Chapter 2
A/N: So yeah this was originally a long-ass oneshot but now I'm making this into a story. Also I apologize if this chapter isn't that good.
Word count: 2827 words
'He locked himself in that room for hours. Is he okay? Is he hurt?' My mind was going a mile a minute. My fingers were wrapped around the dull doorknob as I contemplated opening the door. Taking a deep breath, I turned the doorknob to the right effectively unlocking the door and pushed the door open. Luckily he wasn't in danger and was simply reading a book in the dark. Flicking the light switch on, my room was immediately filled with life. "Why are you reading a book in the dark?..." As I said that, he hid himself and the book under the cover laughing nervously. Even though it was something as simple as a book, red flags started firing off in my head. "Um, Ame what are you hiding from me?" I asked as he shook his head saying there's nothing but even I could see right through that.
"Then show me what's behind your hands then." I cross my arms trying my best to appear as serious as I could. Very slowly he raised his hand like I was a cop demanding him to put his hands up. One of my eyebrows cocked up telling him to do the same to the other hand. "I knew it." I grab his hand being mindful not to come across as overbearing. The object felt smooth with metal rings on the left side. Ame put up a bit of a fight but he eventually surrendered. My eyes widened in shock seeing one of Akihiko's childhood notebooks. Ame simply fumbled with his fingers trying to come up with an excuse or an explanation as to why he was reading those. "U-um..I-I'm sorry it looked so interesting so I…" The boy started to mumble as he explained. Why would he read something so sad? "I-I'm really into literature and what he wrote was b-beautiful." As he said that his cheeks turned a small shade of pink. I really wish he wouldn't stutter so much. The child would hide under the covers if there's even the smallest change in the atmosphere along with hiding his interests and whatnot. I am aware he's still adjusting to living in Akihi- no. Our condo, but it still hurts. Like he thinks we'll hurt him at any moment. "Do you know Akihiko was into literature when he was your age." I say as he looks up at me in confusion.
"Come with me." He does what he's told and we sauntered down the stairs and to the large, oak bookshelf. My fingers ran through each spine looking for one of Akihiko's notebooks. "Ah. Here we go." Looking at the notebook, I handed it to the boy and almost immediately he went to the couch completely engrossed in the contents inside. A soft smile broke on both mine and Ame's faces. How funny. I felt my phone vibrate on my thigh and I fished it out of my pocket. The ID simply says 'Takahiro'. Pressing the accept button greeting my brother. The cheery tone of my brother's voice put a bigger smile onto my face.
"Misaki how are you? How's Usagi doing?"
"I'm doing okay. Same with Usagi-san" I replied. In the background, there was the sound of my nephew giggling uncontrollably and my sister-in law yelling at Mahiro to get off the counter.
"How's life? Mahiro is starting to go into his adventurous phase." I could hear him sigh yet chuckle.
"You don't even know half of it." He sighs. "He for some reason has started crawling on top of the kitchen counter and once tried to jump off of it. I felt my skin crawl the moment I saw him there. I still don't get how I'm able to keep up with him."
"You're doing okay. It's just a phase a child would go through right?"
With that, he laughed and I couldn't help but feel a slight annoyance. What was so funny? "Since when do you know so much about children?" My blood ran cold as anxiety ran through my veins and I immediately turned to Ame, him completely engrossed in the novels not giving any mind to the world around him. "U-Uh I learned from one of my friends! Y-yeah yeah…" I mentally berated myself for obviously lying. I hate lying to my brother, but sometimes it just comes out of me before I can process it. "Oh then that explains a lot then. It seems you found some good friends."
"Oh and before I forget, tomorrow is thanksgiving. We're gonna be visiting."
I hummed in response 'Sometimes I think my brother's density is a blessing' The line went silent for a moment.
"Mitaki!" Mahiro yelled out happily
"Hello Misaki! How are you?"
Manami struck up a conversation, Mahiro occasionally cooing into the phone. She started talking about the many adventures of Mahiro Takahashi but the whole time I couldn't help but wonder how Amehiko and Mahiro would get along. Would they play with blocks? Would Ame tell stories? The idea warms my heart. Plus it would be best if Ame played with kids around his age. But sadly there would be no way that would become a reality. There's no way in hell I could explain why Ame was here let alone telling him I essentially adopted him, but it still sounded quite adorable. "How is Mahiro doing? I can imagine now he's trying to jump off places like a superhero." We both chuckle, Manami agreeing. "I can barely keep him still for a minute before he's jumping off the couch. But other than that he's a sweetheart."
