Title: Kodomo.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Warning: AU. NOT yaoi. Brotherhood. Family. Little fight.
Summary (chapter): Atsushi feels sad, but why?
It was a general knowledge that a purple haired kid named Murasakibara Atsushi had a real sweet tooth (problem—for Taiga). Seeing him swarm with sweets and snacks was a normal view for everyone who had known him. In fact, visiting bakeries was part of his daily routine.
And just like another normal day, Atsushi had got himself a bag of chocolate chip cookies. He poured a glass of milk and settled himself on the chair. When he was about to wish 'Itadakimasu,' his ears caught Daiki's voice calling out his name. Grumbling in annoyance, Atsushi placed the bag on the table and left in rush.
…
That evening, the house was thundered with an angry scream. The living room was a full horror. The table was upside down. Books and toys were everywhere. Shattered vase on the floor. Spilled coffee decorating the wall. Broken window glass. Torn papers.
It was a mess!
Taiga took a deep breath scanning the room. He was completely flabbergasted. The children stood next to him, thousands of questions flooding their minds. His hand reached out to stop Daiki from entering the room. Tetsuya wriggled an eyebrow in confusion. Taiga replied with shaking head.
In the middle of ruined room, there stood the cause of mayhem.
Atsushi stood there, panting heavily.
Creeping around on tiptoes, Taiga skillfully dodged the shattered vase and approached the giant kid. "Hey, Atsushi, you okay?" he gently placed an arm around his shoulder, hoping the kid would calm down.
Heavy pants answered him.
"Hey, buddy. Look at me," Taiga cupped Atsushi's grumpy face. "Tell me what happened."
After a few snippets of soothing words, finally Atsushi gave a reply. Or rather a word; "Cookies…"
"Cookies?"
"Someone ate my cookies!" the giant kid yelled at the top his voice, startling Taiga. Panting heavily, Atsushi tore his gaze away from Taiga's. Shaking voice, imbued with emotions, Atsushi added; "I left it on the table, then it's gone! It's gone! It's gone! IT'S GONE!"
Taiga's mind suddenly clicked off. "You mean the chocolate chip cookies?"
That'd got Atsushi's attention.
"Ah, that one," Taiga scratched his head nervously. "Sorry, Atsushi, it was me. I was too hungry, so I—"
Without letting Taiga finish off his sentence, Atsushi immediately pushed his guardian away. Sniffling to himself, Atsushi screamed with all his might; "I helped Baker-san for those cookies! I helped clean his bakery! I helped him feed cats! I helped him and he gave me those cookies! And Taiga-chin ate it! Taiga-chin ate it! I hate Taiga-chin! I hate you! I hate you so much!" and the kid stormed off to his room, pushing his way through five colored children, rendering Taiga speechless.
The loud bang of door roused them from their stupor. Daiki turned to see his shocked guardian and sang out; "Ah, ah, ah~ Taiga made Atsushi cry~ Taiga is a bad guy~ Bad guy~"
The older teen shook his head vigorously. To his fear, Taiga could feel an ominous aura drowned him in. Snipping sounds sliced through the air, jolting him up. Taiga's eyes slowly drifted over one kid to another until they fell on a pair of dual-colored eyes.
"Taiga, you made Atsushi cry," Seijurou's voice cut the air.
"Wait, wait, wait, waaaaait! I'll make it up! I promise!" Taiga stepped back, flailing his hands in defense. "Don't kill me!" Nevertheless, the gleaming of scissors told him Seijurou refused to accept it.
"Seijurou-kun, please don't kill him," Tetsuya came for rescue. "You don't want to kill him, right?"
After a moment of silence, Seijurou muttered 'fine'.
…
A delicious smell of freshly baked cookies wafted through the air as Taiga stood there, in front of Atsushi's room. He looked at the tray in his hands for a moment before swallowing down his pride and knocking the door.
"Atsushi, open the door. I've got some cookies for you."
