Characters: Tadase Hotori

Buono!Buono!: Early Bird

Tadase Hotori opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and then checked the alarm clock, 4:30 AM. He had woken up over an hour before his alarm went off on a Saturday. This didn't bother Tadase in the least.

He turned his alarm clock off and opened the blinds to the window of his room. The sky was still dark, and there was still a star shining in the sky. Tadase spotted his next-door neighbor John outside, asleep on a chair with a blanket.

Tadase cheerfully hopped off of his bed and proceeded to get dressed. Afterwards, he fixed his bed, and cleaned up his room. Walking out into the hallway, he picked up a broom and dustpan lying next to the door of his room. He happily hummed a tune as he swept the hallways of the entire house.

Tadase finished at the broom closet next to his own bedroom. He emptied the dustpan into the trashcan nearby, and put the broom and dustpan into the closet. Tadase then took out the vacuum cleaner, and proceeded to vacuum the carpets in the house, still in a cheerful mood. Tadase stopped when he reached the bathroom. Emptying the contents of the vacuum into the trashcan, he put the vacuum back into the closet.

Tadase then proceeded to wash up. When he finished, he hummed a tune as he cleaned the bathrooms. Tadase then walked to the kitchen, a little tired, but still wide awake. Putting on a blue apron, he proceeded to cook breakfast. He prepared three plates, one of them doll-sized. He also poured two cups of milk, one of them doll-sized, and a cup of water.

Tadase ate his breakfast alone, content and cheerful despite being alone. When he finished, he washed his own plate and cup, and proceeded to clean the kitchen. As he did so, he looked out the window and spotted a bird chirping outside. Tadase smiled and waved to the bird, and said, "Good morning bird-san. I'm glad to see you've finally awoken!"

A few minutes later, Tadase put the leftover plate of breakfast and the cup of water onto a tray. He placed the doll-sized helpings onto a doll-sized tray. He picked both of them up and made his way to his room. Tadase carefully balanced the large tray on one hand and placed the small tray next to Kiseki's sleeping egg. Tadase waved to Kiseki's egg, "Bye Kiseki, you know where to find me when you wake up."

Tadase then took the large tray and went to his grandmother's room. His grandmother was still ill, and still asleep. He gently placed the tray down next to the flowers. Looking at his grandmother's frail sleeping form, he quietly whispered from where he sat, "I hope you get better soon, grandma." Tadase sat there for a few minutes, looking on in worry at his grandma.

After his visit to his grandmother's room, Tadase stood at the front door, prepared to leave. He checked the time, 6:03 AM. Tadase then shouted into the house, though knowing no one would hear him, "I'm going out!" Tadase then walked out, a calm smile on his face.

Tadase strolled down the sidewalk, taking his morning walk. It was still bright and early, and the wind made it rather cold that morning, but Tadase didn't mind. As Tadase continued into the town, he spotted others waking up. Tadase gave a friendly "good morning" to everyone he spotted, the majority of whom he knew.

He passed by a ramen stand, and spotted the owner sweeping just outside of the stand. Tadase smiled and gave a friendly, "Good morning, Fukumura-san!"

Fukumura looked up, and he smiled upon seeing Tadase, "Good morning, Tadase. How's your grandmother? It's been a while since I heard of her." Fukumura was an aging widower in his late fifties, and was good friends with Tadase's grandmother and their family.

Tadase replied sadly, "Her condition hasn't changed..." just as Fukumura paused sweeping in favor of fixing his aching back. Concerned, Tadase picked up the fallen broom and said, "Oh, let me help you, Fukumura-san."

Fukumura gave a kind smile to Tadase and said, "Oh, thank you so much."

As Tadase finished up the sweeping, he returned the smile and said, "Oh, it's no problem. I like helping out." While Tadase swept the front of the shop, Fukumura then took the time to go inside the stand to set up the rest of the shop. When he finished, Tadase wiped a bit of sweat off his brow, "There, finished." He peeked inside the shop and called out, "Fukumura-san? Where should I put the broom?"

Fukumura appeared from behind the counter, and said to Tadase, "Oh, just lean it against the wall please."

Tadase placed the broom in its desired position, and then said to Fukumura, "It was nice meeting up with you again."

"Oh, before you leave," Fukumura picked up a plastic container containing ramen noodles and a pair of chopsticks, "Here, please take this as thanks for helping me out this morning." Before Tadase could interject, Fukumura added, "Your grandmother would be proud of what a nice young-man you've become. Please tell her that I wish her well."

At that, Tadase took the noodles and replied, "Thank you, Fukumura-san, I will."

After visiting the ramen stand, Tadase continued his morning walk, looking around as the sky went from rose-colored to a bright blue. It was now a little after six-thirty, and the smell of cleaning product prompted Tadase to turn his attention to the sidewalk in front of him.

