Adventures of Young Tezuka Kunimitsu
Chapter 1 - Kunimitsu's introduction to Papa's club
Saturday was a special day for young Tezuka Kunimitsu. His papa was going to bring him to his club. His friends from the office would be there with their wives and children. He had to be on extra good behaviour. Because his ojii-san said, a child's behaviour is a reflection on his parents. If he was a bad boy, it meant his papa and mama are bad parents. If he was a good boy, it meant they were good parents. So he had to be extra good, because he had extra good papa and mama. Everyone would know that. All they had to do was look at him.
"Kunimitsu!" his mama called.
He grabbed his favourite green ball and bade Ojiisan goodbye. He ran to the car and climbed into the front seat. He pulled the seat-beat straps over his chest and gave the metal end to his mama to secure. Then he reminded his papa to lock the doors and they were off.
Kunimitsu watched his mama bowed as his papa introduced her. When he heard his name, he bowed too, just like how his Ojiisan taught him. He remembered to put his hands at his side this time and not hold them together like mama. Ito-san praised him of being a good boy. His papa smiled proudly when he thanked the manager solemnly. Ojiisan said he must receive compliments with courtesy and humility. He did not really understand what that means, but he had a lot of practice receiving compliments at the dojo from Ojiisan's colleagues and students. Ito-san's wife spoilt it when she squealed, threw her arms around him, pinched his cheek and called him cute. He stiffened and looked at his mama with panicked eyes. He wanted to cry and hide in her skirts.
Tezuka Ayana saw her son's face started to crumple and came to his rescue. She knelt down and stroked his back gently to reassure him. She felt him lean back into her, away from Ito-san's wife. She was rather proud that he swallowed his distress and endured a few more seconds of fussing. Then, she deftly extricated her son before the woman noticed her son's rejection. She ushered him to the changing room as her husband and his manager turned towards the golf course.
Kunimitsu hung on to her skirt in a death grip. It was difficult for her to walk with him clinging so tightly. She knelt down and asked him if he wanted to be carried. He hesitated a moment before wrapping his arms around her neck. He had been rather reluctant about being carried since he started kindergarden. Not that she was complaining. At five years old, he was getting too heavy to be carried for long periods of time. But she missed holding his soft warm body and feel his hair tickling her neck. That was what he was doing now, clinging tightly to her neck and quietly burrowing his face into her shoulder. She rubbed his back, talking lightly about the wading pool and how much fun it was to play in the water.
He was always a quiet child, her Kunimitsu. He was an easy infant, quiet and alert. As he grew older, it frightened her sometimes how quiet he could be, compared to other children. She was worried that she would miss something. That he would not know how to cry for help or attention. She liked to think that she had become more adept at reading his moods now. The way he stiffened and withdrew when upset. The dull lethargic stillness when he was sick. The tight clinging grip when he was frightened. The way he sought to be cuddled when he was tired and sleepy. The intense stare and turning away snubbing when he was angry or rebellious. That one both amuse and frustrate her at the same time.
His homeroom teacher had told her one incident when he snubbed a noisy demanding classmate that way. She had laughingly admitted that she had expected a fist fight and shouting match, not a cold shoulder from boys his age. Ayana speculated that Kunimitsu must have imitated his grandfather. Whenever he became stubborn or in rare fits of tantrum, his grandfather would discipline him that way. Turning away and refusing to interact with him until he apologised and amended his behaviour. She had to admire her father-in-law's patience and iron-will. She could not bear to do that to her son, especially when he was too young to understand and became agitated and cried heart-brokenly.
At last, she could feel his joints unlock and his body relaxed. He unwind enough to ask if he could take his ball into the pool. She told him he had to share the ball with other children if he did. He thought about it while she changed him into his swimming suit. He decided he didn't want to share and gave her the ball to keep safe in her handbag.
There were four other children at the pool. One of the mothers had brought plastic water-guns for the children to play with. She gave them five identical water-guns, all in bright yellow colour. She joined Ayana under the umbrella shade, fanning herself. "Ahh ... It's a relief I bought enough today." When Ayana gave a questioning look, she grinned and said, "Only one child? Wait till you have two or three. If there's one with a different colour, size or shape, all the children will fight over it or refused to have it. The secret to harmonious outing is one for each child, of exactly the same thing. Then you spend less time pacifying sulky kids and breaking up fights." She gave Ayana a once over and turned back to the children. "I'm Masahiro Michiru. That boy in green is yours?" She pointed to Kunimitsu who was watching an older boy intently.
"Yes," said Ayana. "Kunimitsu is four and the half. But he insist he is five now. I am Tezuka Ayana."
The woman giggled. "Mine are Kenji and Kiara." She pointed out the 8-year-old boy Kunimitsu was watching and the 6-year-old girl next to him. "Keiko is Asano-san's 8-year-old. The 3-year-old is Misamoto-san's Keiichi. Their mothers are at the tennis court. So I usually babysit for them at the pool until they finish their game. It's nice to have company."
Ayana smiled politely. She watched Kunimitsu gave his water-gun a puzzled look. Kenji had finished filling his water gun and test a few short spurts on his sister who screamed and retaliated with a full blast from hers.
Kunimitsu had not played with a water-gun before. He gave the trigger a few squeezes but nothing came out. He turned the toy a few times until he found the stopper. After a few failed clumsy attempts, he put it into his mouth and pulled it out with his teeth. "Kunimitsu!" Ayana called out, horrified he was putting unhygienic things into his mouth and leaving teeth marks. Her son looked up at her with a tilt that told her he was waiting for the verdict or a rule pronouncement. Michiru laughed and patted her hand. So Ayana merely shook her head in disapproval, but said nothing. Kunimitsu turned back to his task.
"He's a quick learner," Michiru said, watching Kunimitsu dipped his gun into the water.
He couldn't fit the stopper back in. He brought the end to his mouth again. He took one quick glance at his mother and changed his mind. He turned to the older children waging a three-way war. Kenji had dropped out to refill his gun again. He splashed his way to Kenji and thrust the gun into his face. "Close!" he demanded.
Kenji took the gun with a mischievous gleam. Knowing her son, Michiru cleared her throat in warning and levelled him a stern gaze. He shrugged and showed Kunimitsu how to push the tab back with his thumb. Kunimitsu tried the trigger again but nothing came out. He turned the gun around and squirt himself a faceful of water. Kenji fell over and laughed himself sick. Kunimitsu went still. He frowned at the offending yellow thing. Ayana stood up to retrieve him before he started storming, but Kenji got to him first. He tackled Kunimitsu into the water with a loud splash. Kunimitsu wiped water from his face. He looked up in surprise when Kenji mussed his wet hair and hand him his water-gun. "What are standing there for? Let's make the girls scream!" He gave a loud whoop and charged at the girls. Kunimitsu looked his mama and back at Kenji. Ayana gave him an encouraging smile. Seeing that Kenji wasn't getting scolded for yelling, he shouted and charged into the fray.
Note:
Young Tezuka currently appeals to me so I thought I'd give it another spin. Plot-wise, I'm planning to come up with some history of how Tezuka started tennis and how he came to achieve Muga no kyouchi (State of Selflessness), Hyakuren Jitoku no Kiwami (Pinnacle of Hardwork) and Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami (Pinnacle of Great Wisdom). Maybe not Saiki. Will see how that works out.
Writting objective-wise, this is a challenge to myself to write a convincing introverted child character with minor application of learning theory and pre-adolescent developmental psychology theories. Also, my assessment is that Tezuka is an INTJ Mastermind, so yeah, my first INTJ child leftie.