[team two] スーパーの運命の出会い
i don’t even remember where this idea came from but here’s single dad!shin with a cute daughter and a handsome new acquaintance hokuto. might write some more later.
shintaro & hokuto | G? PG? | ~1,300 words
”Now, we’re going to the big supermarket, and there are lots of people, so I need you to hold on to the cart or you’ll get lost.”
Shintaro crouched down in front of his four-year-old daughter to properly get her attention and quickly stroked her pigtail.
”Understand, Chiyo?”
”Un,” the girl nodded. She had a habit of wandering off if she saw something interesting, and it wasn’t once or twice when Shintaro had been searching for her at a beach or park or playground in full panic. He wouldn’t want to repeat that now at their new, nearby supermarket.
”Alright then, papa will get the cart and then we can go.”
It went fine for the first fifteen minutes or so. Chiyo walked nicely by the cart while Shintaro picked some bread, vegetables and meat for them. Since the store was new, he didn’t know the location of certain products so they had to walk back and forth a couple times.
”Chiyo, do you want to sit in the cart? Are you tired?” Shintaro tried even though he could guess the answer already.
”No!” the girl said right away. ”I want to walk.”
”Alright then… Let’s go look for coffee.”
”Papa, can we buy Chiikawa candy?”
”Let’s see. It’s not weekend…”
Shintaro finally found the right aisle for coffee and spices and turned the cart between the shelves. There was a nice offer for the coffee he liked to drink, so he happily added two packages in the cart before turning to browse the spice shelf. As he squatted down in front of the shelf, he glanced towards their cart and his stomach dropped when he noticed the cart side was empty.
”Oh shi-… Chiyo?”
Shintaro looked back and forth between the current aisle and then hurried to the next one to see if the girl had just fallen behind. She wasn’t there either.
”Chiyo!”
The familiar worry twisted his stomach, even though Shintaro’s rational side knew that she was close by somewhere and most likely couldn’t wander out of the store by herself. He asked the nearby older couple if they’d seen a small girl with a yellow jacket, but they hadn’t.
Shintaro left the cart and hurried back to the main aisle, where he tried to spot a small figure among the other customers and carts. He passed the sweets aisle to check if the girl had wandered there in search for her favorite candy, but only saw older kids there. Shintaro could feel his anxiety level rising by the second, and he was just considering informing the staff about the missing child, when an announcement cut through the regular advertisements and store music:
4-year-old Chiyo is waiting for his father by the cashier counters.
”Thank God,” Shintaro muttered. ”Cashier, cashier…”
He spun around, trying to figure out which direction to hurry to.
”Cashiers are that way, son,” an old lady near him pointed to the aisle on his right.
”Ah, thank you so much!” Shintaro bowed quickly and sped to the direction the lady had pointed.
-
Hokuto had come to the supermarket to look for a quick lunch, but had been distracted by the skincare shelf. He was reading the description for a new foam cleanser when he noticed a small child loitering nearby. She appeared to be alone, and was looking around, looking a bit lost. Hokuto also glanced around him but didn’t see anyone who could be her parent. He hesitated a few seconds, then put the cleanser back on the shelf.
Hokuto approached the girl with a friendly smile and bent down a bit to speak to her.
”Hello. Are you alone? Where is your mama?”
The girl glanced at him cautiously under her bangs. She had big bright eyes and cute pigtails. She pouted a little and shook her head slightly.
Hokuto wasn't sure what the shake meant so he tried another approach, crouching down properly to be on her eye level.
”My name is Hokuto. What’s yours?”
Again he got a long, estimating look as an answer. But then the girl said in the tiniest voice: ”Chiyo.”
”Chiyo-chan? Nice to meet you.” Hokuto smiled.
”Would you come with me to look for mama?”
Chiyo shook her head again. ”Papa.”
”Ah, you’re looking for papa! Okay. Shall we go together?”
Hokuto offered his hand for the child, already prepared to be rejected, but to his surprise Chiyo grabbed the hold of his fingers. Her hand was smooth and so small compared to his own, and Hokuto kind of wanted to cry at the sight. Usually he didn’t even care for kids that much. But right then, he was ready to protect this cute girl and make sure that she found her father as soon as possible.
Hokuto walked with Chiyo to the cashier counters where he found a staff member. He asked for them to make an announcement about the lost child so the father could come and pick her up.
”Ah, understood,” the staff guy said and then bent down and offered his hand for Chiyo.
”Would you come with me?”
To Hokuto’s and the staff member’s surprise, Chiyo shook her head and grabbed the hem of Hokuto’s coat and pressed against his leg shyly.
”Oh, it’s okay,” Hokuto said quickly, ”I can wait here with her. I’m not in a hurry.”
