Rei was sitting in his father's office. Learning about the intricacy of Fusion Reactions. Three years had passed since he began secretly sneaking into his father's office while they were away and gathering knowledge.
"Interesting... So Deuterium-Tritium Fusion is considered to be the most effective form... wonder why people don't do it yet." He said with a scoff. Despite having access to technologies such as holographic projection, Fusion Energy was still a theory in this world.
He wagered he could do it right now if he had access to the resources. Maybe with a couple of steady hands to boot.
As he sat there, several piles of books and papers were sprawled around the desk. He hoped that Saki would not mind the mess he had made. As his thoughts were on the housemaid, her voice called from the kitchen.
"Rei! It's time for lunch!" She called out from the kitchen, and caused him to stir in his seat. Sitting back slightly, he stretched his arms about before he looked at the clock on the far end of the wall. Seeing that it had indeed been half past noon, he crawled out of his chair and walked towards the kitchen.
Speaking of technology to improve, he had found his father's schematics for a machine, with his limited knowledge he could deduce that it was some kind of particle accelerator. Further proving his suspicion that his father was a scientist of some kind.
He had taken the liberty of inspecting and studying the design and quite frankly, it was impressive. The mechanisms allowed the machine to fire particles close to the speed of light, and if he understood it correctly, was aiming to be able to observe the result in a much more controlled and stable environment than the machines of previous generations.
When he made his way into the kitchen, Saki had already prepared his meal for him. He had never been so relieved in his life as much the day he could eat meat again. Sure, after a bit of research, he found out that meat, specifically beef brought with it a terrible means of sustenance.
Plants and other more direct sources being a much more effective means of energy. Animals were an inefficient middle-man.
He even found out that if humans were to use the area of land they used to grow fodder for animals, as land for growing crops for humans, world hunger could probably be solved proper in like, three months.
But despite all of that, his meals were founded into habits, and it would take a while to change. He would always tell himself that in the future, he would be a vegetarian, a proper futurist for humanity, but that day was still a far ways away.
The next step from this would be to become completely inorganic, capable of using every joule of energy to its maximum potential. But he liked his humanity, so he chose the next best thing.
His meal this evening was a soup made from some kind of meat, diced into tiny cubes.
"What's this?" He asked as he gestured towards his meal. He knew it was meat, just not what kind.
"Meat from a goat," Saki replied as she sat to his left, eating her own plate full of green. She was vegan it seemed.
"Goat huh? That's new," He mused as he took up a spoonful of the soup, hoping to taste it before indulging in the pieces of meat.
"This is beef..." He commented with a frown as he looked at his soup with a critical eye.
"Yeah, but notice it's smokier," Saki added, prompting Rei to think for a moment.
"I... suppose it is." He said with a small shrug as the late smell made itself felt.
Saki smiled as the boy across from her took another sip, "So, you learn anything new today?" Saki asked, hoping to start a conversation.
"Oh, plenty," Rei confirmed with a nod.
"Like what?"
"Thermonuclear Astro-Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Behavior of Photons in various spaces. I have got to say, learning became a lot more fun than before when- Well, learning is fun." Rei had noticed that whatever he read, he could recall the information, seemingly perfectly.
A far cry from his previous life of general academic failures.
He had tried to test this new advanced memory and recall by reading a page from one of his father's mathematics books. He found that whatever he could read, the numbers, and equations, and calculations themselves, he could always memorise and remember them all. No matter how complicated, his brain seemed to find a way.
"Sounds like... really- really smart stuff... way beyond my education..." Saki commented awkwardly, clearing her throat with her body turning stiff.
She had never been one for the sciences, nor did she ever want to be. The boy's drive towards learning had always struck her as especially odd.
None of what he read was two plus two anymore, math so advanced it barely looked like math.
"Oh, I never asked. What's dad's job exactly?" Rei had seen the blueprints and had concluded that his dad was an engineer of some sort, maybe even a Quantum Physicist involved in the research they do at his facility.
"Oh, he's a scientist," Saki answered with a giggle.
"I... know. I'm asking what kind of scientist?" Rei asked Saki to elaborate with a gesture of his hand, which caused the housemaid's expression to turn flat
"There are different kinds? Oh gosh, okay, well... he, studies atoms...?" She said, raising both her hands to make gestures that she wasn't sure of what she talked about.
