Brothers
10
Ages: 13
Tadashi: 18
Youngest or Oldest?
Part 2: Seeing What Really Counts
Normal POV
Tadashi and Hiro entered the lucky cat café and once Tadashi got bandaged up (after Hiro insisted greatly) they decided to help their Aunt Cass. They both figured this would be the easiest way to try and adjust to their new selves.
"So Aunt Cass, what do need us to do?" Hiro asks. "Well you can either do the dishes or take orders for Me." she responds. Tadashi pipes up. "What about me Aunt Cass?" he asks. "Oh little Hiro, you can just go upstairs and relax. My little high-schooler probably needs to catch up on his homework." She says, pinching his cheek. Hiro looks at his older brother who's conveniently trapped in his body, in disbelief. Tadashi smirks. "Yeah, thanks Aunt Cass. I should probably study for a bit." Tadashi says, running up the stairs.
Hiro's POV
How unfair. I guess that's one good thing about being the younger one, but I bet it's still crazy awesome to be the oldest. This is just a minor setback. Psh, Tadashi can have his little victory if he wants, I'm still the older one. That means he's gotta listen to me. This is gonna be fun.
After I FINALLY finished my shift in the café, I rushed upstairs to our shared room and see Tadashi working on his homework like the golden boy he is. The only difference was, he made a mess. Papers all over the floor, pencil shavings here and there. Even Tadashi himself was messy looking, well given that he was in my body. I never noticed how messy my hair looks.
I walk over to Tadashi and almost as if I'm in some sort of hypnotic trance, I reach over and muss the hair up a bit, finding joy in doing it. "Gah, Hiro, quit it." Tadashi says, moving away from me. I blink in surprise.
Wow. Now I know why Tadashi's always messing with my hair. That was kind of fun. Weird.
I then smirk. It's time to test out my new power. "Tadashi, clean this room right now." I demand, crossing my arms. Tadashi smirks back and I get a bit confused.
"No." he says plainly.
"I mean it Tadashi."
So do I Hiro." He says mockingly.
I glare at him. "Tadashi clean this room right now." I command.
"Make me."
"I'm your older brother. You have to do what I say."
"Great reason Hiro. You should be a lawyer." Tadashi says sarcastically.
"Unbelievable." I say.
"Yeah. Well, it's been a barrel of monkeys little, or should I say BIG bro, but I've got places to be and people to see, so buh-bye." Tadashi starts, getting ready to leave the house.
That does it. I've had enough of his incessant back talk and sarcasm. I yank him by the hoodie and make him look at me. "Listen here LITTLE brother." Snarl. "You're going to clean this room and you're not going anywhere till it's spotless. If you still want to be a smart ass about it, then I'll just see what Aunt Cass has to say." I say victoriously.
To my dismay, Tadashi gives me a hurt look. "Wow Hiro, I never thought you'd be this terrible of an older brother. I never threatened to tell Aunt Cass on you like that. What a jerk. I hope you're happy, because I'm certainly not." He says, starting to clean the room, though clearly not happy about it.
Well that felt awful. I thought this was gonna be fun. Wait a minute! Tadashi's such a little rat. I remember using that same guilt trip trick on him weeks ago. It's supposed to make me feel like a jerk. Too bad it's working though. Maybe I should make it up to him somehow. I suddenly got an idea and went downstairs to put it in motion.
I grab the car keys to Tadashi's moped and start to go upstairs before Aunt Cass stops me.
"Hold on there mister. Where exactly do you think you're going? Especially with those keys?" she questions. I gulp. "Oh, I just thought I'd take Tadashi to get some ice cream you know. Sibling bonding and whatnot." I say casually. Aunt Cass raises an eyebrow and I realize my mistake too late.
"Tadashi? Did you just say you'll take Tadashi to get some ice cream?" she asks. I try to play it off. "Psh, you know I meant Hiro Aunt Cass. Just a slip of the tongue. That's all." I say coolly before heading upstairs at lightning speed. When I get there, the room is actually spotless. "Wow Hiro, you did a pretty good job." I say. Tadashi wrinkles his nose. "Bro, did you just call me Hiro?" he asks.
