“ 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕, 𝑲𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒊 !”
.
𝟏
“ I'll be back soon.”
Kinoshita pocketed his phone before continuing down the path. Now that the Nationals were over and done with, everyone returned to their daily routine as did he. Everybody was happy with the fact that they could play together with the third years.
Talking about the third years, the graduation ceremony was drawing near. I wonder what they're gonna be doing next ?
His heavy footsteps resounded on the paved pathway till they came to a stop. His gaze landed on the narrow muddy tracks that led further down the woods nearby, away from the neighborhood. While young, they often used to visit the thickets to play. Remembering the summer evenings he used to spent catching bugs and climbing trees, he proceeded to step into it.
Taking out his phone he snapped a few shots. It's been ages since he last visited here. The woods, in general, was not as dense as before. Might be because many trees have been chopped off. Walking a distance, you could feel the ground gradually tilting up, a shallow gradient. It raised to a low hill and at the top a tall tree marked the checkpoint.
Reaching there, he gazed over the houses below him. The Karasuno High school was noticable from up there. He smiled when he got a clear view of his friends’ houses. A sharp wind rustled past the few leaves on the floor. The trees and bushes all around him seemed to be whispering among themselves in hushed voices and he decided he shouldn't invade their privacy.
Turning on his heels, he proceeded to walk away when a soft voice called him from afar.
“ 'sashi-chan !”
Only one person called him by that name. But where is she ? He looked around and hesitantly asked,“ where are you ?” When no reply came, he grew tense. Don't tell me it was a ghost ?
“ 'sashi-chan ! Up here !”
His gaze travelled up the towering tree behind him and paused on a branch midway. There, the small child, radiant as ever with her hair in a mess due to the small twigs and dirt, smiled down at him, waving gleefully.
He felt his heart leap out of his chest.“K-kotei ! How did you get up there ! It's too high !”
“ Kotei doesn't know !” She yelled back, pushing her weight up and sitting on the branch and he made a motion to catch her as the delicate outgrowth shook on her movement.“Kotei climbed up ! But Kotei can’t get down ! Help Kotei, 'sashi-chan !”
Although she said she needed help, it looked quiet fun up there. She didn't look scared at all. Instead, he noticed her patting a furball of ginger, cradled in her lap. Is that a cat ?
“ Oh !” Kotei followed his gaze.“ This is Tora ! Tora climbed up too but couldn't climb down. So Kotei helped. But now both Tora and Kotei are stuck. Tora say hi !” She enthusiastically pulled her paw and waved it at Kinoshita who was frantically thinking on his next move.
Jeez, Kageyama is so careless. But knowing Kotei, she totally sneaked out of her house. This mischievous child...
Tora, a very moody cat who is adored by almost the entire neighborhood and likes to be pampered, didn't give a damn about a child. She especially liked Semi’s attention but since then this child wouldn't leave her alone. She's sick and tired of her. Now that she hogged all her resting place, there's no point fooling around. Thus, she leaped out of Kotei's grasp and climbed down the tree, effortlessly, leaving the child behind.
Glancing over her shoulder, Tora seemed to give her what looked like a sassy look and with attitude, walked away in a very fashionable manner, her tail bending side to side. Kinoshita sweatdropped as he witnessed the cat escaping the scene abandoning her comrade, shamelessly.
“ Tora, wait !” Kotei called out. She tried to get down but couldn't. She didn't know how.
“ Calm down, Kotei ! Hisashi nii will save you !” He yelled before getting into a stance. There's no other option but to climb the tree.
Awkwardly, he placed his limbs against the tree trunk. Attempting to hook his claws onto the bark he realised he didn't have any claws. Oh god, I don't remember the last time I did this. With much effort he succeeded in latching himself onto the body of the tree but that's it. He was unsure what to do next.
“ 'sashi-chan can do it ! Fight ! Fight ! Fight ! Fight ! Fight ! Fight ! Fight—”
“ Of course I can. What're you talking !” He chuckled nervously but the situation was not laughable at all. He managed to climb halfway there and lost his step plenty of times before reaching Kotei. Panting crazily he sat down on the branch letting out a huff.
“ 'sashi-chan !” Kotei cheered running onto his lap to hug him and almost pushing him off the support.