He had stopped outside of a toy store, and a short girl not much older than him was outside the store. The girl had shoulder-length hair and was rather short, the bags under her eyes suggested that she was still sleepy. Tadase quickly recognized the girl as Tanabe, the daughter of the store-owner. She appeared to be cleaning the window of the store, but had done little except for the bottom. Knowing that she would sooner fall asleep than be tall enough to reach the top of the window, Tadase decided to help her.

Tadase walked up to her, tapped her shoulder, and said, "Good morning, Tanabe-san. Would you like help cleaning the window?"

Tanabe jumped in surprise and turned around, squealing in the process. Upon recognizing Tadase as the boy who passed by her shop every Saturday, she playfully hit him with the cleaning-rag and said, "Hey, don't scare me like that! It's not nice to sneak up on people who are working, you jerk!" Tadase chuckled and was about to reply before Tanabe added, "But boy would I like help with these windows! Dad just doesn't seem to get it that I'm too short to clean windows." She handed the cleaning materials toward Tadase.

As Tadase cleaned the windows, Tanabe sat on a nearby stool, and started a conversation, "Hey, so what time did you wake up this time?"

Tadase thought for a moment, trying to remember, before saying, "Around 4:30 I think."

Tanabe exclaimed in exaggerated shock, "What?! That early, and you're not passed out? Wow, I'll never understand you, Hotori-kun."

"Well, I guess I'm just a morning person."

Tanabe then said as cheerfully as someone half-awake could, "Yeah, you know what they say 'the early bird gets the worm.'" Something then occurred to her, and she said, "Hey, so did you have to do the chores again this morning?"

Tadase continued cleaning the window as he replied, "Yeah, took me an hour and a half to clean the house and make breakfast."

Tanabe did the math in her head and then said in awe, "Wow, record time! No wonder you're so early today!" As she saw Tadase wipe at the last part of the window she said, "Wow those windows are sparkling clean! Thanks a bunch for helping me out, Hotori-kun. Now I have extra time to sleep~"

Tadase chuckled as he said, "You're welcome, though you seem a bit cheerful for someone so tired."

"I could say the same for you, you wake up so early!" Tanabe replied. She then motioned for Tadase to wait, knowing he would leave soon, and said, "Wait a second! I'll be right back." Tanabe went inside the toy store and came out a few minutes later with a plush toy of a baby pink rabbit. She held it out to him and said, "Here, my dad and I want you to have this for helping with the windows today! This plushy is brand new so don't you dare reject it!"

Knowing that Tanabe wouldn't let him refuse, Tadase took the plushy with a grateful smile and said, "Thank you, Tanabe-san. I'm glad I could help you out this morning."

Tadase continued down the sidewalk after parting ways with Tanabe. Not really having many plans, he casually strolled down the sidewalk occasionally sharing a "hello" with everyone he was acquaintances with. He stopped walking at the end of the block, where the stores came to an end, and saw his favorite bookstore. "I hope Maeda-san won't mind if I drop in," Tadase thought. He then entered the store, calling out a "good morning" as he did so.

Inside the bookstore, Tadase was surprised to see what a mess it was and the lack of employees. Empty boxes were turned over on their side and new-books were sprawled all over the floor. The blonde turned around and looked at the door, double-checking that the store was open. When it was, he called the store-owner's name, concerned for the state of the shop, "Maeda-san? Are you here today?" Almost immediately after Tadase spoke, a small wailing noise started from the back of the shop, and Tadase's concern grew.

To his relief, a male voice called from the back of the shop, "Hotori, is that you? I'm in the back."

Upon hearing that, Tadase crossed over to the back room, and saw the middle-aged store-owner, Maeda, in the back. The man was trying, and failing, to take care of a baby girl. The man was clearly stressed, and Tadase asked, "Maeda-san, is everything alright?"

Maeda successfully quieted down the baby momentarily, before responding, "No, my sister dropped off her daughter, because she couldn't afford a sitter, without considering the fact that I have a shop to run. The new shipment of books arrived earlier than usual, and none of the employees are going to arrive until the afternoon."

Tadase put his things down on the floor, and then suggested, "Well, I would be glad to help you take care of your niece if you need to set up the shop for the day."

Maeda sighed in frustration before saying, "No, as much as I would love help, Yuuka-chan doesn't let anyone but family take care of her." He then paused before saying, "But, I know it's too much to ask, I would appreciate it greatly if you'd help with putting some of the new books on the shelves."

Tadase, not having much to do anyway, was glad just to have something to keep him busy and replied, "Oh, I'd be glad to help out! The way the books are organized the same as last time, right?" Tadase referenced the last time he had came to the store and volunteered to help out.

