"I want you to come home right after school today, alright? You're going to help your mother with some chores around the house for the next two days." Ryounosuke waited for his eldest to nod before he shooed him off to school, telling him to be careful on his way.

Haruichi trudged slowly behind him, his eyes on the ground. He didn't know what to think anymore. Did Ryousuke hate him or not? Why did he say those things if he didn't mean them? It didn't make any sense.

He was concentrating so hard on his thoughts that he didn't notice his big brother had stopped and ran into his backpack. Rubbing his nose, he looked up and saw they were outside his kindergarten class. Before he could leave, Ryousuke surprised him once again by pulling him into a hug and giving him a kiss on the top of his head. "I love you," He whispered before turning and running to his own class.

Walking inside, he sat down at his table and pulled out a sheet of paper and some crayons. His big brother didn't make any sense. Picking up a crayon, he started drawing a picture while he waited for the teacher.

/

Ryousuke wasn't too sure if Haruichi would still be there, but he stopped by the kindergarten and peeked in, surprised to see that he was indeed still there, concentrating as hard as he could on whatever he was doing.

Slowly walking inside and over to his brother, as though Haruichi would bolt the second he was near, he glanced over the younger boys shoulder to see what he was working on. Setting his bag down, he sat down next to Haruichi, getting no more than a glance. 'At least he didn't move away.'

Gathering a bit of courage, he pointed to the drawing his brother was working on. "What's that?" He deflated a little when he didn't get an answer. Biting the inside of his cheek, he stared at the drawing. It looked like a family. Each stick figure was labeled, the tallest being daddy, the one next to it being mommy, and the one in the middle was labeled me. Swallowing thickly, Ryousuke couldn't help but wonder where his stick figure was.

Too scared to hear the answer, he stood up and grabbed his bag. His eyes were blurry with tears as he walked home, running when he realized Haruichi hadn't bothered to follow him.

/

"What's this?" Haruna asked, taking the picture Haruichi handed to her. It was a drawing with three stick figures and what appeared to be a house off to the side. "Did you make this?" Seeing his happy nod, she smiled. "It's beautiful."

Climbing onto the couch next to her, he pointed at the second tallest stick figure with pink hair. "Mommy." Moving to the tallest one, he said "Daddy." Finally moving to the smallest stick figure, he beamed. "Me."

Haruna wasn't sure how to respond. Carefully setting in in her lap, she asked, "Where's your brother?"

Silently, he pointed to a pile of what she has assumed to be sticks off to the side. Above it, in his messy handwriting, he'd labeled it as 'menes'. "And what is this?"

"Meanies."

"And why are the 'meanies' in a pile?"

"'Cause I beat them up."

Haruna frowned. "Haruichi," She said gently, setting the drawing on the small coffee table, "Even if someone is mean, that doesn't mean you can go around beating them up. That'd make you a meanie too."

"But they were mean to me."

Sighing, Haruna pulled her baby onto her lap. "I know sweetie, but sometimes even when people are mean to you, you should forgive them."

"Why?"

"Because it's harder to forgive someone who's been mean to you than it is to be mean back. Only really strong people can do it." Seeing the look of confusion, she kissed his forehead. "Being strong doesn't just mean you can beat up all the mean people. Being strong is also knowing how to be nice to people who are mean to you. It's knowing how to protect others, and forgive someone who's been mean to you after they say sorry.

"Do you remember what Rin told us when we first started taking classes? She said that just because you can hurt someone, doesn't mean you should. She said she was teaching us how to defend ourselves and those around us, not how to beat up the people who make us mad."

Haruichi looked at the ground. He didn't wanna forgive his brother. He was mean. "He doesn't want me for a brother."

"Oh sweetie, Ryousuke didn't mean that."

"Then why did he say it?"

"He was upset, and he didn't want the other kids to make fun of him. It was wrong of him to do so, but he's your big brother. Even if he says things like that, he still cares about you. And no matter what happens, he'll always be there for you if you need him. Can you try to forgive him? For mommy?"