“ Woah ! Slow, Kotei, slow.” He sighed wrapping his arms around her tiny frame. He looked down and cursed under his breath discovering the height they've acquired. How am I supposed to get down ? “ Kotei, what should we do ? I don't think I can climb down by myself.”
“ Why did 'sashi-chan climb up then ?”
“ To save you, of course.”
She pursed her lips not understanding. If all he had to do was climb up and get stuck with her, he could've just called someone or brought a ladder or something.“ Oh no, 'sashi is a big fool!”
“ Don't call me a fool, stupid !”
“ SOMEONE HELP ! HELLO ! SOMEONE !”
Kinoshita gave her a poor glance knowing all her efforts were going in vain. And then Kotei did something weird. She bit her hand.“ What're you doing ?”
“ Kotei's gonna turn a Titan and escape,” she said in a serious tone.
“ Don't do that. You're just hurting yourself,” he muttered pulling her hand away from her mouth.
“ Boo~sashi’s no fun.”
He gazed below them. Heedlessly, his hands roamed through his pockets in reflex and he felt like slapping himself for his stupidity. Of course he had his phone all this time ! Smiling nervously he tapped on Kotei's shoulder and showed her the device.
“ Phone ! Call ! Call ! Call !”
“ Don't jump, child ! You're gonna give me heart attack !”
He proceeded to steady her but the light tremor shook his hand and not having a tight grip, the mobile slid off his hand, dropping to the ground with a ‘clack’. “ Oh, god, no ! My baby !”
‘ Baby ?’ Kotei thought with a frown on her face as she watched their last hope vanishing away with the setting sun. The evening birds were returning back to their nests and she could only sigh, slouching against the older.
“ This is all your fault, Kotei !”
“ Huh ! H-how ?” She asked, baffled.
“ You're seriously asking me that ? Gosh, I should have called someone.”
“ But Kotei—weeeeeeeeeeee !” She squeaked as she lost her balance and fell back.
“ KOTEI !”
Kinoshita leaned forward and held her legs as she hung upside down. Kotei looked like she was having the time of her life (she was scared too but excited at the same time). The latter could still hear his heart thumping within his chest, trying to burst out. With trembling hands he somehow managed to pull her back up and stared at her face with a pale look.
“ Are you planning to send me to God ?”
“ God ? Who's god ?” She asked tilting her head.“ What does God look like ? What's his address ? Tell Kotei ! Say ! Say ! Sayyyyyyyyy !”
“ Argh....,” he ruffled his hair roughly. He regretted everything. He shouldn't have lashed out on her. He's the adult while she's the kid. It's a shame the child doesn't understand the seriousness of the situation. But, being a grown up, he should be able to handle it.“ I'm sorry, Kotei for blaming you.”
She looked up at his tensed face.
After a few seconds of silence he felt her small hands patting his head, twice before grinning up at him.“ It's okay, it's okay.”
Why do I feel like the kid here ?
𝟐
“ Rock, paper, scissors, shoot !”
“....”
“.....”
“ What the hell is that, Kotei ?”
“ It's a combo of rock-paper-scissors and it beats all. It's fun, right ?”
“ No ! It's cheating !”
“ This is a secret technique. 'sashi-chan won't know.”
“ That's a cheating technique. And there's no secret about it.”
“ Aw, bummer~”
“ Why are we even playing rock-paper-scissors ! We're supposed to find a way to get off this tree !” Kinoshita yelled and a few birds from the nearby trees flew off due to the sudden disruption of peace.
“ Kotei has idea !”
“ Then come out with it ! Hurry !” He shook her shoulders in a pleading manner.
“ Heh, heh.” She smirked pulling out a finger gun before posing handsomely.“ Let's jump off Mr. Tree.”
“.....”
“ Kotei's so smart.”
“ No, she's not ! Do you have a death wish ?”
She stared at him dumfounded before sitting down and facing him. With a confused expression she questioned,“Sashi, do people die when they fall off trees ?”
“ I don't know ! And I don't want to know !” It's at these times that Kinoshita craved for some sort of super abilities like shinobis or stand users. He vividly remembered how he attempted to walk on water only to drown in the river. And the other time he pretended to talk to some imaginary friend later introducing it as his stand.
“ Sashi ? What time is it ?”
