Disclaimer: Chibi Jim happily skips in, and holds up a sign, that says: "Quatrina Raberba does not own OLS or any of the characters." Then, very small at the bottom, in really messy handwriting, it says, "Gene iz da' best!" Chibi Jim notices this, becomes mad, and scratches it out with a marker.
Again, this takes place before OLS...Jim is seven. ::Melts at the total kawaiines of Chibi Jim::
AN - Aniki is Japanese for something along the lines of mentor, brother, or one's senior. It is what Jim calls Gene in the Japanese version, though Anime Village, as well as Toonami translates it to the casual sounding Gene.
Bath Time for Jim-chan!
(Someone help us...)
Irritating. That was the only word Gene could use to describe his day. After tripping down the stairs and landing on his face (his nose was *still* red) and then discovering he was out of cereal, accidentally breaking several bowls while trying to cook scrambled eggs that weren't green, his muscles were pretty tense! And that was just his morning! It was barely noon, and these first few hours of the day had seemed like an eternity.
Jim was out, most likely looking for a job. The teen honestly didn't want to go out himself, and fortunately for him, it was his partner's turn anyway. Of course, Gene didn't exactly approve of his seven year old friend roaming the streets in search of a job, but he decided that Jim was not an average child. He was pretty mature (in most situations) and always seemed to find ways to get himself out of any trouble. He almost always thought ahead, and though it proved to be affective for Jim, Gene couldn't help but be annoyed with *that* trait.
"He must have found a really good job," thought Gene aloud. "He's been gone for two hours." Of course, there was always the possibility that something terrible had happened to Jim, but Gene never dwelled upon those possibilities. He would worry when the time came...
...and that time seemed to be approaching. He was about to get up and look for the boy, until he heard the door open--rather loudly--and slam shut. "Jim! What took you so long!?" Gene pretended to sound annoyed, as he continued to look through his magazine. "You better have a good job for me!" Gene looked up, only to have his jaw drop open. "Wha-?!" He blinked in surprise....and in mild humor. The next thing that filled the room was the deep laughter of Gene Starwind.
"It's not funny, Aniki!"
"Sure it is!" There, in front of the door, stood seven year old Jim Hawking, covered elegantly from head to toe in brown, moist, mud. His clothes looked as though they could not be salvaged, as they were not only covered with soil, but were ripped to shreds. Despite his messy appearance, the little pouty face Jim was displaying at that moment tugged, gently, at Gene's heart. He'd never admit that, though--not to Jim, and especially not to himself! "What happened?"
"Well, I got this job," growled Jim, "and it paid okay, I guess. I had to walk this lady's dog...." Gene stifled a laugh, but failed to do so. "There weren't any other jobs." Jim took a brief pause to allow Gene to stop laughing. "Anyway, the dog was *huge*! As soon as I got ahold of that leash, it was walking *me*!"
"And it started to drag you, and naturally, you got muddy," finished Gene.
"Yeah..." Jim sighed, as he leaned against the door, smearing sticky mud all over it.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Gene raised an eyebrow as Jim backed away from the soiled door.
"I just dusted that, too," muttered Jim, as he looked at his watch. "Geez, Aniki. I gotta go and find another job. I just came to check in with you."
"Excuse me?" Gene folded his arms as he looked down at his little partner. "What do you mean, 'another job'? You just got done with one, didn't you?"
"Well, you see, the lady was angry because I got her dog muddy."
"And she didn't pay you."
"Yeah..." sighed Jim, yet again. "That's why I gotta get another job! So, uh, I'll see you later." Just as he was about to open the door, Jim stopped when he heard Gene's voice.
"Do you honestly think anyone would want to give a job to a muddy, dirty kid?"
Jim turned back to his older partner. "Uh..."
"You go get a bath, and *then* you can go look for a job."
"Aniki! I *can't* get a bath!" The child put his hands on his hips, with a look of disgust.
"And why not?"
"Because, Aniki!" Exclaimed Jim, with exasperation, as he flailed his arms in the air. "We have piles of debts! I can't just sit around and let everything fall apart!"
"I don't think getting a bath would cause everythi-"
"Plus, I can't *possibly* get all of this mud off all by myself!"
"That still won't get people to give you jobs. Who would want to trust a job with someone who can't even get mud off of themself?" Inquired Gene, with a smug look on his face. Surprisingly, Jim didn't have anything to say. "Sounds like you're just making excuses."
"I am *not*!" Snapped Jim, with a deadly glare set at the red-haired teen.
"Woah, woah! Fine, I'll help you wash the mud off."
"W-what?!" Jim's blue eyes grew wide with horror. "You...*you'll*..." He blushed furiously as he stepped away from his partner.
"I'm going to wash the mud off of you," said Gene, annoyance evident in his voice.
"Well, you can't...because..." Jim's face grew an even deeper shade of red than before. "Well, I mean..." Again, he started stepping away. The thought of Gene *bathing* him...! He could barely stand it.
"Geez, Jim, is all of your blood rushing to your head or something? You're beet red." By now, Jim was attempting to run away from his older partner.
But Gene's arms were faster than Jim's legs, as the child soon found out. Strong arms wrapped around him and before he knew it, Jim had been scooped up from where he had been running. "ANIKI! PUT ME DOWN!" Screamed Jim, as he kicked his legs and thrashed his arms, knocking poor Gene in the head several times. "ANIKI! PLEASE! " Beg as he might, Jim wasn't getting through to Gene.