"Uh-huh..." Rei hardly gave out, 'Well, she's no help at all...' He said to himself in thought and his face turned flat in expression.
Though, he supposed he could not judge her too much. She had always been a little bit of an air-head.
"Alright, I'll be going back now," Rei said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"I'm sorry, I'll... make sure to ask him next time, okay?" She said with an apologetic tone.
"I think I'll ask him myself," Rei said, waving away her concerns, "I'll save you the trouble." the boy added with a giggle.
"Hmm? You?" She asked as she received a bright nod, "A-alright... I'm not sure how you'll bring it up though." She said with a shrug.
"You know how he is," She quickly took to elaborate when she noticed the boy look at her oddly, "if you show that you're the least bit interested in his like of work. He's going to push you to pursue it as much as he can."
"You sound very sure, has this happened before?" Rei dismissively and offhandedly asked in an amused manner but Saki was completely serious.
"Yes..." she said as she placed a handful of plates in the kitchen sink, and her words tempted Rei to give pause.
Rei turned around from the doorway that led into the kitchen in time with Saki opening her mouth.
"To your older brother." Rei's face was blank at first, but quickly it turned to mild apprehension.
Not the apprehension at the thought that his older brother may have been forced at the time to study advanced science, but at the image.
Rei had always been accustomed to Takashi being a sport, so the prospects of his older brother reading away at a textbook while surrounded by a pile of other books while under a dimly lit candle was a very odd picture to him.
Rei was still a bit unsettled by his father's seeming drive to push his children in studying. But didn't really have anything to say against it to Saki.
So his silence as he walked out of the kitchen was mistaken by Saki as dread. Like the fear was enough to paralyse the poor boy's mouth but she kept to herself her word of sympathies, keeping to mind that Rei was the type to find inconvenience in pity from others.
Rei made his way back to the office. Where a multitude of papers and books were laying on the desk. He turned towards the clock, reading that it was about a quarter past two.
"That's still more than three hours of time," Rei hiffed as he climbed up the chair and sat down, turned to the desk where a dozen books remained sprawled out.
He immediately went back to reading. He still had three hours before his dad would usually come home, so he was very optimistic to finish reading them all if he read three of them at a time.
But fate was against his wishes that day, and Hitoshi had actually arrived home just as he sat down.
Rei was too engrossed in his readings that he missed the sounds of the front door opening and closing.
"Saki!" The voice of his dad called out from the living room. Rei, after a moment of gathering his thoughts, began frantically putting away his things.
"Yes?" Saki answered from the second-floor landing, in the living room.
"The front door was unlocked." He pointed with his thumb as he hung his coat up beside the door. "Very dangerous if a person tried to sneak in," He said as he shuffled around his dark leather briefcase and bags.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll make sure it's always locked then." Saki said with a slight bow.
"Good, good... Now, where's Rei?" He asked and turned right as he made his way towards his office.
"He's in the, uh...!" Saki then assumed that Rei had not anticipated that his father would come home this early, and thus would not have put away the books he was reading.
"Erm... Omura-Sama, would you like some tea first?" She offered.
"Tea? Sure, bring it into the office if you could." He said as he nodded. He was standing at the doorway, looking back at her.
"Why not come to the kitchen. It's much easier for me to clean." She half begged.
"No, no, I'm good, I'm good... I just gonna rest for a little while on the- the chair for a... Rei?" He asked in confusion as noticed the boy sitting behind his desk, being surrounded by books and neatly stacked papers.
Rei looked shocked and stunned, like a criminal having been caught in the act. Right now, he was currently holding a few paper documents in his hand.
"I can... Explain?" He barely was able to get out before flashing his father a shaky smile.
"Now what are you doing? Those papers are sensitive!" He exclaimed as he marched on over to him, "Come on, give it here." He demanded as he took the papers and documents from Rei's hands, leaving the little boy rocking back and forth on his chair.
"Listen, I know you're interested in stuff like this. But you have to be more careful-" He stopped himself as he held the paper to his face. Inspecting it closely, he could not recognize the writings as his own.
"This... isn't mine..." He thought for a moment and turned to his son, "Did you write this?" It was stupid he admitted to himself, a three-year-old being able to use formulas from such advanced a field as quantum mechanics.
