The little boy pressed his lips together.
He squeezed his fingers.
"...I think I got it wrong..."
Just as the woman was about to urge the child to answer, the little boy finally spoke.
But what he said left the woman both startled and confused.
"You got it wrong?"
"What did you get wrong?"
Wait.
What could this child have gotten wrong?
"You said it yourself..."
So, then...
Maybe they weren't good people.
Especially...
"Are you talking about the... bad guy you saw trying to drag the little girl into the car, and then chasing after you?"
Just like the little boy's tangled thoughts at that moment, his feelings were all mixed up.
"But you could have handled it better."
"You weren't really being chased by bad people."
"You got it wrong..."
The man shared what he had hoped for.
I thought I'd finally managed to be a hero...
The woman continued, "He knows, right?"
The man was prompted by the woman's question.
The change in the man's voice made Big Boy's heart skip a beat.
"You know."
The truth was, the little boy himself hadn't quite figured out what had happened.
What if the other person had a weapon?
"...Oh."
"And that child..."
This was no longer just a little kid's game.
Of course.
"That girl wasn't in any danger."
"She said..."
Seeing the child's hurt expression, the man reached out and patted his head.
I was yelling and screaming the whole time...
Forgive a mother for having such a "selfish" thought.
She was very concerned by the man's claim that the child had gotten into an unfamiliar car.
"Mm."
Now that the child was safe, she still wanted to get a clear explanation of why the child had gone