"Yadda! I don't want to see you!" came a reply from the room.
"I even made extra! C'mon, buddy, I'm sorry, okay?!"
"I said, I don't want to see you! GO AWAY!"
It made Taiga back away a little. He couldn't deny it pierced his heart. But, Atsushi's feeling was his top priority now. Besides, a very sharp scissors was waiting for him if he didn't accomplish this mission. Really…
"Hey, I'm really, really sorry. It's cool if you don't want to see me, but I'll leave the cookies here, okay?"
And he left, laden with broken heart.
…
"The Yellow Ranger and The Green Ranger come with a report-ssu!" Ryouta saluted happily, standing before his guardian, who was sitting on the chair, deciding to play along with Ryouta's little game. "The Green Ranger has the full report-ssu!"
"We recorded the time. It took Atsushi 6 minutes and 58 seconds before finally touched the cookies-nanodayo," Shintarou adjusted his spectacles and held his bunny—lucky item—tighter.
"What?! That bad?!" Taiga thumped the table. Then, he could feel a pair of cold scissors pressing against his throat—or was it just his imagination? "Hey, Seijurou, I told you, I'll make it up, right?"
Seijurou didn't say anything.
"But, Atsushi is very, very angry this time. It's a real deal, Taiga," Daiki took a cookie from the plate.
Daiki was right—Taiga hated it when the children hit the right spot. It made him feel like an idiot. Sighing, Taiga rested his face in his cupped hand. "What to do…"
"You could ask Tatsuya-kun regarding this matter, Taiga-kun. They're quite close," Tetsuya sipped his vanilla shake nonchalantly. The older teen blinked at him. "Just a suggestion."
Again, Taiga felt like ramming his head against the table. Why didn't he think about it earlier?!
~oo0oo~
Like birds in the beautiful morning, the six colored children chorused harmoniously in the living room, singing their game song. Of course, it had riveted Taiga's attention, who was talking to the phone.
"Tatsuya, half a mo," he simultaneously said and cradled the phone between his ear and shoulder, picking up the laundry basket along. He watched the children sit in a circle and sing happily.
"Aka bomb, Aka bomb, Aka bomb to Mura bomb~" Seijurou sang.
"Mura bomb, Mura bomb, Mura bomb to Ao bomb~" Atsushi glanced at Daiki.
"Ao bomb, Ao bomb, Ao bomb to Mido bomb~" Daiki pointed his index finger at Shintarou.
"Mido bomb, Mido bomb, Mido bomb to Kise bomb~" Shintarou took a deep breath, feeling relieved he'd managed to respond quickly.
"Kise bomb, Kise bomb, Kise bomb to Kuro bomb~" Ryouta gave a sunny smile.
"Kuro bomb, Kuro bomb, Kuro bomb to Mura bomb~" Tetsuya sent an apologetic smile to the giant kid.
"Mura bomb, Mura bomb, Mura bomb to Mido bomb," the pace was quickened.
"Mido bomb, Mido bomb, Mido bomb to Kuro bomb," Shintarou bombed Tetsuya.
"Kuro bomb, Kuro bomb, Kuro bomb to Ao bomb."
"Ao bomb, Ao bomb, Ao bomb to Kuro bomb!"
"Kuro bomb, Kuro bomb, Kuro bomb to Ao bomb," Tetsuya increased the pace to a higher level, scheming to kill his brother.
"Ao bomb, Ao bomb, Ao bomb to Kise bomb!" Without any warning, Daiki ambushed a flustered Ryouta, who had been witnessing their little war game, to Ryouta's dismay. Ryouta failed to respond.
"Aw, I lose~," Ryouta whined, turning around to wipe his tears. Even though it was just a game, it broke Ryouta's little heart. He hated losing, after all. Then, his eyes fell on Taiga's feet. A mischievous grin widened. Ryouta joined the circle again, whispering to his brothers.
"What are you guys playing?" Taiga crouched down, curious eating him up.
