BTW, if you wish to just skip all the younger days, just go to Chapter 12 or maybe Chapter 7 or 8.
As he laid on the hospital bed beside his mother. Alan had realized that he had never experienced anything this calming and sooting. That God had stated this world was dangerous, but right now, he had never felt safer.
The door that led to their room opened and two pairs of footsteps were heard.
One was heavy and steady while the other was lighter and rapid, almost like a patter across the light coloured tiled floor.
Angelina raised her head and turned to look towards the doorway. And when she saw who had come to visit her this morning, her mood brightened even more than it already had.
There approached her younger brother, Lukas.
He was a man in his early twenties, bearing sharp and prominent features on his face with vibrant blond hair and blue eyes, just like her.
Dressed in a black leather jacket and khaki jeans, he stood proudly stray from the sparsely decorated white walls of the hospital.
Her oldest and only other child, Takashi running ahead of his uncle reached the edge of her bed rightly quicker than his uncle, who still went at his one pace.
Takashi was six years of age, and like his father, he had dark reddish-brown hair but unlike his father's eyes which were botheringly pale, Takashi had a pair of charcoal black irises.
He was a tall boy for his age, but that was not surprising considering how tall she and Hitoshi were.
The boy ran up to the bed with a wide smile on his face. As he looked at the baby lying next to her, he opened his mouth almost in awe.
"That's my baby brother?" He asked with a short breath, pointing at the baby with stary eyes.
Angel simply smiled and nodded, while carefully lifting the baby in her arms so that Takashi could get a clearer look. While the little guy stored, he thankfully didn't seem to wake up.
Takashi moved closer and stared at him intently, "He's... he's so small..." He said with fascination, bouncing lightly in place from the tip of his feet as he was still not tall enough to comfortably see above over the bed despite his height.
She chuckled at his observation before a cough shifted her attention to her brother who had finally arrived.
"Funny... I seem to recall you saying that you weren't gonna go through all that again..." He said while holding in a snort, index finger held up across his nose.
"Oh hush you..." He quickly gave him an unimpressed face before he started to make any more quips.
Her brother Lukas would always try to annoy her at every chance he got.
Lukas laughed and turned to kneel beside Takashi, who was still closely inspecting their Little Rei. Twisting and tilting his head at odd angles to the sides in deep contemplation.
"You sure seem enthusiastic," He looked to the little boy, and stared at him amusingly with a brow raised.
Takashi reached out and grabbed the little baby's hand and squeezed, taking notice of how it almost felt like it could break from one wrong move, "He seems so helpless..."
His uncle chuckled. "Yeah, they usually are..." he said with his mouth curving downwards sharply, looking dry of emotion.
"Well, you're going to have to be a big brother for him because of it. You know that?" He started while giving his older sister a brief glance from the corner of his eye.
"Do you think you could do that? I'm asking for the both of us here." he used his thumb and gestured between himself and his sister.
Takashi suddenly adorned a determined look, and scrunched up his nose, "Yeah! Takashi's going to be the ultimate older brother for Rei!" He proudly declared with his right fist raised high into the air.
Angel and Lukas looked on to the little kid with their faces mirroring the pride they both held inside.
The blonde man cleared his throat and got up on his feet, "Alright, little man come on, time's up." Lukas said with a grunt as he got up.
A very unsavoury and sombre note played inside Takashi's head, "Aw, already? But we just got here!"
He turned to his mother, walking up to her and resting his head on her arms, "Mom, can we stay?" He gave his mother the best look to guilt-trip her into letting them stay.
Unfortunately for him, Angel had already developed a small immunity due to the number of times he would try to use it for his advantage.
"Go on with your uncle, Takashi." She said while bringing her hand to ruffle Takashi's hair a bit, "Besides, your little brother needs his sleep."
"I told you, it was just a small visit. Remember your promise to me?" His uncle tried to remind him and reached under his nephew's belly.
Takashi huffed and tried to stomp his feet before he was whisked away by uncle Lukas, much to his displeasure. He took to whining even more, only stopping when his uncle offered to buy him some ice cream on the way home.
Angelina watched them leave with a smile never leaving her face.
"Seven days..." Angel said looking on to where they had left. "It's just seven more days to go."
