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The house was filled with a peaceful atmosphere, as usual: Romi was carefully applying makeup in front of the mirror, Elliot was washing dishes in the kitchen, and little Ron was sitting on the couch reading a book. In short, there was nothing unusual until Romi turned to her son with a smile.
“Ronnie, I completely forgot to tell you that your new 'nanny' will be coming over today.”
Ron frowned as he looked up at Romi. He clearly didn’t like the news.
“Why? You used to leave me at home all by myself. I can handle it.”
“Just in case, someone should be around. Besides, what will you eat if your dad and I are gone for a week?” Romi spoke a little teasingly, making Ron think for a moment.
“I'll learn to cook,” the boy replied firmly.
“It's dangerous, dear, you're too young for that,” Romi countered gently. “I think you'll like the ‘nanny’. He is a guy from the police academy, so you'll both get important experience.”
Ron stared at his mother, taken aback by her words.
“A guy from the police academy?” he repeated, still frowning.
“Yes. I know his grandmother, and he's very nice and sweet. A part-time 'nanny' to gain experience with children for the job,” Romi continued with a chuckle. “Children can tell a lot, can't they?”
Ron nodded reluctantly and lowered his head, burying himself in his book. He didn't argue anymore, and Romi knew perfectly well that she had managed to intrigue him enough.
-
Hearing the doorbell and the voices, Ron peeked out of his room. In the hallway, his parents were standing with a stranger, a guy with brown hair and loose-fitting clothes — a white T-shirt and a dark turquoise shirt over it. He was visibly nervous, though he was trying to hide it and act more professional.
But just as Ron was about to slip back into his room, Romi turned to him and beckoned him closer with a wide smile. Ron made his way down the stairs, staying a few steps away from the stranger.
However, Ron noticed that he looked harmless and even naive. He must have been very good at working with children, as his appearance was unwittingly reassuring, and this thought made Ron frown slightly.
“Son, this is Tomomaru Isshiki, but you can call him Toto,” said Elliot, patting the young man on the shoulder. The young man smiled shyly. “He'll be looking after you when we're not around.”
As Ron stared at Toto, Romi picked up her handbag and opened the front door again. She winked at him cheerfully.
“Just tell Toto if you want something. I hope you two get along quickly, and we’ll be calling him more often. We’ll be back late at night, so don’t get bored~”
Ron barely restrained himself from muttering that he didn’t want to stay with Toto.
She waved at them and slipped out the door. Elliot patted his son on the head and followed her, as if they hadn't noticed the boy's outrage. When the key turned in the lock, Toto sighed and squatted down in front of Ron.
“Your parents said that you want to become a detective,” Toto smiled softly. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Ron's eyes brightened at the mention of his goal. He suddenly had a terrible urge to show off his knowledge to a student at the police academy, but he was able to suppress this impulse and respond as dryly as possible,
“I don't want to. I'm going to read.”
With that, he went to his room. Toto could clearly see how much Ron liked the subject of detective stories, and he couldn't help but smile. But he didn't insist, and after watching the boy go, he decided to look around a little. From time to time he looked into Ron's open room — he was sitting in front of a book all the time and ignored Toto.
One moment, Toto noticed that Ron was putting together a puzzle. Curious, he approached and took a look at it.
“Wow, you like puzzles?” he asked softly, and Ron reluctantly nodded. He was busy searching for a missing piece. Toto paused for a moment, then handed him the correct piece. “Is this what you're looking for?”
Ron glanced at him, but took the puzzle piece and placed it in place.
“…thanks,” he muttered.
Toto smiled and clarified, “Do you mind if I sit next to you and watch?”
Ron didn’t respond, showing that he didn’t care. Toto had been warned that Ron was rather reserved and taciturn when the conversation didn’t touch on topics of interest to him, so he sat silently nearby, choosing a gradual path of getting closer to him. Sometimes he handed Ron puzzle pieces that he couldn't find for a long time, and when the puzzle was completely finished, he spoke again.
“Wow, a beautiful picture of space! Well done.” Ron nodded happily at the praise. “What other puzzles did you collect?”
“They're glued together in frames,” said Ron, pointing to a couple of paintings on the wall. Indeed, after looking closely, Toto realized that these were puzzles. Among them were various landscapes and detective scenes.
“Wow…” Toto repeated.
They were silent for a while. The ticking of the clock could be heard, and Ron moved the puzzle away so as not to accidentally destroy it. Toto hesitantly patted his head, but Ron quickly removed his hand.
“Sorry,” Toto muttered apologetically, which surprised Ron a bit — he hadn’t expected an apology. “Just wanted to ask what you want for dinner.”
Rather out of principle than lack of hunger, Ron shook his head. “I don't want it.”
Toto was taken aback, not expecting a negative response.
