Jealousy
by baru-chan
Edit: After reading JML's review, I changed a few sentences in this post and fiddled with the paragraphs a bit. Thanks for the corrections, JML! I really, really don't mind you giving me a heads up once in a while (or maybe every post, heh).

PART TWO


Tsuyoshi is born on the summer of the third year of Meiji[1].

Needless to say, his elder brother, Tsutomu, isn't very happy about it.


Tsuyoshi is now nine months old, and, in that span of time, Tsutomu's initial annoyance at the little thing turned into burning jealousy. He'd never show it in front of the adults, of course - Tsutomu doesn't want to be seen as a spoiled child ever since he heard Father complaining about a student who has connections to the government - but, in the solitude of his own thoughts, Tsutomu would think about the good old days when he was the only child in the house: the only one Mother would cuddle next to, the only one Father would teach kenjutsu. True, his brother couldn't even hold a shinai much less use it, but that isn't the point...

No fair, no fair, no fair, no fair, no FAIR! Tsutomu chants angrily as he swings down the shorter-than-usual-shinai he is holding with far too much force than necessary.

The boy is currently practicing with his modified bamboo weapon alongside boys a year or two older than him. He and the rest of the class are inside the university's dojo; they are the youngest students enrolled.

"Tsutomu!" A voice breaks Tsutomu's thoughts and he stops his wild swinging. He turns and looks at his father's scowling visage. "Focus!" Father barks before paying attention to the rest of the class.

Tsutomu slumps his shoulders with shame. Not only did he lose focus, Father noticed it and scolded him!

A hot, raging flame of pure anger suddenly permeates the boy's being. It's all Tsuyoshi's fault!If it weren't for him, Father wouldn't be angry at me!

"Tsutomu-kun." Tsutomu's angry quickly drains away as Father comes close to him. It wouldn't do to make Father more irritated at him. "Why did you lose your focus?" Tsutomu can feel amber eyes drilling holes into his head. He gulped.

"I...I was... er, I mean-" he stammers. Father's eyes narrows even more, if that is possible.

"You should learn how to control yourself, Tsutomu," Father says quietly before walking towards a struggling student.

It's all his fault! Tsutomu fumes before pushing his anger away. He places himself in position and proceeds to swing his shinai down determinedly. No, he will not distract himself with thoughts of that annoying little thing.

Until he gets home, that is.


I still don't like Auntie Tami, but at least she cooks good! thinks Tsutomu as he pats his belly while releasing a satisfied sigh. Her tepanyaki is the best!

"No, no, Tokio-nee!" Auntie Tami exclaims as Mother starts to clear the table. "I'll clean up! You go on and take Yoshi-chan away from his father before Saitou-san's arm cramps up!"

"Hn," grunts Father as he hands the little thing to Mother. Tsutomu rolls his eyes. Auntie Tami doesn't know anything, he decides.

"Tsutomu-chan!" Mother murmurs to him as she passes his seated figure to go to the door, "behave."

"Yes, Mother." Tsutomu sighs and stands up. He slides open the shoji for his mother and before going through it himself.

He sits down beside his parents on the porch; him looking up at the stars and Mother and Father quietly talking to each other with Tsuyoshi between them, suckling on his mother's breasts. Tsutomu doesn't want this moment to end and he sighs with pure bliss.

"Could you watch Yoshi-chan for me, Tsu-chan?" Mother suddenly says in a quiet voice. Tsutomu sits up, eyes portraying pure panic as he shoots Father a silent, desperate plea for salvation.

Father merely raises an eyebrow - apparently, has no desire to rescue Tsutomu tonight. "Yes, Mother," Tsutomu responds, his mind racing, futilely thinking of ways to escape the given task.

Mother hands Tsutomu his brother, stands up and walks to the kitchen, tabi-clad feet thumping rhythmically on the wooden floor.

He turns to Father frantically. "Father, I don't know how to take care of a baby!" he quietly exclaims, awkwardly holding Tsuyoshi by the armpits.

"You'll figure it out," says Father before going into his and Mother's bedroom, the shoji closing with a soft 'thump'.

