Chapter 5

With Eri newly born, Taiki is very invested in her wellbeing.

Taiki stuck around the hospital for a full week before he was forced to go home. The first three days, he’d barely slept unless his body gave out on him, determined to keep a close eye on Eri. He wanted to hold her, but the closest he could get was with the black latex gloves through the incubator. He could tell it bothered Mother, too. 

He was forced home by Father, and then made to go to school by Mr. Takeuchi the next morning with a reminder that he’d never make it into medical school if he failed out of high school. So Taiki relented, and returned to school. 

“Yo, Kuroda!” An arm was thrown over Taiki’s shoulder as he exited his classroom. He looked over to see Akimitsu, noticing the others trailing behind. “We finally caught you! Trying to ditch us, are you?”

“Not particularly…” Taiki said, debating whether the better move was to remove Akimitsu’s arm or not. Fortunately, the decision was made for him due to Akimitsu getting tired of holding his arm up so high. Taiki was quite a fair bit taller than him. “I’ve been in tutoring after school.”

Megumi twirled a lock of hair, crystal eyes piercing into Taiki. “That doesn’t explain the missing week, Taiki.”

Taiki gave her an easy grin. “My sister was just born. I was very invested in her wellbeing.”

Yuzuki clapped her hands, eyes going wide in surprise. “You have a sister!?”

“…Just by a week.”

Haichrou barked a laugh. “And you didn't tell us, you little s**t,” he said, pulling Taiki down to his height to mess with Taiki’s hair. 

Taiki swatted him away and brushed his newly messed up bangs out of his face as he stood up straight. “My apologies,” he said. “I’d invite you to meet her, but I think that would overwhelm my mother. They haven’t been released from the hospital yet.”

Megumi’s eyes went wide and she stopped twirling her hair. “Yo… isn’t that a long time to be in the hospital?”

Taiki hesitated. Should he really tell them about the family’s personal affairs? Sure, they were supposed to be his closest friends, but…

“It was a rough birth, and they just want to make sure both are fine,” Taiki said. “I’m sure they’ll be let home soon. I apologize again for being unable to go out today, but I’m going back to keep Mother company.”

There was a collective of groans from the others, and Haichirou smacked his back.

“Alright, alright, get out of here,” he said. “And stop talking like an old man. You’ve only been a big brother for a week.”

Taiki laughed with them, waving as he exited the school. He stopped by the house to get changed, but found himself stopped just outside as he made to leave.

“Ah, Kuroda-kun! Just in time.”

Taiki turned to see Mr. Takeuchi waving him down. “I’ve just returned from the hospital checking in on your mother,” he said, placing a hand on Taiki’s shoulder. “She said she had a message for you: ‘Don’t come.’” Taiki’s eyes went wide and he opened his mouth to protest, but Mr. Takeuchi held a finger up to quiet him. “She said that you need to return to your tutor/babysitting agreement and can go afterwards. I can’t tutor today as I have some things over at the university I need to do, but I’m sure Natsumi would find joy in your help.”

Taiki’s shoulders slumped. “Alright, alright…” he said. “See you later, Sensei.”

Mr. Takeuchi grinned at him, removing his hand and putting both on his hips. “You’re a good kid. Keep your head up. They’ll be home soon enough, and then you’ll be sick of babies.”

Taiki wasn’t too entirely sure about that… He’d worked with mainly three through six-year-olds for the last several years, and almost none of them had outgrown their terrible twos. Infants, who cried and pooped and needed constant attention but couldn’t get into nearly as much trouble, were not nearly as troublesome.

Still, Taiki entered the Takeuchi residence without further complaint. Makoto was just old enough to be rolling around, at least from his tummy to his back. He was only four months old. 

Taiki sat on the floor with him, Makoto on a soft blanket on the carpeted floor, Taiki with a pillow behind his back. Makoto giggled and babbled, letting out high pitched little laughs whenever he managed to push himself onto his back and Taiki would roll him back onto his stomach.

Mrs. Takeuchi sat, curled up in a corner of the couch, warm drink in hand as she watched Taiki and Makoto, lips pursed and brows furrowed.

