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Soft footsteps clicked on the sidewalk as the three walked hand-in-hand.
The recent weather wasn’t exactly ideal for a walk—a scorching heatwave had driven everyone off to the beaches and pools (at least that meant the town was rather quiet and empty, for once). Luckily enough, today was cooler; a gentle breeze fanned through the heat, the sunlight a contrasting kind warmth instead of its usual baking hot temperature.
Mikoto took a breath, squeezing the younger ones’ hands a bit in his. They hadn’t gone on walks in a while, so he was delighted when Haruka asked to go out and buy some ice cream.
A car drove by, attracting Amane’s attention. “There’s a dog peeking out that car’s window,” she commented, her eyes almost glimmering in awe.
Mikoto chuckled; his younger siblings sure loved animals, but Amane even more so. “Yeah! What breed is that, do you know?”
“I-I think that’s a Pomeranian,” Haruka added, and Amane nodded in approval.
“I want a doggy.”
“Training a dog is a bit of work, though. You up to that?” Mikoto gently petted his sister’s head. She huffed softly.
“I am. I’ll be the best dog trainer.”
“I bet you will.”
They walked some more, crossing a street and ending up on another sidewalk next to some greenery. Haruka spotted some flowers in one of the nearby bushes.
“Oooh…” He slowed down his pace and approached the delicate sight, crouching. Mikoto and Amane quickly followed, and the three marvelled together at the beauty.
Haruka reached a gentle hand to touch one of the flowers’ petals; a beautiful lavender, decorating the bush’s green leaves with its lively purples.
“It’s so pretty,” He mused quietly, his touches light and careful, as if scared to hurt the plant.
“It sure is, Haru-kun~ Lavenders are one of my favorite flowers,” Mikoto murmured, stooping down to admire the flowers. “They smell so nice, too.”
Amane bent over a little as well, but she didn’t really need to thanks to her short stature; Mikoto chuckled quietly, knowing she was just trying to imitate her brothers and feel included. He wrapped his arms around each of his siblings’ shoulders, and his heart felt warm seeing them both smile.
After admiring the array of flowers in the area’s shrubs and chattering about them for a bit, the three resumed their journey to the supermarket.
Mikoto rambled a bit about his various encounters with flowers and plants in the city where he works, listing their types and locations. “I did see some nice lilies in someone’s garden once when I took a different route to the repair shop, but they seemed a bit neglected… Oh, and near my office there's a lady who grows some really pretty pink carnations in her garden! And—”
“KITTY!!!”
He was promptly cut off by Amane shrieking at the sight of a cute orange cat, lying down on a fence a few feet away, basking in the sunny warmth.
Haruka had already walked up to the cat, gazing at it fondly, and Amane scurried over, careful with her steps (as much as her excitement allowed her to be, that is) so as not to scare the cat away. Amane had always been fond of cats, claiming—and very much proving—that they’re her absolute favorite animal; they’re gonna be stuck for a while trying to convince her to leave this kitty.
As Mikoto approached his younger siblings, whom the cat appeared to have taken a liking to, Amane reached out her hand to pet it, gently and slowly.
“I-It’s purring!” Haruka beamed, and Amane giggled to herself, loving how the cat snuggled and purred against her hand.
“Soft fur…” Amane wasn't satisfied just petting; she propped herself up to sit on the fence and gently picked up the cat, hugging it in her lap. The cat wagged its tail, meowing, very much enjoying the affection.
Haruka grinned. “I wanna p-pet it,” he murmured, and held the cat’s tiny paw in his hand.
“You’re shaking its hand, Haru-kun? So formal and polite,” Mikoto joked, gently patting his brother’s shoulder.
“Can we take it home?” Amane asked, her eyes big and pleading; that question was to be expected, of course.
Mikoto sighed lovingly, pinching his sister’s cheek. “Amane, you can’t keep asking to take every cat you see home…”
“Aw, come on…”
While Amane whined and bickered with Mikoto over the cat, Haruka had his own share of petting the cat, and remarked, noticing the cat’s calmness, “This kitty, d-doesn’t seem like a stray.”
“See, another reason why we can’t take it home!”
“But Mikotoooo, look how cute it iiiis!”
An unfamiliar meowing interrupted the “discussion,” and the three perked up, trying to find its source.
“That wasn't the kitty, was it?”
“No, no way, that s-sounded farther.. Maybe from over…” Haruka paused, and pointed to a nearby tree. “...There?”
Mikoto walked over to the tree, inspecting its leaves and branches, and sure enough, there was a cat stuck up there, terrified. “Spot on, Haru-kun, there's a kitty up there.”
Amane gasped softly, feeling for the distressed kitty, and gently put the first cat back down onto the fence before dashing over to where Mikoto stood, Haruka in tow.
“Oh no, you’re right… It looks so scared, the poor kitty!” Her face twisted into a frown as she saw the cat, and started attempting to climb the tree.