Alan meanwhile, was still pretending to sleep. The next seven days may be boring, but he could endure it. After all, he had no responsibilities, and he was gonna enjoy it while he can.
That name, 'Little Rei' they would call him, he supposed he would have to get used to having a new name.
A new world, a new Life...
'This is so crazy...' he said disbelievingly to himself in thought.
Hitoshi came to pick them up one day, the seven days flying by before Rei even had a chance to count.
Most of his days and hours were spent sleeping, partially due to feeling oddly tired all the time, and from how shooting an embrace from his mother felt for him.
He almost always felt warm and fuzzy throughout most of the days inside the hospital.
As his mother and father sat at the front seats of the family car, Little Rei was carried in his mother's arms as the vehicle cruised across the asphalt road that ran the seasides in two lanes.
The sun was just dipping above the horizon of ocean water, and the scenery was simply breathtaking.
Hitoshi looked at the sky clustered with orange clouds and breathed in the salty sea air. A content and steady smile on his face, this was beautiful.
The beach just below them could do with a little cleaning however, some rather large piles of trash were beginning to collect from being washed ashore by the waves.
He turned away from the beach and shifted to look towards the passenger seat, where he was greeted with an arguably more beautiful scene. His Angel cradling their son, sweetly singing a song to him.
The same song he heard when he first heard her sing,
"Twenty-five years and my life is still..." he snickered to himself and faced forwards to stere the car right on a turn of the road.
Ever since he had known her, Angelina always held an interesting taste in music.
He never thought his life would ever turn out this perfect, little tears threatened to spill from his eyes but he wouldn't allow it. He would like to remember this moment as clear as he can.
Rei, their baby boy meanwhile was also enjoying the beautiful scenery just outside.
It had been about three days since his eyes returned to their full capabilities, and he had been enjoying it thoroughly.
As they drove on the two-lane road by the beach with a viewing platform built stretching out onto the waters. The place seemed oddly familiar to the boy, like a place that held sentiment and purpose.
But Rei ultimately dismissed the thought, he would definitely remember a place this scenic.
His parents; they were quite the interesting pair.
His mother turned out to be of German descent, hence the western features, while his father was Japanese.
Funnily enough, his mother was fairly taller than his father, taller by at least three inches. He had no idea how they met each other. But one thing was for sure; they seemed perfect for one another.
They would quip and laugh together, talking with themselves almost throughout their entire ride.
Some would suspect they were a newly married couple, and he, their first child. He had almost thought the same, though the visit of who he assumed to be his older brother and uncle the other day dismissed that hypothesis.
The view of the ocean got briefly hidden as they passed a small hill.
Hitoshi said something to Angel and caused her to look up through the windshield, whereby a smile beamed across her face. That something seemed to be their home, coming into view as they drove up the driveway.
The house sat on a lofty position atop a hill, the ocean just below it.
It adorned yellow paints on the walls of the first floor, white on the second. Mediterranean blue terracotta tiles were used for the roofing providing for a nice contrast that would sit beautifully with the sky.
It was of reasonable size too, easily being able to accommodate at least six people living in it.
As they drove up, the sounds of the tire crunching the gravel reached Rei's ears, it was a calming and pleasant sound. If he was going to be living here, he had no qualms about doing so.
The house had some lights on the inside for some reason. Maybe his parents had left a housekeeper.
His intense observation caught the eye of his mother, who called his name to garner his attention and said something to him in Japanese with a smile. His father also joined in from his side of the car, puffing out his chest and bearing a look of pride.
They must have been quite fond of their home. Rei couldn't really blame them, it was a beautiful house. And even if he had to learn a new language from scratch, he had a feeling it would be worth it.
And speaking of learning Japanese, he was somehow making progress despite his age. Still couldn't read anything though, but he can understand some phrases. Must have been the increased intelligence.
As they made their way to their front door, Hitoshi was carrying most of the bags of stuff they had bought. Angel was holding Little Rei close to her chest. As he hung on her, he was still ogling at her house.
"Why, would you look at that..." Her husband called out to her. She raised her head and her mood dimmed immediately. On their driveway was a Matte-Green Harley Davidson Vrod custom, and the jolly laughter of her brother rung out from their house not soon after she took in the sight.