”If you’re sure, sir. I’ll go make the announcement. Please wait here for a moment.” Bowing, the staff guy hurried off and Hokuto was left with Chiyo.
He looked down at her and carefully patted her head. ”It’s okay, papa will come here in a moment.”
Or so he really hoped.
But indeed, only a mere minute or so after the announcement, Hokuto saw a young man hastily appearing between the shelves, clearly looking for something or someone. When he spotted them, his face brightened instantly and he strode closer.
”Chiyo! Where did you go? Papa was worried.”
Hokuto couldn’t help staring at the guy. He didn’t know what he had expected of this cute girl’s father, but definitely someone older and… less hot. The guy was around his age, with dyed high-lighted hair, a goatee beard and a sporty yet cool outfit.
The guy knelt down in front of Chiyo and stroked her cheek gently.
”You shouldn’t wander off, you little rascal.”
Then the guy looked up at Hokuto, and Hokuto could immediately tell where the girl had gotten her big round eyes from.
”So sorry for the trouble! She has a habit of getting lost…”
”Not at all!” Hokuto said immediately. ”I’m happy we found you so quickly. She’s very cute.”
The guy chuckled and stood up. ”Yeah. A lot of work at times though. Chiyo, say thanks to this nice oniisan.”
”Thank you, Hokuto-oniisan,” the girl said obediently.
”No problem,” Hokuto said, bending down to smile at the girl. Chiyo smiled shyly back at him before hiding her face behind his father’s leg. Hokuto and the guy laughed.
”Already on a first name basis?” The guy sounded a bit surprised and stroked Chiyo’s hair. ”She’s usually very timid around strangers, doesn’t even talk to them, so she seems to like you.”
”Ah, really? Well, I’m glad if so.”
”I’m Shintaro, by the way. We live nearby so this is our new closest supermarket.”
That was definitely nice to know, Hokuto thought when looking at the guy’s radiant smile. He wouldn’t mind running into him (and Chiyo) again.
”Matsumura Hokuto,” Hokuto said, nodding his head. ”This is my nearest store, too.”
”Cool, maybe we’ll see each other here again, then,” Shintaro said. Jokingly or not, Hokuto couldn’t tell, but his friendly tone was encouraging.
”Hopefully we do,” Hokuto said and meant it.
Next time, Hokuto thought when waving at Shintaro and his cute daughter, he’d ask the guy out for coffee.
rin-aokuro, your turn! :3
shintaro & hokuto | G? PG? | ~1,300 words
”Now, we’re going to the big supermarket, and there are lots of people, so I need you to hold on to the cart or you’ll get lost.”
Shintaro crouched down in front of his four-year-old daughter to properly get her attention and quickly stroked her pigtail.
”Understand, Chiyo?”
”Un,” the girl nodded. She had a habit of wandering off if she saw something interesting, and it wasn’t once or twice when Shintaro had been searching for her at a beach or park or playground in full panic. He wouldn’t want to repeat that now at their new, nearby supermarket.
”Alright then, papa will get the cart and then we can go.”
It went fine for the first fifteen minutes or so. Chiyo walked nicely by the cart while Shintaro picked some bread, vegetables and meat for them. Since the store was new, he didn’t know the location of certain products so they had to walk back and forth a couple times.
”Chiyo, do you want to sit in the cart? Are you tired?” Shintaro tried even though he could guess the answer already.
”No!” the girl said right away. ”I want to walk.”
”Alright then… Let’s go look for coffee.”
”Papa, can we buy Chiikawa candy?”
”Let’s see. It’s not weekend…”
Shintaro finally found the right aisle for coffee and spices and turned the cart between the shelves. There was a nice offer for the coffee he liked to drink, so he happily added two packages in the cart before turning to browse the spice shelf. As he squatted down in front of the shelf, he glanced towards their cart and his stomach dropped when he noticed the cart side was empty.
”Oh shi-… Chiyo?”
Shintaro looked back and forth between the current aisle and then hurried to the next one to see if the girl had just fallen behind. She wasn’t there either.
”Chiyo!”
The familiar worry twisted his stomach, even though Shintaro’s rational side knew that she was close by somewhere and most likely couldn’t wander out of the store by herself. He asked the nearby older couple if they’d seen a small girl with a yellow jacket, but they hadn’t.
Shintaro left the cart and hurried back to the main aisle, where he tried to spot a small figure among the other customers and carts. He passed the sweets aisle to check if the girl had wandered there in search for her favorite candy, but only saw older kids there. Shintaro could feel his anxiety level rising by the second, and he was just considering informing the staff about the missing child, when an announcement cut through the regular advertisements and store music:
4-year-old Chiyo is waiting for his father by the cashier counters.
