“Kake-jii!” A shrill cry went up the moment that I opened the door to the house with my key. Even before I could announce that I was home, I had a pair of arms thrown around my legs and sobbing filled the entryway. While this shocked both Hiro-san and I into freezing up, my brother just stood there and shook his head in exasperation. Even Kaori-nee peeked around the kitchen doorway, greeted us and disappeared back inside. The little one, however, was practically pouring her heart out to me.
“What happened? How come you’re crying?” I pat her head as soothingly as I could in my confusion. Hiro-san too crouched beside me and looked at her closely.
“Hey, Aki-chan. What happened? Did your father get angry at you?”
“Why is this my fault?” Hikaru-nii asked, coming over and trying to pull Aki-chan off my legs but to no avail. “Aki, you’re getting Kake-jii’s pants dirty. Give him some space. He just got home.”
“I don’t want to! I don’t want to let Kake-jii go! Uwah!” She bawled, squeezing my legs even tighter.
‘I don’t want to let Kake-jii go’… “Ah! Hikaru-nii, you told her?!” I asked. I had wanted to talk to her about it myself and ease the news to her. It looked like she had already found out though.
“She was playing in her room. I was talking to Kaori in the kitchen. We didn’t notice that she had wandered over.” He shrugged. “Sorry that she got to know that way but… she had to know sooner or later.”
That was true but… what do I do now?
“How cruel, Kakeru. You have broken this young maiden’s heart.” Hiro-san commented and looked at her gently, his grey eyes filled with warmth. “Come here, Aki-chan. Let’s talk to Kake-jii properly first, okay?”
“No! No! No!” She shook her head vigorously and cried. “I-I won’t let you go! Kake-jii…”
I sighed. I swear, this girl was probably the only one I could cry over too. “Aki-chan.” I bent to pick her up. She put up a fight at first but, probably because I was still holding her, she let me pick her up. Soon after though, she clung to my neck and sobbed.
“Don’t go, Kake-jii! Please! Please, don’t go!”
Oh boy…
“You’re dearly loved, aren’t you?” Hiro-san chuckled, patted my head and went in.
…Why was I the one receiving a head pat?
“Come in.” Hikaru-nii said, gave me a wry smile and followed Hiro-san in.
…And why did I get the feeling that both Hikaru-nii and Kaori-nee were letting Aki-chan cry for the sake of the two of them as well? Or was that just wishful thinking on my part?
Either way, I’m not going to fall for it. I’ve steeled my resolve.
I stroked her back as I carried her in. “Aki-chan, listen to me. I am not going anywhere far. I will be near here. I will come for dinner and to play with you so often that you won’t even know I am not living here anymore.”
“No! I don’t want that either!” She yelled, clinging to me all the more. “I want to sleep together!”
I heard Hiro-san let out a small laugh at my expense. I was flummoxed, really. I didn’t quite know what to tell her. Seeing her cry like that, I was barely keeping myself together.
“I c-can stay over once in a while too.” I offered up. “And you can come over to my place whenever you want to see me. In fact, I will need you to help me at home. You can come and give me company and help me decide what goes where and… you know? You can come hang out any time you want. You’ll have one more house to play in.” I was desperate to get her to stop crying.
“No… One house to play is enough…” She groaned.
“Aki-chan, you will have a new place to run to and hide when Otou-san gets angry at you.” Hiro-san added.
What? Why would you tell her that?!
She pulled herself away a bit and looked at me with moist brown eyes so pained that I wanted to curse myself for being the reason for it, even though I did make me a little happy to know that I was so loved. “…Really?”
Wait. THAT worked?!
Hiro-san laughed at that. Hikaru-nii gave him a disapproving look and I could hear Kaori-nee laughing in the kitchen. I was put in quite the spot but I couldn’t refuse those earnest eyes at all. “A-Ah. You can, if you want to.” Then, on second thought, I added. “But only if you promise to make up with your parents later.”
“Mm.” She nodded, then went right back to hugging me, still crying a little. “But… Kake-jii will still come every day, play with me, eat with me and Aki can go over whenever. Okay?”
Ah… Why do you have to make it so hard, Aki-chan? “Yes.”
“Promise?” She held up a pinky finger to me, not lifting her head from my shoulder.
I intertwined our pinkies and gave her pudgy little knuckles a kiss. “It’s a promise.”
“Hiromitsu, you are the worst.” Hikaru-nii commented and sat on the couch next to his friend. “I love my daughter. Very much.”