"Oh for crying out loud..." She grumbled in English as she brought her left hand up to massage her temple, but she felt a sudden shift in her arm. She looked down and was greeted with the sight of her son giving her... the Stink eye? Almost as if he understood what she just said.
The memory of what the doctor had said to Hitoshi resurfaced to her mind.
Despite what she may want to think, she couldn't help but agree with the doctor that her baby was indeed an odd one.
Her thoughts were halted by her husband who continued walking while laughing, shaking his head from side to side. She huffed through her nose and began walking again.
When they entered their house, sure enough, her brother was currently seated across their son Takashi on the living room coffee table set on the green carpets with gold accents. They looked like they were playing a game with a deck of cards.
When they heard them enter, the both of them turned to look at what made the noise from the front door. When they saw who they were, Takashi immediately went to tackle one of them in a big hug.
"You're home!" He cheered while clinging onto his father like an overly clingy Koala.
"Careful! Careful!" Hitoshi cried in alarm, almost falling over as he couldn't move his legs.
Takahi yelped and released his grip on Hitoshi's legs immediately, "I could have fallen over there," His father reprimanded him, awkwardly stepping in place to regain balance.
"Ehe he..." Takashi laughed sheepishly looking down before lifting his head, "I'm Sorry?"
His father suddenly picked him up in his arms.
"Oh, don't be! I missed you too!" He began laughing while spinning around in place, a laugh also shared in full by Takashi who gripped on tight.
As Hitoshi stopped, his hug tightened and his head leaned into Takashi's messy hair. The boy must have seen something behind him enter through the doorway as he suddenly gasped.
"Mom!" He yelled, flailing his limbs about as if wanting to be released.
His mother just smiled, "Did you miss me?" She spoke in a calm voice, still carrying little Rei in her arms.
After being set down on the floor, Takashi bolted to his mother, embracing her in the same manner, he embraced his father. "Yes I did, I missed you so much! Dad's cooking tastes so bland!" He said with a shiver, still latching onto one of her legs.
His mother looked confused for a moment before she glared at Hitoshi, "Didn't you hire a housekeeper?" She asked her husband as she ruffled Takashi's hair with her free left hand.
Hitoshi shifted in place under her gaze, "W-Well, I thought Takashi... should at least eat the food his dad makes from time to time..." He said with a nervous and shaky smile.
His wife just breathed out a heavy sigh of exasperation, "Of course you did." She said in a voice that sounded all too unamused.
Hitoshi, trying to redirect the situation, called out to the other man present in the room.
"Lukas, I... didn't know you were still in town..." He asked his brother in law, who up until that point had remained silent
"Yeah, the job got delayed. It was something about a villain attack."
"Oh, that's too bad." Hitoshi stumbled slight, unsure of how to articulately respond.
"Not to worry though, I heard they were finally sending in some pros to deal with it."
As the two men walked into the kitchen to continue their chat. Angel cat down on the couch, Little Rei still in her arms.
Takashi was lightly poking him in the face and on his cheeks, face marred with the expression of purest fascination.
"He's so soft..." He said with wide eyes, poking Rei's plump cheeks with a finger.
"Did Uncle Lukas tell you his name yet?"
"No," Takashi said while shaking his head from side to side, his shoulders loosely bobbing along with the movements.
"His name... is Omura Rei, you may call him your younger brother, Rei."
"Wow..." He uttered with a voice still laded with fascination. "His name sounds so Cool!" He bounced up and down on the springy cushions.
"Hi, Rei! My name is Takashi, your older brother!" he proudly declared, making gestures with his hand.
Little Rei just looked at him with a concerned face. "You don't have to be scared about anything, I already promised Mom and Uncle Lukas that I would protect you from anything bad." He said with pride.
Rei just stared at him for a moment before turning to his mother, who just looked at him with a smile, she seems to do that often it seems.
Until the sun went down the horizon, and the lights in their house flickered to life, Takashi would try to make conversation with his little brother as their mother went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
"Do you like cartoons?" Takashi asked innocently. Little Rei just stared at him with a blank look.
"You don't? Well... that's too bad. It's really fun to watch them." His shoulders slumped and he turned towards the living room floor.
Rei just continued to stare at him.
