Gakuto is a serious little man, and his friend knows and respects that.
The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons (Yuzuki-san Chi no Yon Kyōdai) is a story about four brothers adjusting to their life without both of their parents. The oldest, Hayato, works, while the younger three boys go to school. The youngest, Gakuto, has only started school, but he looks serious and has a good understanding of what bothers his older brothers.
We want to give Gakuto some appreciation, but there will be some spoilers for this ongoing anime. Try it out, it is very comfortable and kind.
Episode 3 is all about Gakuto and his friend. Gakuto starts school when the anime begins, which means that right after his parents died, the boy was still a preschooler. Hayato, his oldest brother, hurried to pick him up from preschool activities every afternoon because he did not want to hurt Gakuto and make him change preschools or spend too much time at one.
Hayato tried very hard to make it work, so Gakuto, the smart little man, did not voice his objections that he would be fine in another preschool or that he did not need a towel with his name embroidered on it; writing it with a marker would have been enough. Gakuto both wanted to respect his brother’s effort and make things easier for him, and these two desires seemed to clash, making Gakuto keep quiet.
Fortunately, Gakuto made a friend, Kojirō Kirishima, an elderly man. Right when the parents of the boys died, Kojirō was wondering how he could help his neighbors without seeming too noisy. One time, when Gakuto was home from preschool but Hayato was late, he invited Gakuto to his house. He had even bought disks with animals and cars for Gakuto to watch, but Gakuto liked the period drama that was already on the TV, so they ended up watching just that. After that, Gakuto managed to convince Hayato that he could change kindergartens and that he would love to spend time with Kojirō if Hayato needed more time to get home from school.
Kojirō talked to Gakuto like an equal to equal, and that was what made them good friends. Sometime between that day and the present day in anime, the Kirishima household expanded as a family of a mother and two children joined Kojirō. While Gakuto is friendly with the younger members of the family, he remains good friends specifically with Kojirō.
Gakuto is smart and emotionally intelligent beyond his years. And while his family mostly treats him like a baby, he found the person who would treat him like an equal in Kojirō. Kojirō, in turn, got an opportunity to help the Yuzuki family and gained a friend as well. That is the sort of heartwarming story this anime tells.