Hajime tore a page out of his spiral notebook and then hastily shoved the binder into his bookbag as he exited the classroom at the final bell. Folding the sheet of paper into a small square, he made his way to his locker. As he slid on his shoes, he removed the small umbrella from the large pocket on the side of his bag and frowned at the big windows that lined the school entrance. The spring rains hadn't let up all day and he still had a bicycle ride to look forward to. He waved goodbye to some classmates and made his way to the bicycle racks outside. Umbrella tucked between his chin and shoulder, he removed the plastic bag he'd tied over the bicycle seat in an effort to keep it dry and hopped on.

Hajime exited the school grounds and rode a few blocks down to the small grocery on the corner which he often stopped at on the way home from school. Inside, he was greeted by a middle aged heavy set woman with a kind smile and greying hair.

"Welco- Oh! Hello, Hajime. I'm afraid the weather is quite dreadful today," she commented as he left his umbrella by the entrance.

The shopkeep knew that he tended to be out of sorts on rainy days, and decided to leave him to his own devices instead of making further conversation. The boy was generally very sweet natured, but we all have our good and bad days.

Hajime raced past the grocer who was working in the back and grabbed some fresh ginger. He returned to the register and pulled out some money to pay.

"Thank you very much for your purchase!" she smiled at him.

Hajime grabbed the small bag which contained the fresh ginger and turned to leave.

"Oh my, what's this?"

He turned to find the woman unfolding a small piece of paper. In his haste, it had gotten mixed up with the money he'd given her.

Warmth welled up in her eyes as she smiled at the young man before her.

"Yes, this looks right. Keep it simple." She gave him a friendly pat on the head.

"Thank you." Hajime smiled and hopped back onto his bike trying to race the weather home.

The rain was still steady but ominous black clouds were slowly drifting in over the area. He needed to get home and fast before the bottom dropped out.

"I'm home!"

"Hajime!"

A small boy in an elementary uniform raced towards him as Hajime scooped him up in his arms before having an opportunity to remove his shoes. He tried kicking his shoes off since his hands were full and managed to get one before his leg was grabbed by a small wobbly toddler.

"Haha! They love you too much to let you through the door!" his mother smiled as she came into the foyer. She scooped up the little girl who was determinedly attached to Hajime's left leg and then brushed Hajime's hair from his eyes.

"Welcome home."

"I'm glad to be home. Where's dad? Is he working tonight?" Hajime asked as he walked into the living room and sat down. His little brother was already halfway through telling him about the new foreign student in class and lightning speed. They were used to this and sometimes just had to talk over him to have a conversation.

"He is off with your grandpa for the evening helping Kunimitsu with some repairs to the old dojo. He will be back tomorrow morning. The roof sprang a leak with all this rain and you know those buildings require a lot of upkeep. Grandpa isn't quite managing as well as he used to", Tohru explained.

His little sister had already climbed into his lap the moment he sat down and rested her head against his chest, holding onto her favorite stuffed cat - a gift from auntie Kagura.

"Mom, I know you're not feeling well. You said it yourself this morning. I can't believe dad just left you. Jeez, that guy. Really..."" Hajime frowned.

Tohru smiled at her son, "I can manage just fine for one night. Your father didn't want to leave, but I insisted he go. We have to help our parents too when they get old, you know!"

"Will grandpa move in with us?" his little brother piped up. "I want grandpa to move in with us so I can see him everyday!"

"We don't know yet." Tohru said, with a small cough.

"Mama 'kay?" the little girl in Hajime's lap asked in the tiniest voice.

"Mom, go upstairs and rest. I will take care of things tonight", Hajime said feeling not as brave as he sounded.

"Are... you sure?" Tohru asked. She wouldn't usually let sickness keep her down but she had been working hard all day and could use the rest. After all, Hajime was not a little boy anymore. "Well then, I will go take a shower and go to bed. Dinner is already almost finished, give it another 30 minutes or so. And don't forget to make them brush their teeth. Your brother has been trying to get out of it lately."

His brother looked bashful for a moment, until his mother looked away. Then he grinned quite mischeviously. Hajime shook his head at him.

Tohru hesitantly climbed the steps and went to take a bath and get some rest.

Dinner almost ended up on the floor, but Hajime was able to salvage most of it. His brother, of course, begged to watch the latest Mogeta movie before bed, Mogeta XXIII The Final. He'd been going on and on about it for 2 weeks now and Hajime finally gave in. As he and his brother sat on the couch finishing the movie, Hajime looked over and saw his sister laying down with her head on a cushion, clutching her cat plush. He realized it had gotten quite a bit later than their usual bedtime, and turned off the tv as soon as the credits started.

To his surprise, not a single objection was raised during bath time about who was using what toothpaste. Usually, his little sister wanted whatever toothpaste his brother had and of course, his brother was not big on sharing his favorite flavor (watermelon).

Bedtime consisted of 2 seperate runs to the kitchen to refill water, 1 change of clothes (after his sister spilled her water), 1 trip to the bathroom because his brother "forgot" to go, and a moment of panic when his sister left her cat plush in the bathroom and Hajime tore around the house looking for it.

With a heaving sigh he finally managed to get them tucked in and turned to close the door when he heard,

"Ha-me book? Book?"

"Okay then." Hajime surrendered and walked back into the bedroom, grabbing a book from the night table between the two twin beds.

"Once upon a time, God held a banquet for all the animals..." Hajime started.

"Not this one again..." his brother said, rolling his eyes.

"Well you don't have to listen!" Hajime snapped. Scooting closer to his sister he continued, "and God said to all the animals, don't be late!"

"Goodnight" he whispered as he got up to leave. His brother had already fallen asleep and his sister quietly waved bye-bye as he snuck out.

Hajime slowly went down the stairs so as not to wake anyone up, and made his way to his abandoned backpack in the front foyer. He was absolutely exhausted.

I can't believe she does this everyday, he thought to himself.

From his bag, he grabbed the ginger and headed for the kitchen with the small piece of paper in hand. Glancing at it he silently read the instructions:

Ginger Tea

2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp sugar
2/3 c hot water

"For those suffering from the common cold and other ailments"

He made a cup and set it on a tray to take upstairs. As he took the first step up, he stopped and turned around. He tore off a piece of paper from the recipe and grabbed a pen from a nearby drawer. In his best handwriting he wrote,

"Thanks, mom."