"Hey! I have an idea, after dinner, I could ask mom and dad to let us stay up late. And if they allow it, I'll show you one of my favourite shows! Maybe you'll like that one!" Takashi offered with a passionate declaration. He just received another blank stare again.
"It's okay, you don't have to say anything to them, you just let me do all the talking." He reassured him while he held his little brother's shoulders.
This time, he got a very confused nod and smile from his brother.
"Sweet!" Takashi rejoiced, mistaking his brother's confused nod for approval.
A young woman with dark blue hair and a pair of glasses came out of the kitchen. She was Saki Yoshikage, their housekeeper.
"Takashi, dinner's ready," She called out before returning to the kitchen, closing the door on her way back in.
"We're Coming!" He informed back with a yell, then turned to his brother with a wide smile. "Come on, you're gonna love this. Mom's cooking is so good." He declared before haphazardly picking up his little brother and running into the kitchen, "Best of the best!"
When they arrived, the table was already set. The porage and steamy bowls basked the dining area in a warm and homey residue.
Their uncle noticed them coming in first, his standing by the fridge doing nothing really to help. Of course, he would reason he would just get in the way of things.
"Oh! Look at you! You're a big boy now aren't ya'?" He referred to Takashi carrying Little Rei in his arms.
"Of course I am!" He looked offended. "I have to be if I want to be a big brother!"
"Haha! Nice way of thinking little man!" Lukas congratulated him as he clapped his hands with a nod.
"Would everyone settle down at the table?" the voice of the mother cut through from behind the isle, "And Takashi, please set Little Rei down over on that stool." She said, pointing at a tall but small chair with a tiny table running around it.
"Right!" The boy declared, setting to the task immediately with a march.
"Well here, let me help you." Their uncle walked up to them and reached out to grab Rei.
"No!" The boy practically barked, before he bit the air in which Lukas' hand was, "I have to prove that I can be a big brother to Rei." He insisted through his childish tantrum.
"Oh wow, you're really talking to this big brother thing, huh?" His Uncle just stared at him with a flat look for a moment, his hand awkwardly held out, "Okay, let's see you do it then, 'Big Man'!"
With a determined look, he marched to the wired tall chair and attempted to put his brother in it. Immediately realizing he couldn't reach the top to put him in.
"You still don't need my help?" Came the mocking voice of his uncle, who couldn't help but chuckle at his attempts.
"No- I-... don't- aagh!" Takashi struggled to lift the baby over his head to reach the stool.
"Come on Lukas..." Came his sister's tired voice that was not so amused.
"But he said he doesn't need any help with this..." Lukas replied in a playful voice, hands raised to his sides in mocking defence.
"Give him a hand..." He briefly caught the side of his sister's eye snake a yellow spark of electricity, so he decided to concede.
"Okay, fine..." Lukas said finally with a small and lighthearted laugh to himself.
He walked up to the two boys, one was in much more distress than the other. He picked up the smaller one and placed him in his chair. "Theeere we go..." He drawled out as he followed through on the action.
"Hey! I had that!" Takashi said with a huff.
"Sure you did..."
"I did! I really had that!" He continued to whine, waving his fists about in the air.
His father Hitoshi could only watch with amusement as he began to feed Little Rei, who didn't look like he was enjoying it that much. He would try to keep his mouth shut and turn his head away.
"Alright, settle down," Angel said while making the final preparations for the meal.
After everyone got seated, they paid their respects and began to eat. Small screeches of delight could be heard coming from Takashi, he seemed to be enjoying his mother's phenomenal cooking. Angel had replaced her husband in feeding Little Rei with the spoon.
"Come on Rei! You have to try this!" Takashi reached towards his little brother, a spoonful of the chicken soup in hand. Only to be stopped by his mother. "Aw, why can't he have some?"
"He can't yet, it'll give him an ache in the belly if it's not this one." His mother explained while she held up a bowl that contained a milky substance to Takashi's face before she brought it back to feed Little Rei again.
When in the hospital, and not even for lack of trying, her son simply refused to be fed from her breasts. Often, he turned his head to the opposite direction when she brought him closer, mouth held shit firmly.
So, she reported this to the doctors and they prescribed him to be fed nutritional supplements that were exactly identical to mother's milk through bottles, and a certain cereal that turned to liquid when contact with stomach acid, able to be digested for even a baby as young as Rei.
