Title: Dry Your Eyes
Pairing: Ohno x OC
Rating: G
Author’s Notes: Hope Steff-nee enjoys it since I wrote it for her birthday! ^^


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Stephanie stared at the tall building which loomed over her small five year old figure ominously. Taking a peek into the intimidating daycare center, her small eyebrows came together in worry. The place looked filled with explosive energy from the children inside. She took a frightened step backwards in fear, only to be pushed forward by her mother.

“We’ll pick you up before bedtime, so be a good girl!” she coaxed gently. Being the good child she was, Stephanie let out a small whimper and pushed the door open.

“Hi there!” Turning to see a frightening looking man, Stephanie nearly let out a scream of terror. With a shaved head and stressed smile, the male caretaker waved at her enthusiastically. “Nice to meet you. I’m Koki-sensei!” he exclaimed exuberantly. Stephanie eyed him warily; he looked more like a Mexican yankee rather than a caretaker. Almost running away from the scary man, Stephanie let him behind so he could converse with her mother.

The girl turned this way and that, inspecting the indoor playground like a mouse in new surroundings. Bright yellow slides adorned the corners, and foam toys were thrown around in excitement. Before she could survey the area any further, three boys rushed past her, almost knocking her onto her feet.

“Watch where you’re going!” a chubby child screamed at her. Stephanie refused the urge to snort at his make-shift cape, which in reality was nothing more than a blanket that looked as if it was trying to suffocate the fat on his wide neck. Instead, she rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at the boy.

He seemed to erupt with anger at the gesture, his cheeks flaming red. Right as her was about to speak, another boy cut him off.

“Nice one, girl!” He laughed jubilantly, pointing a scrawny finger at the self-appointed king of the playground. “Jin, you deserved that!” he snickered into his palm. The chubby boy, Jin, screeched in repulse.

“Be quiet, Nino! You’re just jealous of my cape.” Jin stroked the red cloth affectionately, as if it meant the world to him. “You shut up and go back to training your pokemon,” he sneered rudely. Nino, a short and thin child, gaped with shock.

“Don’t insult Nino, you fat BAKANISHI!” another voiced. This time, Jin really did scream out loud, making Stephanie flinch from the high pitch. Tears clouded the young boy’s eyes quickly, hurt gracing his chubby features. Fortunately for him, one of his friends spoke up for him.

“Jun-kun, Jin is neither an idiot nor does he deserve that nickname. He may be fat, but he is certainly not stupid,” he concluded calmly and maturely. Stephanie could hear the sound of applause at the small announcement, some clearly impressed with his advanced vocabulary.

“It’s MARIO, not pokemon!” Nino wailed before storming away to a play structure, sitting at the bottom of it while fuming silently. The boy with big words smirked, proud of the attention and silent victory. Jin had a bright, arrogant smile settled on his face.

“Yamapi just wants to be a smarty pants! He actually likes PINK.”

This exclamation started a war within the center, locating Stephanie in the midst of it all.

“Stop trying to be cool, Jun-kun!” “Kame, get off me!” “Ow! Don’t throw books at me, Sakurai!” “Koki-sensei!!! Tegoshi won’t stop harassing me with his Barbie’s hair spray!” and the loudest of them all, “Massu is the fatty! Not me!”

Trying to keep her tears at bay in the middle of the excitement and violent actions, Stephanie forcibly elbowed her way out of the chaos. Once out of the majority of immature children, she ran to a discarded play house and hid inside. Stephanie curled herself up into a ball, bringing her knees up to her chest. Before she could control it, tears were streaming down her full cheeks. Helpless whimpers escaped her throat as the clamber of the war ensued.

She wanted her mom to come back. She wanted all the stupid boys to shut up and stop fighting. She wanted the Mexican yankee to do something, gosh darn it.

Stephanie shook her head and felt her pigtails bounce with the force. Tears dropped onto the overalls which hugged her tiny frame comfortably. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of her stuffed bear at home and her mother’s warm smile. But no matter how hard she thought, the harsh insults from the boys continued to bombard her ears.

“Mommy…” she cried quietly, wiping at her wet eyes pitifully.

Suddenly, there was a warm hand on her shoulder. Looking up through her tears, Stephanie could make out a shy, kind smile. When her vision cleared, she noticed the boy had a sleep but nonetheless reassuring expression. Crooked teeth poked through his pouty smile, and his chubby cheeks were lifted with the grin.

He quietly handed her a napkin and murmured, “Dry your eyes. It’s okay now.” A pretty blush spread over his tan cheeks. Stephanie took the soft paper wordlessly, entranced by the boy’s cute features. She dabbed the tissue at her eyes, surprised to find that the tears were diminishing rather quickly. “This place gets crazy,” he mumbled to her.

She found that she had to strain to hear his voice; it was a quiet melody which eased her ears. Her lips seemed shut tight, for she couldn’t force out any words. However, the boy looked as if he understood, and took a seat right next to her. Stephanie felt her cheeks color and her heart flutter with his contact. His body was heated with an inviting warmth, letting her subconsciously lean towards it.