“Aki loves Otou-san too.” Aki-chan said, sticking to me again. “Aki loves Otou-san, Kaa-chan and Kake-jii most!
“What? What about Hiro-jii?” Hiro-san pointed at himself and smiled.
“No… Hiro-jii showed Kake-jii new house…” She grumbled.
“Hey! How am I the bad guy here?” Hiro-san was genuinely horrified. “Aki-chan!” I’m not the bad guy! I’m the good guy!”
We laughed. Aki-chan refused to yield and was merciless towards Hiro-san but it worked to dispel the damp mood.
She refused to let go of me the whole evening, eventually falling asleep soon after dinner even before Hiro-san left. All that crying must have tired her out. I felt like a very cruel person all of a sudden though. To that little soul, this house and this family were her entire world. My leaving probably sounded like her world would shatter to her. It was no wonder that she was so heart-broken.
“That got you good, huh?” Hiro-san commented, standing beside me when I finally lay the sleeping girl in her bed and parted from her for the first time since I came home that evening.
“You think?” I let out a breath, stood straight and stretched my back a bit. “It’s not like I want to leave her either.”
He placed a hand on my head, which surprised me. “You’re a good guy, aren’t you?”
I gave him an interrogative glare at that. “You did this earlier too. Who are you trying to comfort?”
“You, obviously.” He shrugged. “You’ll probably cry to me about this the next time you get drunk anyway. This is in advance.”
“I am not calling you even if I’m drunk out of my senses. Geez.” I swatted his hand away. “Who do you think you are anyway, you old geezer?”
“Ah. That’s hurtful, you know?” He pretended to be wounded by my words.
“Shut up.”
“Hm. Not cute. You were so ready to apologise at everything when you were drunk.” He followed me out of the room.
“I thought I forbade you from ever bringing that up?”
“I never agreed.” He grinned. “Ah, Hikaru, Kaori-chan. I’ll be leaving. Thanks for having me as always. I don’t know what I would do without you two.”
“You’re welcome here whenever, Hiromitsu-san.” Kaori-nee smiled. She was always the most hospitable.
“Thanks. Well, then.” He messed up my hair again and proceeded to the entryway before I could offer protest.
‘You, obviously.’
… That promise earlier to Aki-chan was probably more for my own sake too.
Ugh. Pathetic. Just how dependent had I become?
“Kakeru.” Hikaru-nii called softly and lightly shook me awake. “Oi. Wake up. It’s morning.” “Mm.” I turned over on my side. “It’s Sunday. Please let me sleep…” “It’s already late. Wake up.” He said, voice still low. That was weird in itself but I couldn’t really be bothered by it in my state of sleep. “Kakeru.” “I heard you.” I groaned and stretched my arm out a bit in trying to shoo him off. That was when I touched skin. I touched someone… small. I raised myself by my elbows, on my stomach and remembered the three-year-old sleeping next to me in her favourite yellow night dress only when I saw her peaceful features. She was still fast asleep. So that’s why Hikaru-nii was speaking so softly. “How many nights has this been now?” Hikaru-nii shook his head in defeat. “I don’t know… Four?” I slowly sat up and rubbed the sand out of my eyes. Aki-chan had woken me up at around 01:30 am saying that she wanted to sleep with me. This nigh
Aki-chan and I were playing with her building blocks when Hiro-san arrived a little over an hour later. Once he came, he was the one playing most of her games with her. I settled for just sitting back and watching, occasionally joining in. It was all so peaceful that I found myself promising to keep my Sundays as free as possible even after moving out. Since breakfast was late, Aki-chan wasn’t exactly hungry at lunch time. I did not want to delay it though because Hiro-san had not had even breakfast. So, eventually, all three of us ended up in the kitchen. Hiro-san was carrying Aki-chan and the both of them were following me around the kitchen, lending a hand whenever they could and keeping up a conversation about the most trivial things. … I owed my brother thanks for letting her stay here with me, although it would have been better had he and Kaori-nee been here as well. “She slept?” Hiro-san asked when I returned to the living room after leaving Aki-chan i
It was from the hospital. My perfect and careless Sunday had shattered with that one phone call. It was horrifying how one moment was all it took to make my previous worries seem insignificant. It was unbelievable. Hiro-san had tried his best to remain calm while relaying the news to us. Well, mostly to me. There had been an accident. A pretty bad one too. A T-junction. Hikaru-nii’s car and a truck. Those were all the points of information that my brain could take in. People on-site had reacted quickly. The two people in the car had been sent to the hospital immediately. The call was from a nurse there. Hikaru-nii had been conscious enough to convey to her that she needed to call me. By the time we had gotten to the hospital, the anxiety and fear had eaten me up alive for we had received no further information about it. Carrying a very confused Aki-chan, when we got there, the attending doctor informed us that Hikaru-nii had been taken in for
