"Megumi! Tsumiki! Come down and put your shoes on before I change my mind!" Toji called up from the bottom of the staircase whilst pulling on a black leather jacket over his broad shoulders. Tsumiki was the first to appear at the top of the stairs, smiling brightly down at her stepfather as she promptly descended down the steps, adorned in her favourite sunflower themed dress with matching hair clip. Not far behind her was Megumi, who first peered around the corner of the bannister and then slowly plodded down the stairs, holding onto the handrail so as not to slip. The boy donned a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, suitable for the heat of July. Once both children were downstairs, the pair raced to the front door to put their shoes on, with Toji observing them in mild amusement. The man had promised to take the children to the park today whilst his wife, Tsumiki's mother and Megumi's stepmother, was at work. It was a warm summer's day, which was ideal weather for a day at the park.
As Toji slipped on a pair of sliders, he saw his son silently wrestling with his shoelaces. Megumi, with deep concentration etched onto his face, tried repeatedly to fasten his shoes the way his father had previously taught him to but each time, his efforts fell short as the laces came undone before the child could even stand. Meanwhile, Tsumiki had already selected a pair of sandals to wear and was adjusting the last strap on her footwear. Toji knelt down to Megumi's level, knowing the child was too stubborn to ask for assistance, and demonstrated the technique he had showed the boy, effectively tying his shoelaces for him while Megumi watched curiously how his father's hands intertwined the laces with one another to form a perfect knot.
"Hold my hand as we walk and no funny business, ok?" Toji instructed to the two children, shoving his house keys deep into his jacket pocket, grabbing a small bag with some necessities and concealing his eyes behind a pair of sunglasses. The trio then left their abode, Tsumiki holding Toji's hand whilst Megumi insisted on being carried on his father's shoulders. In the local area, there was a small park roughly a ten minute walk away from their home, which was perfect as it meant neither parent or child had to travel very far for a day of entertainment and excitement. Toji felt his stepdaughter squeeze his hand slightly as they drew nearer to the park, Megumi reciprocating his stepsister's excitement by twitching his legs. The man stopped just in front of the brightly coloured gates, kneeling to place Megumi firmly on the ground then turning to reach into the bag he brought.
Tsumiki and Megumi both reached for the bolt to unlock the gate, but were stumped when they found themselves unable to pull it open to let themselves through. That was because, as Tsumiki spotted, Toji had placed a foot at the bottom of the gate to hold it closed whilst he pulled out a bottle of suncream from the bag. "Not so fast, we're putting this on first so neither of you end up burnt to a crisp." Megumi pouted upon seeing the bottle of suncream, reluctantly falling behind Tsumiki as Toji covered the two in a thick coating of the smelly lotion. Once Toji was satisfied, he removed his foot from the bottom of the gate, stifling a laugh as he watched Megumi's tiny toddler hands swing open the gate with brute force and the two children running into opposite directions in the playground. Tsumiki made a beeline straight for the swingset and happily hopped onto a swing, kicking her little legs to and fro to propell herself forward. Megumi headed to the slide, where he waited behind another boy for a turn. Closing the gate behind him, Toji positioned himself underneath a large, thick oak tree where he could keep an eye on both children playing. That was until he heard his name being called by Tsumiki, who was also waving her arms to the adult to capture his attention, "Toji, please push me! Please push me high!"
Meanwhile, Megumi's turn had finally come, the boy itching with anticipation as he hopped onto the first step to climb up to the top of the ladder. Only, he was halted in his tracks by a harsh tugging of his shirt, causing him to fall backwards and onto his bottom. Megumi swivelled his head around to see the cause of this assault, glancing at an older boy towering above him with an awful smirk plastered across his face.
