His Hands

crystal clear

Satoru

Megumi jumps off of the swing he was sitting on and walks up to the three of us, his black hair sticking up in all directions as usual.

His dark blue eyes look up at me, unimpressed,

"Hey, Satoru," Then he looks to Suguru and points at him,

"Who's this?"

Suguru holds his hand out to Megumi,

"I'm Suguru Geto, nice to finally meet you Megumi."

Megumi shakes his hand briefly and looks back up at Kana who'd put a hand on his shoulder affectionately,

"Mom, can you push me on the swing again?"

Kana points to me,

"Maybe Satoru will?"

"No, not him," Megumi says quickly, then he looks to Suguru,

"How well do you think you could push me on the swing?"

I look at Suguru and his expression was amused, he ruffles Megumi's hair and motions for him to follow him.

"Let's go, I'll push you up super high," Suguru says.

Without a glance back, Megumi follows Suguru quickly like a little shadow. I can see they've already started talking since Suguru laughs at something Megumi's said.

I scrunch up my nose and turn to Kana,

"Did I do something to make him hate me?"

She smiles and shakes her head,

"No, no. It's nothing like that."

After a pause she continues,

"You know he isn't a crazy affectionate kid. If anything, the comfier he is around someone, the less he feels the need to be polite. He's just...different. Naturally quieter, unlike you."

Kana glances up at me with a grin and I chuckle, fully aware that when we were growing up I was always getting scorn from our family for my theatrics.

I was quite the unruly kid until my father scolded it out of me. For most of junior high I was introverted. Then about half way through high school I regained my sense of self and started being me again.

My father detested me from it, but as long as I didn't embarrass him or the business I could get away with most things. It's not like he was around enough to know what I did on the daily anyways.

Running a hand through my hair, I move to sit at the picnic table Kana had secured before we got there. She brought snacks. I love snacks.

Kana sits across from me and pulls a tupperware container from her tote bag, classic mom purse.

"I made onigiri," She gives me a grin as she pops the lid off,

"Salmon, your favorite and Megumi's."

Taking one of the rice balls, I laugh,

"I knew I liked that kid for some reason."

"Oh knock it off," She laughs with me and rolls her eyes,

"You love your godson."

"I'd literally do anything for that little guy," I say, agreeing with her.

Suguru laughs then, the sound floating to my ears although he's some distance away. Megumi must've made some remark to get him to laugh.

Instinctively, my eyes snap to find him and see he's already looking at me.

One of his hands was raised to wave at me as he continued to push a small Megumi on the swing set. A smile so big it put the sun to shame was plastered on his face.