"Do you have everything ready, Kiku?"
"I think so…"
Yao took a look at Kiku's bag – he had a bottle of water and snacks. That would be enough. Yao himself carried their lunches, a blanket, mosquito repellent, a knife, matches and some ointment for scratches and burns. They slung their hats on their neck for when they needed it later, and put on their scarves and mittens. As they headed out the door, the cool breeze made Kiku squint and blink his still sleepy eyes. Yao grabbed a lantern from the porch of the hut and pocketed extra oil.
They began their long trek up the mountain – it would take a few hours, but if Yao calculated correctly, they would be able to see the sunrise from the peak. Yao made sure this brother stayed close behind him, keeping the lantern light a bit behind him so that Kiku would not trip on anything.
The path was fairly familiar to Yao, having scampered up this mountain since he was a child – albeit falling and breaking some bones along the way. He certainly didn't want the same for Kiku. He turned around a few times when he didn't hear footsteps, making sure that Kiku was alright, and put down his lantern a few times to help Kiku with a pebble in his shoe or to lift him up a ledge.
Yao would see the twilight approaching, and yet they were not even a third of the way up the mountain. Kiku was starting to slow down. Seeing a rather flat ledge up ahead, he lifted Kiku onto the ledge and hoisted himself up, blowing out the flame in the lamp once they had settled onto the flat ground. Kiku panted a bit, but tried not to show his tiredness, holding his posture as straight as possible.
"Are you tired, Kiku?"
"– not really."
Yao gave the boy a stern look. He could see his brother's chest rising and falling rapidly. Kiku sat down, lowering his head.
"… yes, I am very tired, 哥哥."
Yao hummed as he thought about a solution. He would be able to make it to the peak himself by sunrise, but with Kiku, it was a different story. He tied the lamp to his pack and put his mittens and scarf away before squatting down beside his brother.
"Here, I'll carry you."
"But 哥哥 – you will be tired."
"Not as much as you are right now. Don't you want to see the sunrise? Come."
Kiku nodded and climbed onto his brother's back, and they set off again – a little faster than before, and Kiku let himself lull into a barely conscious state – feeling the air gradually heat up and the movement of his brother as they climbed higher. He heard footsteps – some against rock, other against wood and yet others muffled by dirt.
When Yao slowed his footsteps, Kiku lifted his head and asked,
"Are you tired?"
"No," His older brother replied, "The sun is coming up now."
"But we aren't at the top…"
"That's okay, Kiku. We can watch it here."
Kiku rubbed his eyes open and realised that they were on a larger ledge than before, and much higher up. Yao set Kiku down and unpacked the blanket. They sat down, facing the horizon, and Kiku leaned against his brother, still very tired. Yao draped the blanket over Kiku and they waited…
Kiku blinked. He found himself staring up at his brother's face – and a very bright mountain above them.
"It's coming up now – look."
The boy sat up and widened his eyes with awe as he saw a sliver of the bright sun come up on the horizon. He felt his forehead get warmer, then his whole face, and then his shoulders. He looked back as his brother with an almost stunned face – the sunrise was beautiful and breathtaking. Yao looked back down at Kiku and combed his fingers through the boy's hair, messy from sleeping on his brother's lap.
"You get your nickname from this beautiful sky – one that happens every day for us who are living. Land of the Rising Sun."
Kiku smiled and turned back to watch the rest of the sunrise.
[ AN: I'm talking about this mosquito repellent: 风油精. I have no clue when it was invented, but I'm taking liberties with this one because my head hurts. Matches were invented in China by then – at least by 577 there were sulfur matches. ]