Together, they chorused; "RAINBOW BOMB, RAINBOW BOMB, RAINBOW BOMB TO KAGA BOMB!"
"Huh?"
"Taiga doesn't defend himself, so Taiga is dead!" Daiki shouted, throwing a triumph punch of his.
"Oh, if I don't reply, I'll be dead?" After receiving nods from the children, Taiga beamed. "Then, I'm dead," Taiga feigned death, pain etched on his face, clutching his heart. He landed on the floor in a dramatic slow motion—pretending, of course—and softly whispered 'sorry, everyone.'
A brooding silence fell upon them.
A second later, the room was deluged with panic, cries and screams 'No, Taiga, don't die yet!', 'Taiga, don't leave us!', 'I'm sorry, Taiga! Don't leave me alone!' The older teen was almost suffocated by their hands shaking his body, so he quickly scuffled up for air. It nudged them out of their Kafkaesque thoughts, ceasing them. Tears scalded their eyes.
Except Atsushi, who was still angry at his guardian.
Feeling guilty and shamed that he had—probably—put the children back through the trauma, Taiga whispered a prayer of apology to God for being foolish and embraced them. "Don't worry, I'm still here, right?"
"Taiga-kun won't leave us?" in a shaky, tiny voice, Tetsuya asked.
"No. I'll stay with you forever."
"And me?" Shintarou held his guardian tighter.
"Yeah, that adds another forever. Seijurou too. Atsushi too. Ryouta and Daiki. So, I have six 'forevers' to stay with you guys," he answered in a soothing voice, pouring relief over their hearts.
"You're talking nonsense again, Taiga, but I'll take your word for it," Seijurou chuckled. His sniffles had died away. Even though he had a heart of stone, Taiga meant the world to the redhead. Without his dear tiger, there would be a big hole in his little world.
The purple haired kid noticed the phone in Taiga's hand. Atsushi picked the phone—it surprised Taiga—and said; "Hello?"
"Hey there, is that Atsushi?" small chuckles escaped the caller.
"Tatsu-chin~!"
"Bingo," the chuckles grew louder. "I heard you angry at Taiga, Atsushi. Did Taiga bully you?"
"Yeah, Taiga-chin is so bad. Taiga-chin ate my cookies," Atsushi puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. "I don't like Taiga-chin," his childish complain earned giggles from Taiga. The older redhead heaved a sigh of contentment watching Atsushi pace back and forth. It was a rare sight to see him talking so much. Tatsuya really knew how to talk with the kid.
"I see. You're telling me you don't like Taiga?" the empathy session has begun without the giant kid realizing of it.
"Yeah, he ate my cookies! I don't want to see him or talk to him anymore!"
"Taiga… ate your cookies?"
"Yes!"
"Did he say sorry?"
That rendered the kid speechless. Atsushi eyed his guardian suspiciously. Taiga responded with a small smile, wondering what was on Atsushi's mind. The kid went back to the phone. "Uh huh, he said sorry. And he even made me cookies. A lot of them," he bit his bottom lips. "I love his cookies. I want to eat more. I want him to make more cookies. So, he can't leave me! Because I like Taiga-chin and his cookies so much."
"So, you like Taiga," his tone was calm.
"No. I don't like Taiga-chin," he paused, then in a voice cracking with emotion, he told Tatsuya; "I love Taiga-chin," again, the kid burst into tears, running to hug his guardian. "Taiga-chin, I'm sorry! Don't leave me! You can eat my cookies! You can have my snacks, but don't leave me! Please!"
Taiga cradled the little giant and patted his back. "I told you, remember? I have six 'forevers' to stay with you."
Author's note: I deeply apologize for the late installment or any mistakes that you found here. orz Actually, I did the last part of the story first, so you may find it a little awkward there. Silly me.
To Kuroshiroryuu: I'll take your suggesstion into account, but first, I have to learn how to play it. Hehehe...
To LicaToRiku: He needs to learn it all by himself -Akashi.