“ Why are you asking ?” He looked up in thought and caught a glimpse of the orange canvas in the distance. He pushed up his sleeve and checked his watch.“ It's five.”
Kotei gasped at that.“ Oh no ! Kotei will miss the show!”
“ You can't worry about a show when you're stuck here.”
“ But it's important ! Kotei have to go !” She yelled in shock and gradually got up.
“ Kotei, what—”
“ Kotei must go. Kotei has to go. Goodbye, Sashi.” She dramatically turned around and to Kinoshita’s amazement, expertly wrapping her limbs around the tree trunk, slid off at a steady pace before reaching the ground and getting to her feet. She looked up to the baffled second year and waved at him who waved back in a daze.“ Yosh ! Let's go !” And dashed off the scene towards her house.
“...”
“.....”
“.........”
“.............”
“..................”
“......................”
“ WAIT ! KOTEI, WHAT ABOUT ME !”
“ KOTEI !”
“ CAN YOU HEAR ME ?!”
“ DON'T LEAVE ALL ALONE !”
“ COME BACK !”
“ KOTEIII !”
“ KAGEYAMA !”
“ DAMN IT !”
𝟑
Currently five on the clock, she should be anytime home now.
Kageyama clicked his tongue as he went over the instructions once more for the day. In his shaky hands was a book with a blue cover, the top of which read ‘Parenting 101 : Brats Edition’.
Tapping his foot repeatedly, his eyes swept through the 76th line of the third paragraph that read—‘Treat your child, kindly.’ Neither too strict nor too lenient it said....now that he thought back to it, he's never talked to Kotei without lashing out on her. At other times, he mostly had a poker face on.
Pursing his lips, he took out his phone and typed in the google search bar : how to be kind ?
The first word that caught his attention—smile.
Now that's something serious.
He stood in front of the mirror staring back into his intense gaze and grumpy face. The scowl was permanent. No matter how many times he attempted to punch his cheeks to smile properly, he couldn't. Smiling can't be that hard.....he parted his lips to grin at himself.
“...”
The hell ?! He almost had a heart attack. Is this really how he looked while smiling ! No wonder Mio’s always scared of him. That was scary as hell !
1. Smile.
Next—give genuine compliments.
He looked up in thought. Compliment Kotei ? There's absolutely nothing he can give her compliments about.
2. Give genuine compliments.
What more ? He spent the next few minutes searching through the internet on how to act kind towards a child. Precisely, he has to behave with her properly, without shouting or yelling, speaking nicely, not being too strict, etc. He sighed. It's a lot of work. Isn't there a shortcut or something ? By shortcut he meant beat her up to permanently turn her from a brat to an angel.
“ Nii-chan ! Kotei's back !”
He cleared his throat and tied to wipe the angry scowl from his face. It took effort so he just switched to his poker face.
Walking with slow steps he reached the front door only to see a dirty child, with twigs and leaves stuck to her hair and clothes, offering him a small smile and proceeded to head straight towards the television.
His hands shook, his anger level rising up but he grabbed his right hand with his left which had already formed into a fist to give her a good beating. Instead, he followed her into the living room. Kotei switched on the television and searched for the remote.“ Nii-chan, where's the remote ?”
“ Ahem....don't you think you're forgetting something?” He asked simply.
“ Yes. Kotei forgot where the remote was kept,” she slid under the table but to no success.
“ No, there's something you gotta do after you return home.” Kageyama sneakily picked up the remote which lay near his feet and held it behind him.
“ What ?”
He sighed. But yelling is not an option.“ Change your dirty clothes. And freshen up.” He glanced behind him in thought.“ It's late anyways. So take a bath while you're at it.”
“ Kotei wanna watch a show !”
“ Later—”
“ No !”
“ Ko—”
“ No !”
He gritted his teeth. Taking a deep breath he kept the remote on the table beside him and kneeled down before her. Kotei noticed that and proceeded to grab it but Kageyama held her hands.“ Kotei, please. You can watch it later. I'll record it for you, okay ?”
“...”
“ And then we can sit together and watch your show.”
“....”
“ You must be hungry. Let me see if I can arrange something. Put out your clothes in the basket, okay?” His lips twitched as he gave a genuine smile although it was negligible. Getting up, he left her alone in the room.