"Yes... " confirmed Rei meekly, as he shifted his eyes from his father to the table's surface to the many writings.
"R-Really...?" Hitoshi uttered. He was always expecting his children to be smart academically. It ran in the bloodline, after all, Takashi being no exception.
Despite taking a strong liking to sports, he always received great if not perfect marks on his school tests. But for Rei to show this knowledge this vast in mathematics, this early on, it really took him on quite a trip.
He then reached into his pocket and took out his phone. Dialed in a number and called.
After a brief moment of ringing, the person on the other side picked up.
"Hitoshi? Aren't you suppose to be busy with work right now?" Came the mature voice of a woman. Her voice sounded refined and elegant, no doubt belonging to someone in the higher classes of society.
"Are you?" He asked her instead.
"Am I what?"
"Busy."
"Oh not at all." She said with a laugh. "If you're planning a visit, my door's right open."
"I am planning to visit, but just not a simple friendly visit between friends I'm afraid."
"What do you mean?" She asked a bit concerned.
"I was wondering if I could bring my son for an inspection." He explained.
"Takashi? Of course, you can bring him over. Though I wonder what could be the problem." She said with a laugh.
"No, not Takashi, my younger son."
"Rei, why what's wrong?" She asked with concern again.
"Ever since he was born, he has always been, how do I say this... Special." He said with a snap of his fingers.
"And you want to check for any problems regarding his behavior?" She theorized.
"Yeah, if that's fine with you?"
"Of course! Come on right over." She said jovially.
"Right, be there in ten." He said as he hung up and put the phone in his pocket. He then turned to Rei.
"Rei we're going to a psychiatrist." He announced as he picked him up.
Rei looked up and stared wide-eyed at his father.
"Welcome, Hitoshi!" The woman in a neatly made suit with a clipboard in her hands exclaimed. She was a bit shorter than Hitoshi but exceptionally thicker in certain areas. She had fair skin with dark purple hair styled into a bun with a long silver pin running through. A name tag hung on her left breast pocket reading 'Dr. Nana'. "Come on in."
Hitoshi with Rei in his arms did as the woman instructed. "Sorry to bother you today Nana-Sama." He apologized.
"Oh don't be. Now, is this the little guy who's been reading his father's things without his permission eh?" She said as she leaned into Rei's face. Hitoshi cringed at how easily wrong that sentence could be taken. "What a handsome little man," She complimented with a delightful laugh.
"Anyway, shall we?" She gestured, lifting the curtain to make way for the father-son duo as they stepped into another room. This room is packed to the brim with machines. The sensation washed over Rei again.
"Mmm-mmm." He hummed, closing his eyes with a smile on his face as he bobbed his head from side to side.
"Huh?" Questioned the woman, looking up from her clipboard. "What's he doing?"
"He does this sometimes," Hitoshi explained. There had been many a time on their outings and trips when he would adorn this expression. Typically in urban environments where technology was abundant.
"Uh-huh..." She hummed while nodding with her pen held to her chin. "Well, bring him over here." She ushered to the machine she was standing next to.
The machine was white with a chair hooked up to it. The chair itself was flat, very similar to a small bed but not quite. Rei was laid on top.
"Now just stay still," His father instructed.
Rei did as he was told. Nana then powered up the machine and the display lit up. On it, the brain waves of Rei were shown.
"Brain wave functions seem norma- Oh my," Dr. Nana suddenly exclaimed, bringing down her glasses to look at the monitor with her eyes before she pushed them back up.
Omura Hitoshi's Son, Rei. His neurological activity was off the charts, every part of his brain seemed to be firing nonstop.
The waves were lighting up beautifully like Christmas lights, echoing across the surface while Nana heard the dings of bells in her head as she looked at it.
"What's wrong?" Hitoshi asked with slight worry as he made his way over to her. Bending down to gaze at the display of the machine, he suddenly became wide-eyed as he was left slack-jawed.
Again, he had always expected his children to be smart. But Rei was on a wholly different level. He would not have believed any of this had he not seen it with his own eyes.
"Dad, is something wrong?" Rei asked in a worried tone from where he laid on the chair.
"No! No, everything is fine!" He told him before leaning back in to look at the screen that displayed his neural activity with a wile smile. "More than fine..."
