In the morning, Ryousuke woke up to a constant pressure on his cheeks. "Nii-tan!" He heard from above him. "Nii-tan!" Bringing his hands up, the third year grabbed hold of Haruichi's hands, pulling them away from his cheeks. If there was one thing he didn't miss from when they were younger it was the constant early morning wake up calls he would get from a hyperactive younger brother.
Cracking one eye open, the older Kominato squinted at the clock on his dresser. He groaned when he saw the time. "Haruichi," He sighed, "It's too early. Nii-chan needs more sleep." He rolled over, earning a yelp from the toddler who was sitting on top of him, and pulled the blanket over his head.
Pouting, the toddler crawled over his brother and carefully made his way to the floor with a small thud. Looking around the room, he tried to find something to do, but all the things he could reach looked boring. Looking around, the three year olds' eyes landed on the desk. Decided he may be able to find something up there, he headed over to the chair.
Ryousuke groaned again when he realized he wouldn't be getting any more sleep. Pushing the blanket off and propping himself on his elbow, he sleepily looked around for the small toddler. He frowned when he didn't see his brother and was about to get up when he heard giggling. Turning toward his desk, he found Haruichi standing on his chair, holding onto the back and spinning around.
When the chair stopped, he reached for the desk, only to start spinning again, causing another round of giggles. Ryousuke watched with a smile as this continued for the next few minutes. Eventually, got sighed and got up, deciding to change into his uniform and possibly warm up a little.
He had just slipped his undershirt on when there was a crash. Whirling in alarm, Ryousuke found the chair had fallen over and his baby brother was on the ground, surrounded by all the books and papers that had been on his desk, eyes welling up with tears.
Quickly picking his brother up, he bounced him a little, shushing him lest his crying wake the others. "Come on Haru-chan," He cooed, "You're alright. It didn't hurt that badly, did it?" Sitting on the edge of his bed, he set the sobbing toddler on his lap and picked up the elephant. "Here Haru-chan," He said, putting the toy into his arms. He sat rocking his brother until the sobbing was reduced to sniffles.
Brushing some of his hair back, Ryousuke smiled and asked, "Want Nii-chan to kiss it and make it better?" Haruichi sniffled and rubbed his eyes while nodding. "Alright, where does it hurt?" Haruichi pointed to his knee and Ryousuke lifted the leg slightly, kissing the knee. "Anywhere else?" Haruichi pointed to his arm, and got another kiss from his big brother.
Hugging the elephant close, Haruichi looked at the mess and started tearing up again, causing Ryousuke to frown. "What's wrong Haru-chan?"
"M-Messy," Haruichi hiccupped, making Ryousuke to smile.
Stroking the toddlers' hair, the older Kominato said, "It's alright. The most important thing is that you're not hurt. Just promise me you'll be more careful next time, alright?" Haruichi sniffed and nodded, hugging his brother. Ryousuke gave him a quick hug before placing him on the bed. "I need you to stay up here while I clean up, OK?" Haruichi nodded and hugged his elephant close, hiding the bottom half of his face as he watched his brother pick up all the books and papers before setting the chair upright.
After making sure everything was in order, he turned back to the toddler. "There," He said with a smile, "Good as new. No more crying about it, alright?" Haruichi tightened his hold on the elephant and nodded. Sighing, Ryousuke held his arms out. "Come here," He said. Haruichi crawled his way over and Ryousuke pulled him into his lap.
The two sat there for a few minutes in silence before the older Kominato looked down at his brother. "You know," He said, "I have a game today." Haruichi tilted his head to the side a bit as he stared up at the third year. Ryousuke chuckled. "Do you want to come watch?" Haruichi smiled a little and nodded. "Alright, then lets' get you dressed."
Setting the toddler back onto the bed, Ryousuke pulled out a pair of black shorts and a white top. "Here we go," He said, lifting his brother and holding him up high. He spun around a few times, causing a shriek of laughter, before setting him back down on the bed. Chuckling, the third year proceeded to tickle the squirming toddler.
