Walk

Sunday morning.

Sui-Topii is up early. She wandered outside. The front of the parking lot was empty. Not many sounds out here. The child looked around. No one out here. Sui-Topii frowned.

Hm…

“Hey!”

The little girl looked up.

“Hi!” she said. The child jumped up and down as she waved. Fergi jogged over to the little girl.

“You’re up early,” she said.

“Uh-huh!” Sui-Topii said. She broke into a huge grin. Fergi laughed and patted her on the head.

“I’m just up and out walking,” she said. “Is Fumio-kun up yet?” Sui-Topii shook her head.

“Where is he?” Fergi asked. The child pointed to the building behind her.

“Oh…” the older girl said. She knelt down to the child’s level.

“Say,” Fergi said. She looked around for a moment.

“Want to take a walk with me?” the older girl asked. Sui-Topii’s eyes lit up.

“Yes!” she said. She jumped up as she said that. The girl giggled. Fergi smiled as she patted her on the head.

“Okay, let’s get going,” she said.

“Yay!” Sui-Topii said. She threw her hands in the air.

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It wasn’t going to be a long walk. Just down to the block and back. Fergi held Sui-Topii’s hand. They didn’t talk at first. Fergi looked down at Sui-Topii.

“Tell me something,” she said. “What do you think of your brother?” The little girl smiled.

“I love him this much!” she shouted as she put her arms in the air. Sui-Topii threw back her head and laughed. Fergi tried not to laugh herself. How could this child be so precious?

“Do you like nii-san?” Sui-Topii asked. Fergi broke into a big smile.

“Can you keep a secret?” she asked. The little girl tilted her head to the side.

“Secret?” she asked.

“Uh-huh,” Fergi said. They stopped walking for a moment for her to kneel down to the little girl. She leaned in close to her ear.

“I like him too,” Fergi whispered. “I like him very much.” She pulled away and stood up. Sui-Topii stared up at her, blinking. She isn’t going to understand until she gets older. Fergi held out her hand. Sui-Topii took hold and they started walking. The short walk was a pleasant one. The girls asked each other questions about Fumio.

“What do you like about him?”

“Everything!”

“Everything?”

“Yep!”

“I like him because he’s sweet.”

“Sweet?”

“Uh-huh. He’s sweet, nice, cute, funny, and kind of dorky.” Fergi patted the child on the head. Sui-Topii looked so precious.

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The girls made it back to the apartment parking lot.

“I probably should get you back to Fumio-kin before he gets up,” Fergi said.

“Okay!” Sui-Topii perked up. The older girl picked her up and carried the child back to her apartment. They should do this again sometime.