𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 | bokuaka!

𝟏𝟕.

No, I'm not eavesdropping. I'm just simply secretly listening to a conversation I'm not supposed to hear.

Okay, yeah, I'm eavesdropping.

But my feet can't help but feel glued to the floor, as if there were roots splintering out of the soles, instilling themselves into the ground as I take one more peak around the corner; curiosity betraying me.

Bokuto still holds her hands as the little girl's tears slowly begin to fade away, her eyes still puffy.

"Like friendly love? Like a bubba?"

He chuckles, shaking his head. "Not exactly, it's more like romantic love!"

"Huh? What's that like?" She asks, furrowing her eyebrows together. "I don' get why you would want to be with an ewie boy. Boys have cooties," She sticks her tongue out, fake gagging at the thought.

"Awe, not Keiji! He's perfect! And it's like I want to kiss him and hold him close and never let him go again. And pick him up and swing him around like this!" He proceeds to playfully pick the girl up as he stands, swinging her around happily, sending the girl into a fit of giggles as she waves her arms around, having a ball.

"Tell me more! Tell me more!"

"I wanna spend every second of my day with him! Like to hang out with him to see his smile and hear his laugh. I get butterflies in my stomach and they flutter every time I see him, they always remind me of how much I like him!" He exclaims, setting the girl down.

"You ate butterflies?!" She asks, genuinely shocked. Her pupils dilate and her jaw hangs open as if she just saw a ghost. She freezes for a moment as Bokuto takes a second to process her raw concern for him before he gasps.

"No, silly! It's like a gut feeling that makes me all giddy," He stands back up, smiling, "It kind of looks like," Koutarou starts to do some kind of dumb, rather eccentric dances making the little girl with the darkened hair cackle, pointing at his moves. Her eyes soften, finally voided of the previous distress.

She's fully distracted.

He's great with kids.

God, why is he even saying all of that to her?

I fight the blush rising to my cheeks as if someone's going to see, but the hallway remains empty, everyone in the household occupied. Yet I can almost feel the second hand embarrassment from the situation in front of me, though Bokuto doesn't seem to mind embarrassing himself for the sake of his moreover childish self-expression.

It's kind of cute.
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"Hey! Don't laugh at me! I'm serious!" He puffs out his chest in a dramatic manner as Yua continues to double over. He joins her laugh, his eyes smiling too, and that's when I find one of his first, true smiles show since he's reappeared back into my life. The pure exhibition his happiness.