Sleep evaded me. The new project was also in full swing and in order to get out of office early enough to pick Aki-chan up from daycare, I was forced to bring some work home. Moreover, I had to cook for us. Not to complain, but I ended up taking over all of those chores that Kaori-nee used to take care of before. It was physically and emotionally taxing on me to try and keep the household together, especially since her earlier indulgent father had suddenly become cold to Aki-chan. Even to me. But there was nothing that I could say or do to ease his pain. Whenever Hiro-san came over, he brought food for us all. Otherwise, he would help me around the house. The visits, however, were nothing like before. He would come, try and fail to talk properly to Hikaru-nii, spend time with Aki-chan, help me out a bit, eat and just leave. From coming here because he was always warmly received, it felt like he was coming over only to check in on us. Save for those random occasions w
I was standing at the window in my room and looking out at the clear night sky that was barely visible through between the surrounding buildings when Hiro-san entered the room. I had been fully aware of the entire hour that had passed us by. Especially after Aki-chan slept off, it had gotten so silent that it as as though I was counting the seconds that mocked how small I had become in the face of loss. I was starting to feel a little too overwhelmed by it all. Hiro-san's voice made me turn to him slowly. “Hikaru is in his room. He didn't really talk to me but... We should probably give him some space. Kakeru, why didn’t you close the front door? Oh. Is she asleep?” He lowered his voice on realising it, looked closer at the girl I was still holding onto closely and sighed. “Looks like she cried a lot.” His grey eyes narrowed in a sort of pained affection when he stepped closer and and ran a thumb tenderly over her tear-stained cheek. Then, he looked at me. “You shoul
Aki-chan and Hikaru-nii both seemed to have been actively avoiding each other after the Ohagi incident. The girl was still upset and her father had retreated into a shell from where he probably felt that he wouldn't be able to hurt her. Aki-chan herself had become a lot quieter. She no longer ran and threw herself at me when I went to pick her up from the daycare. The most she would do is walk over and climb into my arms, hugging me around my neck and staying there for a while, as though collecting herself before she lifted her face and started answering whatever I asked about her day. Whenever I was around though, she ould stick by me. She had even completely stopped using her own room. And yet, she would follow her father with her eyes whenever he was around, probably hoping that he would come and talk to her. The following weekend, I had settled in the living room after lunch with Aki-chan to watch one of her cartoons with her. Hikaru-nii had gone right into his r
Kaori-nee’s mother came over two hours later. Aki-chan was excited to see her grandmother but knowing that the joy was going to be short-lived, I couldn’t watch her. It was almost like we were betraying her. I prepared tea and after about an hour’s chat, which Hikaru-nii also took part in, she was finally informed that she would have to go with her grandmother. And that was all it took. “Are Otou-san and Kake-jii also coming?” “No. For now, only you are going.” Hikaru-nii said, looking at the child properly after a long time. “Your grandmother will take care of you. It’s only for a few days.” I… averted my eyes. “N-No. I don’t want to go…” She stated from where she sat on the couch next to her grandmother. “I want to stay with Otou-san and Kake-jii.” “That cannot happen, Aki.” I did not want to lend my voice to convince either side of anything. “Otou-san has work, Aki-chan.” Kaori-nee’s mother tried to reason wi
I ventured into the kitchen area. On noticing my presence, Hiro-san spoke up. “Will coffee do? I don’t really have anything else here thanks to my caffeine addiction.” He chuckled. “That’s fine.” I replied and stood to one side, quietly watching him after that. I wanted to tell him what had happened but I did not want to mope around about it either. Knowing him and with how well he knew me, my turning up unannounced at his place like this without any reason was already enough cause of worry for him. “It’s been a while since you came over, huh?” He spoke again. “Mm. I’ve never really had any reason to.” “True. I’m over at yours all the time anyway.” Would you come over even now that Aki-chan isn’t there anymore? “Are you staying for dinner? Ah. But you have to go back for dinner, right? Maybe I’ll tag alo-” “Aki-chan’s not there anymore.” “What?” He turned away from the stove to look at me in shock. “What do you mean she