fox on the run | miya osamu

the fox's laugh

"Don't be mean," Suiren scolds with a faint voice as she grabs another tissue.

"I'm Osamu," he answers and crouches down to match the boy's height, "Nice to meet ya."

"Osamu?" Daiji repeats.

"The medicine, please," she reminds, looking at the jar on his hand.

"Oh, right, here ya go," he says and hands it to her.

"And, wait, I'll get you a glass of water," he offers, "I think I saw where the glasses are."

"Than- Achoo!"

"Nee-chan, are you okay?" the boy asks and he pats her head, visibly concerned.

"I'm okay, it's just an allergy. Just go back to my room, okay? Still your naptime," she instructs, forcing a smile on her face.

"But-"

"Go now, by the time you wake up, I'll make your favorite snacks for you," she interrupts him. It's a surprise she could still manage to talk like that when her throat hurt.

"Okay," he obliges with a saddening tone.

"Good boy," she compliments, then nods to the stairs, signalling him to go.

"So you're good with kids too?" Osamu, who's walking back to the living room, chuckles.

"Ya sure you're not perfect?" Osamu mumbles inaudibly before handing the glass of water to her. The boy frowns one last time before going upstairs, a little upset for some reason.

"I'm not good with kids, Daiji and I simply happen to get along just fine," she denies just as she's about to take her medicine.

"Anyway, Chuunchun, I'm sorry about the daisies, I really had no idea," he apologizes as he sits beside her.

"It's okay. I never told you about it."

"Anything else I gotta know?"

"What do you mean, Osamu?"

"Like, other allergies? Uh, other stuff like that," he clarifies.

"I also can't eat nuts," she answers.

"Eh? Another allergy?"

"No, I just don't like it," she says, making him laugh.

"Yes. Really," she emphasizes. She wonders what's funny with what she said.

"So, no other allergies apart from pollen?"

"Uhuh," she hums, nodding.

"Great, no food allergies," he says in relief.

"Achoo!"

"I guess it hasn't taken effect yet," she groans, shaking her head.

"Yeah, your face is still so red," he comments and points at her.

"It, it is?" she gasps, weirdly self-conscious.

"Yeah, it's like blush but literally everywhere," he chuckles.

"R-Really? Then I must look terrible. I have never seen anyone put it like that."

"Nee-chan! I can't sleep!" a high-pitched voice interrupts the two, causing them to turn around.

"Oh?"

"Were we too noisy? I'm sorry," she tells the approaching boy.

"I don't want sleep!" he insists.

"Why not?"

"I want to watch TV! I want Cider-man!" he exclaims and sits beside Suiren.

"No," she sternly says.

"Yes! Cider-man!"

"No."

"Yes! Ci! Der! Man!"

"No."

"Come on, Chuunchun, we can watch Cider-man. My little cousins love that," Osamu convinces her.

"Cider-man? You know that show?"

"Yeah, my little cousins watch it," he answers while Daiji sneaks around to get the remote.

"Oh, I was thinking you'd not want to babysit," she says, a little confused.

"I went here while you babysit, so, I might as well babysit, right?"

"Cider-man!" Daiji exclaims and points at the television, the speakers blasting its opening theme.

"Oh? Just in time for your show," Osamu comments, an attempt to be in the child's favor. It's one of Atsumu's advises, "Get close to her family, especially the kids."

"Do you like Ciderman too, Uncle?" Daiji asks, beaming with joy as he has his eyes glued on the television.

"Uncle?!" Osamu gasps in a moment of shock, he couldn't believe his ears. "Chuunchun, did he just call me Uncle?" he asks, then turns to Suiren, who's already smiling at him.

"He, he called me uncle," he repeats.

"Yeah, he just did," she says, less formal than usual. She covers her mouth with a hand, concealing her smile.

"I don't look old, do I?" he asks, still keeping up his calm demeanor.

"You," she says, but she pauses. Her use of casual language takes him by surprise but what's even more shocking was Suiren's sudden giggle.

"Chuunchun?" he mumbles.

"I'm sorry, it's just so silly to me," she tells him before bursting out laughing.

"Oh? What is?"

"He calls me Nee-chan but he calls you Uncle," she says in between her laughter.

Osamu doesn't take his eyes away from her and he's visibly surprised and delighted having witnessed her carefree chuckles. He expected bashful and shy giggles but she's loud, too loud even, that he could mistake her for someone else.

As for Suiren, her joyous moment comes to an end shortly after and she looks back at Osamu, who's still staring. "Yeah? What is it?" she asks, raising a brow. Informal language again, he notices.

"Nothing, it's nothing," he answers, shaking his head.

"Nee-chan! Nee-chan! Cider-man needs help!" Daiji exclaims. He's sitting on the floor, devoting his attention completely to the television screen.

"Really? Is the villain too strong?" Osamu asks, entertaining the child.

"I don't know, Uncle! He needs help," Daiji cries out. It amuses Suiren, who's older than Osamu, and it makes her giggle again. Osamu lets go of this whole "Uncle" thing, in exchange of a few moments listening to the sweet sound of her laughter.