He'd been waiting.

He felt his knees shaking from all the weight of his age and decided to sit by the stone bench under the cherry blossom. Sora's parents were away for the week, and gladly, he took the little boy in. He needed the excitement in his life, even if it meant following a hyperactive little toddler around the living room. Tadashi took in the breeze and smiled.

He was waiting.

"Grampa!" came a voice from his right. There was Sora, all teary-eyed and tripping over his own two feet. The child ran to him and hugged him tightly. Tadashi was briefly reminded of Hiro at his age, running to him for protection.

"What's wrong, Sora?" he embraced him back.

"I want to go home!" he bellowed, sobbing into his chest. Tadashi decided not to pry further, knowing the boy was already as overwhelmed as he was. At the corner of his eye, he spotted some other children snickering. He threw them a dirty look. He didn't look as intimidating as he was in his prime but he figured it still worked when the kids stopped snickering and looked back at their lunches.

He sighed. "Come along, Sora." he stood up albeit slowly. "Walk with me?" he smiled, offering his hand to the wide eyed child. Sora took it then, fitfully wiping away his tears.

They walked around San Fransokyo till he stopped crying. They've reached the hills that curved around the patches of forest. He kicked a few rocks and picked a few flowers and Tadashi knew the boy was okay now. He ran ahead with his arms spread beside him like an airplane. He did a full turn and ran back to his grandfather. Sora took his hand and started walking with him again.

"Grampa, mom always says I look like granny." he mumbled, twisting a flower in his hand. "What was granny like?" he asked, looking up at him with familiar green eyes.

Tadashi was somehow amused with the little boy. They've finally reached a small curve by the road that overlooked San Fransokyo. It was a busy city but from up here, where the skies kissed the breeze ever so gently, everything seemed serene. They sat down on a patch of grass on a slope that cars don't pass by often.

"I bet granny was awesome! Was she smart like you, grampa?" he continued, uprooting a few of the sprouts and blowing them to the wind.

Tadashi took in a deep breath. "Why were you crying a while ago, Sora?"

The boy pulled his knees in and scrunched up his nose. He forcefully threw the crumpled blades of grass in his hand to the ground. "Some of the kids made fun of me 'cause I made a boat." he grumbled.

"You made a boat? What kind of a boat?" Tadashi grinned. An inner sense of pride swelling in his chest.

"A boat that could fly." Sora mused.

"Isn't that a plane?" he chuckled.

"That's the thing, it flies but it looks like a boat. Aero dynamo something something. I changed it." he said offhandedly, a hint of a smile in his chubby cheeks. "but then Jacob came and he threw it out the window. It flew of course, but I'll never see it again. Then they made fun of me, they called me…a… something. But I know it's bad." he pouted, playing with his toes distractedly.

Tadashi looked at the city and sighed. He was very fond of his only grandchild. The boy was more precious to him than anyone else. He smiled and took off his cap and placed it on the boy's head. It swallowed his small crown and he looked up and grinned.

"You are a little me after all. I thought you took so much from your dad." he laughed. The boy laughed and readjusted the cap so that it'd fit him. "I was very much like you. The kids back in school bullied me too because I didn't have a mom and dad like the others did. And I ate rice." he smiled; it was nice to reminisce once in a while.

"Really?" the boy stared at him in shock. "But grampa, you were the one who protected Grampa Hiro when you were kids right?"

"Yes I did. Your gramps did get bullied a lot. But that was before I met your granny. Without her, I never would've gained the courage to stand up for myself." he smiled and closed his eyes. "You really want to hear the story? It'll be romantic and yucky." he chuckled.

"Nah, I can handle that." Sora pursed his lips and puffed out his chest.

"Very well. I'll tell you."

—-

The swings were surprisingly empty this lunch hour. All the kids were crowding over the new spaceship playlet on the other side of the field. Tadashi sat on the swing and smiled a little, if not to hide his happiness. He'd been wanting to play there since his first day here in San Fransokyo Elementary last week. But these kids from the upper class called it theirs and wouldn't let him play on it. They all spoke in another weird language; Aunt Cass called it English. Tadashi didn't know what was wrong with his.

