{ONESHOT} You're my rhinoceros [PART 4]

[kyjr]

“Koki-san’s house is so nice; and he’s got a bunny, and a monkey, and a dog, and another dog, and he used to have a parrot but something happened and now he doesn’t have it anymore; and we ate something that he cooked, and it was really nice even though it had onions in it.”

How Yuki was able to say all of that with only one breath, Ryo would never know.

The night had gone well, apparently. Koki had cooked some kind of curry, which Yuki had really liked, according to the detailed description she had given Ryo on the drive home. She hadn’t stopped talking for three hours straight.

“Eat your dinner,” he mumbled into his store-bought bento. He felt rather inadequate at the moment.

Yuki paused to practically shovel food into her mouth before starting again. “And he let me watch a movie about princesses and unicorns and-“

“Yuki,” Ryo muttered, through gritted teeth. “Just eat your food and get to bed.” There was only so much talk about unicorns and pink things that he could take during the day. It was starting to get to him.

Yuki went quiet, and Ryo sighed. Finally. Now he could get back to reading that script. They ate in silence, the only sound being that of Ryo turning the pages, or mumbling to himself.

The little girl was the first to finish her dinner, pressing her hands together in thanks before she stood to throw out the remainder of the food. “I’m going to bed now, Nishikido-san,” she practically whispered.

“Okay. Night.”

Ryo didn’t notice her eyes full of tears.

He didn’t even hear her cry herself to sleep that night.

>>><<<

It was Saturday. Saturday, and Ryo had a hyper six year old in his house, bounding around the place. “What should we do today, Nishikido-san?” she laughed, as he just stared.

“It’s nine o’clock in the morning,” he mumbled, voice not yet working due to lack of coffee. “Why are you up so early?”

“Grandma always wakes up early on Saturdays!” Yuki said, and Ryo made a mental note to ring that woman, later. She had been either visiting them every day or ringing them, asking them how things were going and checking to see if they were getting along.

Ryo still didn’t like the woman, though.

“Why don’t you get changed, and then we can figure out what to do,” Ryo said, and Yuki nodded eagerly before rushing into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Ryo slumped down at the kitchen bench, nursing his cup of coffee between both hands and blowing at it carefully. He hadn’t had a day alone with the little girl yet, and wasn’t sure what to do. He did have to go get some groceries, though. Maybe they could go grocery shopping, then come home and-what? What would they do then? What would a six year old girl want to do?

Ryo was startled out of his thoughts by the doorbell ringing, and he sighed before going to answer it, coffee cup still in his hands. “What?” he asked gruffly, before realising who was standing outside his door. “Koki?”

“Yo,” he waved. Koki stepped past Ryo, looking about the place with interested eyes.

“What…are you doing here?” Ryo asked, shutting the door and quickly taking a sip of coffee. Coffee seemed to solve all his problems.

Koki turned and shrugged. “Maybe to help you be a better father?”

Ryo just stared. “You what?”

“You’re kind of… failing,” Koki said, averting his eyes and pretending to be very interested in a stain on the carpet. Ryo saw red.

“Don’t you dare tell me how I’m doing!” Ryo snapped, quickly walking up to the other and grabbing onto the collar of his shirt, “How would you know? What would you know? Do you know how hard it is for me? I practic-“

“She tells me, you know,” Koki said calmly, and Ryo quietened, his grip on Koki loosening.

“Koki-san?” Yuki called, peeking around the corner. “Nishikido-san, is that Koki-san?”

“Huh?” Ryo asked distractedly, “Oh. Yeah.”

Yuki ran from the corridor, a great big smile on her face and her arms out. Koki knelt down, ready for her embrace, and hugged her back tight once she reached him. Ryo watched the two, jealously flaring up in the pit of his stomach. “Hi, Yuki,” Koki said, into her hair.

“Koki-san, could you do my hair again?” Yuki asked, eyes hopeful. Koki nodded, adding that she needed to go and get her hairties first, and she was gone again, skipping back to her room. There was an awkward, tense silence as they waited for her to come back.

