the enjoyment

mouth drops open in amazement when he takes a good look at the clothes displayed. His eyes sparkle and his mouth forms an o shape. He quickly glances around the clothes racks. He spots a couple of outfits. After looking at them for a moment, he makes his way over to them and stands next to his uncle.

"Look, uncle! Look, uncle! Look!"

Hiroaki laughs and tells him, "You're pretty excited, huh, kiddo?"

"Yeah! Can we try on some of these clothes?"

"Of course, we can."

Natsukine rushes over to the rack where the shirts and pants are displayed. Natsu follows close behind. He takes one of the shirts in his hands and examines it closely.

"Wow, look at that one, uncle! See, isn't this one super cute?"

Hiroaki observes how happy Natsu looks with the shirt in his hand.

"Yeah, I see."

"This one is so soft!"

"Soft?"

"Yeah!"

"How?" Hiroaki asks with a grin on his face.

"Because I love it. Like this!" Natsu holds up the sleeve of the shirt.

Natsukine tries on the shirt. It fits perfectly, just like his momma had described. He puts his arms in the sleeves. The shirt goes down to the middle of his waist.

"It fits great, Natsukine. Do you think your momma is going to like this shirt, Natsukine?"

"I'm sure she is, uncle." He answers. "She said that wearing clothes made her feel happy."

"Hmm. She must have been right, then. Maybe next time I'll bring her something to wear instead. Then she can feel that way again." Hiroaki says with a small smile on his face.

"YAY!" Natsu shouts.

"Oh man, I'm glad you like it." Hiroaki tells him with a chuckle. "We should get some food now or we'll be late."

"Right! Can we get ice cream?!"

"Of course!"

He nods enthusiastically before grabbing Natsu's hand and starts pulling him toward the exit.

"Ice cream!" He exclaims happily.

They reach the doors and exit the mall. They enter the car and drive off.

Hiroaki pulls up at a convenience store and says, "Here, kiddo. Go get yourself something to eat."

"Okay!"

"Don't be gone too long, alright?"

"Okay."

"I'll wait here for you." Natsu nods in agreement and leaves Hiroaki alone in the car.

Hiroaki watches as Natsukine hurries inside the store and waits patiently for him to come out.

"Kiddo, hurry up. You still have a lot of people waiting to buy clothes for their kids. Hurry up."

Soon enough, Hiroaki sees Natsu exiting the store with a large bag in his hands.

"Kiddo!" Hiroaki yells out.

Natsukine turns to his uncle and runs to him to give him a hug. Hiroaki hugs him back and gives him a smile.

"I'm sorry, uncle. I didn't mean to leave you." Natsukine apologizes as he pouts sadly.

"I know, kiddo. I'm glad that you came back." Hiroaki assures him.

"Did you buy anything?"

"No, not yet."

"What about food?"

"We can go get lunch, kiddo. I told you we'd go eat after we went to pick you up the rest of what you needed."

"Yes!"

"Hey, Natsukine!" Hiroaki calls out for his nephew.

"Yeah?"

"Remember to keep your distance from other peoples stuff."

"Yes, uncle!"

"That'my boy." Hiroaki ruffles Natsukine' s hair fondly.

"Thanks, uncle."

"Anytime, kiddo. Let's go get some lunch."

Hiroaki drives off. When they arrive at the restaurant, they go inside. Natsukine sits next to his uncle on one side while Hiroaki orders them two servings of curry, rice, and fish.

"Uncle, what's this? Is this dinner?"

"Yeah, Natsukine. This is dinner. And yes, this is dinner, kiddo."

"But why would you order dinner if it's dinner?"

"To celebrate, kiddo. We have fun, we have fun, we always have fun. That's what makes life worth living."

"Huh?"

"You said something about fun, right?"

"Well, yeah..." Natsu replies slowly.

"Well, it's nice to celebrate. To have fun. To make friends. That's what it means to have fun, kiddo. And sometimes, it can even be healthy to enjoy ourselves once in a while."

"Uh...okay."

"Good! I knew you understand!" Hiroaki praises his nephew.

"I do, uncle." Natsukine replies.

"I'm glad." The end