Kotei stood there baffled. With a pale face she inspected her hands that he had held. While his touch had always been rough but warm, today it seemed like he gave extra care to hold her tenderly. She felt a shiver run down her spine. He should have yelled at her by now. Why didn't he ? “Nii-chan is acting weird.”
Not in the mood anymore, she followed her brother’s instructions and almost fainted when he praised her by a ‘good girl, Kotei’.“ Is nii-chan sick ?”
“ No, why do you ask ?” He continued with rubbing her hair softly with a towel before blowdrying it. She sat in a daze, in front of him, staring at the tv, blankly.“ Done. I have recorded it. You can watch it if you want.”
Cautiously, she sneaked a glance at his face.
“ What ?”
“ Nii-chan, Kotei loves you,” she suddenly said out of nowhere and hugged his neck. So please go back to the way you were.
“ U-uh,” he hesitated. For a moment he forgot all about the book. But what reply is Kotei expecting here ? He'd usually respond with a ‘and I hate you’. His mind drew a blank when he remembered his learning. ‘Be kind. Speak honestly’.“ I-I loff-loaf- love you too.”
That's it. This is not nii-chan.
“ Aaaah ! Kotei’z scaryyy !” (Kotei is scared) She fled in fear to lock herself in her room till Miwa's return. By now she's sure her brother has been possessed. “ Did I say something wrong ? Ah, damn it !” Kageyama ruffled his hair roughly before taking out the book he had hid under his shirt and going through the pages. It did say to be honest and not to hide your true feelings. Then why did she seem so scared ?
“ This book.....is useless !” He threw it across the room, frustrated. Leaning back he collapsed on his back and spread his limbs to relieve his joints.
“ My face hurts....,” he complained, probably from attempting to smile too much.“ Whatever. Let's leave her alone. She'll come around it eventually. Damn brat!”
🅱🅾🅽🆄🆂
“ Ko-chan ! Dinner is ready !”
Kotei who was sitting on the shelf near the main entrance near the telephone, the receiver still clutched in her hand, responded loudly and quickly hung up. If you're curious, she was talking to Natsu till now, narrating to her about the bizarre thing that happened with her brother. She was afraid he was possessed. But since Miwa arrived, he seemed to have gone back to normal.
“ Nii-chan was acting weird, today. Kotei was scared,” she told Miwa as they say at the table.
“ Weird how ?” Miwa asked as Kageyama clicked his tongue.
“ Kotei told nii-chan that she loves him. Nii-chan said ‘love you too’. Nii-chan also didn't yell at Kotei earlier.”
“ Ooh ? Now that's interesting.”
Miwa's laser eyes and her sly smirk didn't sit well with the boy who avoided eye contact. The former had found a certain blue-covered book hidden under the couch but being the good sister she is, she kept quiet.“What's so weird in it? Isn't it good ? Your dear brother loves you. Don't you want that to ?”
Kageyama side glanced at Kotei who closed her eyes in thought. He was curious about the answer too.“ It didn't sound right. When big brother says nii-chan hates Kotei then it sounds like nii-chan loves Kotei.”
“ That sounds about right,” Miwa chuckled.
What is with this weird logic ? Kageyama thought not understanding her at all.
“ Kotei's done !”
“ Wipe your mouth, Ko-chan. That's disgusting,” Miwa got up proceeding to do the dishes.
Kotei looked around but found no napkin. So she leaned forward and pressed her face into her brother’s sleeves and wiped her mouth. Kageyama watched baffled as she grinned up at him showing a thumbs up.
“ The hell do you think you're doing, dumbass ! No dinner for you from tomorrow !” He smacked the back of her head.
“ Eeeh ? Why not ?” She stressed on her words offended by his.
“ Because you eat like a pig !”
“ Oh,” she smiled, shyly.“ Thanks.”
“ That was not a compliment !”
“ It was not ?” She gasped, offended.“Nii-chan, you butthead !”
“ KOTEI !”
Miwa hummed to herself as she washed the dishes while there was the shuffling of feet behind her and soon it turned into World war lll. But it didn't affect her. She was used to it by now. But then she doesn't like the household too quiet.“ Hey, you guys ! You better not break something !”
Bam ! Clash !
“ What was that noise ?”
“...”
“ TOBIO ! KO-CHAN !”
______________________________________
“ 𝑇𝒉𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 !”