Help Line

: : :

Chapter 9

After my shower, Nana filled my hands with her promised hot cocoa and guided me to the couch where she loosely wrapped my shoulders in probably the softest blanket I had ever laid hands on. She fussed about the room, turning on the heater and closing the windows against the storm outside, creating the perfect, cosy environment.

"Do you want me to do something-"

"No! You stay right there," Nana scolded and pointed at me until I slumped further into my seat.

"But," I uttered quietly, "I left a bucket of soggy clothes in your genkan."

"Already in the washing machine! And your suit is hanging up until we can get it to the dry cleaners."

I opened my mouth to refute again, but the woman looked over her shoulder in a way that could only be described as 'mum said no'. I pouted and sipped my cocoa, a fluffy marshmallow bumping against my upper lip.

"Where are the kids?" I asked, waiting for my glasses to clear of fog again.

"Tsu-kun was helping your mystery boy get into some clothes. Strong feelings about pants, that one."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," I sighed before we both looked up as a door slammed and two boys came barrelling down the stairs.

"Let's play, let's play, let's play," the bouncy boy bellowed, taking a running jump onto the couch.

I yelped and moved my hot chocolate away from me as the hot drink sloshed over the rim.

"Be careful," Tsuna cried from beside his mother, looking utterly exhausted as he leant against her legs. "You nearly hurt Mary-san!"

"Huh? I did?" The boy blinked and looked up at me with wide eyes.

"Nearly," I admitted, shaking off my hand. "But I'm okay this time. Look before you leap next time, bouncy bean."

"Okay, sure!" He nodded and immediately began crawling all over the couch, stretching and wriggling and tugging on the waistband of his pants with a disgruntled huff.

"Not a fan of the pants?" I asked, remembering Nana's comment from before.

"They're just so," he made some grippy hand movements and shook them around.

"Yeah pants kinda suck sometimes - but you've got to keep them on for now, bean," I quickly urged when I saw him start to pull at them in irritation. "No pants are an 'at home' thing, okay? Pants are necessary in society."

"Society sucks, then. Like pants," he pouted and I let out a laugh in agreement.

I was starting to get sick of my suit pants too. God, what I'd give to just spend a whole day in my pyjamas, slouching about the house. What I'd give to spend a day at home-

I took a long, burning swallow of my hot chocolate and turned as Tsuna came tottering back into the room with his mother, two boxes of apple juice held in his hands. He looked less than pleased but his mother pushed him forward, and he slowly came to hand the other boy a juice box.

"Here you go, Ryohei-san."

Ryohei. I had a name. I glanced at Nana and she smiled at me, clearly listening as well.

"Ryohei-san," I began, and the boy looked up at me, slurping loudly through his straw. "Would you feel okay to call one of your parents using miss Nana-san's phone?"

Ryohei stared at me and started chewing on his straw, the plastic bending and buckling under his teeth. He shifted in his seat and one of his knees began to bounce on the spot. Before I could offer him an out, he looked at me and said, "Okay. I can call my dad, the lady at the news office is scary."

"Sure, whoever you feel comfortable with," I assured, hiding how excited I was that I managed to get him to actually call someone.

"The phone's in the hall," Nana hummed gently like she was aware of how fragile this progress was, cautious of scaring Ryohei back into his hole.

Ryohei shuffled around on the seat for a moment before pushing himself off the edge, little feet hitting the floor. He looked at the woman, then looked to me, and I smiled as I put aside my cocoa and got to my feet as well.

"Let's do this then, huh?" I smiled.

Ryohei pushed the buttons on the phone's console, each press making a tone ring out until it made the song of his father's phone number. He held the phone to his ear and listened to the tone.

It hit me like a wave, a sudden, horrible anxiety wrapping around my throat and weighing on my chest. I remembered all those times I had listened to that droning dial tone. Days upon days of holding my breath and biting my tongue, hoping that someone I knew would answer, anyone I knew would answer.

I stared at the back of Ryohei's head, and felt the sinking feeling in my stomach the longer the tone rang out. Don't do that to him, please, let someone answer. Don't leave him alone like that.

"Hello, Anytime Gymnasium Namimori," a man's voice called out and Ryohei's face broke into a grin.

"Tou-san!" Ryohei greeted vibrantly, bouncing on the spot.

