Free! x Reader

makoto x child! reader: memories

"Go away!"

Pestering children crowded around a bush throwing what seemed to be stones and other small objects. An olive-brown haired boy watched patiently to see why the children were throwing things.

"No one wants you around, freak!"

One of the older kids yelled and in the heat of the moment, a frail looking girl appeared from behind the shrubery. Her hair was ratted; her skin scraped and bruised. The poor child looked homeless.

"My mom told me not to play with kids who don't have parents!"

One of the kids giggled at the comment. That was when the bystander took a step out and walked over to the abusers.

"Don't bully her, please." He said firmly. The arms by his side moved over to wrap around the girl. She seemed around 6 or 7. Her height was a massive difference compared to his.

The size of the teen intimidated the children, so they ran off, dropping the stones. He sighed and looked at the girl in his grasp. With a warm squeeze for a hug, he smiled.

"You're safe now. I'm Makoto." He said. The girl hesitated and eventually smiled, revealing a grin with teeth missing.

"Ma.. Mako..to."

~

Makoto, older now, looked over at the same bush from years ago. A single flower bloomed on the lonely shrub.

~

"But onii-chan..!" The girl, now 10, whined. Makoto had taken her in, seeing as though she had no where else to live. He cared for her and eventually gave her a name; (y/n).

"You have to study, (y/n), or else you'll fail!" He pushed the book toward her, making her push it right back. They kept at it until he realized she was playing with him. He sighed and got up to retrieve a container of cookies from the top shelf.

With one hand, he held the cat-shaped vase marked COOKIE JAR. With the other, he held up her book. The cookies made her pay attention.

"Listen. You can have these cookies IF you study and finish your homework." He declared, pulling the cookies away and putting the book down infront of the pleading child. Her begging turned to determination faster than he thought.

Ren and Ran, the twins of the family, walked out of their room, smelling cookies. "Oooh cookies!" Ren exclaimed. Makoto shook them off and sent them away with a challenge of which twin could beat the other in a game of Mario Kart.

He had been too preoccupied to notice that (y/n) had stolen a baked good from the jar. He looked at the theif in a playful glare. She giggled and broke the cookie in half. One half was bigger than the other, though.

"You get the bigger half!" She said, handing him the smaller part. He looked between her and the cookie piece, meaning to tell her that it, in fact, was not the bigger sized half. She shoved her piece in her mouth with a grin and he sighed, a small smile on his face.

~

The flower was beautiful. The color was a shade off from being the same color as her eyes. He carefully picked the flower and gently stuck it into a soft dirt patch next to the bush.

~

(y/n) was happily playing video games on the wii system until a knock on the door was heard. Makoto signaled for the curious child to stay back as he stood up and headed for the door. She pressed the pause button and stared at the brown door. He opened it. She caught a tiny glimpse of dark blue and a silver badge on the person behind the door.

"Tachibana Makoto, correct?" Makoto said yes. "You have a small child currently living with you, do you not?" The man's voice seemed unhappy. Makoto nodded to the stranger. "The small child, according to the law, belongs to her aunt. She wants her back." His shoulders went slump. Something bad was happening. Onii-chan never looked so sad before.

Men started coming into the livingroom, surrounding the girl. One stepped forward and, in a kind voice, said, "You need to come with us. Your aunt wants you home." Her eyes looked between the man and Makoto. She gave Makoto a pleading expression, making him look away. He wasn't able to make eye contact anymore.

The police officer grabbed her hand and pulled her gently towards the door. Outside, she looked ahead to see a police car parked on the side of the road. She was put inside and as her eyes drifted back to the home she knew so very well, she yelled, "Stop!"

The police officer that started the car jerked his head back. She took her chance and pushed the door open, running out towards her 'big brother'.

As soon as she reached him, she wrapped her arms around him. Her face dug into his neck as her body started shivering. He closed his eyes and sighed softly. (y/n) pulled her head back and looked straight into his eyes as tears started to form. "They're gonna take me away.. aren't they?" She whispered. He nodded. Her eyes spilled tears and she sobbed into his shoulder. "I don't want to go. I've learned to love you, Makoto." Tears sprang to the olive haired boy's eyes as he hugged her. "Promise me, you'll go back to the bush where we met?" All he could do was smile and nod once before a police officer pulled the girl off of him.

~

Tears clouded his vision as he stared at the lonely patch of grass. To this day he hadn't heard or seen her. He faintly felt her around the house, just there; playing video games and laughing when she beat the twins, playing with her veggies when she didn't feel like eating them, running through the house making so much noise even though the neighbors were sleeping. He began to cry as he thought of her.

The one who he had found and gotten a hold of, just to have her slip out of his grasp soon after.

I got the feels while writing this oh my gosh. And I decided to switch up the pov to 3rd person, because why not. Hope you guys enjoyed it - it was sorta short though. (・Д・)ノ Merp. Ima go drawing stuff and do homework at like midnight so.. yeah. ily all thank you for reading my somewhat okay one-shots!

-rice