The Musician

Chapter 4

Shion walked idly through his neighbourhood on the way home from school, the wind cool on his skin as the sun started to set. A food stall caught his eye and a strong wave of nostalgia came over him. It was a place he frequented regularly when they lived in Japan.

"Good evening Yoh-san." Shion smiled, "You look like you've been doing well."

The man at the counter looked at Shion in confusion for a moment before realization dawned upon him. "Ah! Shion?" Shion nodded in confirmation and the man's stoic resting face broke into a friendly grin, "My boy, you've gotten so big!"

Shion chuckled, "And you've aged like a fine wine."

"Oh shush." Yoh waved a hand, dismissing the compliment in a joking manner. "How tall are ya now? I remember when you were here on me," he gestured above his hip for a reference of height.

"Hm, last time I checked I was around... Five-foot ten?" When Yoh looked like he was calculating the mass of the sun, Shion did his own math, "I think that's about one-eighty centimetres."

"My Kami, you shot up like a sprout. Takin' after your father I see," he chuckled, but it faded when he saw Shion's face. Ah, sensitive topic. "How's your mother been doing? Taking the crazy cases still?"

The dark expression on Shion's face faded away as he broke into a fit of chuckles, "Of course. There's no other option—all or nothing she says."

The two chatted for a while until Shion excused himself. Yoh gave him some taiyaki on the house and he walked to the park near his apartment.

Shion munched on some of the taiyaki that he was gifted. He was thankful as didn't have any cookable food in his apartment yet, so he would just starve if he went back without eating anything. The only stuff he had in his cupboards were meal replacement shakes that he bought in bulk since they were on sale, cereal, and granola bars.

Shion looked up to the multicoloured sky from the swing he was on. He didn't care what other people would think of it. The wind blew and he didn't hear the little steps approaching him before there was a tug on his sleeve. "Hmm?" A little kid looked up at him with large brown eyes, "What's up, kid?"

The kid looked at him in awe or a good five seconds before talking, his eyes are pretty. "Hey mister, can you push me on this swing?"

The kid looked about six with short black hair and a pudgy face. He was a bit young to be alone. "Sure I can, but where are your parents?"

"Right over there!" They pointed to a bench across the playground. A lady was talking—more yelling than talking—on the phone. No wonder why he didn't want to ask her to push him. "She's a bit busy right now so I don't want to ask her, but you said you can swing me!" He hopped onto the swing and looked up to Shion with sparkling eyes.

"Yes, that I did." Shion grabbed the lower part of the chain under the boy's arms and pulled back and let him go. He pushed him for a few minutes until he noticed that the boy's mother got off of the phone. She looked over in his direction and Shion waved an arm to get her attention before pointing to the swing he was pushing her son on. The woman grabbed her purse and walked over, long silky black hair swaying with each step as her heels clicked on the ground.

"Mama!" The boy looked like he was about to jump off the swing so Shion grabbed the chains and stopped it slowly. He didn't want the liability of hurting this woman's child.

"Asahi, what did I say about staying close to me?" The woman scolded, kneeling down to fix her son's hair that got messed up from swinging.

"Sorry, Mama... But this guy looked lonely so I gave him some—um, some company!"