It was basically the same as being fed through the bottle and milk, but Hitoshi was always up to try new breakthroughs in Science.
But Little Rei had enough, finally.
And he flipped the bowl which fell unceremoniously to the table, spewing the chalky cereal all over the dinner table's surface and begun reaching for the chicken soup with his tiny hands.
"See! He wants it!" His brother cheered and reached for Rei with his spoon again.
His mother just sighed. "I told you, he can't-"
"Come on dear, if he wants it let him have a little bit," Hitoshi pleaded, "I'd wager his food's already going to neutralise for indigestion."
"That's rich coming from you," Angel said with a glare, to which he could just flash her a nervous smile.
But, in the brief time they took their eyes off of them. Takashi had already fed Little Rei the soup. And going by his tiny squeaks, he was also enjoying it very much.
"See, he loves it, would you be cruel enough to take that away from him. Besides, if he does get uneasy, I'll take full responsibility, and buy more of the M&B Packets." Hitoshi said with a palm held up to his side.
Angel just slumped in defeat, her cooking was truly amazing, and Little Rei looked like he was really enjoying it. It would be too cruel to take that away from him now.
"Fine," She grumbled while cleaning up the little mess he made. Stealing concerned glances at the brothers. "But don't feed him more than a couple of teaspoons, okay?"
"Ma'am, I'm going home for the night." Came the voice of their housekeeper from the kitchen door.
"Of course. Did Hitoshi gave you your pay for today?" She asked while continuing to clean the mess on the table.
"Yes, he did," She answered, and then looked at her brother, Lukas from the corner of her eye while she cleared her throat. "Good night ma'am." She shook her head, waving while walking away to the front door.
"Goodnight." She returned. 'What was that about?' She said in thought.
After watching her leave, she turned back to the table. Takashi still feeding Little Rei spoonfuls of soup without any of the chunky stuff inside, and her husband making small chats with her brother about current events, mostly Hero related stuff. Her tense expression slowly morphed into one of content.
She was finally home, with her husband and kids under one roof again. Life was going perfectly, and she would be happy for it.
Rei gave his compliments to whoever made dinner tonight, they sure knew what they were doing. Although he was pretty sure he should not be eating things like the soup while this young in years, he just couldn't eat the milky cereal his parents would try to feed him.
Could he even eat those too? He was not sure...
That was why when his brother offered him a sip of his soup, his body moved on its own and attempted to consume it right away.
And he did not regret it at all. Sure, his belly might disagree later, but he was certain it was worth it.
"Mommy, can we stay up late?" Takashi asked his mother, still feeding Little Rei his soup.
"Why?" His mother frowned with a confused look.
"Well, I wanted to show Rei all my favourite shows." He explained.
Angel considered it for a moment. After a while, she decided it would serve as a good bonding moment for the brothers. "Sure, but only until nine. If I come in and you're still awake after that there will be consequences." She stated.
Takashi smiled in delight, "Got it! Thanks, Mom!" He rejoiced.
After finishing their meal, they started cleaning the table, Takashi helping in every way he can. After they were done, he immediately took his brother upstairs to his room.
Hitoshi and Angel looked on with amusement.
"They're getting along quite well," Hitoshi commented as he did the dishes. "But, I suppose that's to be expected."
Angel simply smiled and nodded.
"Anyway, thanks for dinner. Saved me quite a sum." Came the voice of her brother. "I'll be going now..."
"I'll see you off on the driveway, just gotta finish this first," Hitoshi called from the sink.
Then something clicked for Angel.
As Lukas made his way out, he was halted by a grab to his right shoulder, courtesy of his sister. And she currently had a foreboding aura surrounding her.
"Lukas, you didn't try anything with Saki did you?" She asked in a dark voice.
Lukas gulped briefly but tried to keep his composure. "No... W-Why would I do that?"
"Then what was that at dinner?" She referred to Saki's odd behaviour when she looked at him.
"W-What was what at dinner?" Lukas's voice began to tremble.
"Saki looked at you from the corner of her eye with a blush. So I'll ask again, you didn't try anything with her did you?" Her voice was even darker now.
After a sigh, Lukas straitened his back. "I can neither confirm nor deny this accusation you've contrived against my name," He raised his hand to his side, palm facing her way.