I suddenly felt a tug on my pant leg. I knelt down to see Amehiko with the notebook looking away. He whispered "E-excuse me but are there more of these? They're really good."
"Misaki?" I silently pointed towards the large oak bookshelf making sure to point to the 3rd shelf. "Sorry I...was just cleaning the kitchen counter." The lie sounded convincing well enough but that stutter caused silence for a moment before believing me. Looking up at the clock, it showed that indeed it was 5:30 PM. Ame is probably hungry.
"Hey it was nice talking to you and big bro. I got to go and make dinner now."
"Huh. It's 5:30 already? Maybe I should make some dinner." We both say our goodbyes before promptly hanging up. "Ame, what would you like to eat?" I ask as I grabbed my apron putting it on
"Ame? Hello?" Once again nothing. He was completely engrossed in the fictional world of Usami Akihiko
"Would you like salmo-" "NO!"
We looked up at each other in shock, Ame quickly shutting his mouth. "I-I mean...no thank you. U-um….how about onigiri?" Note to self: Apparently he hates eating salmon. "Do you want to help me?"
His bright violet eyes filled up in happiness and almost immediately he was off on the couch and in the kitchen on his tiptoes trying to reach the sink. The sight was admittedly adorable. "Let me get you a stepstool." I ran up the stairs and to the bathroom and opened the small cabinet and a small blue step stool with three steps. Stool in hand, I walk back down the stairs and put it down below the sink.
"Thank you." He finally could reach the sink and started washing his hands while I grabbed the rice, nori, salt, sesame seeds and a variety of vegetables. "Okay, I'll start preparing the rice." I grab a small cutting board, knife and two carrots. "How about you start cutting these carrots."
The way he handled the knife honestly made me anxious so for any sort of accident, I opened the kitchen cabinet and took out the first aid kit putting it on the counter beside him. Things seemed to be going quite well, but as I thoroughly cleaned the rice, the sound of metal making contact with the floor accompanied with a hiss of pain made me almost drop the rice. I turned my head to see the knife on the ground and blood oozing out of the small cut on his middle finger and tears filled his eyes. "S-sorry.. I-I d-dozed off a-and…!"
"Don't worry. I'm not mad, calm down okay?" He nodded his head mumbling another apology before stepping up on the stool. Cool water flowed from the tap and he put the finger over the water. "You know I accidently cut myself once. It isn't that bad but my brother did this exact same thing. Had to wear a pink bandaid for a week." The story was still stuck in my head. Looking back, it wasn't that bad though admittedly embarrassing.
Flashback 12 years ago
10 year old Misaki had his nose in a cookbook reading about making miso soup. He noticed his brother always came home about to pass out from exhaustion. He decided to make soup for his brother, that should take away another job off his shoulders. Closing the book, a childish grin made its way across his face and he ran to the kitchen to get his apron. Grabbing the cutting board, knife, bowl full of water and the appropriate vegetables. He carefully washed the vegetables exactly how his brother showed him. Removing the water, he grabbed a potato and a peeler and started peeling. Softly humming a song, he then grabbed the knife and started cutting the vegetable. His mind broke away from cutting to thinking how his brother would react. 'He'll love it! I'm sure of it!' Two cuts later, the knife nicked his index finger blood oozing out of the cut. Misaki immediately put the finger in his mouth and turned on the cold water, tears rolling down his cheek. "For god sakes this couldn't get any worse right?!" Just as he said that the door opened, Takahiro walked in announcing he's home. "Brother?! You're home early…"
"What happened to you? Why are all these vegetables out? I thought I told you you aren't allowed to chop anything without me watching you?" He removed his shoes and jacket taking Misaki's hand out of the water flow seeing the small nick on his finger and immediately got the first aid kit grabbing rubbing alcohol and a bandaid. "Why were you chopping those vegetables?" He asks. Misaki simply mumbled "I just wanted to make you dinner. You always come home tired and I wanted you to not worry about something for once." Wrapping the bandage around his finger, he embraced his younger brother. "It's so sweet you wanted to do this for me Misaki but you don't have to do this after all that's my job."
"Please don't try this again without me watching. I don't want anything else happening to you." He whispered and all Misaki could do was just nod.
