sheesh  …  what's  with  this  kid?  where  the  hell  is  sees  finding  all  these  children  that're  way  too  smart  and  mature  for  their  ages?  impressive  as  amada  is,  aqua  seems  …  impossible,  almost.  much  too  young  to  be  speaking  in  the  way  he  does.  his  brain  shouldn't  be  developed  enough  for  this  or  whatever,  right? 

well,  shinjiro's  no  expert.  all  he  can  do  is  accept  what's  in  front  of  him  :  a  stupidly  smart  kid. 

" you're right, but still ........ " he remembered his mother, and how she was so happy when aqua asked if she needed any help. ai ....... he missed her even now, even after he had witnessed her death. " i'm not ....... imposing at all, am i ? "

he then registered what shinjiro said about the pills and nearly did a double take.

" emergencies ? were they prescribed to you by an ethical source ? " as a former doctor in his past life, aqua had to ask. he was compelled to push for more information. old habits always died hard. he awkwardly shifted, not wanting to seem intimidating. " or was there a shady doctor intending on malpractice ? "

Satoru was far more introverted now more than ever. Only worsened by the feeling of existing in public. He, however, could never shake that heroic streak inside him. Despite hesitation gripping at him, he made his way over to the very young child, surely around four years old. Not old enough to be without a parent. God, he knew how bad it looked to any onlooker. This kid clearly wasn't his and he looked unfit to be a parent of any kind. Especially with the monitor around his ankle, at least to a typical onlooker. Hell, he got strange looks before the arrest. "Hey there.." His voice was quiet, gravely, hushed as to not upset the child before him but loud enough to not startle him. "Where's your parents?" Would the kid even be able to tell him? Satoru hated the police more than anything, but that was something he considered. After all, leaving the kid out here wasn't an option.

where's your parents? aqua felt a pang of hurt in his chest at that. it was only natural that the man would ask that, however; a boy his age with no guardian warranted those kinds of questions. he looked down and sniffled, playing up the sadness a little. it was the best option in the moment; being seen as uncaring would be suspicious.

" my mom died in front of me. " it was the truth. " my dad is nowhere to be found. " aqua swallowed, blinking back tears at the memory. " i don't know where to go now. " while he was basically taken in by his mentor, there was no way he would see the man, or would he see his mom's former manager, for that matter, as an adoptive father. not that he knew where ichigo saitou had disappeared to, anyhow. nobody knew.