"Hitoshi, with a brain like his, the capacity for intelligence is staggering," Nana said with a shell-shocked expression. "Your son could change the world."
"Come on, that's-... actually plausible now that I think about it." If his son's brain activity was this insane now. He could only imagine what it would be like when he grows up.
"Has he showed it, by any chance?" Nana turned back to look at the monitor, typing a few things on the computer, "Signs of higher thinking?"
"Well- he has been able to memorise the old phone book..." Hitoshi looked up to the ceiling in thought.
"Figures..." She snorted while her head dropped,
He turned back down to regard her with an almost offended frown, failing to catch what she found funny.
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"Your son's a Savant, Toshi. It means he's good at logical thinking, objective reasoning... and it sounds like he has quite the memory."
Hitoshi's face morphed into one of confusion when she told him the case of his son,
"Has he shown any traits like autistic behaviour? Compulsive or un-compulsive tendencies?" She took up the board on her lap into her hands and started writing on it with her pen.
"I- hey, Nana-Sama. You're a psychiatrist, not a psychologist-"
"I have a degree in psychology," She interrupted defensively while holding the hand with the pen to her hips. "My Masters, remember?" she changed her tone to one a bit huffy, and Hitoshi rolled his eyes a little.
"I- well..." Hitoshi grumbled when the memory came back to him, and his posture deflated while his hand that was grabbing onto Nana's chair fell to his side, "I... suppose..."
He looked at the monitor that showed Rei's brain.
If Rei were to take up engineering, the improvements he could make to society were almost limitless!
"I'd like to run a few tests," Hitoshi was snapped out of his thoughts by a request from Nana.
"Like, what tests..?"
"I want to know the limits of his tiny little brain."
Hitoshi looked up from the display towards Rei, who gave him a puzzled expression in return, staying stiff to remain completely still on his padded bed.
He looked back to Nana and saw her look at him expectantly.
She looked like she was excited to examine the boy; and to be perfectly honest, Hitoshi was as well. He was curious himself to the extent of Rei's brilliance.
"Okay, don't push him too hard just yet, ease into it if you can."
Remaining silent for a moment, Nana smiled and quickly gave an excatic nod.
She got up from her seat and went to pick the boy up, practically prancing around the table over to the padded bed.
"Now Rei, you're going to have to come with me to that room." She pointed to a door on the east side of the room. "We're going to play a few games okay?" She asked with a smile.
"Alright...?" Rei said in a voice that sounded not completely convinced.
Picking him up in her arms, she made her way over to the door on the wall opposite to the tall glass windows that overlooked the city. "How long will it take, Nana-Sama?".
The tall woman turned around and saw that Hitoshi was looking at the clock with a frown, appearing to be in a bit of a hurry.
"Just a few moments. Do you have somewhere to go?"
"Yeah, have to pick up Takashi from his soccer practice at about three-thirty." He explained with a slightly nervous laugh as he sort of expected her answer to be that they were indeed going to take long.
"Then, we'll be out before three twenty." She stated as she walked into the room.
Now, both Rei and Nana were sitting at a table, facing each other. A fairly big cardboard box to her side. She opened it and took out some cards.
"Now Rei, take a look at this paper." She held it out. On it, there were three equations. The first equation was of a yellow flower, being added to a red flower, subtracted by a blue flower that equated to the number nine. Basically elementary algebra with different colors of flowers.
The second equation was a red flower plus a blue flower plus a blue flower again equating to a nineteen.
The third was a yellow flower minus a yellow flower plus a blue flower equating to five.
"Now Rei, I want you to tell me what the flowers amount to individually."
"The red one is seven, the yellow one is eight and the blue one is five." He answered after a bit of a delay, the flowers were really distracting placeholders.
"Very good, now how about this." She showed him another sheet. This time instead of flowers, it was The Sun, The Moon, and The Earth. And instead of simple addition and subtraction, it was addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. "Can you divide?" She asked him, receiving a nod. Deciding that if he knew division, he would know multiplication as well, she ushered him to continue.
After a bit more evaluating. "The Sun is thirteen, The Moon is seven and The Earth is forty-two." He stated with a confident smile.
"Wow, that was... fast." She placed another paper and the boy would give him the answer a beat after reading through it.
After a while, she was left with her jaw hanged due to how fast he was at mathematical equations. Rei had aced every test in record time.
