4Tweety's and canaries disturb the otherwise mute silence in Sakura New Town, their chirps and beeps attributed to the rising sun. Soft and slow did the gargantuan planet climb from the horizon, away from its slumber to start a new day. Crickets music is not interrupted at all, merely joining the avian species until they hide underground for the day.
Some cars begin on a loud motor, with the adults getting up to begin their workday. Others sat there in solitude, windows and exterior doused by the morning dew like the grass.
Ladybugs and caterpillars scutter in the trees and flowers awaiting to feast on leaves or fly to find their mates in the gardens spread out among the town. No beetle dared to move from their spots on the trunks of trees, devouring the syrup and nutrients.
Orochi sleeps on a hammock just outside Mao's balcony, arms hugging himself under a well-knit blanket made of the softest cotton with designs of little blue cobras dancing on the wind. Mao made it for him, seeing as the outside can become unsettling and harshly cold if you slept out there. His mufflers breathed unevenly in and out, snoring unlike their master. One has a spider web going in and out, with the homeowner on the brink of being sucked in.
In the home of the 'average' boy as others deemed him, his parents wake up from their slumber both stretching themselves in bed, gathering all the willpower to get out of their warm cocoons.
Aaron yawns getting up first, heading out the door in his slippers. Lily stretches out her arms, her heat source no longer available to her disposal. A small peak of sunshine breaks into the bedroom, illuminating her face.
She groans and hides under her pillow, frustrated she couldn't even get a full night sleep and wake up on her own time. Her husband goes into the bathroom beginning to brush his teeth and get ready for the day. As for her, she needed to wake up her son to get HER day started.
With a huff she throws the pillow to the side, gliding easily on the bed to sit up. She twists back and forth to hear the sensational cracks desperately needing to be released after her good nights' sleep. Swiftly putting on her slippers, she too is out the bedroom ready with her unbearably loud voice to wake up her only son.
Soft footsteps trudge their way over to the closed door. Lily knocks twice while opening the door.
"Keita? It's time to wake up for school!" Whispered, having the door ajar for the hallway light to seep in. Keita is entangled in his bed sheets, snoring into the ceiling, dreaming about eating fried chicken with Fumi-Chan. Mouth drooling, he mumbles something incoherent.
Lily opens the door all the way, coming in. "Come on sheepy-head! You can't stay in bed forever!" Nudging his shoulders, at the same time unveiling his room to the morning sun. He too becomes irritated by the rude awakening.
"Just five more minutes mom~." He pleads, shifting to a new position. Lily giggles walking back out the room. "I'll be downstairs preparing breakfast! If you don't hurry up, your father will eat all of it." She playfully warns walking out.
Jibanyan stays snoring beside Keita, undisturbed from any forms of trouble. The light hit Whisper at just the right spot, his floating body caught by the grasp. He was cold and the sunlight did pass through him, but on the floor and Keita's bright rugs, there was no stopping the glare. His nose bubble popped, catching sight of the living room and his masters' bedroom.
"h….HURNGH!" He stretches, spinning in place.
The red feline rolled over into the wall, earning a smart bruise to his forehead. "Owwwwww. Who put this wall here, nya?" He feels his nose to check for any signs of bleeding.
Knowing the day already began with his Yokai friends up, they wouldn't leave him alone until he got up with them. He curses the morning with whatever was left of his irritation. No one was free from the sun's waking wrath.
The covers flew off, on his feet trying to see what day it is. The giant star-studded calendar all the way to his right read Thursday. One more day until the weekend arrived, he sighs in relief. School wasn't being too much of a pain in the neck as of late. No tests, no projects, nothing and boy was Keita glad about it.
Whisper hovers and phases through the closet, greeting Hikikomori. Their bat friend prepared Whisper and Jibanyan morning tea and doughnuts. "Arigato Hikikomori! I'll take the tray out!" The butler flies through again, eyes too catching the current day.
Unlike Keita, his eyes catch something else on this day. The boy picked out his set of clothes to take to school, uninterested in the tea and doughnuts. Lily would kill him if she smells his bad breath combined with the aroma of sweets. Count Cavity wouldn't be too far behind either.
