#princewalter

“Ah, you can handle it, Ryu! It’ll only take me fifteen minutes to run back to the store; if I take Hana, though, it’ll at least be thirty and I can’t have Anna knowing that I botched the grocery shopping again.” Ryu’s resolve diminishes rapidly under the radiance of Yoh’s smile. It’s scary, he thinks, how the other man could possibly get away with murder using just charisma alone. Yoh is too good of a person to ever use his charm to commit murder, though… It’s too bad that he isn’t above hoodwinking his friends into watching his three year old son as well. Ryu sighs.

“Master Yoh—”

“Great!” The other man continues to beam happily. “He’s been pretty restless today so just have him draw a picture or something until I get back. The last time I let him out of my sight while Anna was out he wrecked the kitchen…”

Ryu widens his eyes in fright. “He’s only three.”

“He’s a lot like his mom,” Yoh offers as way of explanation. He walks towards the door while pointing at the chubby toddler still strapped within his stroller. “Be good, Hana!”

The toddler makes a noise that sounds a lot like “whatever,” while Yoh scurries out to head back to the store. Ryu turns to Hana and gives him a nervous smile.

“So… The weather’s pretty nice, right?”

Hana wrinkles his nose in irritation and sticks his tongue out in response. “Color!”

Well, that’s simple. Maybe this won’t be as hard as he thought. Ryu brightens and sticks his chest out with confidence.

“Sure, little man! Let’s do it!”

After getting the young boy unstrapped and settled near the living room table Ryu finds construction paper and crayons for them to draw with. Hana sits across from him and quietly scribbles nonsense on white paper. This is so easy! What was he even stressing over? Ryu smiles while adding expert touches to his own drawing. He shouldn’t have listened to those Hana-Gumi waitresses. This kid didn’t have a troublesome bone in his little body! …Or maybe he did and Ryu was just the only one who could properly handle him.

He chuckles to himself, continuing to draw quietly. Of course. That’s it! Those waitresses didn’t have any maternal instinct. That’s probably why they always have such a hard time babysitting. Ryu shakes his head, feeling a special type of pity for them. No wonder they scampered away from Master Yoh so quickly! They aren’t fit for such a job!

He could probably run a babysitting business if he wanted to… Yeah… maybe he should. He’d get all the babes. Older sisters, single mothers, neglected wives! Ladies love men with paternal instincts! He snickers to himself while looking to switch his brown crayon for a brighter color. He should start preparing his two-weeks notice. There’s no way he can let his new found talent go to waste!

He continues fantasizing about all of the women he’ll attract running ‘Papa Ryu’s Daycare Center’ while searching for more crayons. They were just here a minute ago… How will he finish his masterpiece? He still had to color in the flowers and the sun…. and… and the trees! How did he forget to color in the leaves? Well, at least that’s one thing he can finish up. He just put the green crayon down a second ago after all. He turns to pluck it from beside him, on the floor, where he left it, and discovers that even that is missing!

“Fuck, what happened to my green crayon?!” Ryu exclaims and almost immediately gasps in horror. “Don’t repeat that! Miss Anna will kill me!” He lifts his head to plead with the young boy and is met with the sight of an empty room.

Oh… Damn.

“Hana?”

A high-pitched laugh sounds from the hallway and Ryu nearly falls over himself running towards it. He slides into the hallway and is relieved to see the blond child laughing, unharmed, in the middle of the hallway.

“Thank gods,” Ryu sighs under his breath. He reaches down to lift Hana off the floor and the boy smiles mischievously. “Yeah, yeah. You’re hilarious.”

Hana continues to giggle maniacally as he’s pulled into Ryu’s arms and almost a dozen crayons fall out of his lap. They roll throughout the hallway and Hana laughs as if he’s pulled the greatest prank of his young life.

“And what’s so funny, Hana-boy?” Ryu asks, not really expecting an answer.

“Wall!” The boy scream-giggles and starts shaking with laughter. He uses his tiny hand to turn Ryu’s face. The man pales.

The wall of the hallway is covered in childish scribbles of several different colors. Purple, pink, white, yellow, green.

Before Ryu can form a coherent solution or even a single thought, he hears the front door sliding open and freezes in fear.

“Ryu! I’m back! Hurry up and help me put everything away, Anna’s right behind me!” Ryu hears Yoh drop the grocery bags at the door. “She almost saw me but I’ve got a lot of luck on my side today! Heehee!”

Ryu takes another look at the makeshift mural Hana has created and winces.

“Uh… Master Yoh?”

“Yeah?”

“Your luck’s just run out.” Hana giggles loudly and claps his hands together, giving himself a round of applause.

Papa Ryu’s Daycare Center is going to have to be put on hold for awhile.