Coming over her shock she then reached into the box and took out a small book. She placed it on the table, facing Rei.
"Now Rei, I'm going to open this, and you will tell me everything you see okay?" She held it out and with a flip, the book's first page was opened.
Rei immediately recognized it to be a Rorschach test book once he saw the perfectly symmetrical images.
"Can you tell me what you see?" Nana asked from across the table, intently waiting for his answer.
"I see a butterfly." 'Though it's hard not to.' He thought that was all he could see when he began to notice as it seemed to shift. "And a human pelvis and a dragonfly shedding its skin, and a blue flower blooming out. I can see... I think that's a street in London, a red bus is driving by." He continues, seeing colors even though it was black and white.
"That's Hyde, he's a middle-aged high school dropout. He's contemplating whether or not to kill himself right now, I think..." He explained as he pointed at a random spot on the image. "And she's... Annie, Annie Calhoun. She's a fashion designer, a graduate of Harvard. Engaged to... Travis Key. CEO of a software company called 'Linen'." He said as he shifted his finger on a different spot, seemingly making up a story as he went.
He shifted again, this time glaring at the paper for some reason. "That's Billy La Reu. He's a serial killer responsible for the death of thirteen people." He stated. He shifted again, this time his expression softening. "And that's Bill, he's an elephant. His owner, Shukaku, found him when he was just a baby alone in the woods. He took him home, raised him, and now he helps his owner make money by doing acts. They're good friends." He said with a smile.
He was hauled out of his thoughts by the book suddenly being taken away. He shook his head, blinking before looking up at a very startled woman.
"Moving... on." She said with a gulp.
Rei, after he realized that he was monologuing about a story he got from the image, began to think, 'How... did I do that?.' He asked alarmed as he looked at the small book Dr. Nana had put away.
Then it hit him. 'The only plausible reason could be... Creativity.' He nodded with his mouth in the shape of an 'O'. He had no idea it would have even worked the way it did.
Nana then took out a picture, a very chaotic picture. Not that the picture depicted a chaotic event, it was just really, really busy.
There seemed to be something going on in every corner. The image itself showed a jungle with a treehouse present in the center. Animals of a wide variety of species were present everywhere.
The treehouse itself seemed overrun with vegetation. Green grew here and there. A bridge leading up to it was made of rope and wooden planks. Two people, a man and a woman who seemed to be the owners of the treehouse, were walking across it.
"Now I want you to make a story from this picture."
"Like before?"
"... Yes, like before." She confirmed with a firm nod.
Rei then intently looked at the picture. After a while, he began to tell a story. A story of how these people had to build this treehouse in order to survive the jungle.
It was a very engaging story, one that he took about half an hour to finish narrating.
"Very good! You have quite the imagination you know that." She complimented as she packed up the things on the table into the box.
"Is that all?" Rei asked in a hopeful tone.
"Just one more." She then took out a few cards. Before showing it to him.
The first one she showed had numbers that went up to ten individual digits.
"Memorize that."
Rei did as he was told.
She then took the card from his view and placed it face down on the table. "Think you can recite it?" She asked, but truth be told, she already knew he could do that.
"Five, three, six, two, seven, five, nine, one, four, eight." He resited from memory, not stopping for a single moment.
"Very good. Now say it backwards."
"Eight, four, one, nine, five, seven two, six, three, five." He recited.
Nana nodded then took another card, this time the card contained twenty digits.
"How many more?" He questioned with a bit of a whine, not really thrilled by the prospect of doing this same task for what could be well over ten minutes.
"We're going to do this until you can't anymore." She stated as she gave him an encouraging smile.
"Wow..." He muttered under his breath apprehensively before turning to memorizing the numbers again.
When they were done, Nana picked the boy up and walked out of the room. When they arrived they were greeted with the sleeping form of Hitoshi sprawled on the waiting room couch.
After clearing her throat to gain his attention, he stirred before bolting up.
"You're done? How did it go?" He asked excitedly as he took his coat from the chair beside him.
"Oh, it went wonderful." She answered as she passed him his son.
"May I ask, how much?" Hitoshi said as he took out his wallet.
"Don't you dare," She said as she forced his hand down. "Consider this a favour. Besides, I had so much fun dealing with this little handsome boy." She said as she leaned down and pinched his cheeks. Much to the opposition of Rei.
