Author's Notes: This chapter is a lot longer than the other chapters because of how much I wanted to say. I had to do some research into this holiday since we don't really celebrate this holiday in Canada. By the way, Chimaki is sweet rice paste wrapped in bamboo leaves.
Kaname's Chapter
Children's Day
Today was a special occasion. Why you may ask? Because it was Children's Day here in Japan. All the families had taken their kids out to the local park for a picnic and other fun activities. The sun was out and there was a nice breeze out today, nice enough to fly kites in, but not cold enough that it was unbearable. The sky was dotted today with carp shaped kites of various shapes, sizes and colours.
"Kana-nii! let's go fly some kites!" cried Wataru happily
"Alright alright Wakkun" laughed the monk and he ruffled his little brother's hair
"Finish your chimaki first."
This holiday meant a lot especially to the Asahina Household. Raising 13 rambunctious boys wasn't easy task. Especially if you were a single mom. Every Children's day, the Asahina household made it a point to bring everyone outside to celebrate. Although their mother was often busy with coming up new designs every season, it was days like these that showed that she loved each and every one of them dearly. Children's day was a day where you celebrated their happiness and prayed they grow up healthy and strong.
Wataru picked himself off the picnic blanket and dusted off his clothes of any remaining food particles and dirt. He turned around to grab his pink carp-shaped kite from their bag. It's a kite that's been handed down through their family for the past 20 years, starting from Masaomi all the way down to Wataru. Though it was old, so what? It still meant a lot to them. It had years and years worth of memories to them.
"Wakkun, hang on a moment. You've got some rice stuck to your face"
Kaname slid a long slender thumb over the smaller boy's cheek and brushed some of the sticky rice off of his face. Any rice that stuck to his finger, the monk licked off. He then turned to his mom, who was busy eating her own chimaki.
"Stay together with your big brother Wataru. And make sure to come back soon aright?"
The two brothers waved to their mom before running off into the field to find a good spot to fly their kite. There were a lot of families around flying their kites, so it was hard to find a decent spot. Especially one that wasn't so close to a tree where their kite could get stuck. After half an hour of searching, they found the perfect location to fly their kite. Kaname of course helped Wataru get his kite into the sky. After it was up at a reasonable height, they let the wind do its magic and lift it higher and higher into the sky. Soon it joined the other colourful carp in sky, making it seem more like a cloud filled ocean than a sky.
The kite stayed up in the sky for a good couple of hours before a particularly strong gust of wind began to violently jerk the other kites hard enough to snap their strings. Kaname and Wataru watched in horror as their kite flew through the sky and landed in a nearby tree. The family kite, which lasted for 20 years through many generations of flying, was now trapped in a tree.
"Ahh shoot, Looks like we're going to have to-"
Kaname's face instantly paled as Wataru began scaling the massive tree. Kaname practically begged his little brother to get down from the tree. Wataru ignored all protests from the blond monk as he continued to scale higher and higher. He felt responsible for getting the kite stuck there in the first place, so it was his responsibility to get it down. Higher and higher he went, Kaname's voice growing more and more faint as he scaled the tree. There the kite was, tangled in a mess of branches and string. He could easily untangle this with no problem. What he didn't factor in was the fact that this tree couldn't support the weight of a child for very long.
Just as he finally got his kite untangled, the branch beneath him suddenly snapped with a sickening crunch. Wataru didn't even have time to react as he started falling out of the tree, kite still grasped in his tiny little hands. He was scared. He was going to hurt himself, and there was nothing he could do about it. Everything moved in slow motion for him. He braced himself for impact, for the sensation of his body breaking, or the inevitable bruises and scars he was going to get. Only instead of that, he was caught by two very strong arms.
"What were you thinking?" snapped his older brother angrily as he roughly placed Wataru back on the ground.
"Do you know how dangerous that was? What would have happened if I wasn't there to catch you? What then?"
Wataru was scared. His brother was usually so laid back and cheerful. It was scary hearing him speaking to him with such a harsh tone. His voice sounded so foreign to him. Just who is this person who replaced his brother?
"Why didn't you come down when I kept asking you to do so? I was practically begging you not to go up there!"
The blond monk's voice started cracking, startling the pink haired youth. Big fat tears started rolling down his face as his expression started contorting from anger to frustration, sadness, and relief.
"What am I supposed to do if anything happened to you? How could I face mom and the rest of our brothers? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you! I only have ONE baby brother!"
Wataru could feel tears prickling at the corners of his eyes and guilt stabbing him in the chest as he watched his big brother breaking down in sobs. Kaname had been so scared and worried about him. And no he had made him cry. And all for a kite too. Dropping the now slightly mangled and ripped kite on the ground, he ran to his big brother as waves of tears started streaming down his face.
"I'm so sorry Kana-nii!" he choked out as he buried his face into his shoulder.
"This kite's been our family for so long. I didn't just want to leave it up there!"
Kaname rubbed the child's upper back in circles as he continued to sob into his shoulder, not caring that he was getting his shirt wet.
"I just wanted to be a grown up and get it down myself so that we wouldn't have to get another kite! I just wanted to help."
Kaname reached into his pocket and pulled out tissues for himself and Wataru to wipe their tears away on. He had stopped crying a moment ago, but his nose was still stuffed up and sniffly. Wataru's face was now red hot and splotchy with tears. He slightly hiccuped as he blew his nose into the tissue.
"We can always get another kite, but we can't buy another little brother. Please don't ever do anything dangerous like that again. You're my one and only baby brother."
Picking up the forgotten kite on the ground, they both headed back to where their family was, Holding each other's hand. The next year, they had bought a brand new kite to replace the one that got ripped, but that wasn't the only new thing that the Asahinas got. That Children's day, Kaname and Wataru felt closer than before.
More Author's Notes: I realize that YES, Kaname was a little harsh with Wataru but think about this way: if you saw your baby brother doing something dangerous like that, wouldn't you be that angry and upset too?