I slap my forehead. "Yeah, whatever. Listen, heads up, don't call me Hiro in front of Aunt Cass. Remember we're each other. We can still call each other by our names, but we have to get used to calling each other the opposite name in public. Tadashi nods.
"So where are you headed anyway? Not anywhere in my moped I hope." Tadashi says, eyeing his moped's keys. "I thought maybe we could go for some ice cream. You know, to patch up and stuff." I say lamely. He raises an eyebrow and shrugs. "Sure whatever. But the fact remains that you don't know how to drive." He points out. I shrug. "I'll learn." I say nonchalantly, heading downstairs.
"Okay boys, just don't be out too late okay?" Aunt Cass calls. "Yeah okay, I'll make sure Tadashi doesn't keep me out too long." Tadashi says.
I smile at him. Nice job. He didn't even hesitate to say his own name like that. We just might pull this off.
"Alright, helmets first of course." I say, handing one to Tadashi. He straps it on. "What next genius?" He questions me. I glare at him. "Gimmie a second will ya?" I say, trying to figure out how to work the moped.
I finally get it and learn pretty fast with Tadashi there to guide me. We stop at the sweet spot, our favorite dessert place in existence. "After you." I say, opening the door for Tadashi.
He rushes in, excited and I can't help but smile. I wonder how long it's been since Tadashi truly got to act like a kid. I bet it's been since mom and dad died. I feel bad for him. Life forced Tadashi to grow up faster than he could keep up or even wanted to. He has to act like a father and brother to me.
Suddenly, this machine isn't about proving that being older is better. Maybe it never was. Maybe fate made me build this machine so I could give Tadashi a taste of being a kid because I can't deny that I like it. That's exactly what I intend to do now. No more clichés like we both end up realizing how great it is to be just the way we are. No way. This is about giving Tadashi a break for once. For once, he won't have any worries. For once, I'll take care of him. Anything he wants, he'll get. For once, Tadashi's going to get a taste of just being a kid.
We make our way to the register and Mr. Yuki greets us with a smile. "Ah, the Hamada brothers. I've been wondering when you two would show up again. It's been almost three weeks since you've last visited. The usual?" he asks nicely. Tadashi and I nod eagerly.
I see him prepare a beautiful strawberry cone with extra gummy bears, just the way I like it and I get excited, until I remember that I'm Tadashi. That means he's getting my beloved gummies. Then a thought strikes me. This means that I'm getting what Tadashi usually gets, which means….
"Here you go Tadashi, vanilla with snicker bars." Mr. Yuki says, handing me the cone with the large snicker bar pieces in it. I eyeball the ice cream carefully. I quickly pay for the ice cream and Tadashi and I head outside to eat our ice cream. Tadashi hasn't touched his and we both know why.
I'm allergic to peanuts. I can't eat this and Tadashi knows. "Here, let's trade." He suggests with a smile. I nod and we trade. He bites into his favorite dessert, but something's wrong. Tadashi's getting a really red rash as he eats it. "Tadashi! Quit eating the ice cream!" I cry, snatching it away from him. He gives me a puzzled look. "Why Hiro?" he questions. "You're getting a rash." I say, fumbling around my pockets until I feel the epi-pen Tadashi usually carries with him in case of moments like these. I press it to Tadashi's arm and wait.
The rash dies down and I sigh in relief. "God Tadashi, you scared me. No more peanuts for you. Are you alright? Hurt in anyway? Should I call Aunt Cass? Or maybe take you to a doctor?" I ask worriedly.
"Whoa Hiro, chillax. It's a mild allergy remember? I'll be fine. It doesn't even hurt. I actually didn't even notice. Though I do a bit now, but I'm fine, I promise. Quit being such a mother hen." He says. I nod. "right." I say.
