They made a strange pair walking down the sidewalk, the small girl dainty in a dress, scarf and coat, and the woman with reddish hair, wearing a denim jacket.
"Scallions!"
"Uh… pickled daikon."
The woman held a shopping bag folded under her arm, as the two continued on their errand.
"Right. Tofu!"
"Salmon."
She had the shopping list written out so she didn't have to try and memorize it, but this was more fun.
"No, Mama, we're getting yellowtail, not salmon."
"But I like salmon better."
"We had salmon two days ago. We're getting yellowtail today. Eggs."
"Miso."
"Which kind?"
"Uh, white miso?"
"Correct! And we should get some fruit, too."
"My little Tohru is so smart!"
"Tangerine…"
Kyoko realized in an instant that her daughter had stopped. "Did you want to get tangerines, baby?"
Tohru pointed to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the bridge they were crossing. "No. That boy. His hair… it looks like yours."
Kyoko looked. "Wow, you're right. And he looks like he's your age. Pretty bold to be dyeing his hair at…"
Kyoko looked at the woman standing next to the boy. For an instant, their eyes met.
"Tohru, I need you to wait right here. Promise me you won't move at all."
"I won't, Mama."
"I promise I'll come right back." With a quick glance to her right, she saw there was a gap in the traffic coming. A car went by, another car… She dashed into the road, waiting briefly as a bus passed by in the opposite direction. Then across the second lane, and she was at the other side. In another second, she was next to the woman and the boy.
"Oh geez…" She was breathing hard at the quick sprint. "...that was pretty stupid of me, huh? I coulda been killed. Hey, how are you doin? So, my little girl… over across the street, see? Hey, Tohru, wave! See? That's her. She's five. So anyway, my Tohru, she looked over here and she saw your son… he's your son, right? She saw his hair and my hair is a bit like it so I just had to come over and introduce myself. Oh, I'm Kyoko Honda. Oh wow, my pulse is really going. So hey, what's your name anyway? Me and Tohru, we were just going shopping for dinner. I wanted salmon, but Tohru says we gotta have yellowtail. Hey, you wanna come with us? Or maybe we can go shopping later, and just go and have a cup of tea right now. Our apartment's just a couple blocks away. So hey, what's your name? I'm Kyoko… oh wait, I guess I said that already."
"I'm… Sohma."
"Good to meet you, Sohma. So, why don't we go have that tea, now? There's a crosswalk half a block down. I should have crossed there, but, you know, I didn't want to miss you two, Tohru would have been heartbroken. Why don't we head on over there now? Hey, what's your boy's name? I'll bet he and Tohru are friends in no time."
The other woman reached down to hold his hand. "He...he doesn't talk to anyone but me. And he doesn't like to be touched. It's bad if anyone touches him. Please… don't. Don't touch him."
"Got you, I'll make certain Tohru doesn't touch him. She's such a well-behaved little girl. Don't know where she got it, definitely not her mom. So, hey, let's head on over to the crosswalk now, okay? I don't want to leave Tohru by herself over there much longer." She waved. "Be there in a second, sweetheart!"
"I… I can't. I…"
Kyoko linked her arm to the arm of the woman and got in close. So that the boy couldn't hear. "Please… just come with me. I promise that nothing good will happen if you stay here. I see… I've seen that look in your eyes. I… listen, don't ever tell anyone I told you this, but I've seen that look in my own eyes before. I stood on a bridge like this one. But… you know, tomorrow might be really great, right? And your boy… what's his name."
"He's… he's Kyo. My Kyo."
Kyoko laughed boisterously. "You're kidding me! Kyo? His hair and his name matches mine? Crazy!"
She lowered her voice again. "But Kyo, your Kyo, I think he'd be really upset if his mama did something to hurt herself. So come with us, kay? We'll have tea, and rice crackers, and we'll do the shopping tomorrow. We'll get some ready meals at the convenience store on the corner. Tohru will be super gentle with Kyo, and you and I can talk all night if we need to."
"I… I wouldn't want to trouble…"
Kyoko grinned. "What, trouble? That's not anything close to trouble." Her arm still linked with the other woman, Kyoko slowly started walking to the crosswalk. Sohma pulled Kyo along with her.
"Hey, Tohru? We're coming right over! Then we're going home, change of plans, sorry, sorry!"
"Okay, mama!" the girl yelled from across the street.
"Oh geez, she's too precious, she's going to straight up kill me with cuteness one of these days. Course, who am I talking to? Your boy is pretty damn cute too. I can't get over that hair! So cool. How dare he look so cool, right?"
They reached the crosswalk and waited for the light to change. Tohru was waiting at the other side. "Be there in a second, baby! Oh, she is going to be so happy to have company. I mean, I have friends from work over sometimes, but I can't remember the last time we had someone her age. But don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't bother him. She's very obedient, I promise."
"Thank… thank you."
"Nothing to it." The light changed, and the three crossed the road. "And, we made it! Tohru, these are my friends. This is Mrs. Sohma, and this handsome fella here is Kyo. He's a little sensitive, though, so you can't touch him, okay?"
"Okay, mama." Tohru bowed. "Pleased to meet you, ma'am."
"Isn't she the cutest though? Ah, she's so polite it hurts. So anyway, let's go home, and we can get some dinner on the way. You know, fried chicken sounds really good."
"Mama, we had fried chicken four nights ago. Get gyoza instead."
"Ugh, fine." Kyoko leaned in to the other woman. "We'll have some tea, have some dinner, the kids will play, we can talk, maybe have a beer, have a nice cry, complain a little bit. Because I think you wanna see what tomorrow is like, right? I know I do. I think tomorrow is gonna be really nice. So let's wait for it."
"I'll… yes."
"And anyway, until you've had a cup of Tohru's, you really haven't had tea."