“I found them!” she shrieked, rushing back to Koki, who laughed.

“Turn around, then.”

Ryo watched as Koki parted Yuki’s hair down the middle, gently placing one half back over her shoulder, which she held obediently. He split the other half into three parts, and started flipping them over each other, one after the other, until he had a perfect plait. He tied it off, and then started on the other one.

Huh. So that was how you did it.

“What are you guys doing today?” Koki asked Yuki, as he worked. Yuki shrugged, looking up at Ryo.

“Nishikido-san? What are we doing today?” she asked, and Koki paused, meeting Ryo’s eyes.

“Uhh…”

“Why don’t we all go to the zoo?” Koki interrupted, and Yuki’s face lit up.

“Really?” she asked, her voice impossibly high. She looked back to Ryo for confirmation.

“Uuh…yeah. Sure.” Ryo didn’t even know where the zoo was.

Yuki made some kind of high-pitched noise and ran back to her room. “Don’t forget your jacket!” Ryo yelled after her, and she made another squeak to tell him that yes, she’s already found it. “What’s she doing in there?” he asked, mainly to himself, but Koki got to his feet.

“She’s getting her bag ready,” he answered, and Ryo could only nod. Stupid bastard knew more about his daughter than he did. Yuki came out soon enough, her little red bag fastened around her shoulders, and her unicorn tucked under her arm. “Are we ready?” Koki asked, and Yuki nodded, busy checking that she had everything.

“So, are we going?” Koki asked, this time to Ryo.

“I suppose so,” Ryo said, shrugging on his own jacket. “Isn’t it a bit early, though?”

“There’s no such thing as too early!” Koki punched his fist into the air, and Ryo had to laugh. Koki smiled, and took one of Yuki’s hands in his, walking to the door. “You want me to drive, or--?”

“You’d better drive; I haven’t been to the zoo since I was twelve,” Ryo explained, “I don’t even know if it’s in the same place.”

Koki looked at him. “You haven’t been since you were twelve?”

“…No. Is that bad?” Ryo was sure the world wasn’t going to end just because he hadn’t seen a few tigers in a while.

Koki stopped walking, and just looked at him. “Twelve?”

“Yes!” Ryo snapped, “So what? When was the last time you went?”

“…Last month.”

“…Oh.”

They were silent as they slipped into Koki’s car, which Ryo begrudgingly decided was quite comfortable, and smelt rather nice. Yuki practically talked non-stop the entire way there, but Ryo stopped listening, falling into some kind of daydream, his eyes unfocused as he watched the buildings flash past the windows. He could hear Koki’s rumble of a voice as he answered whatever question Yuki had asked, and the two laughed at something, but Ryo was paying no attention.

There was a song forming behind his closed eyelids.

Yuki leapt out of the car as soon as it was parked, bouncing on her toes as she waited impatiently for the adults to join her. “Ryo?” Koki called, shaking his shoulder carefully. “You asleep?”

“No,” Ryo grumbled, opening his door. “I was writing.”

Koki looked at him. “…Okay…”

“No, it-oh forget it,” Ryo sighed exasperatedly, climbing out of the car and joining Yuki, who was staring up at the zoo with wide eyes. “Have you ever been to the zoo before?” he tried, and Yuki nodded.

“I went to one with mummy, before…” she started, but cut her sentence short and wiped furiously at her eyes.

“Oh,” was all Ryo could say, unsure of what to do. But she was back to smiling and gawking up at the building in front of her quickly; the only sign that there had been any tears was a slight redness to her eyes.

“Are we going, or are you two just gonna stand there looking like idiots?” Koki laughed, watching the two from further down the path.

“...Don’t call my daughter an idiot!” Ryo yelped, and ran after Koki, who shrieked and almost bowled over an elderly lady in his haste to get away. “Come back here and face me like a man!”

Koki just shrieked again - which was very un-manly - and continued to twist away out of Ryo’s grip, laughing.

Ryo realised much later that yes, he was probably that embarrassing father that all children had.

PART 5