Chapter 3 – Relaxing
Haruka paused and then added yet more food to Noboru's backpack. With that growth spurt, he bet he ate even more than usual for the average teenage boy. He smiled, then a slightly sad look passed over his face. He had practically raised his brothers after their father's death. The only thing he didn't like about his job was the fact that it had taken him away from them before they were in college. He'd really enjoyed watching them grow from children to young adults and he missed not being able to watch them grow into the good men he knew they would be. But he'd known going into this that there would be sacrifices. Now if he could just get them to see why he'd done it.
"Ni-san! Ni-san!" The force of a body hitting him from behind drove Haruka into the counter. Noboru's arms snaked around his chest as he was hugged fiercely from behind.
"Hey, what's this? I was here last night remember? Relax." For just a moment Haruka felt as thought he was back 7 years and Noboru was 9 again. "With manners like this, no one would ever believe you were Japanese." Haruka was only partially kidding. Although he had always tried to make up for the loss of their parents by being very affectionate to his brothers, he'd never been particularly comfortable showing much affection in public.
"I'm sorry Ni-san." Noboru dropped his arms. "I just, for some reason I kept thinking I'd been dreaming last night. That you weren't really here. I can't believe you're going to be here for 2 whole days. It's been years since we've seen that much of you. The last time you came, you were only here for a day and ½ and that 'bodyguard'," the boy practically spit the word out, "was with you all the time. (Vol 1, ch 3)"
Haruka turned and saw Susumu in the doorway. Although he was smiling, his eyes looked a little sad. Haruka felt a small pain in his heart. Was he hurting the entire family with his job? Could he really justify being away so much? Did they constantly think he was going to die like their father? Were they ever happy? A jerk on his arm pulled his attention away from his internal musings and he looked over – at Noboru's chin. An involuntary grin tugged at his lips as he adjusted his glaze upwards. "Looks like I still haven't gotten used to your height, Nobo-chan. Come on, change out of your school uniforms and let's go for our hike. I don't want to discuss Iwasi right now. Let's just enjoy our time together." Susumu touched Noboru's arm and the two boys left together to change. Then they all collected their backpacks and climbed in the car for the drive to the nearby National Park.
Sorry this is so short, but the next chapter will make up for it. This just became a natural breaking point.