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Fuma’s opponent is giving him a hard time when an inquiring voice suddenly chirps: "What are those?"
The next moment, a tiny hand reaches out and squeezes the Umbreon plushy hanging from Fuma's bag. Fuma has to physically restrain himself from tearing it away. The hand belongs to a little boy, messy black hair and curious huge eyes blinking up at Fuma.
"What?", Fuma asks back, too stunned to be particularly nice to the kid.
"What are those?", the boy repeats and only now it registers with Fuma that he's speaking English. His chubby fingers are still curled around Umbreon's ears. From the corner of his eyes, Fuma sees that it's his turn in the battle.
He is wondering how he can gently untangle the boy’s fingers when another voice shouts. "Maki!" A teenager comes running towards Fuma’s bench in a quieter corner of the mall, shaggy brown hair bouncing with every step. "Maki, don't bother the onii-san!"
Maki easily lets go of Fuma's plushy, but his eyes follow the movement as Fuma quickly pulls the bag behind himself.
"Sorry, onii-san," the other guy's smile is bright and dimpled. "I hope he didn't bother you too much."
"His bunny is weird," Maki explains, in Japanese this time, and grabs a fistful of his friend's jeans shorts.
Fuma splutters. "It's Umbreon!"
The teenager grins. "That's a pocket monster, Maki."
The little boy's eyes sparkle. "A monster?", he whispers and pulls on the other's pants. "What about the yellow one, Taki?"
Fuma shifts his bag around again, suddenly happy to show his eeveelutions. As long as Maki keeps his hands to himself. "This is Jolteon,” he begins.
By the third introduction, Maki climbs onto the bench next to Fuma. Fuma accepts his careful fingers feeling Flareon's tail.
Taki sits down on Fuma's other side. Casually, he points at Fuma's screen. "Your turn. And you're losing."
Maki immediately leans over Fuma's lap, trying to have a look at the colourful battle ground.
Fuma clicks his tongue and picks up the phone.
From the corner of his eyes, Fuma notices movement on Maki's side but pays it no mind. The boy has thankfully retreated because Fuma has to concentrate on these attacks his third opponent is throwing at him. He just hopes the next coin throw is in his favour because it's looking bleak.
"Yes!", Taki whoops. Fuma grins proudly and turns to Maki. "See, Maki, my Lucario just-"
He stops short.
Fuma is looking at the most beautiful person he's ever seen – and he's looked at Taemin a bunch. The young man in front of him has longish brown hair hanging into his eyes, side bangs tucked behind his ears. His dark brown eyes curve up as their eyes meet. A delicate gold chain adorns his prominent collarbones. His lips are pink and pouty with a sweet smile.
"Just- just‐," Fuma stutters as all these details register in his mind, eyes moving rapidly.
The young man bounces Maki on his lap and points at Fuma's screen. "See, his Lucario chased away the monster in front and in the second row," he explains to Maki with a gentle voice (it sounds soft and adoring).
Maki nods eagerly. "Onii-san, your monster protected you!", he exclaims.
Fuma nods back slowly, still openly staring. The man looks up through his lashes (he’s got a lot of them, and they are long). "I hope they didn't give you a hard time?", he says softly. There is a brief sound of protest from Fuma's other side, but Fuma shakes his head anyway. "'s all good," he mumbles.
Maki leans back into his chest (which does look like a good chest to snuggle against). "We were going to get ice cream," the guy says. "Can I treat you for keeping the kids entertained?"
“I’m 15!”, Taki protests again but is already on his feet, Maki following with a little jump off the man’s lap (a very comfortable-looking lap). “I’m 4!”, he yells excitedly.
"I'm Fuma, I'm 27," Fuma blurts out instead of answering the damn question.
The other man just grins. "I'm Kei, I'm 28," he says and stands up, drawing attention to his impressive height and long legs (he may be even taller than Fuma). "What kind of ice cream do you like?"