"This slide is for big kids, not for babies like you" the child snickered to Megumi, crossing his arms across his chest and standing firm as though he were some kind of authority on the matter. Megumi, who felt annoyed at having been rudely interrupted, paid no mind to the ginger haired child and turned to climb the steps up the slide yet again. This perturbed the older child, compelling him to waddle in front of Megumi to prevent him from gaining acess to the slide. "Didn't you hear what I said kid? This isn't for babies, so go play somewhere else!" the boy spat, roughly shoving Megumi to the ground while laughing coldly. This did not sit well with Megumi, the young child jumping up and aiming a swift kick to the elder child's private area, sending the latter to his knees with tears streaming down his cheeks. Instantaneously, a grown man entered the scene and flew to the elder child's side, aiming a glare at young Megumi. "Hey! You don't do that! Where are your parents?" Megumi pointed to the swingset where Toji was pushing Tsumiki, noting that this man was evidently this child's father based on the stark resemblance they had to one another. The older child snickered behind the safety of his father as the man gripped Megumi's wrist and dragged him over to the swingset, muttering under his breath about how poorly Megumi must have been raised to be behaving in such a manner.
"Which one is your mother or father, point them out!" The snivelling man stopped just a few feet away from the swingset, bending down to force Megumi to make eye contact with him at which point, the boy had managed to free himself from the man's sweaty grasp.
"Hey, hands off my kid!" Toji stopped pushing Tsumiki on the swing, briskly strolling over to the man with a fierce look in his eye whilst Tsumiki observed the scene unfold with a hand covering her mouth.
"Or what, what're you-" As the man turned to face Toji, his mouth dropped agape. Even his own son, gripped onto his father's arm tighter at Toji's appearance. Megumi casually strutted over to Toji, unbothered by the situation as he turned and waved to Tsumiki on the swingset. Toji, keeping a cool head, knelt down to Megumi to ask what was happening.
"Megumi, what is going on? Why is this man shouting at you?" Toji questioned, wanting to hear the child's version of events.
"I was waiting for a turn on the slide. The boy beside him told me it wasn't for babies and pulled me off the steps and pushed me down, so I kicked him in the private parts. That's when the man showed up, grabbed me and told me to take him to my parents." Megumi rambled, taking a deep breath after he finished as he hadn't paused for any air during the length of his explanation.
"Grabbed you, you say? Where son?" Toji inquired, sensing his blood boil at the thought of a strange man touching his child.
"On my wrist, see?" The boy showed his father the wrist the stranger had clamped down on and sure enough, there was a red marking that wrapped right around the wrist.
Toji clenched his jaw, standing slowly and approaching the stranger with a dangerous look scrawled across his face. The stranger in question, stammered pathetically, looking around the playground for any sign of support from another parent or caregiver. Seemingly, it appeared as though every other parent in the area had hidden for cover. "Well I'm sure it didn't quite play out like that, my little Shota wouldn't do that see-" The man tried to defend his son, stepping back as Toji stepped forward.
"Oh, so my son is lying, is he?" Toji removed his sunglasses, so that his emerald eyes could pierce into the man's very core.
"No, no! I just mean, maybe he misremembered what happened is all!" The stranger smiled, attempting to alleviate the tension.
"Daddy, when the man was dragging me here he said that I must be poorly raised to be acting like that." Megumi piped up from behind Toji, causing the stranger's face to drain completely of all colour. Even his own son looked as though he'd pass out from fear.
"Oh well- what I meant by that was-" The man fumbled over his words, searching for an answer, anything that could be said to spare him.
"Take your son and leave. And if I see you or that snivelling rat you call a son near either of my children again, I won't be as nice as I was this time." Toji whispered into the man's ear, sending him running with his son in tow out of the park at an impressive speed.
"I'm proud of you for sticking up for yourself son, well done" Toji ruffled Megumi's messy hair playfully, "Tsumiki, let's take a break, I think we could do with some ice cream." The children cheered in unison and sprinted across to the ice cream van parked just outside of the playground. The man was surprised at how sturdy Megumi was for a toddler, picking him up so that he could choose what ice cream he desired from the ice cream truck menu board as they waited in line.
Then again, Megumi was his son.