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The Wrong Park

"Here we are, Sweetie," Ryuuji said as he and Lily entered the park hand in hand.

It was a beautiful warm Sunday. The sun was shining brightly and it was the perfect chance for a little father-daughter bonding, not to mention a chance for Rin to get out, relax, and socialize with adults, something he was still missing from his life even after going back to work. It was still only the occasional call in shifts after all, and working with coworkers wasn't the same thing as unwinding with friends.

He glanced down at Lily who was still clinging to him with her tiny fingers.

"Is something the matter?"

She fidgeted as she looked up at him, her tiny brows drawn together as she considered her answer.

"It's the wrong park."

Ryuuji snorted. "Maybe it's not the one Rin brings you to, but that doesn't make it wrong. Do you want to go on the swings? I can push you."

Lily pursed her lips and shook her head, but released his hand none the less before making her way towards the sandbox. Ryuuji took a seat on a nearby bench and began to watch Lily as she played.

The park was relatively new; brightly colored with fresh paint and sporting the latest in child safe playground equipment. No rusty swings or old splintered seesaws for kids to smack their heads against.

And yet, it was oddly quiet for mid-afternoon on a Sunday. He would have thought the park would be swarming with families, yet there were only a few mothers clustered together across the park as they idly chatted, only half watching their children even as most of the kids seemed to avoid each other, playing by themselves.

It happened so quick he almost missed it; Lily's surprised squawk drew his attention back just in time to see a young boy finish dumping a bucket of sand on her head. He was on his feet in seconds, her name on the tip of his tongue as she stood and shoved the other child to the ground.

The boy had barely started to cry before an unholy shriek broke the calm of the park. Ryuuji could only watch as one of the mothers broke from the cluster and charged across the park, grabbing Lily by her arm and wrenching her up.

"Who's child is this?!"

Ryuuji saw red and his hands itched for a trigger, but this wasn't combat. That woman wasn't a demon. His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath and tried to force down the instinctive urge to fight, to protect, and clenched his fists as he silently marched across the park, towards the woman holding his daughter. She momentarily paled at his approach, shrinking as he glowered down at her before straightening herself up and returning the look for all she was worth.

"Oh," she said simply, her voice dripping with disdain. "That explains it."

He held out his hand and the woman flinched as if she thought he was going to hit her, her grip loosening enough for Lily to brake free, and she grabbed Ryuuji's hand and scrambled behind his legs, still trying to wipe the sand off her face even as she held back frustrated tears.

"Your child assaulted my boy," the woman said coldly, the tone of her voice demanding something, though Ryuuji had no idea what it was and he rolled his eyes before he could stop himself. The woman crossed her arms over her chest and glared down her nose at him, as much as she was able to look "down" at someone who was a whole head taller than her. He couldn't remember the last time someone had so obviously judged him based on appearances, but that's exactly what the woman was doing, sizing him up, seeing the piercings and the hair and making her assumptions. He resisted the urge to punch her right in the face and took a deep breath, instead trying to think of what Rin would do. Well, maybe not what Rin would do. He wanted people to like him too much and Ryuuji certainly didn't want or need this woman's respect, but he still needed to be a good example for Lily.

"She shouldn't have done that," he said firmly as he looked down at Lily, speaking as much to her as to the woman, "And she'll apologize if your son apologizes for dumping sand on her."

"My Yacchan would never do such a thing," she said, crinkling her nose, "He's a good boy."

"She's covered in sand!"

"Well I don't know how you teach your daughter to play, but my son is neater than that."

"Lady, I saw him do it!"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"No, I'm calling you an idiot-" he stopped as Lily tugged on his hand, and he ignored the woman's outraged squawk and the how-dare-you's as he knelt so Lily could lean in close and whisper in his ear.

"Daaaad, I told you," she said, tears still evident in her voice as she continued to wipe sand from her face with a frustrated little whine, "It's the wrong park."

Ryuuji looked up at the woman who was still waving her fists as she screamed at him, making a complete spectacle of herself, then over at the cluster of other woman who were whispering furiously to each other behind their hands as they watched the scene, and it clicked.

The reason the park was practically deserted despite the beautiful day and brand new playground equipment.

"Aha!" he said, "You're right. This is the wrong park, isn't it?"

Lily nodded, sniffling back tears as Ryuuji took her hand and led her out of the park, still ignoring the woman's shouts. When they were a good distance away they stopped and he dried her tears and brushed the sand from her hair and clothes, then gave her a quick talk about not resorting to violence to get her way, but… It's not like he was one to talk after all.

Then, after a quick call to Rin, they were on their way again and it wasn't long before they arrived at their new destination.

This park was definitely older, but it was the wear and tear that came with being well used, rather than abandoned; nothing a new coat of paint wouldn't fix, not that the children scrambling across the equipment cared about the quality of the paint job or the color scheme.

Ryuuji gave Lily's hand a quick squeeze before he released her to go play and this time she headed off immediately, making a direct beeline for a group of other kids she clearly recognized. They greeted each other by name, and then made space for her, before getting right back in to the rhythm of whatever game they'd been playing.

He smiled to himself as he looked for a place to sit, but unlike the other park most of the benches were occupied. After a few moments of feeling completely lost he noticed a group of parents waving him over. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure they weren't waving at someone else, and then made his way over to where they were standing.

"You must be Rin's husband?" one of the women said, and a few of them tittered behind their hands much as the women at the previous park had done, though Ryuuji got the impression they were simply laughing at some joke he wasn't privy to, rather than taking pleasure at his expense.

"Ah, yeah…" he said, brushing the back of his neck awkwardly, "I guess, Rin comes here often with Lily?"

"Yeah," one of the women cooed, "He's told us all about you. Rin is so lucky."

"O-oh… um… Thank you?" he said awkwardly, not really sure if he should be pleased or worried. These women were sizing him up too, but it was definitely not like it had been at the other park. Ryuuji sighed. He got the feeling that even if he didn't say anything, Rin would hear all about this later, and it would probably be a while before he heard the end of it.