Gentle Old Eyes

32

"Ouryuu-sama" Zeno looked down, 7-year-old Ubuyashiki Kiriga was tugging on his sleeve. The child looked embarrassed and was holding a parchment paper in the hand that wasn't tugging Zeno's sleeve

"Could... Could you help me with the Kanji written forms?" Kiriga shifted his gaze towards the low table where scattered papers littered the floor and a brush and some freshly grounded ink stood on the table. Zeno hummed and crouched to 7 year olds eye level.

"Sure! Zeno will help, Zeno will help! Just what could be so hard that young master Ubuyashiki is embarrassed to ask?" Zeno asks with a teasing grin and watches as Kiriga shifts in one place and his face gains a small pink blushes.

The 7 year old then nervously shows the paper he holds in his hands to him. The paper is full with rows of words written in hiragana with a space next to them asking to write what the kanji is for them.

Zeno skims the sheet and is once again hit with the fact that the heir needs to be very educated and needs to be mature at a very young age. Some of the Kanji the paper is asking for is stuff Zeno learned when he attended a top university in a 21 century world. The very hard kind.

He smiles and nods towards the table. Aiding and helping the boy when he doesn't know the order of brush strokes, correcting them and writing some down that Kiriga actually doesn't know.

At some point the 5-year-old little sister busted in. Fumiko continues to watch from the sidelines, curiosity shining off as she peeks from under the table at some of the completed sheets. Other than small 'oohs' and other sounds of awe she stays silent, letting her big brother concentrate.

He watches as Kiriga writes with wonder in his eyes. Even with as much as is demanded from the heir of Ubuyashiki family, the boy in front of him is still a child. Full of naivety, wonder for words he doesn't know and curiosity to know more.

Kiriga smiles as he finishes writing a kanji he had been struggling with for a while. The 7 year old turns his head towards Zeno, pale blue eyes shining in happiness, showing the paper where Kanji for 'hesitation' 躊躇 is written in perfect brush strokes.

Zeno praises the boy as he deserves and Kiriga beams the happiest smile Zeno has ever seen the boy show.