Pouting, Haruichi wasn't happy he had to be nice to someone who didn't even want him around, but he didn't want to upset mommy, so he nodded.

Kissing her baby's head, she gestured up the stairs. "Why don't you go talk to him about why he said those things and then you can come help me with dinner, alright? He was really upset when he got home."

Shoulders drooping, Haruichi dragged himself slowly up the stairs. Slowly making his way into their shared room, he sat on the ground facing away from his big brother. Picking up one of their building blocks, he began putting them in a random pattern.

"How come you said those mean things?" He asked quietly.

He listened to the rustling of blankets and waited for an answer. "'Cause everyone else was saying them, and if I didn't agree they would have left and I wouldn't have anyone to play with."

Haruichi gripped the block in his hand hard and whispered, "You coulda played with me."

"But I play with you all the time, and you're too little to play baseball."

Turning to look at Ryousuke, Haruichi glared as much as a five, nearly six year old could. "Do you like baseball more than me?"

"No! It's fun, but you're my baby brother! You'll always be more important!"

The two stared at each other for a while before Haruichi turned away. Everything that had happened to make Ryousuke and him fight and to make his brother say those mean things was because of baseball. It was then Haruichi came to a conclusion. 'I don't hate Onii-chan, I hate baseball.'

/

Smiling at her two boys as they talked, no matter how little, to each other, she was glad that things were starting to look up. Kissing her husbands' cheek as she took her plate to the sink, she wondered if she should make something sweet to celebrate.

/

Ryousuke was happy that his little brother seemed to have forgiven him for what he'd said. He'd assumed that everything would go back to the way it was before, but while Haruichi acknowledged him now, he still spent most his time with their mother and never came to watch him practice anymore.

He didn't like that.

He wanted everything back to the way it was. He wanted his brother to follow him, look up to him, and come to him when he was sad. Haruichi even refused to play baseball with him when he'd said he would teach him. He just didn't understand, didn't Haruichi want to play baseball like Ryousuke?

He was determined to ask when he and their mother got back form wherever they went all the time. He figured that it wasn't shopping, since they didn't come back with bags from the store, but he didn't know where else they went.

He perked up when he heard the door open, but frowned when he heard a loud voice that most definitely wasn't Haruichi's or their mothers. Heading downstairs, he bit the inside of his cheek when he saw a boy around their age laughing with an arm around his little brother. And the worst part was that Haruichi didn't seem to mind! He was even laughing along!

Not liking the boy already, he followed their mother into the kitchen, intent on finding answers. "Okaa-san."

"Yes Ryou-chan?"

"Where do you and Haruichi keep going? And who's that?"

"Nobody told you?" She smiled down at her son, shaking her head lightly. "Haruichi and I signed up for some karate classes that my friend teaches. That's Mito-kun, her son. She's a little under the weather today, so I told her he could stay the night with us."

Gaping slightly at the news, Ryousuke wondered when this had happened. Karate classes? Wasn't Haruichi going to play baseball like he was? And how come he and this Mito person were getting along so well? Haruichi didn't make friends easily. Ryousuke didn't think he had any at all! How come nobody told him?

How come Haruichi never said anything?

Swallowing back tears, he made his way back upstairs, ignoring the two engrossed in one of Haruichi's video games. He'd thought Haruichi didn't hate him anymore. He thought everything was fine again. So how come there were suddenly things Haruichi did or people he knew that Ryousuke didn't know about?

How come Haruichi never told him anything anymore?

/

So little Ryousuke is finally realizing that Haruichi, while having mostly forgiven him, is still becoming his own person with his own friends and his own likes. And Haruichi, the adorable little angel, blames all their problems on baseball. So I don't know how much longer this is going to be, but from now on I think I'm going to focus on Haruichi a little more as he explores Karate and makes some friends, starting with how he and Mito first met and everything. I might after that go onto their middle school days but it's kind of a tossup at the moment. So I don't know how much Ryousuke will appear anymore, maybe once or twice for a look on how he feels, but probably no more than that.

Let me know your thoughts!