Her eye twitched. "Why you-" Just as she said that a puff of smoke slammed into her face coming from Lukas's palm. And in the brief distraction he caused, Lukas made towards the front door as fast as he could.
"Gah!" Angel was caught by surprise by the smoke. And when it cleared and she could see again. Lukas had already mounted his motorcycle and was riding away, the engines on the Harley reverberated across the narrow sea-side roads as they saw the light from the bike slowly retreat into the distance.
"Naw... You scared him away again. And I wanted to say goodnight this time..." Hitoshi said in a disappointed voice, emerging from the kitchen while drying his hands with a white napkin.
Angel had a few veins bulging from her forehead. Yellow sparks of electricity jumped across her hairs. "I swear when I see him again-"
"Just let it go Angel. Come on, deep breaths." Hitoshi said while massaging her shoulders.
Angel took a deep breath through her nose, and out through her mouth. After repeating the process about five times. She relaxed a bit.
"See there, much better," Hitoshi chuckled almost triumphantly.
"Thank you... Toshi."
"Now, how about you just go take a shower. I'll handle things in the house for tonight." Hitoshi offered, his skilful hands doing wonders to release the tense muscles on her shoulders.
"Hmm mm-" Was the only sound she could produce. Hitoshi was always really good with back rubs. She could use a shower too now that she thought about it, having taken none in at least seven days.
With that in mind, she made her way inside and upstairs to the bathroom. On her way, she saw Takashi's door to his room slightly open.
She took a peek inside and saw both Takashi and Little Rei watching something on the computer, Both looking to be completely invested. They were sitting on the same chair with Little Rei between Takashi's legs.
She smiled at the sight. Takashi had promised to be a big brother to Rei, and they seemed to be inseparable right now. She hoped they would stay that way.
With that thought, she made her way to the shower.
This was interesting, apparently, Takashi wanted to watch some superhero shows with him. They were both sitting on a chair watching some show about a guy named Justice Man. All in all, it was a typical Japanese kid show with dramatic sound effects and scores, with the main character being very loud and energetic.
But it was still entertaining, he wasn't gonna lie.
Like those old Power Ranger shows, from way back when.
His older brother made some comments here and there, explaining who everyone was to him, not that he could understand him though. Correction, he could scarcely understand him, he could piece together the general idea of what he was saying. This whole language looks like it was a lot easier to learn with enhanced intelligence than he expected.
Granted, he still couldn't grasp it completely yet, but he was getting there.
His attention was returned to the screen where Justice Man could be seen falling down the side of a building head first towards the ground. He was holding his hands in an 'X' formation. Suddenly, he shouted, "JUSTICE MAN: CROSS CHOP!" in English, and brought both his hands down in a double karate chop, crushing some kind of sea monster that was below him.
Takashi suddenly pumped his fist in the air with a triumphant smile, while Rei looked on with amusement.
'Never had an older brother, wouldn't mind it be this one.' He thought with a serene smile.
After the brief celebration, Takashi yawned, covering his mouth as he brought his hand down. He reached to turn off the computer while saying something.
'Ah, it must be time for bed. No complaints here, I could fall asleep any moment.' Rei said in thought, breaking into a small yawn himself.
After Takashi turned off the computer. He carefully picked up Rei in his arms with a grunt and walked out of the room. Now standing in the corridor in front of his room's door, he swivelled right and headed towards another room adjacent to his. He grabbed the doorknob with one hand, turned it, and pulled.
The room was decorated with a crib, one of those sets of things that would hang over it, and a night light. Soft and round toys littered the floor of the room. Weirdly enough, there was also a bed of reasonable size present as well, it didn't belong to his brother as far as he can tell as in the previous room there was one single person bed as well.
After a moment of thought, he formed a theory. Perhaps because the crib is temporary, his parents decided to buy a bed in advance. Neutralizing the need of purchasing it when the time eventually came.
'Good choice,' He said in thought.
There was no way he was going to sleep in a crib every night for now. Though his brother seemed to not know that babies his age sleep in one as he was not making any turns to it, but instead was headed straight for the bed.
'Huh, knew him for not even a day yet and he's a better older brother than I ever was...'