The sinking feeling disappeared as fast as it came. Relief flowed in, and then frustration rose along with the burning need to cry. I wanted to be happy for him, relieved for him - and I was! But I was also so frustratingly resentful.

Why? I had been calling for days. Why did no one answer my calls? What was I doing wrong? I wanted to go home, why wasn't I allowed to go home!?

A hand came and wrapped around my fingers and I looked to see Tsuna staring up at me with eyes wide and concerned. He took a step forward and tugged on my hand, like he was trying to ask 'what's wrong?' When I didn't answer Tsuna frowned, before reaching up at me with both hands in a way that was universally understood.

I bent down and picked Tsuna up off the floor. He wrapped his legs around my waist and his arm around my shoulders and squeezed as tight as he could. Tsuna shoved his face into my neck and jostled my glasses against my face, his little bones dug into mine and the blisters on my feet let out a dull ache.

Bless this boy.

I squeezed my eyes shut and clutched Tsuna to me, wondering how long it had been since I had last been hugged.

It had been by my dad, wishing me luck at my interview.

Tsuna's arms clung tighter and, whether intentional or not, pulled me out of my depressive little spiral. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye: a blur of fluffy brown and a hint of orange.

"I'll be okay, Tsuna-san," I assured him quietly, "Thank you for the hugs, though. You're very good at giving hugs, little bean."

Directly in my ear, I heard Tsuna give a prideful little laugh. I didn't put Tsuna down immediately, and he seemed rather content to stay where he was, so I hoisted him up to get a more secure hold as I listened to Ryohei's phone call.

"What were you doing out of the house!? You knew there was a storm coming!" His father scolded and Ryohei made a sheepish sound.

"Yeah, but, playtime!"

"Playtime is later! Storm is now!"

I couldn't help the startled little laugh that burst from me at the near hysteric scolding that came from the father on the other end. Tsuna seemed to share the sentiment and giggled a bit into my shoulder.

"So you're at a lady's house? Can you give the phone to her?" The father asked and Ryohei handed the phone up to Nana who took it gently.

"Hello Ryohei-kun's dad! I'm Tsuna-kun's mother, Sawada," she introduced with all the syrupy sweetness of a mother trying to calm someone down. It worked a treat, and the voice on the other end became too quiet to overhear. "No, I wasn't the one who found Ryohei-kun. My friend Mary-san did, she brought him right over because we live nearby."

Ryohei reached out and started playing with the knobs on the cabinet the Sawadas' landline phone sat upon. He tugged and grinned when the doors snapped shut with a magnet. A repetitive, incessant 'click-clack, click-clack, click-clack' of the door being opened and slammed shut.

Nana brought a hand up to cover her other ear, trying to listen to the father on the phone.

"Ryohei-san," I whispered, moving Tsuna to one of my hips and freeing up my other hand. "Ryohei-san, that sound makes it hard for Nana-san to hear. Please stop."

The boy blinked up at me owlishly, and then let go of the door again. It slammed with a 'clack!'.

"Oh," Ryohei whispered back, like he suddenly realised how loud that sound was.

"Yeah," I winced with a smile. "Do you need to play with something?"

"No…" Ryohei frowned, but he was already rocking on his heels, tugging at his pant leg.

I looked past Nana to the genkan where my bag still sat, dripping wet. I quickly went over to it and started rooting around inside, Tsuna watching with big eyes as he peered at the contents. I let out a little 'aha' as I pulled out an empty tic-tac jar and came back over to Ryohei.

"Try this," I offered, and made a show of the easy motion of using a thumb to open and close the cap. "At least for a little bit. We need to pay attention to what your dad wants us to do."

Ryohei took the jar and started flipping the cap.

Nana gave me a quick look out of the corner of her eye and dropped her hand from her ear.

"We're happy to look after Ryohei-kun until you can get to us, Sawagawa-san. It won't be any trouble, my Tsu-kun can play with him and Mary-san's here to help out. She's got quite the golden touch with the children."

I huffed at the woman and hiked Tsuna up after he slipped a bit.

"Of course, Sasagawa-san, don't stress. We'll see you when you get here. Okay? Okay, talk to you soon. Ryohei-kun? Your dad would like to talk to you again.."

Ryohei beamed and took the phone to his ear.