Once I wrapped Ame's finger in the similar pink bandage, Ame went up to the sink and cleaned the rice. Looking up at the rice, he tipped the bowl only letting the cloudy water fall in the drain. "Who taught you how to clean rice?" His cheeks turned pink and mumbled "M-mommy taught me how to clean rice and o-onigiri."
Once the water came out as clear, he strained the rice putting it into a dry bowl transferring it to the counter. We sprinkled a small amount of salt onto our hands and started taking the rice and shaped them into balls and triangles for aesthetic purposes. While Ame took care of that, I quickly chopped up some cucumbers, carrots, zucchini and more. Grabbing three small plates, I start setting the table whilst Ame filled each onigiri with the chopped vegetables. Setting the table, he puts the beautiful onigiri at the center of the table along with ponzu. Checking the clock once more it informs me that it's now 7:30 PM. Akihiko should be home any moment. "You did a great job." A soft satisfied smile played on both of our faces. Just as Ame took a seat, the door flung open and an obviously tired and agitated Akihiko trudged through the door groaning. "Welcome home Usagi-san, how was your meeting?" I filled a glass with water, giving it to him as he slowly rubs his temple. "You don't know half of it. Ugh, my jaw hurts from smiling." He said now rubbing his jawline. He gulped down the water and asked me what's for dinner. "I'll give you the medication but you should at least eat dinner. Ame and I put a lot of care into it." I take his hand leading him to the dining table, Ame already eating his first onigiri. That smile on his face simply made my heart melt as I silently cooed. Akihiko gave me the side eye crossing his arms. "Misaki sit down, what you're doing is weird."
"If you don't like it then don't look." I retorted
"You pay far too much attention to that child. It's not even yours."
Overcome from anger, I hit him upside the head yelling at him
"...Don't tell me you're jealous of Amehiko." I rubbed my temples and a headache started to form.
"First Mahiro, now thi-"
"Hey! He has a name you know!" I yelled turning to Ame. "C'mon tell him"
Fear clouded over his eyes, he silently put the half eaten onigiri on the plate and whispered "U-uh...My name is Amehiko." And with that he put his head in his hands shielding himself away from the two of us.
"See now you're scaring him! What do you have to say about this?"
Usagi shrugged his shoulders and took a rice ball and took a few bites and I felt a white ball of rage formed inside. "Ame don't be scared." I rubbed his back soothingly and he moved his head so he was facing me. He tilted his head so it was leaning on my shoulder.
"I-I'll be gone soon. Y-you won't see me for l-long."
"No. Until we find them, I won't allow you to stay out on the streets."
He moved away and continued to eat silently like nothing happened. I noticed he took another notebook from the bookshelf and a chair leaning against the shelf. "Oh and before I forget my brother called me and his family are coming over for thanksgiving."
"So how are you going to explain Amehiko to him? He'll most likely freak out knowing him." He took another bite.
"Don't worry I have a plan." Wanting to involve Ame in the conversation I asked about what he was reading
"U-um just the book you gave me." His hand soon went to his lap gripping his shorts. "It was a really good read but it was really sad." He smiled
Looking at the esteemed author cogs started turning in my head. "Mind telling me the name of the book?"
His eyes widened. He couldn't form any cohesive sentences, his cheeks turned red and a book appeared on the table. I couldn't contain myself. First it was small chuckling but it soon escalated to my sides aching from laughing. "Isn't that one of your older books?" I asked.
Akihiko just nodded, not giving a definitive expression. "It was really good. M-Misaki gave me another one. It didn't have a name but this one was really sad." He went back to the shelf grabbing his childhood notebook and Usagi's eyes widened and I knew this idea backfired. "You gave him that Misaki?"
"I-I'm sorry! I thought it was something a 6 year old would read"
"You know I don't feel comfortable showing people those." He said with annoyance laced in his voice. "But he's really enjoying them. He's been talking about them quite a bit while you were gone. He seems to have a passion for literature and cooking. He reminds me quite a bit of you."
I continue with my monologue. They both keep to themselves, they cling to the people they care about (though some might think it's possesive) and read and read. The only difference I can take away is Ame is more scared of people and on the other hand, Akihiko stayed away from the outside world. "You may say you and Ame have nothing to talk about but if you talk to him, you may have more in common than what you say."
He stayed silent. "Trust me..He's a quiet kid and from what I can gather, he's really well behaved so you don't have to worry about getting a headache. You can both talk about literature and other things."
"Well..I'll think about it. But don't think that's an automatic okay."
He's hesitant, but I know he'll turn around. I just know it.