Takashi then placed Little Rei in bed, making sure he got as comfortable as he could with soft touches. After a satisfied nod at his work, he said something to his little brother, which Rei assumed was a goodnight, then turned around, and walked out with an overly exaggerated walk.
Rei chuckled as his brother closed the door behind him, leaving him alone in the room with only his nightlight for luminosity.
Rei cleared his throat and sunk into his bed, under soft covers, and gazed outside the window to the ocean.
Tonight was a full moon, and its light got reflected off of the ocean water, forming a path of white lights that led up to its pale surfaces on the water.
Rei couldn't help but dream, what it would feel like to walk on the surface of the Lunar body when presented with such a clear picture tonight.
'That is... beautiful...' He said delightfully in thought before he drifted off soundly to sleep.
He woke up not three hours later to a severe ache in his stomach. And since his body was still very frail, it only hurt a lot. So much so that he was pretty sure he cried.
His parents rushed in soon after, picked him out of his bed with confused and panicked faces, briefly checked it for any mess he might have made, then carried him off to the toilet.
His mother's glare never leaving his Father's nervous smiling face as they helped Rei get some relief on the Toilet.
Rei was just weirded out, no one had ever stepped in the toilet with him to help him do his business, and this was just plain embarrassing.
It was an experience that would forever be engraved in his brain. Not to mention he had to wear a diaper too.
After they were done, his mother cleaned him up. And took him back to his room, and much to his objection placed him in his crib.
He watched the both of them walk out, first his father, then his mother and upon her closing the door to his room, he heard her berate his father through the walls.
Now very annoyed that he had to sleep in the crib, and the image of his mother helping him in the toiled still fresh in his mind.
He went to sleep with a frown on his face.
The next morning, when Rei awoke to an urge to relieve himself. The sun was barely up right now but he needed to go to the toilet again, his bladder was practically threatening him to explode.
Surprisingly, he was athletic enough to climb out of his crib despite being less than a month old. Though he almost smacked his head on the ground when he let go. After picking himself up and crawling to the door. He realized there was no way he was going to be able to open it.
Not only was he still too weak to stand on his two legs, but the doorknob was also at least double his height in its placement even if he could. So he just sat down flat on his butt and contemplated on a way to get out.
After much thought, and with no other way, he reluctantly called for his parents by yelling as loud as he could. After a few moments, footsteps could be heard shuffling towards his room from the corridor.
Rei mentally prepared himself for the ensuing embarrassment of having someone help him in the toilet again.
The doorknob turned and opened outward, revealing the sight of his still drowsy mother. She yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, then made her way inside. She could not see Little Rei from her perspective and had unknowingly kicked him. Luckily though, Rei brought his arms up just in time to block it.
The sudden bump on her foot brought her attention to the floor, where she found her Little Baby lying on his back, hands brought up to protect himself.
When she pieced together that she had just accidentally kicked her son, she began to apologize profusely while picking him up. Briefly contemplating what he was doing on the ground in the first place.
She then figured that he called for them as he needed to go to the toilet. She checked his diaper, finding it to still be in perfect shape. That was strange, even last night when he cried for them, his diaper was spotless. She only changed it as she wanted to stay on the safe side.
It was almost as if her baby was already potty trained. She also noted that he did not appear to be crying when she entered his room, but rather was just calling for them. Again, she couldn't disagree with the doctor when he said that her baby was odd. With that thought, she helped Little Rei with his business in the bathroom.
After they were done, she changed his diaper just in case and went downstairs to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast.
When they arrived, she placed Rei on his stool by the table and headed behind the counter to begin cooking
She began to pressure cook the rice, prepare the eggs and flavourings first. Then she took a bowl and a cereal box from one of the cupboards as well as a pot. She poured the contents of the box into the pot which Rei immediately recognized to be the milky stuff they were trying to feed him the previous night.
She took some milk from the fridge and poured it in as well.
Rei just watched on, not looking particularly forward to his morning meal, but it couldn't be helped. When he tried food he would normally eat it resulted in a cramp in his belly. Despite how good it tasted, he did not want to get that kind of cramp again.
After a while, the cereal seemed to be ready. His mother turned off the stove, poured the contents out into a bowl. And placed it aside to cool.
