Additional One-Shots

Christmas Special - Always There: A Mori POV

A/N: So, I found it slightly difficult to write from a child Mori’s POV. I decided that he had a rather mature feeling to him, even as a little boy. Although, I suppose I’ve met a lot of kids who have been through a lot and act like they’re older than they are. Perhaps having a sick parent would work for that.

Part One:

Takashi

 

“Oh, why don’t we go meet her? What do you think?”

I almost frowned, but instead gave a small, hesitant nod. The bright smile on Mom’s face was impossible to say no to. In response to the nod, she smiled even brighter and reached down to grab one of my hands.

“Great!” she declared happily. “I think I saw her over here talking to someone. If we’re lucky…”

Mom pulled me along with her, that smile never once leaving. She had to pause once to catch her breath and another time to cough, but she continued to smile. At some point, we reached where she’d last seen the girl who’d been dancing. When I caught sight of her, I quietly tucked myself behind Mom, only peeking around her a little so I could look at the girl a bit better. I think they’d called her Nao before her dance.

The first thing I noticed was that she was taller than me, although that wasn’t surprising. A lot of other kids were taller than me. At the same time, she was really small, the difference in height wasn’t much. Her hair was brown and fell just past her shoulders in loose, out-of-place curls, her eyes a darker shade of brown. The dress she was wearing was a very light, but bright shade of blue that stuck out like a tutu.

“That was such a pretty dance,” Mom commented, kneeling down slightly so that her and the girl weren’t as far apart.

Nao grinned and I felt my cheeks heat up slightly. At that same moment, her eyes met mine and widened.

“Who’s that?”

I pulled my head back around my mother, who decided to just step completely out of the way.

“Oh, him? This is my son. Say hello, Takashi.”

I dropped my eyes to the floor, unable to look at her and do as I’d been told.

“...hello.”

Nao giggled and I stiffened, studying my feet even harder than before.

“She’s just a girl, she won’t bite,” Mom commented, sounding like she was trying to keep from laughing as well. That wouldn’t be good, if she started laughing it’d get harder for her to breathe- she was always short of breath now-days. “You can speak a little louder, Takashi.”

Suddenly, Nao was closer than before. My eyes moved back to her face on their own accord as she cocked her head, studying me much as I had done her when I was concealed behind Mom.

“Are you really a boy?” she demanded. “I’m taller than you and I’m not taller than anyone.”

I simply stared at her.

That wasn’t fair. Just because I’m smaller doesn’t mean I have to be a girl. Embarrassment flooded through me again, but also a bit of resentment.

“Nao!”

I glanced behind her, catching sight of an older woman who looked almost exactly like her except with different colored eyes. The woman had a camera clasped in one hand and her face was flushed red.