Maeda nodded and said, "Thank you so much, Hotori." His niece, Yuuka, then stated crying once more, and Maeda had to shift his attention to the child. Tadase turned around and went to the shop, spending the next hour organizing the books.

When Maeda successfully put Yuuka to sleep after feeding her, he returned to the shop to see that Tadase was nearly finished. While Tadase put the last of the new gag manga onto the shelf, Maeda said as he walked over to Tadase, "Thank you so much for helping out. I can't think of anyone who wakes up as early as you do and still is willing to help others early in the morning."

Tadase paused in putting the last gag manga on the shelf to face Maeda and reply with a smile, "Oh, it's no problem really. I like waking up early and helping out. Tanabe-san calls me an 'early bird' sometimes."

Maeda then smiled for the first time for that stressful morning and said, "Well, I think we can all see why she does." He then spotted the last book Tadase had yet to organize, a brand-new limited edition of the most recent volume of a gag manga series. "Hey, for helping me out, I'll let you keep that book. It's a really popular gag manga series."

Tadase, not knowing what Maeda meant, looked down at the book he held in confusion before noticing that it was a gag manga, and a rather expensive one. He was about to protest, but then remembered a friend who mentioned her desire to have the book. Tadase gave a quick bow and said, "Thank you Maeda-san, I know just what to do with it."

It was 7:40 AM, and Tadase made a left after leaving the bookstore with all of his things, passing by the nearby park as he walked. Tadase looked to his right and saw a tall, brown-haired, middle-school student shooting baskets at a court across the street. Recognizing the boy, Tadase crossed the street and entered the basketball court before calling out, "Good morning, Soma-kun."

The boy in question, Kukai Soma, jumped upon hearing his name, effectively missing the shot. He turned around, and calmed upon seeing Tadase, "Yo, Hotori! Morning, man you're way too good at sneaking up on people." Kukai jogged over to where Tadase sat on the bench and said, "You know, I keep forgetting that you take your early morning walk on Saturdays. Man, when was the last time we spoke? May? We need to hang out more often."

"Well, in that case, it was nice that we met up like this."

Kukai then took a seat beside Tadase, and spotted to container of ramen, not as warm as it was over an hour and a half earlier. Ecstatic to see his favorite food he exclaimed excitedly, "Oh my gosh is that ramen?! Can I eat it? I'm starving, I left this morning without eating breakfast."

"Sure, I wasn't going to eat it anyway, but it's cold now." Tadase said as he handed over the container of ramen to Kukai.

"Hey, ramen is ramen, even if it's a bit cold" Kukai said with his mouth full as he ate.

Tadase watched Kukai eat the ramen with concern in his eyes. Tadase, having known Kukai since third grade, knew that Kukai wasn't one to wake up early. Waking up before 9:00 AM on a weekend was impossible unless the middle-school student was having family issues. There was also the fact that Soma was without his guardian character, a rare occurence. "Soma-kun, is everything going alright this morning?"

Kukai paused in eating as soon as he heard Tadase ask the question, and sighed. Knowing that his friend was only trying to help, Kukai knew better than to keep something from Tadase. "It's no big deal," he said, "but all five of my older brothers are home for the weekend, and it's just been stressing me out. We're having all of the competitions again, they're making me do stuff for them again, and they're asking me questions like you wouldn't believe. Kaido also brought his future wife, so that's kind of awkward, too." All of Kukai's brothers, with the exception of Unkai and Rento, were normally at college. So having them all back and on his back again was giving the youngest brother more problems than benefits.

"I'm sure they mean well," Tadase said gently, wanting to cheer up Kukai. "Teasing you again like old times is probably their way of saying that they missed you."

Kukai gave a sentimental smile and replied with a quiet, "Yeah..." After a short conversation and the finishing of the ramen, Kukai turned to his friend and said with a more cheerful attitude, "Hey, thanks for the breakfast and advice! I think I'll shoot some more hoops before heading back home. None of them are going to wake up for awhile."

Tadase smiled and said, "I'm glad I could help. I should continue on my walk, see you soon!"

Kukai gave a wave as Tadase left, and said, "Hey, yeah, see you later!"

Tadase made another left at the end of the block, and now passed through a neighborhood. He heard shouting and wailing outside of a house on his left. Turning his head to see, Tadase spotted Yaya Yuiki being dragged outside to the car by her mother. Pepe was floating above her shoulder, and they were both crying and complaining to resist getting inside the car. Her mother held a bag in her hands, and from the sounds of the complaints, Yaya was resisting going to ballet practice.

As he passed by them, Tadase made eye contact with Yaya's mother, and smiled and waved as he passed by, "Good morning Yuiki-san."

"Good morning, Hotori-kun," Yaya's mother said while trying to drag Yaya to the car.