"Jibanyan, Hikikomori was so kind to order us breakfast! Wakie wakie!" He nudges the cat. Upon hearing free food, he attacks Whisper in midair grabbing the tray in his paws, drinking tea from the kettle and gobbling down the pastries. "D-Don't be so disgusting! That's for you AND me, whissu~!" He scolds, taking back the hot tea kettle.
"Mind your own manners, Whisper." He scratches an eye with a glaze covered paw, taking out the sand bits.
He pours himself some tea and grabs three doughnuts to his plate. "Anyways. Did you know that today is Sibling's Day?" He takes a bite. Keita was already downstairs, fixing his bed head and grabbing the toothbrush.
Whisper was no glutton, but he puts on more weight than he notices. The doughnuts on his plate were well gone, but he cleaned up elegantly. The feline merely rolled around and licked himself clean, without even thinking about using the bathroom to freshen up first.
"Why is that important, nya? None of us have brothers or sisters." Jibanyan utters, opening the door. Hikikomori's upgraded Roomba arrives soon, but Whisper was hasty in trying to clean. He left the tray and tea set near the closet, hoping the shut in would clean it later.
"It's important to the families that HAVE siblings. You never thought about having one Jibanyan, whissu~?" They make their way down the stairs, meeting Keita at the dining table, backpack all ready and prepped to go. The family sat at the table, with tons of food composed of eggs, bacon, pancakes and hash browns.
Squishy kitten merely shook his head, not even sure if he remembered he had siblings when he was alive. Well, born and as a tiny baby he wouldn't know of course, just having Amy and the gang was enough family to be with.
They hop on the couch, waiting for their master to get up and ready for school.
Not even Keita was aware of the day of siblings. He bit into his pancakes and bacon, relishing the sweet and salty combination bringing his heart into content. Aaron takes a newspaper to see the local funnies, receiving a mug full of dark roast from the wife.
"Keita, do you have everything you need for school? I don't want to run down there again with your finished essay for English!" She gripped the spatula in her hand tight, the steel end just about ready to fly out. He captured her intensity, sweat forming on his forehead.
Pancake bits and eggs got caught in his wind pipe, earning a choke. "Y-Yes mom! I have everything!" He gulps down orange juice.
Jibanyan picks his nose, much to Whispers chagrin as it gets flicked by his face.
Keita recollected everything on his mental plate about everything. Breathing came first above all else. All the math homework is done, even with the little amount of tutoring Kanchi gave him the day before. Science sheets about the 100 vocabularies also done and done. Just about all that he could remember, nothing quite slipped hi-
'Oh sh-(insert dolphin screeching, thanks to the gem quartet.)'
The assignment about what it is like or what it would be like to have another sibling in your life.
Like his friends called him, the thoughts about even remotely having a sibling or getting one were relatively average in his mind. Not that having a baby brother or sister was bad, but just being the only child made things just far simpler. Amongst all the chores he does, he does it with the help of his mom and vice versa.
Not like he loved doing them. Aaron feels having one child is enough, he could only afford so much when Keita was born. The car he's still busy trying to pay off, all the bills included in the house not to mention the mortgage, he'll probably have white hair before Keita's fourteenth birthday.
Neither ever thought of oh Lily felt on adding another member to the family.
"I'm still a little lost on the whole Sibling's Day thing. Mom, Dad, what do you think about having another baby in this family?" His questions were genuine.
Aaron almost spat out his coffee to stain the dining room table cloth. He gulped it back down like it was water, scorching the inside of his throat. Hacking and coughing, did he bellow, not even paying attention to the lost funnies section he was reading.
"Honey, calm down! It's not like Keita told you he's about to have surgery, now is he?" Whisper took the turn to jump from the couch, like a hot potato hurled into the air. Jibanyan bounced and captured Whisper into his mouth, teeth piercing his flabby exterior. The poor butler screams agony again, not sure if he could endure more surprises.
"K-Keita… sa-say it isn't so." He managed to choke out, crying.
"I don't know about us having another child, but I think it'd be a wonderful experience for you Keita to learn how to be a big brother!"
'She's jumping into conclusions like we already planned it months ago.' He shouts in his head, a little disgruntled.
