Chika watched his father silently from his bed, the man sat at bedside,his head in his hands.
He knew he had disgraced the family, just as his father had said. He had always been a disappointment. Even though he tried his best to be a good son. Mitsukuni was let off easy, Chika envied his older brother, that was no secret.
His father was the reason he worked as hard as he did, the reason he was in the karate club at school, he entered the completions to make his father proud. The last one had been partly responsible for this situation. He was winning and in the finals, young men from all over the area were entered.
"Remember the family name, we pride ourselves on our ability,you will go out there and will. To fail would be an utter disgrace to your heritage." His father had told him. Chika didn't remember much of the fight, just that he was determined to defeat his opponent. He was well on his way to doing so when he felt a sudden sharp kick to his chest and a terrible pain before he blacked out.
He opened his eyes to find himself in his bed. His chest still hurting and he had slight difficulty breathing.
"You shouldn't push Chika-Chan like that. It was a really terrible thing to say to one of your children. Mother would never have let you say that, you already push him so hard." He heard his brother say from the hall.
"Your mother understand how important our reputation is, she loved you both so much more than I am capable of showing. She's no longer here to-" an air of sadness was present in the man's voice.
"I'm here, and you went too far this time, he could have been killed if-" Chika smiled faintly in spite of himself, sometimes it was nice having a brother that wasn't afraid to be on his side. Though he could never admit it out loud. There were times he was grateful to Mitsukuni for looking him. He didn't remember much of their mother but from what he knew, his older brother took after her in many ways.
Chika moaned at the sharp pains and had a hard time catching his breath, he felt himself beginning to fade again and suddenly found himself gasping for air. He coughed harshly which brought his father into the bedroom.
"Yasuchika, what is it?" Chika couldn't answer and soon woke up to find his brother asleep by his side.
"Forgive me my son, I have been blinded by my own pride and you're paying for my mistake. Mitsukuni is have my word that you will have anything you need to be well. Even if it means my life. I've told you much more about how disgraceful losing is, even now I can't seem to stop hurting you."
"Father-" Chika said weakly, the man looked up.
"My son, have you been awake long?" The young boy could see the tears in his father's eyes, he had never seen the man cry. He found it unsettling.
"What-"
"Please my son, just rest for now. Your brother will be here soon and we have a lot to think about."
"You're upset, I've never -"
"Shh, resting and being calm are very important right now. You're very ill." The man reached out and stroked his son's head. The affection from his father confused the boy.
A sudden realization hit Chika.
"Father, am- am I going to die?"