Sighing slightly to himself as he gazed across the unmoving covers that draped around Haruto,
Kaito rubbed a bit of warmth into the young child's hands with his own boney fingers.
Haruto hadn't been very responsive lately, and seeing his younger brother with such a vacent expression always had him coming down on himself.
He just…felt so useless…
He knew his father was hard at work trying to find a cure, any kind of cure. No matter how hopeless the situation felt, at least his father was doing something.
Kaito just felt like he was taking up space at this point. Even with Haruto in an awakened presence of mind, his brother could barely lift his lips into anything remontely close to a smile.
Kaito wasn't able to give Haruto the greatest gift the younger had bestowed upon him. The love and warmth of a brother that Kaito felt irresplacible in his heart. All's he was to the younger was a soft murmur in his ear, a few quiet tears here and there, and a slumped figure that slept next to him every night.
Vision blurring over as he yet again failed to restore warmth to his brothers ever chilled over body, Kaito gnawed down on his lips hopelessly.
As of late, the only solace he found in the tiresome hours of the day were his brief meetings with Chris—
Well that wasn't true.
Seeing Haruto wake up and even just give him the slightest nod of the head! Now that was the highlight of Kaito's days.
These little responces gave him hope that his brother might smile and laugh with him as they had done in their younger years,
But Chris was nice too.
The older boy was busy with his own work alongside his father, but he still managed to find a decent amount of hours to spend with Kaito and Haruto here and there.
When Haruto went out for his check-ups that Kaito would be forbidden to tag along to, he could sometimes find Chris and ask him a few dueling questions. As much as he'd like to learn from his father, he knew the man was far too busy with his own work to have the time for Kaito's little wants.
That was alright though. His father worked harder than any man he had ever met! He was proud to be his son, and have been born into such a dedicated family. Kaito's wish was to be as good as he was someday, but that day seemed more than far off looking down at what he was presently.
But Chris helped him overcome some his self-doubt, and become a stronger person to protect his brother.
Amazing as it was, Chris had two little brothers of his own! He was too young to look after them since his father had gone missing, so regretfully had to send them off.
Kaito would recall waking up to the sound of Chris' soft crying, muttering the names of his family memebers in longing. Bashful as he was, Kaito urged him to go visit his brothers more often if he missed them,
But Chris was quick to dismiss him with a touch of malice in his voice,
"I promised to bring back our father, Kaito. I…cannot fail them. To go back and see their hopeful eyes…being there empty handed…" Kaito was quick to side with Chris, taking his arm reassuringly.
Though he felt he didn't really have any place telling Chris what to do, he still managed to get the other to go visit his brothers on at least a bi-weekly schedule.
His mentor was fighting something much larger than he could handle alone, and Kaito was glad that his father was there aiding his friend along the way. He too could quietly admit to himself that he seemed to bring Chris a bit of solace in his life.
The time the two spent dueling or chatting together was a nice kind of break from their stressful realities.
Kaito was glad to have…a real friend.
Shutting his eyes as he let the warmth that filled him whenever he thought of Chris envelop him,
Kaito hardly notice when the elder sat next to him.
"Hello there sleepy head," Chris greeted gently, placing his hand gingerly ontop of Kaito's where it was still grasping Haruto's.
"Hey Chris," Kaito smiled, welcoming the strangely calming coolness that came from his hands. It always made him feel a wave of pleasantness when Chris touched him, something about him just radiated positive energy.
"How's our little one doing?"
"Mmm…he's blinked a few times, but I think he's tired is all…"
"Well, he has been cooped up in this room for days now!" Quickly sensing Kaito's distress, Chris stood up and shrugged off his lab coat, "It's rather a lovely day out, sleepy or not, I say we take him for a walk." He declared confidently, making no move until he got Kaito's approval.
"A-are you sure?" Not wanting to cause his brother any stress, Kaito secretly felt grateful for having someone with more experiance with younger brothers to guide him.
"I can always carry him back if there are any complications, dear." Giving Kaito a confident nod, Chris moved to pick Haruto up once he got a nod of approval from Kaito.
"I suppose we can…" Readying Haruto's wheelchair, Kaito paused as Chris gave him a shake of his head.
"Let's take him down to the stream, I'll carry him. It's not too far away anyways."
"Are you sure you can?"
"Of course, I'm not just a pretty face you know," Grin widening as Kaito's face flushed in what he hoped was agreement, the elder poked his head out in the hall to make sure the way was clear.
Mumbling in agreement, Kaito felt a sense of excitment jolt through them as they sneaked their way down the hall towards the elevator.
It wasn't too difficult to manage through the generally empty halls of the building, but the two teens did find themselves grinning as if they were sneaking out of the house late at night.
Picking up a casual stream of conversation, Chris teased Kaito on how quickly he was picking up on dueling. Kaito flustered that he wasn't that good enough, but something about Chris' beaming smile urging him on gave him a sense of pride he couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed for having.
Settling down near a nearby stream, Kaito felt himself blustering with excitment as Haruto blinked open his eyes and stared up at the shimmering leaves that reflected drops of sunlight.
"I guess you were right I…I'll have to take him down here more often…" Kaito mused pleasantly, brushing back Haruto's bangs to place a kiss on his forehead.
"Indeed—oh look at the little ducks Haruto!" Chris commented, instantly distracted by the tiny trooping creatures that tumbled about the stream's edge.
Haruto turned his head slightly towards Kaito, twitching his lips in what Kaito knew was a smile.
"We…we used to have a pond full of ducks near our old house…our mom and dad used to always take us…"
"B-brother…" Haruto attempted, stressing his arms to sit up.
"Yes, Haruto?" Kaito was quick to panic, only to be silenced by a wave of Chris' hand.
"Yes, dear?" The elder urged him, helping him sit up in a straightened positon.
"Brother…always chased them off…" Haruto smiled, blinking his eyes sleepily.
"Is that so? I didn't take Kaito for the wild type," Chris teased, crawling over to one of the ducks on his knees.
"No Chris—they always fly away from me for some reason…" Kaito couldn't help but pout.
"They always go to dad and Haruto, but they always flyed away from mom and I…"
"You scare them," Haruto giggled softly, knowing fully well if he laughed too hard he might have an asthma attack. This didn't stop Kaito from shooting Haruto a comical pout, giving the younger another pleasant wave of laughter.
His brother could be so odd.
"I suppose we're going to have to keep this one away from Kaito then, now aren't we Haruto,"
Chris lamented, presenting one of the tiny creatures to the younger.
"How did you catch it so fast?" Kaito started, only to pause in mid sentence and stare at the scene before him.
Haruto was smiling at Chris in a way he hadn't seen the younger do in weeks. His brother was so…so happy!
He…Chris was…really amazing…
Biting back a 'thank you' as he settled next to the two, Kaito inched his fingers close to the duck to pet it's head.
"Oh! I suppose you weren't joking!" Chris couldn't help but laugh, watching the bird stumble away from Kaito and nestle itself into his hair for safety,
"I didn't even do anything!" Kaito sighed, too elated to see Haruto giggling so much to care that the duck was just being unfair at this point.
"Oh relax, we still love Kaito, right Haruto?"
"Y…yes," He agreed, shutting his eyes to rest in the pleasant glow of the sun rays.
Kaito soon found himself intranced by his two favorite people before him, both illuminated and nearly glowing in the shocks of sunshine that wafted through the leaves above them.
Carefully taking Haruto's hand in his own, Kaito shut his eyes to allow a few stray tears escape them,
He felt warm.