It was bright sunny day at Clamp and the three student council members from the elementary division were at a café for an early breakfast before they got to work. They had just ordered and when the drinks came, Akira looked at what Nokoru was having and asked, "Ne, Kaichou. What are you drinking?"
Nokoru looked up at him in shock and said, "It's coffee. Don't you know what coffee is?" When Akira shook his head, Nokoru explained to him what it was.
"Does it taste good?" Akira asked.
"Yes it does." Nokoru answered. "Do you want to try any?" Akira nodded and Nokoru ordered one for Akira. Before he could take a drink of it, Akira's neighbor, Kobayashi, took it from his hands and said, "No. You're not having any of this stuff. I don't even want you to think about it."
"Why not?" Akira asked.
Kobayashi looked down at him and said, "Trust me. You wouldn't like it."
"How will he know if he doesn't try any?" Nokoru asked. When Kobayashi didn't answer, Nokoru said, "Let him try a bit and see if he doesn't like it or not."
Kobayashi thought about it and finally agreed before giving the cup back to Akira. Again, before Akira could take a drink someone took it away from him. This time it was Akira's uncle and also the school's doctor. "No. You're not supposed to be having any of this." He said to Akira. When Akira looked clueless as to why he sighed and said, "Trust me. You once had it when you were around two on accident and it didn't end well. We all agreed to not let you have any of this again. Sorry, but I can't let you."
He then took it with him and drank it on the way. Kobayashi ruffled Akira's hair before he left. "Alright then." Nokoru said. "It's really a shame; coffee does taste good. It has a lot of caffeine in it that helps keep you awake during the day."
Something clicked and Akira said, "Oh, then Akechi-Sensei was right and I can't have any."
"Why not?" Suoh asked.
Akira thought of an answer and finally said, "Well, I just can't have anything with lots of caffeine or sugar in it. I guess you could say we don't mix well."
Nokoru hummed in thought and asked, "Would it really hurt just to have a little bit?"
Akira thought about it and finally shrugged before saying, "I don't know."
"Well, we'll never know until we try." Nokoru said and had a small thing of coffee brought out.
Dr. Akechi came back and took the thing away before saying, "Didn't I tell you that you couldn't have any already?"
"It's just a little bit," Nokoru said, "It wouldn't hurt; right?"
Dr. Akechi sighed and said, "I know I'm going to regret this." He looked at Akira and before giving him the cup he said, "Only thins once. Do you understand?" Akira nodded and Akechi handed him the cup before turning to Suoh and Nokoru and saying, "Whatever happens is for you two to deal with. Don't say I didn't warn you." They both nodded and Akechi left.
After he left, Akira drank the cup and when he was finished, his pupils grew huge and he started bouncing a bit. "Are you alright?" Nokoru asked. He was starting to think they should have listened to Akechi.
"I'mfine whatarewegoingtodotoday wowit'sniceouthere whatdoyouwanttodo?" Akira said. He said it so fast that neither Suoh or Nokoru knew what he had just said. They both sweat dropped and was about to answer when Akira was suddenly gone.
They blinked and Nokoru asked, "What just happened?"
Suoh sighed and said, "We just made a big mistake."
"I realize that, but where did he go? You heard Dr. Akechi; we're now responsible for him and what he does." Nokoru said. They both looked around and Suoh finally spotted him. Akira was over by the trees and he was running around trying to catch something.
"There he is." Suoh said and Nokoru turned to where Suoh pointed.
"Come on." Nokoru said, "We'd better get him." They both headed over but right as they got there, something else caught Akira's attention and he raced off. Suoh and Nokoru followed him but they had a hard time keeping up with the hyped up younger boy.
When they finally found him, he was watching two people throw a bouncy ball to each other. Nokoru got an idea and told Suoh to watch him while he went and got something. Suoh grabbed Akira's shirt collar before the boy could run off again and started dragging him back to the council room.
Nokoru met them there and saw that Suoh had developed a tick above his eye and Akira was still talking at fifty miles an hour. Nokoru got him to stop by shoving a cookie into the boy's mouth but instantly regretted it and Akira's pupils got even bigger if it was possible and seemed to gain even more energy.
Suoh dragged Akira inside the room and once Nokoru had followed them in, he shut the door locked it along with the windows just in case. He then turned around and almost fell over anime style because Nokoru had taken out a bouncy ball and was waving it in front of Akira who was following it's every direction like a dog.
"Kaichou," Suoh said "He's not a dog."
Nokoru laughed and threw the ball. They watched as Akira chased it all over the room and Nokoru said, "I know, but he's kind of acting like one right now."
Both Suoh and Nokoru went to work as they occasionally watched Akira who was bouncing the ball along with chasing it when it got away from him. A while later, Akira got bored of the ball and went over to Nokoru who jumped because Akira seemed to pop up right next to him and started talking much faster than before.
Suoh finally grew tired of listening to it and he yelled, "QUIET!" For a few seconds, everything was quiet until Akira went over to him and started asking millions of questions at a very fast pace. Nokoru took pity on Suoh and said, "Akira, if you finish all your works then I have a new game you can play."
Akira started jumping up and down and he raced over to his desk. Both Suoh and Nokoru watched with wide eyes as Akira seemed to fly through the work and in the next minute, he was beside Nokoru and talking very fast.
Nokoru knew he would regret it later but he took another cookie and shoved it in Akira's mouth which shut the boy up for the time being. Nokoru then took out a laser pointer and got Akira's attention by shining it on the wall.