Tsutomu angrily stares at Tsuyoshi. Tsuyoshi gazes innocently back. After a few moments of nobody moving a muscle, Tsuyoshi suddenly grins a six-toothed grin and drools all over his big brother's hand.

"Ick!" squeaks Tsutomu, "baby-drool!" He awkwardly let Tsuyoshi stand, holding on to the baby with one hand for balance, while wiping his other one on his hakama.

Tsuyoshi suddenly starts patting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, BAAH!" he shrieks happily, his other hand pulling at Tsutomu's hair[2].

"Ouch! Stop that! No - Tsuyoshi! Stop pulling my hair!" Tsutomu yells half-wildly, trying to get rid of the terror while at the same time trying not to let the same terror fall.

Mother and Auntie Tami suddenly arrive. "Yoshi-chan," says Mother, extracting Tsutomu's hair from the tightly-fisted hand of the infant, "don't pull Tsu-nii's hair!"

"Yeah, you monster, stop pulling my hair!" Tsutomu winces in pain as both women try to salvage his hair.

When the baby is finally extracted from his brother, he suddenly lunges at Tsutomu. "Bah, bah, bah!" he yells.

"Oh my!" Auntie Tami murmurs to Tsutomu, "it seems like Yoshi-chan likes your hair."

Tsutomu blinks owlishly at his aunt. "He likes my hair?!" he says incredulously. "Is that because he has only a little bit?"

"BAH!"

"I think you should take that as a yes, Tsu-chan," says Mother. Tsutomu sighs and groans loudly.

"Bah!" Tsuyoshi continues, ignoring the others. "Bah! Bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he shrieks, almost disloging himself from his mother, trying to dive at his brother whose hair fascinated him.

The nearest shoji suddenly opens with a 'BANG'. "For God's sake, Tokio, just go inside and feed the baby! Tsutomu, go to your bedroom and sleep! Tami, do whatever you have to do! Just keep it down!" Father glares at them until all three he addressed acknowledge his orders.

Tsutomu walks towards his room, Auntie Tami in tow. "Good night, Tsutomu-chan," she murmurs before heading off to the bathhouse to bathe.

After entering the room, Tsutomu starts to dress into his sleeping yukata. While dressing, he thinks about the strange happenings after dinner. First of all, Mother gave him the little thing. Second, the little thing liked his hair. Third and lastly, Father shouted at them. Father never shouts! He says mean things, but never did Tsutomu, in all his five years of existence, hear his father actually raise his voice.

But what about those men, a little voice whispers into Tsutomu's ear, those men in the big house who lived with us? Father used to...

"Stop it!" whispers Tsutomu, pulling at the ties of his yukata savagely. "That's only a dream! Just a dream..."

It isn't a dream, and you know it! the voice insists. Those men were real! And what Father did -

"Father did nothing!" he hisses and unravels his futon. "Nothing! You hear me? Father did NOTHING!"

Lying down, Tsutomu pulls the blanket over his body and tries to push disturbing thoughts out of his mind. He focuses instead on his brother.

"Hn, if that little thing pulls at my hair more, I couldn't wear it in a topknot," he murmurs as he shifts into a more comfortable position. Tsuyoshi might like torturing his big brother, but he does have a rather charming smile...

Hmph. Just because that little thing's small teeth are adorable doesn't mean I like him, Tsutomu thinks sleepily. He made Mother ignore me and Father angry at me...

The little voice in his head snickered as he thought that, but he ignores it and focuses on sleeping. He closes his eyes.

Tsutomu sleeps and dreams of a group of men, each one wearing a light-blue haori, calling his father 'Captain'.


NOTES:
[1] 1870
[2] This is what my eight-month-old brother does to me and whoever babysits him. Heh.

Tsutomu likes to sigh, doesn't he? =P I know that I had him fall asleep again, but I think that it's an apt ending.

P.S. I now officially hate ffn's QuickEdit. It destroyed my nice and clean HTML formatting. Hmph.

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki. No profit was, is or will be garnered from this work of fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended.