It was the last Friday of the school year before the summer break. A light drizzle greeted parts of Tokyo, as the gentle breeze carried a light petrichor to the districts of Morinomiya Academy.
A group of five high school students strolled through the schoolyards, all discussing their plans to spend the summer.
"…and mama and I are going to work on my acting skills. I'm thinking about taking part in some of the plays in school when it opens."
"Whoa, that's so awesome Kirin-chan!" The deep green-haired girl beamed a gentle smile at her brunette mate.
"Thanks Midori. Takuma will star along with me in some of those plays."
"I'll do a good job with you Kirin!"
"I'll–I'll help you too Kirin-chan…"
"Appreciate it very much Kazuma-kun," The easily startled blonde twin twiddled his fingers in excitement.
"We'll be with our dad the entire summer, he'll be sure to teach us a thing or two about acting,"
"Hmph, maybe you'll be the big baby in those plays then,"
"Taka-kun!" Kazuma bellowed at the navy haired boy. His brother, Takuma just glared a witty sneer at the troublesome teen's comments.
"What? I'll be spending the summer with Hayato-niichan, learning all about sports and stuff!"
"Well, maybe Hayato-chan can straighten out that snobby attitude of yours, Taka-kun." Midori flashed a cheeky smile and tongue combo at the navy-haired teen. Taka snorted at his friend's tease.
"Good for you Taka-kun. What about you Kotarou-kun?"
The olive haired boy stopped in his tracks, his half-lidded amethyst eyes staring emptily at the rain trickling down at the soft mushy ground.
"Kotarou-kun?" Kirin neared close to see if Kotarou hadn't fallen asleep again.
"I think he's dead,"
"Taka, no!" Kazuma immediately refuted the navy-haired individual.
"Yo, Kotarou?" Takuma stepped forward attempted to garner the boy's very attention, a feat quite rate.
"Hm?" Kotarou turned at his friends.
"Kota-kun, is everything alright?" Midori inquired. Kotarou nodded.
"Well don't act dead man," Taka crossed his arms around his chest.
"Sorry guys," Kotarou shrugged.
"It's okay Kotarou-chan–"Kirin placed a hand on the boy's shoulder,"–we were wondering how you would spend your summer, that's all."
"Mmhmm," Takuma nodded,
"You–you don't have to tell us though," Kazuma assured hesitantly.
"Nah, it's alright–"Kotarou stuffed his hands in his pockets,"–I'll just be helping out Ryuu-Niichan around the house, and work at the babysitter club with Usaida-chan,"
"I'll be there too!" Midori cheeringly said as if to lift Kotarou's spirits. He nodded in response.
"Sheesh," Taka sighed, "I'll be catching y'all tomorrow night at Takuma's place."
"Oh yeah," the elder Mamizuka snapped his fingers, "We have our first movie night in ages or something!"
"Just don't play a horror or something like that," Kazuma fiddled with his fingers nervously.
"We'll play a scary movie Takuma," Taka sneered with a smirk.
"Yeah!"
"No!"
"Stop it, Taka-kun," Kirin interjected, "you're scaring poor Kazu-kun."
"Yeah," Midori nodded, "buzz off, save it for tomorrow night."
"Hmph, whatever," Taka blew a raspberry at the rest of the teens before running off, "see ya!"
"Bye!" Takuma waved.
"What a weirdo," Midori snorted.
"Agreed," Kirin nodded.
"See you guys tomorrow," Takuma waved at the three teens before he and Kazuma headed off home too.
"Okay, I'm going back to mama," Midori too bid farewell, "See you two!"
"Bye!" Kirin waved as Kotarou gently waved too seeing Midori run off inside to her mother's office.
"See you Kirin-chan," Kotarou nodded at the green haired girl before heading off as well, leaving Kirin a bit confused.
"See you…Kotarou…"
Kotarou felt the light downpour strike his expressions as he strolled back home. It was usual for him to take the longest path home whenever it'd rain, which was strange in its own right. For some reason or another, Kotarou enjoyed the feeling of rain being on his face, light or otherwise. He walked through downtown before a strong scent emanating from somewhere. The aroma of brewing caffeine.
He stopped and saw a café near right to him. The scent of various coffees persuaded him.
It was a busy afternoon at Ryuuichi's office. Especially for the elder Kashima since he'd been dealt with a boatload of paperwork that his colleagues were 'too tired' to do. So since lunch break Ryuuichi had been jotting down numbers, pressing buttons on his calculator and been switching between his jotted work and his computer screen. The sound of his phone going off broke his tempo.
"Hello?" He said into the phone, slightly panting from the overworking.
"Nii-chan."
"Oh, Kotarou,"
"Are you alright Nii-chan?" the younger Kashima asked.
"Oh yeah, yeah I'm fine," Ryuuichi responded slumping back on his chair and stretched, "how are you?"
"I'm alright Nii-chan," Kotarou replied standing out the coffee shop, "look, Nii-chan….uh…."
"Kotarou, is everything alright?" A slightly concerned Ryuuichi said. Even in his teens and running about as an independent boy, Kotarou was still the small stubby baby that he nurtured and looked after.
"I'm alright Nii-chan, it's just that I'm out this coffee shop and…well the coffee smells so good. And I wanted a cup..." the sudden observation and a subsequent slight pause from Kotarou elicited a surprise from his elder brother.
"And?"
"And I was wondering if I could stop by and order a cup?"
Ryuuichi chuckled at his brother's innocence. Teens are rebels by nature, he is aware of it; it's their nature to follow their rules that they have developed instantly as they aged. Kotarou however, isn't like most teenagers. He's still the small four-year old Ryuuichi knows whom with he spent his school days in the babysitter's club. He knows that his brother isn't contemporary; he's loyal, he's honest, and he definitely isn't a rebel.
This being one of those instances that Kotarou sought permission for a rarely mundane task, a cup of coffee, came as a slight surprise for Ryuuichi and yet didn't faze him.
"Of-course," Ryuuichi pleasingly said, "help yourself to a latte."
"Thank you Nii-chan." The green haired boy answered, even bowing at his brother through the phone before hanging up and entering the café to assume the 'perfect seat', where he could feel the rain but not get poured by it.
He ordered a light coffee, before his purple orbs gazed at the heavens showering upon the busy bustling city. And amongst the sea of people, he noticed, even if vaguely, a familiar brown bowl.
"Is that…" Kotarou's heart skipped a beat or two. He was frozen in his seat and his mouth left open as surprise huffed through his lips. The brown bowl was approaching the boy's café. And it assumed a seat in front of Kotarou, back turned towards him albeit. He couldn't believe it.
It was her…the same girl that confessed her love for her brother years ago…
"C'mon Takuma!" Taka impatiently called at one of the Kazuma twins. "How long is it going to take you to pick a darn movie?"
"It takes time, Taka-chan! Remember, we haven't had a movie night in a long time, so give it a rest will you?" The blonde boy replied to which the navy haired boy huffed.
"Hmph," Taka folded his arms, "I say we just watch a Schwarzenegger or a Stallone."
"Oh for goodness sake, Taka. We trudged through four hours of Arnold and ol' Mr. Adrian." Kirin huffed.
"It's Sylvester, Kiri." Midori winked and slouched her forearm over her friend's shoulder.
"I don't care,"
"OI!" Taka retorted quite bashfully, causing the timid twin to fiddle the cassettes. "Easy!" Kazuma implored.
A light knock interrupted the kerfuffle. Midori went to answer the door. "Kotarou-chan!" The olive-haired teen waved back.
"Yo! Kota-chan's here! Alright." Taka cheered at the arrival of his friends. Begrudgingly Kotarou has been the critical factor in deciding the evening's flick for the last few occasions. So Taka's chances of catching Rocky or Terminator weren't slim yet.
"So, what is going to be tonight's flick? The Expendables? Commando? Escape Plan?" Taka didn't even wait for Kotarou to take a seat. Kotarou could only sigh.
"Jeez let him sit at least," Takuma replied.
Oh I think Kotarou is in the mood for Junior," Midori chuckled.
"Or Stop!Or My Mom Will Shoot." Kirin giggled. Taka growled.
"Guys I got to talk to you about something," Kotarou slouched back into the beanbag. Immediately the rest of the teens hurdled their usually-reserved friend.
"What is Kotarou-chan?" Kazuma immediately inquired, worriedly.
"Never seen you this serious before," Taka shrugged, "I mean you're serious all the damn time, but something's off." Takuma nodded.
"Kotarou," Kirin reassuringly smiled. "We're you're friends, trust us. We can help you out."
"Does it involve Ryuuichi-chan?"
Kotarou nodded at Midori.
"Okay, what is it?" Taka inquired.
Kotarou went on to recall the first, and thus far only instance he saw his brother on a 'date.' At least that's what he assumed it was.
Wow. Well I never thought I'd do it.
You wanna know how long I had this in the archived?
5 years.
I always wanted to write about Gakuen Babysitters ever since I religiously finished the anime and even watched the special. Seeing the kids as teens really inspired me to write this piece.
I have a vague idea for it's ending which I intend fully on implementing it in the second chapter.
For now enjoy some of my old, wonky writing from like 2017 or 2018.
Felt good to write again. Especially for one of my all time favorite animes.
Cheers, Machu