Nokoru kept shining it in different places as Akira ran to catch it. He continued dividing his focus by watching Akira and doing his work. That went on for the next hour or so. Both Suoh and Nokoru had grown tired just by watching Akira who was still bursting with energy.
There was a knock on the door and Suoh went to answer it. It turned out to be Utako and she was there to talk about a joint ball between the Kindergarten and Elementary divisions. As soon as Suoh opened the door, Akira tried to run out but Suoh saw it and grabbed the back of his shirt collar. He dragged the boy back inside and shut the door after Utako had come in.
He let go of Akira and said, "You stay in here." Akira pouted for a few seconds before Nokoru shined the light on the wall by his head and he started chasing it again.
Nokoru chuckled a bit and said, "This works very well." He saw Utako's confused face and said, "We made the mistake of giving Akira coffee along with multiple cookies for breakfast and now…" He trailed off and he turned and watched Akira jumping for the light that was high above his head.
Utako went over to Akira while she was shaking her head and smiling. She tapped Akira on the shoulder that looked at her. "Akira," She said, "Sit." She pointed to the couch and Akira ran over before sitting like he was a little child who was waiting for a present. Akira was about to talk when Utako looked at him and said, "Quiet."
Akira closed his mouth and sat there while fidgeting. Utako smiled and pulled out a cookie. She handed it to Akira and said, "Good. Stay like that and when I'm done I'll give you another." Akira nodded quietly and chewed on the cookie.
Both Suoh and Nokoru had their jaws on the ground. "How did you do that?" Nokoru asked after a while.
Utako smiled from where she was patting Akira's head and said, "In case you haven't noticed, he's almost like a dog. If you tell him the right thing the right way, he'll listen but it also helps if you bribe him. Here," She handed them a bag of cookies and said, "I was going to give those to him anyway. They don't have much sugar in them but they still taste good so they're good for bribing him while making sure he doesn't get even more hyped up."
Nokoru nodded and asked, "How do you know this?"
Utako blushed and said, "I accidently gave him something loaded with sugar and also a highly caffeinated drink and this happened then. I couldn't get him to calm down so I finally ordered him to do something and when he did it, I gave him one of those cookies and it seemed to work. I was just lucky that I happened to be bringing these to Akira anyway as a thank you for his help a few days ago."
Nokoru and Suoh nodded. Akira wasn't paying attention because he was busy looking around everywhere. Utako saw this and said to Suoh and Nokoru, "You can't have him stay still for long though so you either have to give him something he can keep doing and not get bored or when he looks like he's about to leave then bribe him again." She took a cookie and said to Akira, "If you go and get us some tea then we'll give you another one." She gave the cookie to Akira who took it and then ran.
Akira came back a few minutes later with a cart and it was surprising that none of the stuff on it spilled. Utako gave him a cookie and then said, "Sit." Which he did right where he was as he ate his cookie. She then sat down on the couch and she and Nokoru started talking about plans for the ball.
When it was over, Utako was at the door and before she left she turned around and said, "One last thing." She pointed at Akira and said, "Don't let him get outside or he won't listen to anyone and you'll have even more trouble." She then smiled and waved before she left.
Suoh and Nokoru spent the remainder of the day either giving Akira random tasks that would keep him busy or telling him to sit while they did their work. When it was around four in the afternoon, they were finished and ready to leave when Nokoru asked Suoh, "What should we do? She told us to not let him outside or he won't listen anymore but I can't stay in here any longer." He thought about it before he said, "He seems to have calmed down a bit so I don't see the harm."
Before Suoh could say anything, Nokoru opened the door all the way and left while leaving it open. In the next second, Akira had run out as well so Suoh sighed and closed the door after he left. He caught up to Nokoru who was watching in amusement as Akira jumped and ran around trying to catch a butterfly.
Suoh sighed tiredly and shook his head. He went over and grabbed one of Akira's arms before he started dragging the boy away. Before Akira could say anything, Suoh said, "I'm taking you home."
When they got to Akira's house, they didn't expect to see his mothers run out and tackle him. When they saw that Akira was still hyped up, they said, "Calm down." While holding him in place. Suoh and Nokoru's jaws dropped once again as Akira stopped trying to bounce around and he said, "Sorry." In a normal voice.
He then went inside and started thinking about what to have for dinner. Both of them turned to Suoh and Nokoru and said, "Thank you for looking after him."
"You mean…all we had to do…was tell him to calm down…and he would have?" Nokoru asked.
Both of Akira's mothers laughed and one said, "Yes, but it's so much better to let him get most of his energy out before you do so he doesn't stay up the whole night. I thought Akechi was there to help, didn't he tell you?"
"No." Nokoru said, "He told us we were on our own after we gave Akira a bit of coffee."
"Didn't he tell you not to?"
"Yes, but we did anyway."
"Well then I guess he didn't help because he wanted to teach you why you should never give him any and why you should listen to people who tell you something from experience." They both laughed and said, "Thank you for bringing him home, have a good night." With that, they entered the house; leaving Suoh and Nokoru silently swearing to NEVER give Akira any caffeine and to ALWAYS listen when they are told to not do something.
The next day, everything was back to normal until it was lunch time and a friend of Akira's handed him a cup of coffee and said, "This stuff is awesome, you have to try it!"
Nokoru took the cup away while Suoh dragged Akira away. Nokoru handed the cup back to the confused boy and said, "Sorry, he can't have any." Before he followed Suoh.