eating together

He grabs a bag of noodles and hands it to Natsu.

"Help yourself," Hiroki says.

"Ok," Natsu says happily.

He pulls the noodles open and pours them onto the plate.

"How was school today?" His uncle asks.

Natsu shrugs in response.

"It was alright," he replies.

His uncle looks at him with a questioning gaze as he says, "You sound a bit disappointed. Everything okay?"

Natsu shakes his head and replies, "Not really."

Hiroki frowns in concern and asks, "Wanna talk about it?"

Natsu considers his options before nodding and saying, "I miss mom."

"Oh, kiddo…" His uncle says sadly. He reaches out and places his hand on Natsu's shoulder, rubbing it gently.

"But I'm fine, uncle," he replies quickly.

Hiroki smiles at him.

"I know, kiddo." He pauses briefly before adding, "You know, I don't think your mother will want you to miss your father so much. She probably thinks that you need her the most."

Natsu frowns.

"Really?"

Hiro nods affirmatively, "Really."

Natsu thinks this over for a moment before asking, Are you really sure?"

Hiroki nods in response again and continues to rub his shoulder.

"She'll come back soon."

Natsu nods in agreement.

"Okay."

"What about you, kiddo? Are you really okay?" Hiroaki asks him worriedly.

Natsu nods in response.

"I'm good, uncle."

Hiroaki lets out a sigh of relief.

"You know what? Let's watch a movie," Hiroaki suggests, getting up from the couch.

"Okay," Natsu says and gets up from the couch, too.

He stands up and follows behind his uncle towards the TV. They both decide to watch a superhero movie.

When the movie ends, Hiroaki puts the DVD case away and goes straight to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

"I'll go get the food ready," Hiroaki says, looking at the table to see that everything has already been prepared.

Natsu nods in acknowledgement and waits patiently for his uncle to return with their food.

"There we go," Hiroaki says and sets the tray with their food on the coffee table before taking a seat beside his nephew on the other side of the coffee table.

"So what did you think of the movie?" He asks.

Natsu nods and says, "It was awesome!"Awesome?" Hiroaki asks, surprised by the enthusiasm his nephew showed during the movie.

"Yeah! The superheroes were cool, too!" He tells Hiroaki, pointing at one of the superheroes on screen as he speaks.

"Did you like it?" Hiroaki asks curiously.

"Yes!" Natsu answers enthusiastically.

"Did you like the hero in the movie?" He asks, curious and trying to figure out which character he likes the most.

"Um…yes!" Natsu replies.

"And who is he?"

"The man with wings is the one that flew the plane! The one next to him is Batman!"

Hiroaki chuckles slightly at that and says, "Nice choice of names, kiddo."

"Yeah! He saved me from falling!" He replies.

"That must mean that Batman saved you from falling," Hiroaki comments.

Natsu nods and says, "Yeah! That's how I know that he's the coolest superhero ever! No one else can fly like him!"

"No one else can fly like Batman?"

"No!" Natsu exclaims in response.

"Wow. Okay," Hiroaki says, impressed.

They sit there for a few minutes afterwards before Hiroaki suggests, "Maybe we could watch another movie, like something different."

"Like what?"Natsu asks him, looking at him eagerly.

"Like, you know, maybe The Princess Bride or something?"

Natsu furrows his eyebrows and questions, "Why?"

Hiroaki hesitates for a moment before answering, "Because you've always liked the princesses and I thought you might like that kind of thing."

"Do you?" He asks.

Hiroaki thinks about it for a moment before replying, "Not really, no. They're kinda boring. You know, pretty and fluffy and all that stuff…too easy."

Natsu gives a small chuckle and nods in agreement. "Yeah, they're not my type."

They sit and talk for a couple of minutes before Natsu notices that it's late afternoon.

He gets up from the couch and heads upstairs to his room.

"Where are you going, Natsu?" His uncle calls.

Natsu replies, "I'm gonna get changed. I'll be right back."

Hiroaki nods and then goes back to what he's doing.

Once Natsu reaches his room, he changes into his pajamas and changes his shirt. Afterward, he walks downstairs to the living room again.

Hiroaki is still sitting in his favorite spot watching TV when Natsu joins him.

After a couple of minutes, Natsu'Something educational," Hiroaki suggests.

"Yeah! What kind of educational?"

"Hmm…"

They stare at each other for a moment before Hiroaki suddenly grins.

"How about Adventure Time? I know that your favorite show is Adventure Time."

Natsu looks thoughtful and then he says, "Yes!"

He looks excitedly at his uncle and asks, "Can we watch that today?"

Hiroaki laughs lightly and replies, "Of course! We'll go right now!"

Chapter 9

The next day, Natsu woke up feeling much better than yesterday. He got up early from bed and started making breakfast for both him and his uncle.

After finishing the last of the ingredients and the utensils for the meal, he put them in the sink and turned the faucet on so that the water would fill the basin. Then he grabbed his towel to wipe off his hands.

Once he was done wiping his hands dry, he took the towels away from the sink and set them aside. He then proceeded to take the dirty plates from the cabinet.

"Good morning, dad," Hiroaki says when Natsu enters the kitchen.

"Morning, dad," Natsu replies as he joins his dad in washing the dishes.

The two of them finish washing and drying the dishes together as Hiroaki talks.