"Hi tou-san! Yeah! Yeah! No! Nuh-uh, I won't! Okay! Hey, I don't eat that much! Tou-san!" Ryohei whined at the end and stomped his foot. "Yeah, fine! Bye-bye tou-san!"

I blinked as Ryohei hung up the phone with a great huff, cheeks all puffed up and muscles all clenched.

"Quite the eater are you, bouncy bean?" I asked with a laugh and Ryohei stuck his tongue out at me.

"Only 'cause I'm hungry!"

"Hey, I ain't judging," I defended playfully, "Eat if you're hungry. Food's great, bean."

Nana clapped her hands with a smile, seeming to very much agree with the idea. "Food is great! I love food! Speaking of, how do we feel about stir fry tonight? With some katsudon chicken?"

"Yeah!" Ryohei shouted and I felt Tsuna jolt on my shoulder like he had been woken out of a doze.

I rubbed Tsuna's back as he gave the weariest sigh I had ever heard from a child.

"Mary-san," Nana began and I looked over quickly. "Are you okay to watch the children while I get dinner going? It shouldn't take long."

"Are you sure you don't need help?" I asked but the woman was already waving me off.

"No, no, I quite like my space when I'm in the kitchen! Now go, see if you can tire the boys out!"

"Let's go hang out while Miss Nana-san cooks," I invited Ryohei who grinned and ran ahead into the living room. When Ryohei rounded the corner, I gently pulled Tsuna out of my shoulder and regarded his little pout. "Are you feeling okay, bean?"

Tsuna frowned at me something severe, like he was offended that Ryohei was staying. Then he huffed and nodded, looking rather disgruntled.

"I'm fine," he muttered, "Ryohei-san's just loud."

"He is, isn't he?" I agreed gently, "But Ryohei-san's very friendly, too! He seems to like you a lot!"

Tsuna blinked then seemed to think about it and then nodded slowly.

"Yeah, he's nice."

I smiled and let Tsuna slip back to the ground. He reached up and took my hand, holding it tight in his as we walked back into the livingroom to find Ryohei nearly bouncing off the walls with impatience.

"What game are we gonna play? Huh? Another maths game? Or! Or! We could play heroes! I wanna be an Ultraman!" Then he rounded on us and Tsuna nearly flinched behind me. "What do you wanna be!? There are like twenty Ultramen but it'll get confusing if we're both Ultras-"

I smiled and knelt down on the carpet, my hand still clutched in Tsuna's small one. He was shuffling on the spot and glancing between Ryohei and I.

"Take a breath there, Ryohei-san!" I laughed and the boy blinked at me with wide eyes. Ryohei then took in a huge, lungful of air exactly as I requested. "Tsuna-san," I began and the boy turned to me. "What do you want to be for the game?"

Tsuna tucked his chin into his chest and took a step closer to my side. He pouted a bit, unsure, and then uttered, "Robot 27."

Robot 27? I could physically feel those cogs in my brain mincing over that name, something about it familiar- Oh!

I gasped theatrically, "The great rescue robot, Robot 27!?"

Tsuna's face split into a shy grin even as he ducked down deeper, like he was trying to smother that smile.

"Is the great rescue robot, Robot 27, going to work with Ultraman!?" I continued, turning to Ryohei who at some point had started bouncing on the spot, chanting 'Robot! Robot! Robot!'

Now, I just needed to figure out what the heck an 'Ultraman' was.

"Y-yeah, Robot 27 is going to work with Ultraman!" Tsuna agreed just over the chanting, Ryohei acting as some kind of hype-man for the little bean.

I smiled as Ryohei came closer to us, hands fists of enthusiasm.

"Mary-san! Who're you gonna be?" He asked, and I froze for a moment, realising that I was being pulled into this play.

"Well, let's see who do we need?" I asked out loud, hoping for some guidance. Child's play was no simple matter after all. "Our great rescue bot needs someone to rescue, shall I be a helpless victim? A damsel in distress!?"

"No! Mary-san is strong! And fast!" Tsuna denied and I looked to him as he frowned up at me like he was offended. "Mary-san carried someone for like hours!"

"You can?!" Ryohei gasped, getting in my face. "People are heavy! I tried to pick up my dad and he was heavy! Like a boulder!"