"Thank you, Nana-Sama." With that, he turned to leave. He stepped out the front door and onto the streets.
"How much was it anyway?" He questioned as he turned around.
"I said don't worry about it-"
"No, I mean, his IQ. How much was it?" He elaborated, looking towards her with an intriguing look.
"Oh," She let out in realization, before giving him a smile that was almost smug, "I don't know..." She said pleasantly as she closed the door shut, leaving Hitoshi standing there in silence with Rei in his arms.
"You... don't know...?" He mumbled in confusion before looking at the boy in his arms.
"Pass it here!" A boy with white spiky hair called out as he ran beside another boy with messy blue hair.
"Here!" The one dribbling the ball said before kicking it, sending it rolling to his friend who was running beside him.
The boy then took the ball in his possession before running past the defence of the opposing teams. A teammate following closely behind. This teammate was Takashi.
Takashi whistled, signalling for the white-haired boy to pass him the ball.
When he did, Takashi received it before kicking as hard as he could towards the goal. It curved slightly in the air as it sailed before landing, just barely entering the goal post.
The slow whistle rang out courtesy of the coach sounded out, signalling the end of the game.
The opposing team's goal keep then fell to the ground in a prostrate position. Taking mild sadness from their loss.
Takashi walked up to the boy before poking him lightly on the shoulder to which the boy looked up.
"Hey, there's always next week?" He cheered him up as he offered him a hand.
With a smile, he took it and allowed himself to be lifted up. "I still have no idea how you can do the curve thing." He commented.
"The curve thing?" Takashi asked as they made their way to the stands.
"Yeah, the ball. When you kick it." He explained.
"Oh that, well I don't know how I do it too, It just happens." He said while rubbing the back of his head, a bit embarrassed that he couldn't provide a suitable answer.
"Hey... Isn't that your dad?" He said as he pointed towards the stands.
Takashi looked up and saw that his Dad had in fact arrived to pick him up. He also had a wired strap around his body, not too dissimilar to a backpack. "Just in time." He smiled as he said before breaking into a jog.
"Takashi!" as he ran up towards him, he heard the voice of his little brother.
"Rei?" He questioned with a bewildered grunt as he arrived.
Looking up to see his father turn to him with a beckoning look, Takashi stalked around him noticing the backpack-like straps on his body.
When he came around, he saw that Rei was held to Hitoshi's back via a carrier attached to a harness. His hands and legs dangling off while his head stuck out the top of the holding basket.
Rei turned to greet his brother with a smile but retracted it immediately when he saw Takashi begin to crack up, clearly in amusement.
"What's this?" the boy pointed at the contraption strapped to his father's back.
"Oh, just something I found in the shopping district." His father elaborated as he jerked his head behind, "It seemed fun..." he said with a gleeful smile.
"It looks... convenient!" He gave his compliments to the design, enabling a person to carry around a child, like a backpack.
"But what about fun? Little brother, having fun in there?" He asked in sly as he made his way over to him.
"It's... okay," Rei stated not too enthusiastically. It sure was nice but the humiliation of it all clouded his mind.
"Aw, all too kidsy' for your liking?" He leaned in towards his brother's face with a laugh.
"Can we go? I think we should go... Dad?" Rei said as he bounced up and down on his carrier.
"Daw, alright, alright." His father nodded before turning to leave to the parking space outside the field.
"Bye Takashi!" The boy he was walking with from earlier called out.
"Bye!" He shouted back.
"Just how many friends do you have?" Hitoshi questioned, his eldest son seemed to have friends where ever they went.
"I don't know. I'm sure it's many, but I don't know exactly how many."
"Uh-huh." Truth be told Hitoshi was a bit envious of his son. When he was his age, he could not even strike up a conversation with anyone. But he was still happy for him nonetheless.
"So, Why'd you bring Rei?" Takashi pointed out.
"We went to the psychiatrist." He said as he got in their car.
"To do what?" Takashi got in the car too.
"Well, we did some tests..."
"And the results?" He asked as he now sat in the passenger seat.
"Well, believe it or not, he may be smarter than me," Hitoshi said with a smile.
Takashi's face remained stoic for a moment before his eyes suddenly widened. Turning his sights to the back seat towards his three-year-old brother who remained snugly secured on his little carrier.
