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“Okay, Souta,” Ueshima-san says, eyes trained on the small screen of her phone where the camera lens is attempting to focus on his little self. “Smile for mom! Big smile!”
It’s not hard for Souta to comply, breaking into a fit of giggles at something funny only to him. It makes Ueshima-san grin wide as she snaps a photo. She can’t wait to get them developed. Already she’s imagining the big “First Day” sticker that she’ll stick on the bottom of the photo, just beneath Souta’s sneakers.
The shoes he’s about to vibrate right out of if Ueshima-san doesn’t let him hurry up and get inside already.
“Ready to go?”
Souta leaps as high as his little toddler legs will let him—only about two inches, mind you—and shouts, too loud, “LET’S GO!”
Ueshima-san doesn’t manage to hold back her giggle. “Alright, then! Take my hand now.”
Souta does as he’s told, grasping his mother by the hand and racing forward, trying to propel her into moving faster with just the force of his tiny body. Ueshima-san guides him safely across the parking lot and in through the front doors of the daycare, at which point Souta completely ignores his mother’s instructions and bolts towards the nearest child.
“Souta!” she chides, but he’s hardly listening.
“Hi!” he greets the brown-haired boy. “I’m Souta!”
“Souta!” the boy replies just as enthusiastically. “I’m Takeo! You wanna play with me?”
Souta’s smile grows impossibly wider, and he nods his head vigorously as he says, “Yes, yes, yes!”
Takeo takes Souta by the hand and drags him into the den of children, though Ueshima-san doesn’t lose sight of him for a second. She lets out an exasperated sigh as an amused daycare attendant approaches her.
“Well, it’s good to have another spirited one in the mix,” the attendant says.
“I hope he’s not too much to handle,” Ueshima-san says, worry creasing her brow. “He can be a bit of a handful. And I swear the boy runs on batteries.”
The attendant chuckles. “Don’t worry. We’re quite experienced with the energetic types here.”
As if to punctuate the comment, the shrill sound of a child’s excited scream rings out over the din of chaos.
“I suppose you’re right.” Ueshima-san sighs, letting a bit of her worries fade from her face.
“Can I ask what your little energy ball is named?” The attendant holds out a clipboard for Ueshima-san to sign Souta in on.
“Ueshima Souta,” Ueshima-san says as she prints his name, then follows that up with a guess about the time they’d arrived. “He should be fine. He’s really not a troublemaker.”
“Oh, we’ll have a great time!” The attendant beams. Ueshima-san returns the clipboard to her with a nod.
A beat of silence passes between them, Ueshima-san not ready to leave quite yet. Her voice is a bit tense when she finally breaks it with, “Well, I should get going. I have to be at work soon.”
“Little Souta is in great hands, I assure you.”
Ueshima-san nods. She glances back to Souta, finds him building a tower with the brown-haired boy, and debates whether or not she should say goodbye to him. With a shake of her head, she decides against it.
⭒˚☆.⋆
Iseya-san holds the door open for Nao to duck inside the daycare room. He dodges out of the way of his son and approaches the daycare attendant, a woman whose name he’s never remembered. Like always, she greets Nao before greeting himself, which Iseya-san has always found rude, but never pointed out for fear of making a scene. Nao, for his part, is blissfully unaware of the offense and reaches up to hug the attendant with all the force of his miniscule body.
When the attendant rises from giving Nao his hug, she passes a clipboard over to Iseya-san, a bright smile plastered on her face. Iseya-san has always suspected the smile to be fake. It’s never really suited the young woman.
He takes the clipboard from her and quickly jots Nao’s name down, then checks his watch for the exact time and jots that down too. Then he passes the clipboard back to her and turns his attention to his son. “Nao.”
Nao glances up at his father with overbright eyes.
“Be good.” Iseya-san pats Nao on the head. Nao scrunches his eyes up as his father fluffs his hair. The pats end too soon though, and with that, Iseya-san turns to leave.
“Nao, guess what?” The attendant draws his attention immediately with those words. He looks up at her in curiosity, a silent plea for her to continue. “We have a new friend!”
Nao gasps. “Really?”
“Souta-kun!” the attendant calls over her shoulder. In a flurry of orange hair, a boy appears at the attendant’s side. “I’d like you to meet Nao-kun.”
“Hi!” Souta beams.
“Hi,” Nao replies, his eyes wide with excitement. “Can we play together?”
“Sure!” Souta grabs Nao by the hand and leads him through a jungle of wild children to a toy slide. “I found this! It’s so cool!”
“I like it.” Nao nods, remembering the slide fondly from his past adventures. He grips tighter to Souta’s hand and lets him lead the way up the steps to the top. Once they reach the summit, Nao feels Souta let go of his hand and almost cries at the loss.
He’s quickly distracted when Souta turns and tells him, “I’ll go first, okay? Make sure it’s safe.”
Nao nods his agreement, admires Souta’s bravery—or would-be bravery, if not for the fact that Nao is certain that the slide is, in fact, safe. Souta launches himself down the slide on his belly, letting out a whoop of joy as he careens towards the bottom. He lands on his belly, then rolls over on the playmat to look back at Nao.
“Your turn!”
Nao goes down on his bottom, but his feet connect with the floor right near Souta’s legs and cause him to trip. He tumbles down square on top of Souta, and the pair burst out into a fit of giggles together. Still laughing, Souta wraps Nao up in a hug, and Nao feels all the air leave his lungs at the contact.
“We’re gonna be bestest friends,” Souta says. Nao is too wrapped up in how nice the hug feels to notice Souta misspeak. He squeezes Souta back, all soft and warm and happy.
Then Souta bursts out laughing again and wiggles out of Nao’s grasp. Nao watches, a bit peeved that Souta left their embrace, as Souta pushes himself up to his feet. Then, Souta turns to Nao and extends his hand again.
“Come on!”
Nao takes Souta’s offer and allows himself to be hoisted upright by a strength he wasn’t expecting. Souta doesn’t let go as he leads Nao off on another adventure. And Nao follows.
Because Nao is pretty sure he’d let this boy lead him anywhere.