"Suzu-chan! Not so rough! Kana-chan will get hurt!" Tsukiko reminded Suzuya worriedly. Her chubby little fingers holding Kanata's hand tightly in a comforting manner. Kanata's face was covered in bruises, and he had a large scratch on his arm. He held himself back when he was trying to fight them because Tsukiko might get scared, but now Suzu-chan was here, he couldn't stop himself any longer. "W-Waaaahhhhh!"

"Wah! Kana-chan! Don't cry!" The little girl also cried in distress; in panic, she used her skirt to wipe off the over flowing tears and snot that threatened to come out.

"U….uuu." Kanata fidgets as his face was gotten mauled by a pink, frilly cloth.

Suzuya could only sigh in relief. It was a good thing that he had gotten there in time. Apparently, Kanata had gotten into a fight in their neighborhood, many of whom were big tubby bullies who were trying to tease Tsukiko because of her long hair. "They tried to pull my hair b-but Kana-chan immediately told them to leave us alone and they suddenly attacked him!"

And when he had finally gotten there, the bullies muttered something about having "more little twerps" and retreated back but not before giving them a smug sneer.

…mmm. Their parents would receive a mysterious phone call later, informing them of the thieving adventures of their tubby children.

His mood suddenly became lighter at that thought. He laughs. "Kana-chan, don't move so suddenly or I won't be able to bandage this properly."

Staring at the piles of bandages and discarded cotton buds, Tsukiko looks at Suzuya in adoration. How did he know what to use and how to do it? She couldn't even fix her dolls herself.

"It-it hurts!"

"Wah! Suzu-chan! Be a little more careful!"

"Eh?"

Kanata coughs from the lack of breath. "..kuh! It's not Suzu-chan! It's you Tsukiko-chan!"

"Your skirt! "

"I'm sorry!" Without her noticing, she had absent-mindedly rubbed her skirt a little too much, making Kanata's face a lot puffier than before.

"It doesn't hurt at all?" Her innocent eyes widen in surprise. When she saw Suzu-chan rubbing the cotton bud on his wound, it really did look painful to her!

"No. It doesn't hurt too much when Suzu-chan does it!" Kanata flashes his super hero grin and a thumb's up. "I don't feel that much pain at all!"

Seeing Suzuya carefully rounding the bandage around Kanata's arm in calm, she felt an inexplicable warmth pass through her. Before she could stop it, she had already spoken out her inner thoughts. "Suzu-chan's the gentle type, isn't he?"

"Huh?" At the sudden mention of "gentle" and his name together, Suzuya stopped midway in surprise. No one had ever told him that before.

"Yes he is, isn't he?" Kanata rubs his nose in child-like embarrassment, grinning from ear to ear. "That's because he's our mom!"

He pauses for a moment, confused, before giving them an honest smile. "Thank you, both of you, for thinking that way."

It took about thirty minutes for him to properly bandage Kanata's arm since he kept on moving, and it was hard to secure it tightly with his little hands. But it was all good. And now the sun had already set on its daily voyage to the other side of the wide galaxy. His two friends were lying down side by side, with him at the middle, both holding onto his arms securely. It felt so safe and secure, just staying like this, the three of them.

Gentle, huh? Suzuya wonders alone. If him being this way would make the both of them happy, then he wouldn't mind. He didn't exactly know what they meant by being "gentle", but perhaps it was their way of saying to stay the way he is right now, to be the home they'll return to after a long day's play. For Suzu-chan at this moment, nothing would ever replace the moments where they would be together and the happiness that he was able to give them—be it in the form of rice-balls or motherly scoldings. Today was warmer and close to the heart.

Suzuya looks at both of them, contented to see their smiling, peaceful faces before he, too, closes his eyes to see the dream that would bring them closer than ever.

He wouldn't know now, in his child-like state, that he would have to learn to fight in the future to protect his important friends. But that was exactly what Tsukiko and Kanata admired about him. He was gentle even then.

"Suzuya would always be Suzuya!"

He could still hear those words clearly like yesterday.

Something stirs in his sleep, and he remembers, why the warmth was still there even after the dream.

He opens his eyes and looks at her, who was staring at him curiously from the bed with tired, but clear eyes.

"Good morning. Sorry, it seems that I fell asleep." His voice was a little groggy, blinking once or twice to shake of the remaining sense of slumber.

He still doesn't let go of her hand.

"Somehow, it seems like I had a nice dream." He says so honestly with a peaceful smile.

"I get the feeling we had the same dream- "

"Perhaps it was the same dream. Tsukiko, do you feel a bit better?"

"I'm sorry for making you worry, I'm all right now." She reassures him with a smile.

"You don't need to worry about that.

A…I'm sorry, I unintentionally fell into an old habit."

Seeing their connected hands together, Tsukiko's smile became a bit brighter. "No, it was probably how I got better. Suzuya always takes care of me like this."

Clasping the small hand a little tighter, he mutters wistfully. "I wonder if you still remember those words from then…?"

"? Did you say something, Suzuya?"

"Hm?" Her face was already in front of him, eyeing him with worried curiosity. "Oh, don't mind me. I was just talking to myself…" He laughs weakly.

Albeit a little satisfied with his answer, Tsukiko sighs.

"Your hands feel warm." She says so innocently. Tsukiko pulls back and puts a hand to her chest, closing her eyes, as if going back through times. "Suzu-chan's always gentle, ne? For taking care of both me and Kanata like this…"

His heart feels a little warm, regaining the happiness that surfeited back then. "Is that so? Then Tsukiko should go back to sleep and rest." He pats her head. "Kanata and I would come to pick you up later after class, so rest well then, okay?"

Their hands let go, and the sweeping wind seems to have carried up the little warmth that remained.

Nodding obediently, she pulls the covers up and closes her eyes. "Thank you, Suzuya."

"It's nothing, Tsukiko." He smiles tiredly, looking at her small frame that was protected by the dainty covers.

Gentle…?

Perhaps it was her words that led him to grow up as such.

He really did become what Tsukiko expected him to be, after all.

He pinned his hopes on this gentleness, that it would be the trait that would lead her closer to him—closer than anybody else.

If this continued on, he didn't know if he could stay the same as the Suzuya she always knew.

The matters of the heart are fickle things in the end.

But for now, he'll continue to watch over them with this gentleness they always expected.

Because it was always who he was—the gentle Suzuya who would always take care of them both, his child-like important friends.

Even if the ending will not be quite like he wanted.

He closes the door behind him, and proceeds out into the courtyard, only to find Kanata sleeping.

"Oi! Kanata!" He starts to scold.

"Suzuya will always be Suzuya!"

And it was something that would never change.

The last scene was my take on the part where Tsukiko gets a fever. Though I'm sorry if I didn't match all the parts XD

Suzuya! 3

I don't know what I'm writing anymoooore. ;((

05.14.2011

(I'm on a roll!)