Upon hearing that Tadase was there, Yaya paused resisting for a second and turned to see Tadase. "Good morning Tadase," Yaya said enthusiastically, her tone then changed as she started whining again, "Is Tadase going to ballet practice, too? Waah, maybe Tadase can go instead of Yaya~"

Tadase chuckled and shook his head, stopping in front of their driveway, "No, I'm not going to ballet practice. I'm on my morning walk, remember? I do it every Saturday."

By now, Yaya's mother had stopped dragging Yaya, who had stopped resisting, and was simply leading her to the car as Yaya considered Tadase's words. She then said, "Oh, yeah! Yaya remembers now! Tada-tan's such an early bird, he gets up too early! How're you still awake with all of the boring work?"

"It's a matter of habit, I guess," Tadase replied modestly.

Yaya's mother used the conversation to get Yaya buckled inside the car while she was distracted. Tadase turned around as she did so, in order to face them as they spoke. Yaya's mother then asked in concern as she realized something, "That's right, you live alone with your grandmother. Getting up early must be a given for you."

Tadase nodded, his expression stiff, polite, and serious, "Yeah, but I don't mind as much now. I'm used to it. Of course, there's not a moment where I'm not worrying about my grandmother's health."

"Please tell your grandmother that I wish her well," Yaya's mother said as she climbed into the car. As she did so, Tadase remembered something. Taking out the plush baby rabbit toy out, he knocked on the window of the car, which Yaya then pulled down. He handed the plushy over to Yaya, and said, "Here, I'm sure you'll find a better use for it than I can."

Yaya's face lit up, and she took the toy, "Thanks Tada-tan! This is so cute!" She gave it a hug and then shouted to her mother, "Mama, I'm ready to go, now!" Yaya pulled up the window as her mother drove to ballet lessons. Tadase waved to them before continuing on his walk.

It was now 8:15 AM. As Tadase passed through the next neighborhood, a short girl his age with curly blonde hair stepped out of her house in her pajamas, making a point to slam the door behind her. The girl sat down on the front step of her house, and held her head as she gave a sigh of frustration.

Tadase walked down the sidewalk, and passed by the girl. Having recognized the girl, he walked up her driveway over to the girl. Once he reached her doorstep, he asked in concern, "Mashiro-san?"

Rima looked up at Tadase upon hearing his voice, and straightened up. Her expression was her normal neutral one, as she greeted him, "Hi Hotori-kun."

"Are you alright?" Tadase asked in concern, "It's not particularly normal for someone to be sitting outside in their pajamas so early."

Rima gave a half-smile as she commented, "You're too caring." Tadase gave a sheepish smile, and Rima replied, "I'm fine, but my dad's been keeping both my mom and I up from his frequent business conversations on the phone. The three of us were actually fighting about that before I decided to take a break from it all." Rima's smile was wiped off her face as she said that, and her face resumed it's neutral expression.

"What about Kusukusu?" Tadase asked, knowing that Rima's guardian character was always the one to keep the girl company if she were to ever get upset.

Rima's face was then decorated with a frown, and she replied slowly, "Kusukusu... refused to see me so upset. She's, somewhere, I guess. She tried so hard to cheer me up, but I wasn't listening because I was arguing with Mama and Papa." Rima sighed, "I feel bad for ignoring her, I'm sure she's hiding in her egg somewhere."

A silence followed, and Tadase thought about what he could do to help. Then, he remembered the item Maeda had given him. Taking out the gag manga, he handed it to Rima and said, "Maybe this'll cheer you up. Maeda-san let me keep it when I helped him set up his shop."

Rima stared at the book in awe, and her face immediately lit up with a childish glee as she took the book and exclaimed, "Is this the new limited edition version of Volume 8?!" She opened up the book and looked at the first few pages, before putting the book on her lap and saying, "Wow, this is so amazing, thank you so much Hotori-kun!"

Tadase smiled and said, "Glad I could help."

Something about the situation then occurred to Rima, and the former-queen's chair then asked in curiosity, "Why're you here? You know, it's pretty early. It's Saturday, right? Are you taking a walk, or something?"

Tadase nodded, "Yeah, it's become my morning routine to clean up the house, take care of grandma, and then take a walk."

Another silence followed. Rima picked up the book , and clutched it as she replied, "Your grandmother's sick, right?" Her face scrunched up in thought as she said, "That's such a big burden, taking care of your grandmother by yourself." She gave a sad smile and said, "It makes my issues with my parents sound so trivial... How do you manage to stay so strong and so optimistic for everyone?"

Tadase straightened up, and gave a genuine smile as he said, "I have Kiseki to thank for that, and the rest of you guys, too. No matter what happens, even if I wake up so early, I know my day will be exciting as long as I'm optimistic." He turned to Rima and added, "Isn't that right?"

Rima gave Tadase a look, before tilting her head and saying in a deadpan voice, with her smile still present on her face, "You're such an early bird."