He had also known his brother was a cut above the rest. He had always wagered that he was smarter than all the students in his school including himself despite not even being old enough to attend.
But being smarter than his father, who was a nationally renowned scientist. It seemed a little too far a stretch.
"You're kidding right?" Takashi asked with a laugh, an uneasy laugh.
"No, I'm quite serious when I say that." His father replied in a flat tone.
"No way..." He drawled out while giving his father a light nudge on the shoulder.
"It's true. If you don't believe me, you will when we get home." He said with a grin.
"Rei, is he telling a lie?" Takashi asked his little brother, looking back to where he sat.
"I... don't know," Rei answered truthfully, though not too enthusiastically.
He had heard that children of great intelligence were sent to facilities where they could properly exercise their minds. And he did not look forward to it that much.
"Dad?" Rei called out.
"Yes?"
"I can still go to a normal school, right?" He asked with distress plain in his tone.
"A normal school? but why would you-" He stopped whatever he wanted to say when he took a glance at the rearview mirror. His son looked all sad and gloomy.
"But... well, if we sent you to a college or university right now instead. We could vastly improve your chances at life." He pleaded.
Takashi looked at his father with a shocked expression. "Isn't that a bit much?" He questioned.
"But, I don't want to do that," Rei said. "I would have to go and do experiments surrounded by adults. I'm not sure I even want to pursue a career as a scientist or an engineer." He explained.
"But you seemed so interested in the blueprints of my machines." His father reasoned.
"I want to be a Hero." Rei suddenly said.
"You want to be... a Hero?" His father was confused, what could push his child to want to pursue the life of a hero. "Why?"
"Because I... well because..." Rei tried to find a reason, but couldn't see any sort of drive other than a whim. A decision he made without a source or cause. "I want to help people." He lied.
"You want to... help people?"
"Heh..." He laughed. "Takashi. Why do you want to play soccer?" He questioned his brother instead.
"Me? Well because I want to, it's fun, I meet great people and I can earn money for the family if I became a pro." He announced without a trace of hesitance.
"So Rei, as you can see, you don't have to have a good reason other than that you want to. A professional Soccer player is not too different from a Professional Hero. One is just much more dangerous, that's all." His father stated as he laughed.
'Did he know I was lying?' Rei asked himself. "But isn't it good to have a reason?" He asked as he looked at his hands.
"I don't know if it's good to have a reason or not to do something noble." Hitoshi quickly responded, "But Rei, you're going to do most things better than most people. And most things worse. But it's great if you want to use your gifts for the benefit of others."
"Like you?" Rei referred to his father using his own brilliance for the betterment of mankind through science.
"Yes, but what I'm saying right now is that you don't have to have a reason to help an old lady cross the road, or save a person from being mugged in an alleyway. That should be your moral obligation to help, even if it doesn't concern you. That's the ideal not only a hero but a good person should have." He explained with a smile.
"Huh..." the little boy's face became contemplative as his eyes turned to the side, 'He's right...'
"Just look at your brother. Takashi, if you see a kid being bullied, would you stand idly by or intervene?" He asked.
"Intervene. Like uncle Lukas does." He answered earnestly. He always remembered that whenever his uncle saw him being bullied, he would always confront them.
"Because that's the right thing to do..." Hitoshi added with a nod.
Both of what his father and his brother said left him contemplating on their trip home.
"Saki!" Takashi called out with a smile as he went to hug her.
"Oof-" She grunted as Takashi smothered her in a hug.
"Now, now Takashi, be careful when you go to hug people," His father reprimanded him. Takashi had always been a hugger, but he was a growing boy, and he was bigger than Saki now which meant he had to be careful about his strength.
"Sorry." He said as he loosened his grip on the housemaid. He then ran inside the house, no doubt to take a shower before dinner.
"Saki," Hitoshi called out.
"Hmm?"
"Take care of Rei for a bit while I change." He said as he began to loosen his tie with one hand, the other holding Rei's carrier to her.
"Right." She said as she took it.
Hitoshi then went inside the house. Saki making no movements to go in yet.
"So, the secret's out now, right?" Saki asked Rei.
"Yup." He confirmed.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from entering the office when he did." She apologized.
"No, it's okay." He waved it off. "They were gonna know eventually..."
Saki stared at the little boy for a moment.
