It was a late Saturday evening while Kaito, Haruto, and Orbital-7 diced away at vegetables for the nights supper. Orbital's failed attempts at getting Kaito to leave the domestic task to the more efficient machine were readily ignored. And as Kaito did, soon did Haruto follow in suit. Haruto would be the one to generally chatter away pleasantly about his day while the elder of the two smiled slightly and gave bits and pieces to the conversation. Haruto, most unlike his brother, even engaged Orbital in these pleasant conversations, though Kaito would revert to telling Orbital and Haruto their assistance wasn't required.
"Kaito-sama, Haruto-sama, I can finish the cooking!" Orbital attempted to explain, but to his dismay the two continued to ignore his plea. They were far too young to be involving themselves in such tasks, at least that was how Orbital felt about it. Their father entrusted him with the task of keeping both eyes tight on his sons, and to protect and serve them no matter the cost. Orbital himself was no ordinary, mundane machine, and felt relative ease in these simple tasks. In what he would dub his heart, the children he had come to take care of were more than a task or a burden. It made him feel…what one may call comfort or happiness when the two boys were at ease. When they smiled or laughed, Orbital couldn't help but think of his own siblings…and compared to what his previous functioning was for…well, doing a few dishes and folding laundry was a cake walk.
But considering Kaito's stubbornness in taking care of all the tasks himself proved to make Orbital's job a bit, well a bit more than a bit, more stressful. Kaito himself was insistent on taking charge of the situation, leaving the menial aspects of the tasks to go to Orbital and Haruto. This in turn made each job take longer than Orbital could have done himself. Nonetheless, he had to oblige to the will of his masters.
"I want to try more of Nii-san's cooking! And I hardly ever get to help anymore…" Haruto pouted, more directed towards Kaito than Orbital.
"You will, but you shouldn't bother with all this boring work. Go play instead." Kaito scowled to himself, Haruto had come down with a fever in the last week and had just recently gotten out of bed. It had been ages since they had all sat down as a family, so Kaito wanted to make this dinner special if nothing else.
"No, I want to learn things like Nii-san does" he prodded, smiling over at his older brother. It was nice for the younger of the two to be up and moving again. It made him restless lying in bed all day, and spending time with his brother beat playing alone in his room.
"Let's just set this to broil, I'll go start the laundry." Kaito sighed slightly, but couldn't express any exasperation when Haruto gripped his sleeve playfully.
"I'm going to help too! I'll beat you to the laundry room, Nii-san!" Haruto charged off, but not before playfully shoving Kaito back. Though this had little if any impact on the larger of the two, Kaito couldn't help but let a small laugh out at the gesture.
Orbital felt that pleasant feeling fill his "heart" at the sight of this, and hurried after the brothers as they zoomed towards the laundry room.
"Hah, I got you now!" Kaito grinned, picking up Haruto and swinging him over his shoulders.
"Cheater! Just wait until I'm older, I'm going to be way bigger than you, and pick you up!" Haruto challenged, grinning manically at Kaito.
"Keep dreaming little guy, now you can sit in the laundry basket if you want…"
"No! You can, but I want to work!" Haruto's face grew serious, trying to prove to his brother that he could be of help to him.
The two continued their light arguing as the laundry went by much smoother and faster than Orbital had expected it would. Kaito's spirits had been quite grave since Haruto had gotten sick, as light as it was, the elder worried to himself a great deal over that time. It was nice to see them acting brotherly and playfully once again.
Having finished up the laundry, the trio made their way back to the kitchen where they started on the dishes. Kaito didn't even bother trying to get the others to leave him to the task, he would never vocalize it, but having them around did speed up the process. His stomach growled slightly at the smell of the food cooking, it would be nice to sit down after the days work was completed.
"Nii-san, when did dad say he was coming home?" Haruto implored, looking up from the soapy water.
"Oh he—" Kaito ended his sentence with a cringe, and the blade of a knife submerged in the water sliced through his hand.
"Kaito-sama!" Orbital rushed away to grab the first aid kit, while Kaito held back a curse.
"It's nothing. It's fine." Grinding his teeth together, Kaito cursed himself for making such a careless mistake.
"Please give me your hand, Kaito-sama!"
"Leave it Orbital."
"Nii-san!" Haruto protested, tears welling in his eyes at the sight of his brothers bleeding hand.
Pausing to register the shock in Haruto's eyes, Kaito begrudgingly gave his hand to Orbital-7 to patch up. It was quick work, nothing to severe, but Haruto still watched the entire scene intently.
"That's enough, it hardly broke the skin." Kaito shrugged off, flexing his fingers underneath the bandage.
"Hmm…yes, it looks much better." Haruto noted, gently tugging Kaito's hand towards him by the wrist. His focus solely intent on examining the wound, Haruto nodded once again and gave it a gently kiss before releasing his brother.
"…Haruto…" Kaito couldn't help but smile down at the other, somehow his hand didn't feel like it stung as much anymore. He felt…glad. Fortunate that he was lucky enough to have a brother as considerate and sweet and Haruto.
Kaito turned away, still smiling slightly to himself, to turn off the stove when the door opened from the entrance of the house.
"Dad's home!" Haruto called, quickly wiping off the soapy water from his hands onto his shorts.
Kaito paused at the greeting his father called out. This was…strange.
"Is Orbital cooking?" Doctor Faker questioned, the welcoming aroma made him grin after the days hard work.
"Orbital and me helped, but Nii-san did most of the cooking." Haruto explained jubilantly to his father, happily surprised to see him home so early.
