pumpkin?"
"Of course we can, little listener," Hizashi replied soothingly. "But maybe you can go back and look at the pictures Shouta showed you. Maybe you'll like one of them better on second viewing." Eri's eyes lit up and she nodded excitedly as she turned back to Shouta.
Shouta was amazed at how good the blond was with children. He smiled and began to look through the pictures on his cell phone with Eri again.
In the meantime, Hizashi carried the pumpkin with great effort to one of the tables in the courtyard and cut off the lid. Just as he started to remove the flesh, Eri came running to him excitedly. "We found a beautiful face," she exclaimed joyfully.
"I'm glad to hear that, Sweety. What did you decide on?"
Shouta showed Hizashi the picture on his phone.
"That's a great decision. We'll definitely get that done." Eri's eyes began to light up.
She had decided on a friendly pumpkin face. A wide smile, as well as big round eyes and a small nose consisting of two slits, the two men would definitely get this done.
Shouta's gaze was soft as he looked at Hizashi, and he had to admit to himself that he had done his friend wrong in thinking he was the wrong chaperone for Eri. Hizashi's gaze and gestures toward little Eri were gentle and cautious. He avoided speaking too loudly or too quickly and generally acted very thoughtfully in her presence. Shouta was impressed with how well the blond was able to restrain his actual loud nature so as not to frighten or overwhelm Eri. "Some day I'm going to....," Shouta thought to himself as Eri tugged on his sleeve. "Can I help Mr. Yamada with the pumpkin?" she asked, and Shouta answered in the affirmative. "Of course, just let me get you something to put over so your dress doesn't get dirty." He retrieved a rain cape from the "Lost and Found"-room and put it on Eri. She immediately ran to Hizashi, who lifted her up onto the table. "Do you want to use the hands or would you rather use a spoon?"
"The hands."
"Well, then let's empty this pumpkin."
Shouta watched the two of them a few feet away. He felt he would disrupt the dynamic between them if it joined. He looked at Eri and his heart swelled when he saw her hearty laughter and the bright children's eyes. With great enthusiasm, she kept reaching into the pumpkin and pulling out what she could grab with her little hands. Hizashi had set out a bowl for her to throw the flesh and seeds into.
Shouta's gaze fell on the blond again. Hizashi had tied his long hair back into a braid and, like Eri, was taking the flesh out of the pumpkin with his hands. As he did so, he kept his eyes on the little girl and occasionally teased her by placing a seed on her head or throwing some flesh in her face. Eri laughed merrily and paid the blond back in kind by throwing flesh at him as well. The two seemed so familiar after such a short time, and Shouta caught himself staring at his best friend with cheeks warming. He quickly averted his gaze and pulled his scarf deeper into his face. He continued to hear Eri's chuckle and Hizashi's soft laughter. "Do I...?" Shouta thought to himself.
"Hey, Shouta," the blond snapped him out of his thoughts. "Do you like to help us put a face on the pumpkin?" The black-haired man smiled gently and nodded, "Sure thing." He walked over to Eri and Hizashi, grabbed a knife, and began to cut a smile on the pumpkin's face.