"Can you let me down?" He requested with a bit of a pleading to his voice. Being carried around like a baby was damaging his pride.
"Sure," She laughed as she set the carrier on the ground before taking him out.
"Thank you," He said as he began walking inside himself. Saki was following closely behind and when they got inside, Rei then immediately went to the kitchen.
"You don't want to take a shower first?" Saki asked.
"No I don't... hey, what's for dinner?"
"The usual," She answered from the door, walking in to the kitchen to prepare for them. "There was not much in the fridge today... maybe it's time I tell mister Hitoshi or madam Angel to restock..." she mused while looking up at the ceiling.
"Can I ask you something?" Rei suddenly spoke out, helping her prepare the table as best he could.
"Oh, of course, anything."
"Do you think I can be a hero?" He asked stopped in place and looked to the side.
"A-a hero?" She asked as she looked up from her work to face him. He had never shown that he wanted to be one before, but who was she to stop a child from dreaming. "Uhm... oh, I think you'll make a wonderful hero, Rei." She gave an earnest answer, but the boy seemed to be uncertain at first.
"Really?" he asked wide-eyed as if he did not believe she would consider him great for the job.
"Really..." She said as she gave him a smile, reaching out to squeeze his cheeks and shake him slightly.
After a moment of Rei's protests, him waving his arms to deter her hand she pulled back and laughed as he got annoyed.
But after he calmed down, he giggled a little at first before joining her with a delightful laugh.
"Hoh!" Takashi exclaimed as he caught a whiff of the scent coming from the kitchen. Saki and Rei looked up from their work to see his older brother coming into the kitchen. "I love everything about that smell." He commented as he made his way towards them.
"How was soccer practice?" Saki asked him.
"Hmm? Oh, it was great! I even made a couple of new friends too!" He said joyfully, waving his arms about wide while holding a large measuring spoon for the soup.
"You're such a social butterfly." Rei made the comment a bit impressed and a little envious. He hoped that he would share this trait with his brother soon as he was starting school at about a year from now.
Provided if he had successfully convinced his father to let him attend in the first place.
"Aw, you're making me blush," Takashi waved off the compliment. "Besides, I think you'll make plenty of friends when you go to school yourself." He assured his brother.
"That's right. Rei, you're going to be starting school next year right?" Saki asked from across the table.
"I... don't know." He said, the preparations at the table were finished and the three were taking their seats.
"What do you mean?" Saki looked at him with her brows creased, a bit concerned.
"Well, I'm not sure he's keen on letting me go to a normal one." his expression was a bit sad while his head tilted loosely to the side.
"Oh, what are you talking about? Of course, he'll let you attend if that's what you really want!" Takashi said with a cheerful voice before attempting to dig in on his meal, only to be stopped by Saki when she slapped his wrist, inciting a small yelp from the older boy.
"Why would he not let you attend, Rei?" She asked as she shifted her attention back to Rei.
Rei said nothing before he raised his hand up to his head, index finger held up, pointing to his temple. Saki thought for a moment before immediately realising that he was referring to his more than gifted intellect, her face mirroring her thoughts.
Hitoshi suddenly entered the kitchen, now dressed in a casual outfit whose blue shirt was most noticeable as it stood out from the creamy white walls of the dining room. It seemed he mustered up enough willpower to step out of the white coat he always wore for work, having a habit of never taking it off even while at home.
"What are you guys talking about?" He asked curiously, having heard a bit of the conversation from the living room coming down the stairs.
"Dad, you're not gonna force Rei to go to some 'special facility' because of his smarts, right?" Takashi asked his father with an uneasy expression.
"What? No, of course, no..." He shook his head rapidly with his mouth curving down, "He's made it quite clear to me that he doesn't want to go. And... even if it makes me sad, I won't force our little Rei." He explained with a smile almost flat, walking up to the table, he sat down beside them.
"See?" Takashi smiled brightly as he turned to his brother beside him, Rei having an almost empty look on his face from the announcement.
"You all waited for me?" Hitoshi noticed their sticks and spoons still at the side of their plate.
"It would be impolite if we didn't," Saki said with a nod, paying her respects along with the brothers and dug in with them.
Hitoshi looked for a moment and shrugged with a happy chuckle. Turning to his meal, he paid his respects himself and ate along with the others.