“Eh? But Romi-san said you like to have dinner with rice and boiled vegetables…”
“I don't want it…”
Not knowing how to continue the dialogue and come to an agreement, they stared at each other. To Ron's surprise, Toto was extremely patient with him and eventually shook his head.
“Okay, Ron, if you don't want rice, what do you want?”
“...berry porridge,” said Ron after a moment's thought.
“Okay. And while I'm cooking it, you can eat one of the buns your mom baked for you and tell me why you want to become a detective. Let’s go?”
Ron's eyes widened, and he found himself nodding quickly and almost running to the kitchen, elated. Toto was also surprised by his sudden change of mood, but followed him, shouting affectionately,
“Hey, be careful, don't run!”
-
Under Toto's gaze, the boy ate porridge, almost without ceasing to tell him that he wanted to become a detective like his mother, enroll in the same detective academy and solve all the crimes in the world.
Although it was very self-confident and ambitious, Toto still didn't spare any praise and admired his goals. He even said that he wanted to catch all the criminals so that there would be no evil left in the world. By agreeing on this topic, they became a little closer.
Moreover, Toto patiently tolerated Ron's antics, whether it was too many berries, too few, or if they were inedible, whether he wanted another bun or if he didn't want to finish his meal. He mostly said it to annoy Toto, but it didn't work, and he found that he... liked it. He really liked teasing Toto like this.
“Why aren't you eating?” Toto asked gently, noticing that Ron was staring at the almost-finished porridge in silence.
“It's cold, and I don't like it. There aren't enough berries again.”
Toto sighed and heated the porridge in the microwave, but the boy refused again. With his arms crossed, he turned away.
“Eh? Did I do something wrong?” The future police officer was confused, but Ron didn't respond, as if he was playing a silent game.
After a moment of contemplation, Toto added jam to the porridge and held the spoon closer to Ron's face.
“What about this? Look at what I've got.”
Ron looked at the spoon in curiosity. Seeing the jam, he didn't resist and ate the offered portion, after which he took the spoon and finished the porridge from the plate himself.
-
“Toto, will you solve my riddle?” Ron suddenly asked with a slight smile.
Toto, who was washing the dishes, turned around and nodded.
“I’ll try.”
“17+8+16+19. What do you get?”
Unprepared for such a riddle, Toto stared at him in disbelief. He frowned slightly, scratching the back of his head, but after a few minutes, he gave up.
“Okay, I don't know the answer…”
Ron's face broke into a grin, but instead of answering the riddle, he took a bite of his bun and turned away. Toto let out a soft snort.
A few hours passed, and they read a book together and watched a detective series, which, in Toto's opinion, wasn't really suitable for a five-year-old. Eventually, Toto tucked Ron into bed and covered him with a blanket…
~
...Ron opened his eyes, feeling a hand being passed through his hair and a gentle kiss on his forehead.
“Toto…” he called, absently glancing at his detective partner.
“Oh, are you awake? The temperature has dropped, everything is fine.”
Toto smiled softly while Ron was still lost in thoughts of the recent dream. However, the longer he looked at the caring police officer, the wider his smile became.
“I want porridge with berries and jam,” he said. Toto raised his eyebrows in surprise, but nodded.
“O-okay… I'll cook it now, if that's what you want.”
He stood up from the edge of the bed, and Ron quickly threw off the covers and followed him, even though his pajamas were rumpled and his hair was disheveled. While Toto was cooking, he sat at the table, barely restraining himself from asking stupid questions and not getting in the way.
Finally, when Toto placed a bowl of porridge in front of the detective, Ron stared at it in silence, causing confusion.
“What’s wrong with that?…”
“Feed me,” Ron requested, pouting.
Now it was Toto’s turn to stare in silence.
“Are you five years old?” He eventually rolled his eyes and picked up a spoon to fulfill this strange request.
Ron beamed, deciding that that dream was definitely a sign to tease Toto more in reality.
“Toto, take care of me, please!” Ron purred, causing the police officer to place his hand on Ron’s forehead, muttering,
“Is his temperature back up again?..”
Bonus:
Ron’s parents never mentioned Toto once the next day. At first, he didn't want to, but in the end, he couldn't hold back. He pulled Romi's sleeve and asked as nonchalantly as possible:
“Will Toto come back?”
Elliot chuckled, and Romi smiled.
“Did you really like the nanny?~”
“No!”
Ron frowned and turned away, unwilling to admit that he had genuinely enjoyed Toto.
After a moment of silence, Romi leaned against her husband and replied to Ron, who was about to leave for his room,
“Next week. He even promised to give you a lot of brown sugar syrup. But if you want, he'll come more often.”
“…can he come every weekend?”
“Ask him yourself~”
Ron pursed his lips, realizing what she was trying to get him to admit — that he enjoyed Toto's company. So he just left, although he realized with a sense of resentment that he would indeed ask the student at the police academy later...