After a while, breakfast for the others seemed to be done as she turned the stove completely off. She then took Rei's food and a spoon and headed towards him.
She arrived next to him just as the doorbell rang out. "Now who could that be?" she asked no one in particular, she placed Rei's food on his mini table before standing up to answer the door.
She opened the door to find Saki, still wearing her glasses in a light green tracksuit, a few drops of sweat on her forehead. Her dark blue hair was now styled in a single ponytail behind her head.
"Good... Morning ma'am." She politely greeted, breath a bit haggard.
"Went for a run on your way here?" Angel asked her, smiling with one eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, have to stay in shape."
"Well come on in, make yourself at home." Angel ushered her in by stepping to the side and holding her right hand out towards the living room.
With a nod, Saki made her way inside the house. Trying her best not to collapse on the couches.
"Go to the kitchen, get yourself some water," Angel suggested with a gesture of her head. Saki nodded and walked past her.
As she made her way to the entrance of the kitchen. Something inside caught her attention, prompting her to lightly gasp.
"Hmm, what is it?" Questioned Angel as she made her way beside her. What she saw in the kitchen also garnered her attention.
Rei was still sitting on the stool and he was currently digging his way through his breakfast on his own accord.
Both Saki and Angel just stood there observing until the silence was broken by Saki.
"That's Rei, right?" She inquired, to which Angel nodded after a bit of thought.
"He looks, to be a good boy..." Saki added with a smile, to which Angel nodded again.
After a bit more staring, Saki turned to the kitchen counter. Steaming canisters and pots could be seen atop it.
"Aww, Miss Omura, you shouldn't have..." Indeed, it was her job to handle the household's chores. And it would be shameful for her if she had left it to be handled by the matron who had been pregnant not too long ago.
"What?" Angel asked in a way that made her sound like she really didn't know what she was talking about.
Saki then pointed to the counter. Her mouth forming a small pout.
"Oh, that? It's nothing, Rei woke me up early, so I thought might as well make breakfast while I'm down here." She waved it off with a small laugh. "Besides, it's the least I could do."
Saki remained silent, unsure of what to say. She then gazed over to the little baby eating by himself.
After a moment of silence. Angel turned to head upstairs. "Do you mind watching him for a moment? My husband and Takashi will be up shortly, and I have to change for work."
"Oh not at all." With that, the two women departed from each other. Saki made her way to the baby she now knew as Rei.
"Now whawt duwu we have hewe." She said, puffing her cheeks, spoke in the tone most adults would use to talk to babies, trying to catch his attention.
She succeeded, and she saw him lift his face from his meal to turn towards her. Much to the surprise of Saki, there was not a single trace of food present on his face. He appeared to have been eating with skill and purpose. Something not many children his age would know how to do.
She briefly looked away to the kitchen's entrance where his mother had gone, perhaps to ask her about his odd behaviour. But Angel had already left upstairs to go get changed.
Looking back to Rei, he was still looking at her with a judgmental look. She felt like she was in the presence of someone much older than he was supposed to be.
"Ehem... do you, do you need anything?" She asked him, not really expecting an answer. But much to her confusion, after squinting his eyes for a bit, he opened them wide as if he pieced together what she said. What followed both astonished and scared her quite a bid as he actually shook his head, seeming to understand the question she had asked him.
Before she could dwell on the thought, she heard light footsteps coming from the kitchen entrance. It was Takashi.
"Morning Saki-San..." He greeted her, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. "Have you seen Rei? I checked his room and he wasn't in his be-" He stopped himself as she saw him sitting on his little tall stool.
"Oh, you're up already?" He asked his little brother who looked at him intensely, after which he slowly nodded.
"Wow, you're an early riser, huh? I heard somewhere that waking up early is a good habit. I guess that means I just have to start waking up early too, can't be a proper role model if I didn't!" He declared enthusiastically, not even bothered by the fact that his brother could now understand what he had said.
Just a few minor changes, again...
And about that feeding scene... whew! I severely underestimated how long babies had to wait to eat solid foods.
I asked my mother how long it was till I took in solid food, and she said 3 months, not even close to Rei's current age of 3 weeks.
So I just took the easy way out and chalked it up to advancements in Science.
It is 300 Years in the future from today, so I don't think it's too crazy.