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Hideaki Togami was supposed to be born at the end of June. Over a month before that day would come, the soon-to-be mother, Touko Togami, was rushed to the hospital. Before dawn arose, the baby boy was born. Touko and her husband Byakuya didn’t have time to celebrate the new life of parenting, as the premature baby was taken from them to receive intensive care. The baby boy didn’t cry when he was born. His tiny body was more fragile than babies born to term.
Touko apologized to Byakuya profusely. She blamed herself for the premature birth of their child. To Touko, Byakuya was perfect, and it was her disgusting genetics that caused the boy to be born early. Byakuya did not agree with Touko, and ignored her consistent apologies. He kept his eyes in front of the hospital room entrance and waited for a doctor or nurse to come in the room. Not many could tell that Byakuya was terrified. He survived a deadly game where his life was always on the line, he learned that his entire family conglomerate was demolished, and he had faced what was to be the end of the world. These events combined couldn’t match up to the fear of his first child dying.
All the stress and fear the two had were lifted immediately when the nurse came into the room and said their baby would survive. They were warned the boy would take longer to develop, and may develop health problems over time. Byakuya’s cockiness returned almost immediately when he told the nurse his son could achieve anything after looking death in the eye. Being born long before his due date wasn’t going to stop him. The baby was a Togami, of course.
When Byakuya held his tiny son in his arms for the first time, he gave him his name. Hideaki. Byakuya said the name Hideaki was the perfect name for a boy who had faced death so soon after his birth. When things looked grim and dark, the baby boy was like a bright light that chased the darkness away. Then, of course, being born a Togami meant he was destined for excellence.
At first, Hideaki’s development was at a snail’s pace. Not only that, he was brought to the hospital almost every month because of his weak immune system. There was always something that was wrong, whether it be something as simple as a cold, or as painful as an ear infection. For the first year of Hideaki’s life, the Togami family practically lived in the emergency room.
One year passed since Hideaki’s sudden birth, and he finally began to show improvement. He was as big as the average baby. When compared to Makoto and Kyoko Naegi’s second child, Hikari, nobody could tell Hideaki was premature. Suddenly, Hideaki began to develop rapidly. He already had spoken but was able to form small sentences, and understand what people told him. He took his first steps before Hikari. Hideaki was a baby any parent would be proud of. Perhaps in the future, Hideaki would be a genius.
When Hideaki was two years old, he overheard his parents talking about having another baby. He heard them discuss their concerns that this next child would be born premature and full of health problems like Hideaki was. The little boy did not think too much on his parent’s talk until he overheard his mother say they’d be prepared for a baby, unlike Hideaki. Hideaki was only a toddler, but he understood what his mother meant. Hideaki’s existence was an accident. He wasn’t wanted.
Hideaki became a brat after he was told he would become a big brother. He didn’t want to share his parent’s attention with anyone. He still remembered when he overheard his parents, and Hideaki began to feel hatred for the first time. He hated the baby sibling he was going to have. Hideaki wanted to be the only child in his parent’s lives. Unfortunately for him, Hideaki was not going to get what he wanted. Months passed by fast, and Touko’s stomach grew bigger.
Yuudai Togami was carried to term. Byakuya and Touko were congratulated for having a strong and healthy baby. Adults talked about Hideaki’s rocky birth as if he couldn’t understand words. Nobody could tell Hideaki knew exactly what they were saying. Hideaki threw a tantrum when he heard someone thanking the heavens that Yuudai was not born like Hideaki. Byakuya picked up the crying two-year-old and took him out of the room.
“Why are you crying?” Byakuya asked Hideaki.
“Everybody likes that
baby
more than me,” sobbed Hideaki.
“Nobody likes your brother more than you.”
“I heard you and Mama talking. She said you two didn’t want me.”
“You wouldn’t be here if we didn’t want you.”
“So why did Mama have another baby?”
Byakuya sighed heavily. “Hideaki, people are gonna have more than one baby. Think of your friend, Hikari. Her parents had a baby before her. They love her and Kazuki equally.”
“But I heard he’s not gonna be sick all the time like me.”
“That doesn’t make him better than you. He’ll still get sick sometimes, and when the day comes, as Yuudai’s big brother, you’ll be there to help him.”
Hideaki did not start crying for a few more minutes. What finally calmed him down was a soothing, warm hug from his father. With that hug, Hideaki soon thought about how he’d have to share these hugs with someone else. Like a selfish toddler, Hideaki didn’t want to share his parents. He also thought that there would never be a day where he would want or even need to be there for Yuudai.
Hideaki continued to think selfishly even after his family returned from the hospital along with his baby brother. With the days that passed, Hideaki continued to feel as if his parents loved little Yuudai more than him. Yuudai was getting more attention than him. Whenever Yuudai would scream and cry, his parents were there for him and would stay there until he stopped crying. When Hideaki would cry for attention, he was told by someone to stop so he wouldn’t wake Yuudai.
Days and months had passed since Yuudai’s birth, and Hideaki continued to think about what his father had said. Not once had Hideaki needed to take care of his sick brother; Yuudai was never sick. Over and over Hideaki would hear about how healthy Yuudai was. Hideaki was small, but he knew healthy was the opposite of sick, and that sick was bad. He didn’t understand why his father would say Hideaki would one day take care of Yuudai; Yuudai didn’t need him. Yuudai would never need him.