"But. There's one thing I don't understand. How come I'm the one that can't eat peanuts?" he asks. I think for a moment. "Well, I guess it's like you said, our brains are being transferred slowly I guess. So I guess that means I can eat peanuts." I suggest. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense." He says thoughtfully.
"Go ahead. Try it. I know you're curious." Tadashi urges. He's right. I am pretty curious to know what peanuts taste like. Everyone's always talking about how amazing Recess and Snickers are. I just have to try it. I take a generous bit of the ice cream and let the chocolate melt into my mouth. When I bite down to chew it, it's like my taste buds are on a journey. The chocolate combined with the nuttiness send my brain into overdrive and make it go crazy. It's so wonderful, it's indescribable. I can't believe I've been missing this all my life. "MMMM." I breathe in bliss. Tadashi laughs at me.
"Hey, can we hit the candy store? For some reason, I'm craving more gummy bears." Tadashi asks, his ice cream all gone since we switched back. I nod, still enjoying the unreal feeling of a Snickers bar.
We go to the candy store right around the block and my eyes widen in happiness as I see all the choices of candy that were usually forbidden to me. I tell Tadashi to meet me at the register in ten minutes and then head off into the deliciousness.
I get so many candies, I have to actually get a basket to put it all in. I look at all the stuff I got. Snickers, Recess, almond joy, bounty, almond Hershey's, Mr. Good bar, all the way to simpler things like just plain old chocolate covered peanuts.
I finally finish and head to the register where Tadashi's waiting with two jump size bags of gummy bears. He eyes my basket and raises an eyebrow. "Sweet tooth much?" he asks teasingly. I wave him off. "Oh hush, I really want to try everything that I've been missing. Don't judge." I say, paying for our candy which totaled to 35$ due to all the candy that I bought. "Unbelievable." Tadashi says in awe as I down two chocolate bars right in front of him.
"Oh boys! I made spaghetti and meatballs!" Aunt Cass said merrily. Tadashi and I shared a look. "We're really sorry Aunt Cass, but I think we ate too much while we were out." I say sadly. Tadashi shoots me a warning look and I'm confused as to why until Aunt Cass gives me a disapproving look.
Aunt Cass looks really disappointed. "Tadashi, I expected you to be more responsible than this. I'll overlook it this once since you're usually so responsible, but don't let it happen again. It took me a long time to prepare this meal." She says, dismissing us.
"Nice going bonehead. Never and I mean NEVER tell Aunt Cass that you're full when she's already prepared dinner. Even though we're full, we should've eaten just a little bit to show her we appreciated it." He says. I look down. "Sorry, still getting used to being the passionate one here." I say softly.
Tadashi sighs. "I don't blame you. I got it easier being the younger one here. Way less responsibilities. I guess I'm so used to being the sensible one, I've forgotten what it's like to be a kid again, you know?" he says.
"I do Dashi. I do. That's why I decided to keep this going as long as you want. I'm actually just doing this for you now. I figured how much you must miss being little again and thought you were enjoying this." I admit. Tadashi looks at me with an expression I can't place. I see gratefulness in it though.
"Hiro. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. Thank you. I never realized how much I actually was enjoying this. You're a fantastic older brother. I take back what I said this morning." Tadashi says. I smile and nudge him on the side. "You're not a terrible younger bro yourself Nii San." I say. We smile at each other and I know that I'm beyond lucky to have a brother like Tadashi.
Eventually Tadashi and I switched bodies back without Aunt Cass ever realizing anything suspicious was going on. I missed eating chocolate with peanuts, but every once in a while, Tadashi and I would switch for kicks. I'd eat chocolate and Tadashi would do something incredibly stupid and childish. It always brought a smile to my face. I was happy knowing that something I did made Tadashi so happy and carefree. I also understand why he always hovers over me like mother hen now.
The feeling you get when someone you love is in pain or danger is greater than anything in the world and we're all we've got left. We stick together. Youngest, oldest, doesn't matter. What matters is that we're always there for each other and we always will be.