«Peko? Pekooo?» The mansion they live in is too big for situations like this. Not that he dislikes it - he and Peko have a lot of fun playing hide-and-seek with so many places to hide - but it's impossible to find her whenever he's worried.
He searched her in every room possible - or at least the ones he could enter, since he is only a child - but no trace of her.
That is, until he hears a muffled sob.
«Peko? Are you here?» He sticks his head into a room. Looking around, he notices that one of the doors that take outside is slightly open and just near it... there she is!
He runs towards her. She's hugging her knees, her shinai laid down at her side, a bit shaky. Crying.
«P-Peko! Wh-what's wrong?» He is even more worried now, of course, and reaches her face with his hands.. She shakes her head and dries her tears off on her own, hiding her face in her legs.
«Nothing... don't worry.» She's always been the one who protects him, who stays strong and makes older kids who make fun of Fuyuhiko run away. She can't cry in front of him. But she does, and she can't think anything but how weak she is.
«Of course I worry!» He looks at her and notices something red on the back of her hand. Is that blood?
He takes her hand and examines it. It's indeed blood, coming out of a wound. It doesn't seem to lose too much blood, but how did she get that? There's no way she could hurt herself with her shinai, and she's not careless, so she couldn't have tripped.
A distant meow scares him, and looking out of the door he can see a cat, far from them.
«Oh.» Everything's obvious now. He kneels at her side, her hand still in his, and looks at her determined.
«It's just a scratch! I'll make the pain go away! Just see!» She peeks at him, not really convinced - how can he stop it? There's no way-
He leans down and kisses the back of her hand. Peko throws her head up and stares at him, blushing a bit.
«Did it- did it work?» His cheeks are pinker than usual too and, as much as he wants to look away, he still meets her gaze. As soon as she nods, hesitantly, a big grin grows on his face.
«Don't be sad for the cat. You don't need an animal! You already have me to play with!» She doesn't want someone to play with, she just wants to touch the soft fur of a kitty... but it doesn't really matter now. The feline rejected her, as usual, but there will always be someone who cares about her.
«Now- we need to put a band-aid on it! Or it won't pass! C'mon, let's go!» He stands up and smiles. She just stares at him for a moment, before getting up too and smile back.
«Alright- let's go.» They close the door - they don't want anyone to come in while they're away - and walk outside the room.
The feline rejected her, as usual, but there will always be someone who cares about her. And she couldn't be happier, holding that someone's hand.