Without thinking twice, Stephanie laid her head on his small shoulder and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath, losing herself in innocent bliss.

This boy was nice, she thought. And he was cute. She giggled to herself silently, content that she had found someone to spend the rest of her day with. Feeling his short brown hair tickle her ear, Stephanie moved closer to him. She could hear his muffled laughter, the vibrations traveling from his chest to hers.

“You know Nino?” he started. “He’s really a kind person. He’ll share his lunch with me, even though he doesn’t always have enough for himself. Sho-kun, he’s the smartest out of all of us. He had to take an entrance exam to get into preschool.” Peeking though her eyelashes, Stephanie could see the sincere awe located on his face. “Jun-kun, the one who defended Nino, I think he’s the nicest person in the whole world. He’ll always notice when someone’s down, and he’ll give them his red crayon, the only one in this playground.” The boy stopped to laugh before continuing. “Aiba-chan, I don’t think he’s here today, but if he was here, he would be trying to stop this stupid fight.”

Stephanie watched him talk, smiling fondly as his expression softened with appreciation and love. Even with her innocent eyes, she could tell he truly cared about some of the kids in the play center. Maybe if they were as kind as he said they were, than this place might not be so bad. She wanted to trust the boy, and so she did. She continued to leave her eyes on him, tilting her head with a question as he took out a drawing pad.

He pulled a few crayons out of his back pocket and put the color to paper. The boy was quickly lost in his work, working at lines and faces. He possibly worked for fifteen minutes; he could’ve worked for three hours. Stephanie watched him intently, her eyes never leaving him for a second. She either examined his concentrated face or his artful hands.

She’d never seen someone her age so skillful at art. Even though the drawing was no more than two stick figures and a circle with spikes coming out of it, it seemed detailed and exquisite. Hesitantly, Stephanie opened her mouth to speak and pointed at one of the people he was drawing.

“Is that…me?” She could recognize the blue eyes and brown hair as her own, held in two tight pigtails similar to the ones she had. The boy turned to her, surprised, as if he had forgotten she was there, before breaking out into a shy smile. He nodded once and returned back to his art. “And is…that you?”

He suddenly stood up, signifying that he had finished his masterpiece. A brighter smile now graced his lips, confidence brimming. The boy handed it to Stephanie, his facial expression reflecting that he was waiting for her comments.

Having the full view of the piece, Stephanie felt her jaw drop open. There was her, and there was the boy. A roof stood above their heads, possibly the one hanging above them at the moment. Smiles were on both of their faces, but her eyes were slightly stained with red. Next to the house, there were a few words written. Looking at it sideways, Stephanie felt an embarrassing blush spread over her face. He’d written, “Dry your eyes” with a smiley face next to it.

“You can’t really smile if you have wet eyes, you know?” he said sheepishly, avoiding her eyes. “A-and you look pretty when you smile.” He fidgeted with his hands shyly, his lips curving up slightly.

“Really?” Stephanie wondered aloud, surprised by the flattery.

“Yeah. The prettiest I’ve ever seen,” he whispered quietly. She smiled; even though he wasn’t very audible with his compliments, they meant more than anything anyone had ever said to her.

“Stephanie, honey?” The echo of her mother’s voice reached her. But she didn’t want to go! she thought hurriedly. She wanted to stay here with the boy with sleepy eyes and kind words. The boy seemed to notice her look of recognition at the name, his face falling momentarily. He didn’t want his new friend to leave either. “Stephanie?” the voice came again. Stephanie exited the small play house slowly, the boy right behind her.

“Yes, mommy?” Her mother’s face lit up at the sight of her child.

“It’s time to go home, hun,” the parent stated happily. She approached the girl quickly, taking her hand like usual. “You ready to leave?”

Stephanie looked helplessly at the boy, her eyes clouding with tears once more. This time, he seemed to struggle with his sadness with her being taken away from him. Water was streaming down her cheeks, startling her mother. The boy forced out a choked laugh, not wanting to cry. He pasted a shaky smile on his face, his eyes watering already.

“Oi,” he said playfully. And before he could say his next sentence, Stephanie said it for him.

“What are you crying for?” she asked, her voice shaking with an awkward giggle. “Dry your eyes!” Her fist tightened on his picture which she still held. “C-can I keep this?”

Surprised, the boy nodded enthusiastically. He watched her mother laugh, probably with the thought of childish infatuation.

“Ready?” she asked her daughter, only to have a tentative nod. The small girl sent the kind boy one last smile, wiping at her eyes. She wanted to leave him with dry eyes, so he knew that she would be okay in the future. He beamed happily back at her, watching until she disappeared beyond the door.

Once she was gone, the boy laughed at himself.

“What are you doing, Ohno?” he asked to the air. “She told you to dry your eyes, didn’t she?”

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