Orbital busied himself with placing the table as the family greeted one another. Kaito felt his heart grow slightly with an unexpected excitement.
It was rare their father was home so early from work, if at all. Yet here he was right when they were going to sit down for dinner. It was…more than Kaito dared hope for. He had been looking forward to sitting down with just Haruto…but their dad as well…
Perhaps Kaito was a tiny, tiny bit excited. Maybe a bit more than tiny.
Kaito smiled and nodded to his father in greeting, as Haruto explained how he too helped with the laundry.
"You shouldn't strain yourself too much Haruto, you've been sick all week, remember?" Faker couldn't help but worry about his youngest son a bit more. Kaito had always been strong and reliable. Faker's heart was laden down with the knowledge that Kaito took on more responsibility than he should have to. He was grateful to his son for this, but hoped that having the Orbital unit around would lighten that load on him.
"Yes, but I wanted to see how Nii-san cooks. He cooks even better than mama used to." Haruto thought this to be a great compliment, but Kaito felt his heart freeze. Thinking his father would be upset, Kaito moved closer towards Haruto to tell him not to say such things, but to his great surprise, his father only laughed.
Patting Haruto's head, Faker smiled at the elder of his sons earnestly, leaving Kaito flushing and feeling like a jerk for misjudging his father.
"When you're ready to eat, we can get started." Kaito offered, trying to remember what kind of tea his father would drink after supper.
"…I have to go back to the office, I left my folder in my study." Faker felt a stab to his chest at the flash of disappointment that hit Kaito's face. As he always did, Kaito quickly put on a straight face and nodded, turning away to pretend to help Orbital.
Words of apology stuck in Fakers throat. His words didn't feel like enough…they were still so young, but his work was pivotal in their happiness. In the long run at least.
Cutting through the bitter silence, completely oblivious to his older brothers disappointment, Haruto spoke with great vigor.
"Don't work too hard dad!" running over and hugging his father's legs tightly. Faker's heart stopped for a moment, his eyes becoming misty with tears. Such…spirit. Faker could only bring himself to pat his son gently on the head, it was astounding at how very little he was.
Feeling his heart sink with shame, Kaito couldn't help but want to go down on his knees and hug Haruto for his selfless humility.
"I'm so…selfish. I know dad needs to work…Haruto…" Before he could finish his train of thought, his father interrupted him.
"What happened to your hand?" Faker noticed Kaito's hand absent mindedly picking at the rather thick bandage on his hand.
"Ah, it's nothing." Kaito dismissed, still feeling slightly foolish for his previous thoughts."
"Nii-san hurt himself doing the dishes, but Orbital fixed him!" Haruto explained, walking over to his brother and gesturing towards the wound.
"…I—" Kaito attempted to muster up some sort of excuse, but was cut off by his father's sudden gesture to examine the wound. Taking Kaito's hand into his own, he checked it over to make sure it wasn't too severe.
"You need to be more careful Kaito. You don't want to carelessly hurt yourself." Failing to be of any real confidence, Faker busied himself with trying to figure out whether or not his son would need stitches.
"It's—" Kaito's face burned as his father gently pressed his lips to the wound. Faker deduced it wasn't too much to fret over, but couldn't help but worry. The kiss came without him thinking, a natural action that seemed to take place before his brain could fully register it. Saying no more, he settled for giving his flustered son a small smile before lowering the others hand.
"You're still a child. Enjoy yourself too. Orbital can take care of the little things while I'm away." Kaito lowered his head slightly, not knowing why he was resisting the urge to hug his father.
"Dad…wait-, where's Haruto?" Now realizing the youngest of the group had vanished, Kaito's eyes dilated, with initial worry.
"Here, here!" Haruto called, racing back into the room. In his hand he held a rather lumpy paper bag, and handed it to their father.
"Haruto…" Faker examined the bag, unmistakingly laden down with a variety of assorted foods.
"Take it to the office, Nii-san worked really hard on it" Haruto told his father. Kaito couldn't take it anymore.
He just couldn't hold it in. Laugh still caught in his throat, he grinned widely at his family. Faker himself was laughing, face burning cheerfully at his sons efforts to be strong and grown up. His heart ached when he realized he was to stay at the office for what was to be the better part of the night.
"Thank you both…" kissing the top of both of their heads, Doctor Faker paused at the exit of the door. "Be sure to be up early tomorrow, I'll make breakfast—err, brunch."
Embracing his two sons in one big hug, Faker felt his heart set in stone. This was his reason to be living. This is what he has to protect.
Breaking away from the two, Doctor Faker made his way quickly to his study to grab his folder, then out towards the door.
"Kaito-sama! Haruto-sama! Please come and eat before the food gets cold!" Orbital called from the dining room.
"Thank you Orbital!" Haruto smiled, causing the young machine to fluster with happiness.
Faker gazed around at the three eating before heading out himself. He was already running late…
Checking his mirrors in the car before pulling out, Faker placed the bag Haruto made him carefully on the seat next to him. Hearing a piece of paper crinkle slightly, Faker narrowed his eyebrows and opened up the bag.
Inside was a drawing that was unmistakingly Haruto's. Now Faker couldn't stop the tears from escaping his eyes.
Haruto had drawn what looked like himself, Kaito, Orbital-7, and Faker all sitting outside by what looked like a small river. They were all smiling cheerfully, and behind the drawing Haruto had left Faker a tiny, "I love you", with a tiny smiley face next to it.
Having to pause before driving on, Faker couldn't see with all the tears clouding his vision.
He would find a way. Any way.