•

A wail erupted your afternoon peace at the cafe you own at, breaking your gaze from the menu you've been organizing for the past hour and search where the crying is coming from. After stepping outside of the store, you felt something bump against your leg and then stared down at the culprit.

The crying rang louder in your ears as you saw a small boy at your feet with fists rubbing his eyes trickling with constant tears. His head is full of brown tresses and cheeks are swollen and pink, an instant panic went through your body and knelt down to meet his eye level.

"Excuse me, are you lost?" You said with a gentle voice but you only felt him cry harder.

Tensing at the volume, random people walked pass the unknown scene to steal a glance at the little one in front of you.

You began to sweat and started to hush him eagerly and hugged the little boy with a calming hand rubbing his shaky back, unaware if it was an inappropriate way to ease a child, you don't know. But by the pleasant gesture, you felt him calm down just a bit.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'll help you find your parents," you assured softly and finally his warm brown eyes met with yours hopefully, swimming in tears. He couldn't bring himself to talk as his hiccups were the only reason that stopped him from doing so. "What's your name?"

"Te-..." he hiccuped again with a whimper.

"Hm?"

"My name," he paused, breathing in harshly through tears, "...is Tetsu."

"And your last name?"

His copper eyes looked up from his wet fists and muttered shyly, "O-Oikawa."

You sighed in satisfaction. This was a good sign that he was talking to you.

"What a nice name," you praised happily and it seemed he was captured by your compliment. "Is it okay if I call you Tetsu?"

The young boy took a second to process the question and slowly nodded, managing to slow his breathing and clearing his snotty nose. Pulling out a tissue from your apron, you wiped the excess tears from his face and smiled.

"My name is [Last Name, First Name] but you can call me [Name]," you introduced. "How old are you?"

He hesitated again, staring down at his feet to avoid eye contact. You just have to assure him again to talk as if he's a quivering puppy.

"...Four."

He's younger than you thought. It worried you how he got himself lost in the first place.

"Wow~! You're a big guy, aren't you?" You gleamed at the boy who was intrigued by your optimism yet he was also embarrassed. He then nodded in approval. "Hey, Testu, do you like chocolate?"

Then his eyes began to light up at the sweet treat. You knew it. Food always works on kids. He didn't have to answer as you laughed at his expression filled with excitement through his widened eyes. You were more than relieved that he at least stopped crying at this point.

"Wait right here, okay? I have a present for you."

His silence was all you need as you guided him to sit at a two-top table outside of your family's store and retrieved the dessert inside the shop. Tetsu remained there until you came back in a hurry and flashed him a toasty croissant coated in milk chocolate tucked in a tissue pocket.

You watched him gaze at the food with amazement, looking back at you with a wondering face. You permitted him to take it and Testu carefully grabbed it with two of his small hands. He opened his mouth to take a bite but his teeth stopped right above it hesitantly as he glanced your way one more time, just in case you were going to change your mind about him eating it.

"Go ahead. It's yours," you granted him your permission. Then he gasped in joy and bit into the flaky bread with chocolate bits sticking to his lip.

He grinned at you after swallowing a whole piece, "It's yummy!"

Just peering at his delighted face, you were enlightened to see a quick change from his tearful face to a happy one. With his lips curling up with smiling eyes, he looked utterly adorable and that's amazing coming from you since you don't find cuteness in kids nowadays.

You hesitated for a brief second before breaking the silence again, knowing full well that the mood will change if you ask. "So, Tetsu, where did you last saw your parents?"

Then, you can feel the distraught painting over his face as he stopped himself from eating the rest of the chocolate croissant. Tears began to swell up again as he did his best to hold back his cry.

"I don't know... I was by the market with Daddy and when I turned around, he wasn't there," he murmured softly. "So I looked for him but... I couldn't find him."

His answer surprised you. To your knowledge, Tetsu traveled far since the market is a few blocks down from your store. He managed to get this far without anyone stopping him.

"Do you remember what he looks like? We can find him together," you suggested to the little boy who rubbed his eyes again at the back of his sleeve.

He sniffed, "Everyone says Daddy looks like me. He's tall, brown hair, but sometimes he wears glasses."

You nodded, "what was he wearing?"

"Black jacket and... black pants." That's a tough image to scope out. It's almost winter so everyone is dressed in their earthy, dark toned clothes on this Sunday evening. But a tall man with brown hair and glasses is a helpful description to say the least.

"Okay, Tetsu, after you're done with the croissant, we're going to go look for him together. He shouldn't be too far from us," you told him. The young boy sobbed against the dessert just by thinking about the journey but eventually nodded at your command.

Your hand extended out to him with your palm facing up for Tetsu to take. His smaller hand grabbed yours timidly as he hopped off the chair and stuck himself close to your leg.

What a cutie. You thought, watching him scan his big eyes among the crowd of Tokyo's evening rush to find a familiar face.

"We're going to have to go to the police. Is that okay?" Then Tetsu's eyes shown dismay and you blinked in bewilderment.

He gripped your hand tighter. "T-The police? Are they going to put me in jail?"

You try not to chuckle at his innocence and patted his head cheerfully. "No, no. You didn't do anything wrong! They're going to help us find your Daddy. I promise."

"Are you going to leave me with them?" His begging eyes grew bigger. Initially, you were planning to let the police deal with the situation so you can carry on your day. But after seeing Tetsu's demeanor, you can sense he was getting attached to you which is a pleasant surprise.

You gave a long breath and smiled. "Don't worry. I won't leave you. I'll stay with you until your Daddy shows up."

He began to whimper as his eyes fell to the ground, but your curled finger tapped underneath his chin to look back at you again. "Be a brave man, okay?"

"Like Batman?"

You laughed. "Like Batman."

________________________________

🌱

Posted: 03-30-21