Six more months passed since Yuudai’s birth. Hideaki was in his room attempting to read one of his picture books. He may have been smart for his age, but he still couldn’t make out every character in the alphabet. Just recently he learned how to sloppily write his name. He was in the middle of interpreting a picture when he heard Yuudai crying. Yuudai cried a ton, so his wailing wasn’t anything strange. The strange part was he didn’t hear the footsteps of either of his parents rushing to calm the baby.
Hideaki’s low tolerance for loud crying made him close his book, and walk out of his room. He called out for his parents, but there was no answer. Hideaki marched into baby Yuudai’s room. Yuudai was alone, drenched in his own tears. Hideaki sighed and walked over to his brother’s crib. He climbed on top of his footstool so he could look directly into the crib. Yuudai’s face was bright red. Almost as if it were timed, Yuudai would cough when he tried to breathe. Hideaki frowned. Whenever Hideaki coughed, it usually meant he was sick. There was a time when he was hospitalized for two days because he couldn’t stop coughing.
Hideaki remembered whenever he was sick, his mom or dad would place their hand on his forehead to check if he had a fever. Hideaki stood on his toes so he could lean into Yuudai’s crib and put his tiny hand on his brother’s forehead. Hideaki’s eyes widened when he felt his hand burning up. Hideaki leaned away and jumped off the footstool. He called for his parents again, but still no answer.
“Stupid baby,” grumbled Hideaki. “Mama and Papa said you were healthy.”
With no sign of his parents, Hideaki had no choice but to take care of his brother. The problem was that Hideaki didn’t know how to take care of a sick baby, or even a healthy baby. He refused to be a part of Yuudai’s early days of life, no matter how much his parents encouraged him. He wasn’t sure how to hold a baby let alone reduce a fever. Hideaki had to think of what his parents did when he had a fever. Perhaps he could do the same thing with Yuudai.
Hideaki climbed back on the footstool once more and poked his head into the crib. “Yuudai,” he said. “Yuudai, you’re sick. I dunno where Mama and Papa are. You’re gonna have to get better without them, okay?”
Suddenly, the baby stopped crying. He opened his eyes and looked at his big brother’s face. Yuudai coughed a couple of times, and then stretched his little arms to try and grab Hideaki’s nose.
“Hey, stop that!” whined Hideaki. “You’re gonna make me sick too!” Hideaki had to think about what his parents would do whenever he was sick. The first thing that came to mind was how they’d place a small wet towel on his forehead. “No crying until I get back, okay?”
Hideaki quick jumped off the stool once more and rushed to find a towel small enough for his brother. Not too long after he had left his brother’s room, Yuudai began to cry once more. Hideaki groaned in annoyance. He told Yuudai not to cry, so why was he crying? Hideaki snatched a washcloth, ran it under water for a few seconds, and ran back into Yuudai’s room. Hideaki tried to put the washcloth on his brother’s forehead, however, the baby fussed and consistently turned his head away from Hideaki.
“It’ll help you feel better!” Hideaki said. “You gotta keep it on!”
Hideaki jumped centimeters off the stool when he heard the front door open. With a glimmer of hope in his heart, Hideaki rushed out of his brother’s room to see his parents walking inside. His mother looked worried, though her expression wasn’t anything new to him. She didn’t say a word to Hideaki before she bolted into Yuudai’s room. His father, on the other hand, stood in front of Hideaki.
“Where were you?” pouted Hideaki. “Yuudai was crying, and he’s sick!”
“We were just outside,” answered Byakuya. “Yuudai is sick?”
“Why didn’t you come when he was crying?”
“Yuudai stopped crying and -” Byakuya cut himself off. “Hideaki, how do you know Yuudai is sick?”
“He was coughing, and his forehead was really hot!”
It was then Byakuya bolted in a similar manner to Toko. Hideaki followed his father, though at a walking pace. He poked his little head through the door to his brother’s room. Yuudai wasn’t crying, and he was now in the arms of his mother.
“It looks like it’s only a fever,” Byakuya said to Toko.
“
Just
a fever?” exclaimed Toko. “We should take him to the hospital right now! He’s sick, he-”
Byakuya nudged his head to nonverbally tell Toko that Hideaki was watching. “You should know by now a baby doesn’t need to go to the hospital every time he has a fever.”
“But-”
“Babies get sick, Toko.”
“But Hideaki was-”
“Hideaki also didn’t need to be rushed to the hospital for every fever he had. He probably didn’t need to go to the emergency room as much as he did” Byakuya scowled. “The more you talk, the more I think you resent Hideaki.”
“Of course not! He’s your son so of course, he’s perfect and-”
“Then don’t talk about him as if he’s some mistake.”
Hideaki ducked his head behind the wall. Tears began to form in the corner of his eyes. His parents were arguing about him. If he was more like Yuudai, perhaps they wouldn’t have any reason to fight.
“Hideaki.” The stern, confident voice of his father made Hideaki’s small body shiver. Nervously, he poked his head back into his brother’s room. “This washcloth I found in Yuudai’s crib, that was from you, correct?”
Hideaki nodded. “I was trying to stop his fever.”
Byakuya smiled a little. “That was smart of you to do. Perhaps next time try to find your mother or me. We know how-”
“But you told me one day I was gonna has to take care of him!” shouted Hideaki.
“You did take care of him, Hideaki, and I’m certain he’ll need your help again.”
Hideaki nodded slowly. “Okay. I promise I’ll be there when he needs me.”
With that promise, Hideaki began to protect Yuudai. It didn’t matter what the issue was, whether it be Yuudai having a stomachache or just needed someone to reach the countertops. Whenever Yuudai called for help, Hideaki was there. Hideaki quickly grew to love his little brother, and vowed he would do anything for him.