"I can probably lift you at least," I laughed and gently eased the boy away. "But Tsuna-san, even strong people need help! I'm sure I wouldn't be able to fight off something that needs both Robot 27 and Ultraman!"

"Yeah, you could! You found me in the storm! You have ultra-vision!" Ryohei insisted, completely ignoring the existence of his beloved 'see-me' jacket. Then Ryohei came barreling towards me again and I yelped as he crashed into my chest and grinned up at me with bright eyes. "You'd need Ultraman and Robot 27 to beat Mary-san!"

"Yeah!" Tsuna agreed, obviously not realising what he was setting me up for.

I sighed as the children got caught up in themselves, before giving a shrug. Then I got up on my knees and puffed up my chest as I announced, "Then I will be the villainous-" think of a name, think of a name. My earrings tugged on my hair. "Shell Ears!"

Shell Ears?! What the hell Mary!?

The two boys stared at me for a moment and I withheld the desire to curl into a fetal position and disappear into the carpet. Gotta stick with it.

Then Tsuna gasped and pointed at me, "Shell Ears?! How did you find our hideout!"

The boys screeched as I descended upon them with appropriately timed evil-laughs and declarations of villainy.

Ryohei proved that his physical nature reached into play too, and would take running jumps at me from behind, climbing up to scream from over my shoulder. I nearly went toppling the first time, but after the second 'sneak attack' where he shouted "Ultraman Ultimate Sneak Attack!" I learnt to brace for impact. It was the fourth time he tried this, that I swung around, caught the boy mid-air and turned him upside down.

"Ultraman!" Tsuna gasped as Ryohei flailed wildly, laughing like a loon as he did.

I kept my hold around his middle tight, arms locked over one another to make sure I didn't drop the boy.

"Robot 27! Run! Go without me, warn the others!" Ryohei shouted, reaching for Tsuna who watched on with wide eyes.

"Are you going to run away, Robot 27?" I asked, grinning down at Tsuna while I swung Ryohei side to side. "Is the greatest rescue robot going to leave his dear friend Ultraman?"

"No!" Tsuna responded, a thunderous frown on his face as he stood up and took a stance that was obviously from some cartoon. "Robot 27 never leaves his friends!"

Tsuna ran forward and made a large power move. I laughed and collapsed back onto the couch, loosening my hold on Ryohei so that he could wiggle his way out of my arms.

"I'm free! Robot 27 you saved Ultraman!" Ryohei cheered and wrapped Tsuna up in one of his bone-crushing hugs. "Thank you!"

Tsuna blinked from inside Ryohei's arms, the top of his head peeking out. He turned red a the praise Ryohei was singing him, and despite how he seemed a bit uncomfortable, there was a smile with teeth creeping across his face.

"Dinner time!" Nana called out and I stood up to help clear the table for the woman as she brought out a large pot of noodles and fried chicken fillets.

The conversation with Ryohei's father had tipped me off that maybe Ryohei was a bit of a glutton, but nothing prepared me for the sheer metric mass of food this boy could put away. Plate after plate, Ryohei just kept eating and the pot that would have easily served a large family with ample leftovers was polished off within half an hour.

A bit of chicken fell from my fork in shock.

"Hey, hey, Mary-san, why do you use that?" Ryohei asked, pointing at the fork in my hands.

"I, uh, don't know how to use chopsticks well," I answered, rubbing the back of my neck. "I didn't use them at home a lot."

"Eh? Really?" He gaped and Tsuna perked up.

"Mary-san is from Australia! Really far away!" Tsuna told him with all the enthusiasm of a child who knew stuff.

I smiled with gritted teeth when Ryohei looked at me in awe. I felt a hand on my wrist and looked over to see Nana smiling at me gently, a soft, comforting furrow to her brow.

I ducked my head and let her squeeze my wrist again. The boys happily chattered with each other, none the wiser.

A/N: Hi! Sorry I've been gone for so long and this is a shorter chapter. 2023 decided that my family was gonna speedrun this year's karma with car crashes, hospitalisation, health problems and breaking my computer. So, I, uh, kinda got a bit busy. But! I'm back and the karma speedrun is done (hopefully) and my life is no longer a trainwreck (hopefully) so I should (hopefully) be able to finally get to doing some projects that I'm really excited for!