Only when Haruichi's face was red and tears were leaking out of his eyes did Ryousuke stop. "Alright Haru-chan," Ryousuke chuckled, "Time to get changed." Still giggling, the toddler lifted his arms, allowing his brother to replace the soft pajamas with the shorts and tee-shirt. Leaving the giggling toddler for a moment, Ryousuke finished getting ready himself.
"Ready to go Haru-chan?" He asked. Haruichi rolled onto his stomach and got to his feet, holding his arms out to his brother. Chuckling, Ryousuke complied and picked him up, setting him on his right hip and picking up his bag with his left hand. Opening the door, he sighed lightly when he saw the sun was just coming up.
"I'm glad you grew out of waking up this early," He said, bouncing Haruichi lightly and causing more giggles. "Shall we see if we can even get breakfast this early?" He didn't wait for an answer, and instead began heading toward the dining hall.
Surprisingly, it was open, though nobody was inside. Setting his bag and his brother down at a table, he went and grabbed two trays. Setting one in front of Haruichi, he set the other next to it before moving the books from yesterday over to the bench and setting Haruichi on top of them.
As he did yesterday, he took one napkin and tucked it into the front of the toddlers' shirt, but this morning he also took another and set it in his lap before handing him the spoon and allowing him to eat.
Sighing as his brother made another mess, Ryousuke shook his head and began eating his own food. It was fairly quiet as they ate, the only sounds being Haruichi's occasional giggles or general noises of happiness.
When they finished, Ryousuke took away the trays before cleaning the toddlers' face and hands and throwing away the napkins. "Alright Haru-chan," He said, picking him up again, "What should we do now?"
"Pway!"
Smiling at the enthusiasm, he hummed slightly, heading towards the practice field. "And what do you want to play?" Quickly fishing his phone from his bag, he snapped a few pictures of his baby brother's face all scrunched up in thought. Kissing the top of his head, he set the toddler down on the bench in the dugout, pulling out a baseball. "Do you want to play with this?"
Haruichi's eyes widened and he clapped excitedly, bobbing his head up and down. "Baw, baw!" Shaking his head slightly, Ryousuke sat down on the other end of the bench, slowly rolling the baseball towards his brother. He chuckled lightly at how such a simply game made his little brother so excited.
The two happily continued rolling the ball back and forth on the bench, with Ryousuke having to retrieve it when it fell off. It was only when Haruichi showed no more interest in playing the game that the two stopped. Not sure what else he could entertain his brother with until the others woke up and arrived, he figured he could get started on warming up if nothing else.
"Haru-chan," The toddler smiled up at him, holding his arms out. Obliging his brother and picking him up, Ryousuke asked, "Do you think you can be good and sit here while onii-chan warms up?" Haruichi looked down, a small pout forming on his lips. "I'll be right there where you can see me, and we can play some more afterwards, alright?"
The three year old nodded but didn't look happy about no more play time with his brother. Feeling a little bad but needing to warm up, he set the child back on the bench and stepped out onto the grass to begin his stretches. He made sure he was facing the dugout, so he could continue to keep an eye on the pouty boy.
"Haru-chan," He called, continuing his stretches, "Do you know how to play baseball?" Hearing a small 'no' in response, he smiled. "Do you want me to teach you when I'm done warming up? It's really fun." He laughed at how excited those three words made the toddler.
I'm so sorry about not updating this for so long! I thought I'd already posted this chapter!
Anyway, I have a few options for the rest of this story.
1) You wait as long or longer for the next chapter (I don't have a child nor am I near children so I have no idea what to write, making this difficult for me to continue even though I love the concept)
2) I post the ending (or at least most of the ending) that I already have written and every now and again when I get inspiration post a small scene from this point on.
3) I post the ending (or at least most of the ending) that I already have written and you all either submit or post up scenes you think would fit for this story.
Let me know what you all prefer, and I'll see about getting more for this up. I will say this now though, the ending will NOT be what you expect. And with where I left it it could go two different ways. That's all I'll tell you thought ;P
Hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you thought!