”Thank God,” Shintaro muttered. ”Cashier, cashier…”
He spun around, trying to figure out which direction to hurry to.
”Cashiers are that way, son,” an old lady near him pointed to the aisle on his right.
”Ah, thank you so much!” Shintaro bowed quickly and sped to the direction the lady had pointed.
-
Hokuto had come to the supermarket to look for a quick lunch, but had been distracted by the skincare shelf. He was reading the description for a new foam cleanser when he noticed a small child loitering nearby. She appeared to be alone, and was looking around, looking a bit lost. Hokuto also glanced around him but didn’t see anyone who could be her parent. He hesitated a few seconds, then put the cleanser back on the shelf.
Hokuto approached the girl with a friendly smile and bent down a bit to speak to her.
”Hello. Are you alone? Where is your mama?”
The girl glanced at him cautiously under her bangs. She had big bright eyes and cute pigtails. She pouted a little and shook her head slightly.
Hokuto wasn't sure what the shake meant so he tried another approach, crouching down properly to be on her eye level.
”My name is Hokuto. What’s yours?”
Again he got a long, estimating look as an answer. But then the girl said in the tiniest voice: ”Chiyo.”
”Chiyo-chan? Nice to meet you.” Hokuto smiled.
”Would you come with me to look for mama?”
Chiyo shook her head again. ”Papa.”
”Ah, you’re looking for papa! Okay. Shall we go together?”
Hokuto offered his hand for the child, already prepared to be rejected, but to his surprise Chiyo grabbed the hold of his fingers. Her hand was smooth and so small compared to his own, and Hokuto kind of wanted to cry at the sight. Usually he didn’t even care for kids that much. But right then, he was ready to protect this cute girl and make sure that she found her father as soon as possible.
Hokuto walked with Chiyo to the cashier counters where he found a staff member. He asked for them to make an announcement about the lost child so the father could come and pick her up.
”Ah, understood,” the staff guy said and then bent down and offered his hand for Chiyo.
”Would you come with me?”
To Hokuto’s and the staff member’s surprise, Chiyo shook her head and grabbed the hem of Hokuto’s coat and pressed against his leg shyly.
”Oh, it’s okay,” Hokuto said quickly, ”I can wait here with her. I’m not in a hurry.”
”If you’re sure, sir. I’ll go make the announcement. Please wait here for a moment.” Bowing, the staff guy hurried off and Hokuto was left with Chiyo.
He looked down at her and carefully patted her head. ”It’s okay, papa will come here in a moment.”
Or so he really hoped.
But indeed, only a mere minute or so after the announcement, Hokuto saw a young man hastily appearing between the shelves, clearly looking for something or someone. When he spotted them, his face brightened instantly and he strode closer.
”Chiyo! Where did you go? Papa was worried.”
Hokuto couldn’t help staring at the guy. He didn’t know what he had expected of this cute girl’s father, but definitely someone older and… less hot. The guy was around his age, with dyed high-lighted hair, a goatee beard and a sporty yet cool outfit.
The guy knelt down in front of Chiyo and stroked her cheek gently.
”You shouldn’t wander off, you little rascal.”
Then the guy looked up at Hokuto, and Hokuto could immediately tell where the girl had gotten her big round eyes from.
”So sorry for the trouble! She has a habit of getting lost…”
”Not at all!” Hokuto said immediately. ”I’m happy we found you so quickly. She’s very cute.”
The guy chuckled and stood up. ”Yeah. A lot of work at times though. Chiyo, say thanks to this nice oniisan.”
”Thank you, Hokuto-oniisan,” the girl said obediently.
”No problem,” Hokuto said, bending down to smile at the girl. Chiyo smiled shyly back at him before hiding her face behind his father’s leg. Hokuto and the guy laughed.
”Already on a first name basis?” The guy sounded a bit surprised and stroked Chiyo’s hair. ”She’s usually very timid around strangers, doesn’t even talk to them, so she seems to like you.”
”Ah, really? Well, I’m glad if so.”
”I’m Shintaro, by the way. We live nearby so this is our new closest supermarket.”
That was definitely nice to know, Hokuto thought when looking at the guy’s radiant smile. He wouldn’t mind running into him (and Chiyo) again.
”Matsumura Hokuto,” Hokuto said, nodding his head. ”This is my nearest store, too.”
”Cool, maybe we’ll see each other here again, then,” Shintaro said. Jokingly or not, Hokuto couldn’t tell, but his friendly tone was encouraging.
”Hopefully we do,” Hokuto said and meant it.
Next time, Hokuto thought when waving at Shintaro and his cute daughter, he’d ask the guy out for coffee.
rin-aokuro, your turn! :3