“Woah, hey, hey! No climbing this tree, you’ll get hurt!” Haruka laughed softly as Mikoto grabbed their sister by the collar, gently pulling her back down; stubborn as ever, Amane whined and thrashed about, insisting that she can save the cat.
“Hmm…”
Haruka was just as anxious as the cat, it seemed, but tried to wrack his brain for a solution. His eyes scanned the place, before landing on a nearby mini market.
“Oh, oh! We could put s-some food down the tree, maybe i-it’ll like it and come down!” Haruka suggested, and Amane seemed pleased enough with the idea to quiet down for a moment.
“Great thinking! Let’s go buy some~”
In a few minutes’ time, Haruka was carefully placing an opened can of tuna on the grass.
The three siblings waited for a bit, but the cat only looked around anxiously, seemingly still too scared to come down.
Amane grumbled. “It’s so scared, we need to find something to calm it down…”
“Hmm… Maybe the tree is too steep for it to go down?”
Mikoto approached the tree, and reached his arms out, ‘pspsps’ing at the cat. “Psst, hey! C’mere, kitty kitty…”
The cat hissed.
“...Well, that didn't work...”
“We need a s-surface it can jump on, I think.”
Amane hummed softly, then clicked her fingers as an idea came to her; she took off her backpack, and held it under the tree. “Maybe this will do!”
And it did—after some gentle coaxing, the cat eventually jumped down, landing on Amane’s bag.
However, due to the suddenness and force of it, Amane yelped, stepping back a little, startling the (already startled) cat. It jumped again, but on Haruka, making him yelp and fall back, before bouncing off and running away.
“Oh no—Haru-kun!!”
“Ah—eek!” Haruka held his arm on which he’d fallen, rubbing it a bit, as his siblings immediately rushed to his side.
“You okay? Are you hurt?” Amane asked, worried, while Mikoto inspected his brother's arm.
Haruka gave a small, pained smile. “A-ah, I scratched my arm a little…”
“You sure did… Hey Amane, you got any band-aids in your backpack?”
Amane nodded, her face determined, before rummaging through her bag and pulling out some cute frog-themed band-aids.
“...Hehe, froggy…” Haruka grinned, amused, getting his siblings to smile as well, as Mikoto applied one of the band-aids to his brother’s injured elbow.
The brunet gave a sigh. “Whew, that was a bit intense.”
The younger ones nodded in agreement, but eventually all three started laughing about… everything that just happened.
Continuing the march to their destination, the three crossed a few more streets, then decided to take a shortcut down a hill.
Amane practically bounced down each step of the small pathways between the grass and shrubs, Mikoto following closely to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself, but Haruka was walking slowly, running his hand over the leaves of the plants they passed.
The scenery was beautiful; a colorful harmony of flowers, the afternoon sun painting a soft golden glow on everything its light touched. There were even a few butterflies here and there.
Mikoto had noticed Haruka’s delay, and slowed down as well, gently draping his arm around the blue-haired boy’s shoulders. “Hey, Haru, you okay? You’ve been a bit absorbed in your world there.”
“Ah… Yeah, I’m fine. I-I was just…” Haruka smiled down at the flowers, enjoying their pretty hues and pleasant scents. He sighed contentedly. “...looking…at how pretty… e-everything is. This place is, r-really beautiful…”
Mikoto smiled fondly as well at his brother’s mindfulness and adorable description of the scene, leaning over to take a look himself. “Yeah, that’s right. At this time of day, this place really looks like something out of a picture book.”
“Yeah… I’d like to paint l-like that. Like you, Mikoto…”
The taller boy laughed softly, gently petting Haruka’s head. “Ah, me? You’re too kind, Haru-kun… Hey, what do you say we draw and paint together when we get home?”
“Yeah!”
“Hey!” Amane interrupted the peaceful moment, marching over to her older brothers with a pout. “Why’d you two leave me all by myself like that, hm? Let’s get the ice cream!!!”
“Yeah, yeah, we will. C’mon, Haru-kun,” Mikoto replied, his voice soft and adoring as he held his brother’s hand and led him down the path, where Amane had already run off.
“If you don’t catch up and slow down again, I’m eating your share of cookies at home!”
“Don’t you dare!”
By the time they reached the supermarket, the sun had set, streetlights illuminating their surroundings as they sat on a bench to eat.
Amane hummed softly to herself as she brought the spoon to her mouth, enjoying her bubblegum-flavored ice cream—her favorite and usual pick. Mikoto smiled down at her, then his eyes flicked to Haruka, who was savoring his hazelnut flavored ice cream.
The eldest sighed contentedly, licking at his own ice cream—mint chocolate chip, a flavor that wasn’t that high up on his list but he was really craving today.
“Ah, I’m tired… Didn’t expect this walk to stretch out this much.”
“Yeah, m-me too…”
“But we saw cute kitties!” Amane chimed in. “That means it was a good walk.”
Mikoto and Haruka both hummed in approval.