"Sorry, buddy." Jim knew, however, that Gene wasn't the least bit sorry.
"No, no, no, no!"
The next thing Jim knew, he was in the bathtub, fully clothed. "You can be so immature, Jim," muttered Gene, as the water started.
"Look who's talking," growled Jim, as he glanced at his dirty clothes that were still clinging to his body.
"Hey, I'm just doing that because *you're* so embarrassed."
"Whatev-HEY!" Jim waved his hands in protest as he felt sticky shampoo ooze down his forehead.
"I'm washing your hair," grunted Gene. "Hold still." The ooze turned into foam as a pair of scarred hands worked at Jim's soiled hair. After several minutes of scrubbing, Jim found himself being dunked into the dirty bathwater.
"Agh! Anik-" He was dunked under again. "Stop-BLAGH!" And again.
"I said hold still!" Snapped Gene, as Jim scowled. After a few moments of lathering and tedious rinsing, most of the mud had left Jim's golden hair. "There...now...um...take off your shirt." Annoyed, Jim pulled off his soggy shirt. Mud had apparently gotten under his shirt, as there was mud still refusing to let go of his bare chest. "Geez, Jim! What did you do, wallow in mu-" He was abruptly cut off as the shirt smacked him in the face. There was a brief silence, until the shirt slid off of the teen's face and into the dirty water.
Jim shook his head with annoyance. "Aniki, will you just get on with this?" Gene growled, as wiped some of the dirty water from his face.
"In case you've forgotten, Jim, I'm trying to help you!"
"Fine!" Gene could have sworn he saw a vein bulging out of the child's head. It was obvious that he was *not* enjoying any of this!
And Gene couldn't help but laugh - rather hard.
"It's NOT FUNNY!" Exclaimed Jim, as he splashed some water at Gene. In response, Gene started splashing his younger partner, still laughing. "Did you hear me?!" Jim splashed him again. By now, Gene was getting a little tired of this game...to the point where he was irritated.
"Kay, Jim. Stop it." The child refused to yield. "I said stop it!" Growled Gene, as he continued splashing Jim, mostly in self defense. "AGH! THAT'S IT!" Jim's eyes grew wide, as he quit splashing his older friend. "We're DONE!" Jim smiled slightly, as he had just realized that he gotten what he had wanted.
Of course, the hint of a smile disappeared when Gene revealed an evil grin.
"Now...we have to dry your hair."
"No, I don't think that's-"
"Oh, no, Jim! You're *soooo* important to me...I just *have* make sure you're comfortable. Running around with wet hair is just annoying."
"No, reall-OW!" Gene grinned, as he grabbed Jim's wet hair, and began to pull the child out of the bathtub. "Aniki...!" By now, Jim was pleading. His efforts were in vain, though, as Gene pulled Jim to the counter, where the hair dryer laid. Jim, however, was *not* going to let Gene do who knew what to his hair. So, he did the one thing that he knew to do: run.
Gene didn't seem to mind, as the seven year old ran from his grasp. He heard an annoyed cry escape the boy within only a few moments. "I locked the door." Fidgeting with the locked was heard, but before it continued for too long, Gene grabbed Jim's shoulder, and yanked him to the counter.
A sigh of defeat echoed through the bathroom, as Jim closed his eyes. The next thing the child knew, his head was surrounded in a shell of hot air, and the hideous sound of a hairdryer filled his ears. A few minutes seemed like an eternity, and Jim couldn't bare to look at himself in the mirror.
Finally, though, the hairdryer ceased its torture, and Jim slowly opened his eyes.
"ANIKI!" Jim's beautiful blond hair was a big, frizzy afro. "LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" He was surprised he didn't even suffocate under all of that hair. His head looked like a *baseball* compared to his hair.
"You like it?" It was obvious that he had "styled" his hair purposely.
"Do I *like* it? Do *I* like it?"
"Yeah!" Jim turned to Gene, with a scowl on his face.
"You really wanna know?"
"Yup!" Snickered Gene, as he knelt down, making him have direct eye contact with Jim. Quickly, Jim picked up a rag, and shoved it into Gene's mouth, afterwards, he quickly unlocked the door, and dashed out of the bathroom, fearing certain doom.
Gene quickly grabbed the rag, and yanked it out of his mouth. "JIM!" He ran out of the bathroom, eager to kill his prey.
It didn't take much time to find Jim, as the fleeing child was laughing up a storm. Gene was disgusted with the fact he didn't even try to hide. There Jim was, standing in the hallway, with a taunting smile on his face. "Catch me if ya' can, Aniki!" And he was gone.
Gene had broad, muscular legs, so naturally, he was a fast runner. However, Jim had a head start, and was already out of the front door. Not wanting to just give up, Gene ran out of the front door in pursuit of his partner.
He was surprised to glance down at the ground to find a foot right in his path, and was stunned to find that his feet tripped over that small foot. He felt his face connect with the ground, as his body rolled into a puddle of gooey, sticky...
"Mud." He wiped some of the mud from his face, as he looked up, only to find Jim Hawking standing before him...with a long hose in his hands...aimed...right...at...him...
"Bathtime!"
~*~*~*~*
END
AN- Thanks to "Animezing" for helping me edit a bit.