"Konoha-kun is there something you want?" The girl asked in a cheerful tone, eyeing the boy who seemed fixated on something that was on the very top shelf of the toy store. The boy did not avert his gaze and the girl tilted her head to the side a bit as she stood on her toes, attempting to meet the older boy's eye level.
"Honestly Konoha, you're an adult now. If you want something say it already and stop drooling over it." A brown haired boy strolled over with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his sleeveless white hoodie. He glared off to the side with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Shut up creep." The girl retaliated giving the boy a stern look before returning to the child-like man, "Konoha, what are you looking at up there? I can't see it cause of my size." The girl chuckled as she went back to being flat footed and stepped behind the man to see.
"Hiyori-sama, I think he is looking at the stuffed animal up there." Hibiya stated as he stepped to the other side of Konoha. The two struggled to stay up on their toes to get a full view of the creature. Even so, they could only see what resembled a horned nose sticking over the metal shelf.
"Obviously, I just wanted to be polite and not make him feel uncomfortable like you did. And drop the –sama already, it's really creepy." The girl muttered to the boy, giving him a dead eyed gaze.
"But Hiyori-sa-"
"Shut it shota. Konoha-kun, if you really want whatever is up there, I'm sure we can afford it. Can you just take it down so we can see it?" The girl quickly switched demeanors. She was being creepier than "ever with her cloying obsequious attitude. If only you acted like that around me, the boy thought to himself.
Konoha reached his arms towards the green stuffed toy and attempted to grab it. His fingers were so close to grabbing a part of it. He abruptly dropped his arms to the side and an awkward silence fell across the store isle.
He's too short.
Konoha may be a full grown adult and taller than most nineteen year olds, the shelf was just a couple inches higher than him.
"Hey Shota," Hiyori whispered as the two turned away from Konoha, "why do the shop employees always have to put the best toys on the highest shelves?"
"I know, I mean, can they even reach the toys themselves?"
"Well, for now, let's see if we can help Konoha-kun." They turned around towards the man who was still stuck in a trance. Hibiya waved a hand in his face. "Konoha-kun, if you lift me up I can get the toy for you okay?"
The snow-white haired adult nodded quietly as he turned his body, crouched down, and grabbed the little girl from her sides and held her up in front of the shelf. Hiyori gently grabbed the toy and Konoha set her down gently and mumbled a thank you before taking the toy from her. Hibiya blushed angrily at how gingerly he handled her. He walked around the man to where Hiyori stood only to find her blushing as well, only she was happy. When he reached the girl's side he glared angrily up toward Konoha.
"Another triceratops?" A voice cut in and the two kids turned and looked at the adult that stood at the other end of the isle. "Konoha just how many of those do you have?" The brown-haired adult strolled in with his hands in the pockets of his lab coat and stood next to Konoha.
Even Kenjirou-san is shorter than Konoha, Hibiya thought.
"…Triceratops…" Konoha mumbled to himself repeatedly, like a matra. Kenjirou simply removed one of his hands from his lab coat and pressed it against his face. He opened his eyes slowly as he slid the hand down and then used it to push his glasses up, as if a sign of him regaining his composure. "Well if you want it that badly, we'll buy it. But remember, I don't want to hear you whining about negima when we go to the supermarket, understood?' He had walked back the way he came but turned around for a minute to glare back Konoha.
"Negima?" Konoha asked with his quiet, cute voice as he turned his head around to face the man, dropping the toy and putting it out of mind completely. He turned his body around almost robotically and paused for a moment before racing towards his guardian and barking negima at every angle.
"Hiyori, can you pick that up please and carry it over here? I think I'm going to need you two in the supermarket to keep this child in line."
"Negima…" Konoha mumbled as he took the triceratops from Hiyori and hugged it to his chest as he shuffled his feet behind Kenjirou.
As they left the isle Kenjirou grabbed the cart he had left at the end, and picked Konoha up and placed him in it. He couldn't have him walking off again, after all, there was already a ten other triceratops in the cart sitting around Konoha of all sizes.
How will I afford all this? Kenjirou thought to himself as he pushed the cart silently, ignoring the looks of people gave him and the cart. Konoha simply picked up the biggest triceratops in the cart and shoved it front of Kenjirou's face. Who knew taking care of an adult would be harder than four children?
"Triceratops…"