He sighed and opened his bento, there was a panda made up of rice and sushi for ears. Tadashi sorely wished he was back in Japan where all his friends were. Sadly, he pushed on his feet to move the swing and began to eat. The tears were collecting on his eyes but he stopped them from dropping.

He heard heavy footsteps running towards him. The kids were running towards him again. There was this boy that didn't look young enough to be in the first grade, he was twice as tall as Tadashi. He was angrily screaming at him something he couldn't understand. There were two other kids behind him, one was lanky and the other was a scary looking girl with yellow hair. The large boy was still screaming at him and Tadashi felt like cowering but his body wouldn't move. The large boy stomped towards him and frowned.

He said another thing with a tone that sounded like he was warning Tadashi. He felt a force on his chest and his back collided with the ground. He heard his bento box clatter on the cement. From the ground, the shadows of the other students crowding around him shielded him from the blinding sun. They were laughing, all of them. The lanky kid flanking the larger one took his rice and held it up and showed the other students. They laughed even harder. The lanky boy snickered and took his bento. Tadashi curled in ball as he felt his food being thrown at him. The tears flooded his vision, and he felt nauseous, a churning in his stomach. He was fighting the sob in his throat causing a painful clenching. He felt like he was suffocating.

He heard a girl's shrill shout that broke away from the laughing mess. He heard the large boy scream as well. There was a clicking of heels and he heard the teacher's voice scold the bullies. The voices got farther and farther and farther away. Finally, he let the sob out. He cried, cried out all the pain he felt inside, clutching his stomach and letting his face hit the floor.

He felt a gentle hand on his back and another shadow in front of him. The girl spoke in another language, a comforting tone in her voice. She kneeled and Tadashi saw a curtain of blonde hair cover him. Still he sobbed again and again, repeating that he wanted to go home again and again, in the hopes that the ground would swallow him up.

"I want to go home." he sobbed again and again. He did not expect the girl to understand him. She was like those English speakers.

"I know. It's alright, they're gone."

He looked up. No, she wasn't Japanese at all. She looked like them, although more tan. She had a large green eyes and a small nose. Tadashi gaped, she was really pretty.

"I'm Aiko." the side of her mouth quirked. She helped him up and sat him down on the swing. She dug through her yellow backpack and got out a pink shirt.

"This is my extra shirt but you can sneeze into this." she handed him the shirt.

Tadashi realized that his snot was oozing down his face, mixing with the tears.

"I— I can't." he blushed, about to wipe them away with his forearm.

"Don't! That's nasty!" she urged, taking his face in her hand and wiping with her shirt. Tadashi could only look up in wonder. Only his mother held him like that.

"You should never let Buford push you around like that. He only bullies you because he's jealous that the teachers favour you over him." her brows knitted. She held the shirt to his nose. "Blow."

He took that as a cue to sneeze into the cloth.

"There." she stepped back and grinned. She folded the shirt carefully and tucked it back in her bag. They heard the bell rang and looked back to the classroom. Tadashi felt his heartbeat pacing back up at the thought of confronting the kids again.

"Come on!" she said. Tadashi felt a warm hand in his. He looked at the girl—Aiko— there was a wild grin on her face. "It's P.E. for the rest of the afternoon anyway. I know somewhere we can go."

She tugged on his hand. He, in an almost dazed manner, followed her along.

They stole away through the busy streets of San Fransokyo, through hills and and buildings. Tadashi didn't know his way well enough but with the look of the greenery surrounding him, they were at the outskirts of the busy city.

They sat on a patch of grass beside the road. A tourist spot meant for overlooking the great city of San Fransokyo. She pulled out a cat shaped lunch box and opened it. The smell of food wafted his senses.

"I still have an apple and a juice box left. Here, you must be hungry."

It was then that he knew.

"It was then that I knew."