Makoto pushed himself over again, just a little too hard, and bonked his head on the ground, immediately beginning to fuss and cry loudly. Taiki picked him up, cooing softly as he laid the boy across his chest, gently rubbing Makoto’s back. Makoto’s tiny hand fisted in Taiki’s shirt, tears dampening his collar, but his cries slowly quieted down.

“…You’re really good with him,” Mrs. Takeuchi said after a few quiet moments. Taiki looked over his shoulder at her. 

“Uh, y-yeah…” he said, feeling his cheeks go hot. Makoto whined and Taiki went back to rubbing his back. “He’s a good kid. It’s pretty easy.”

“He’s never quieted down like that with me.” Mr. Takeuchi held her drink between both hands, just quietly regarding the boy with her son. “…I never got those motherly inclinations you always hear people talking about. It didn’t just click when he was born. Takuya took to it immediately, but… not me.” She took a drink, adverting her eyes away from the scene. “…I never wanted to be a mother. He won’t be able to get the love he needs from me.”

Taiki was quiet, watching Mrs. Takeuchi as she got lost in her own world. He knew from knowledge of the original work that part of Makoto’s Tragic Backstory^TM was that his mother wasn’t around. He wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but he knew one thing. It would be a shame if she withered away.

“I…” Taiki swallowed thickly. “If you’re unhappy, why did you…?”

Mrs. Takeuchi sighed, hand going to rest up on her cheek. “Takuya wanted a baby,” she said. She flinched, cringing as she continued to talk. “And I… love… Takuya.”

Mrs. Takeuchi went quiet then, hand moving to cover her mouth as she sunk deep into thought. Taiki turned back to Makoto, cooing at and talking softly to him while bouncing him gently.

It wasn’t until late that Taiki was released to go to the hospital. It was worth it, though, because for the first time, Eri was able to be taken out of her incubator and Mother got to hold her. Taiki brushed against the silver strands on her head as she almost inaudibly whimpered. 

“She’s precious,” Taiki said, feeling his heart clench.

Mother giggled as she watched Taiki. “Here, hold her,” Mother said, shifting Eri into his arms. “There, hand under her head to support it- oh, just like that. You’re a natural, honey.”

Taiki gently held Eri. She was so tiny, so frail. She was so much lighter than Makoto, and Taiki was unsure if he’d ever held a child as weightless as she was. He nearly shook with the fear that he might drop her.

Slowly, Taiki went over to the couch, sitting down and cradling Eri close.

Mother chuckled from her space on the hospital bed. She looked at them affectionately. “Keep watching her like that, and some might think she was your own daughter,” she teased, eyes crinkled at the corners in amusement.

Taiki chuckled, careful not to shake Eri. “Uh… huh, um.” He felt his cheeks going hot. He wasn’t that obvious, was he?

“It’s sweet,” Mother promised. “I’m glad Eri-chan will have such a loving big brother to take care of her.”

Taiki looked down at Eri. That was exactly what he was going to do.

Mother shooed Taiki back home when the doctor came and said Eri needed to go back in her incubator for the night. Taiki hesitated, but eventually relented, kissed Mother’s forehead, and left. 

He laid in his dark bedroom, Patch curled up by his side. He shifted, and Patch lifted its head, turning to look at Taiki.

“Can’t sleep?”

Taiki hummed, hands folded on his stomach. “I was just thinking,” he said. “Eri’s my sister, and we have pretty good parents who won’t mistreat her… She’s got a pretty good life ahead of her, if she’ll survive to live it. Just how much am I needed? How involved in raising her do I have to be?” He wasn’t going to step away and ignore her, even if it was an option, but he definitely didn’t want to overstep boundaries. Also sharing the burden of child rearing always made it easier on everyone involved.

“That’s a good question!” Patch said, flopping down and not saying anything else. Taiki twitched his leg, shaking Patch, but it didn’t budge.

Taiki frowned, shaking his leg, and Patch, harder. “Don’t ignore me.”

“I can’t say any more than that!” Patch wailed. “That’s something you’ll have to figure out by yourself.”

Taiki’s face went lax as he sighed heavily. He curled onto his side and dragged Patch upwards so it was cuddled up next to his chest and stomach. “You dorky dog…” he mumbled as he went to sleep, thoughts full of Eri and the future ahead of them.

Author's Note

I... think I might have made this chapter really short in comparison to the others. I hope that is just the case because if I accidentally deleted part of a chapter again, I may cry.