His mother returns to the subject. "It was a little troublesome raising you Keita, but you were never a problem. In fact, you were the cutest baby I gave birth to." Said baby hid his face within his hands, embarrassed by his mothers' words. Aaron found his breath, following up on Lily's phrase.
He put his hand to Keita's head, "She's right. As cute as you were, you'll grow up to be a far more handsome and intelligent young man than you are now." He checks the TV for any weather updates.
Charles listens keenly from the watch, giggling to himself hearing how cute Keita was. He stands on a stool in Enma's room, couldn't help but over hear the morning conversation. Chastity ushers for him to follow and begin the days exercises and fun with Enma. He hears her, about to jump off the stool.
Caspian comes out of nowhere with a slingshot. "Incoming!" He shouts, shooting an apple towards said brother.
It smacks his back hard. "OH F-(Insert screeching bird sounds here)." It causes the blue mark on the Yokai Watch to flash 3 times.
This was something new to call him such positive compliments. Averageness wouldn't affect him all the time if he talked to his parents more often. Despite the fact they're an average family living in a house with one child and a car, Keita and the Yokai watch are far away from the term.
"To have another kid, I don't know if it's necessary. I have enough help around the house, err sometimes, I think my job as a stay at home house-mom is well balanced. I don't really want to go through all the late night/early mornings to feed and change them again." She sweat drops, remembering the all-nighters she and Aaron pulled.
Keita slipped on his socks and shoes, still listening to his parents. Not that any of them minded.
"What do you think Keita? Do you want a brother or sister?" Aaron felt a sharp twinge to his stomach. He's hoping Keita is going to say no, as he doesn't want to relive changing diapers and cleaning up the vomit.
Jibanyan's ears perked, paw to his mouth now utterly curious if his friend wants another addition to the family. Even Whisper pulled out a humanized ear from the side of his head.
His mind went blank for a moment, trying to process the thought. Would a baby have to stay in his room? If that was the case, he wanted out. It's only big enough to fit one person and frankly he wanted it to stay that way. To teach him how to speak, crawl and walk would be exciting. Play video games, monitor their growth with the pencil etchings on the wall.
At the same time however, he fears he'll be forgotten. Relationships with siblings is never on a one-way road of positive marks, it is rocky and unpredictable. Almost nothing can stay at peace regarding sharing. He'd have to hear about the sibling's discussion at homeroom. But the only answer he could give now was:
"I don't know. There's so many ups and downs when it comes to babies too." He looked at the Yokai watch, reading around 8 AM. School starts in 10 minutes and he was running behind. He'll get an extra gym exercise beforehand.
"I have to go, gonna be late for school! Bye Mom, bye Dad!" He whisks fully takes his backpack in the heat of getting a tardy from the school. Johnson won't be too pleased with late students, but they're always welcome in the class regardless.
Out the door he went, Jibanyan and Whisper following not too far behind. Lily and Aaron stare at each other. "Tell me you're not pregnant, dear." He hopes in the bottom of his heart she isn't.
"All right children! It's time to get into groups and discuss about Sibling's Day!" Johnson shouted to the class, as he finished a lecture on the four important modes in math. Not that any of them were excited about it.
It was time for Lunch anyhow, and the children were more than happy to retrieve their share of the full pots and pans and bring it to their room. Norika (Natalie), Mamoru (Mark) and Takumi (Eric) were the students for the day to bring it in.
Keita brings his desk around to fit with Kanchi, Kuma and Fumi-Chans in a giant square.
It didn't take long for the food to arrive, as everyone got settled into their seats and began eating their meal. Today's lunch is tuna sandwiches on a croissant bread, followed by an abundant supply of tater tots, pudding and milk.
Kuma went straight for the kill on his plate, whispering 'Itatakimasu!' under his breath. All three watched their friend devour his helpings without taking a single breath.
Fumi spreads an arm around her meal trying to make sure none of his slobber, striking the conversation up like a match to the ignition stripe.
"Having other siblings would be cute to me, but I think it's too much housework and paperwork to do and keep track of." She says, blowing at the overheated tots. Kanchi would have agreed with her on the negative side but he had a counter argument for himself.
Keita crunches down on his sandwich, savoring the sea salt and mayo infused with the fish.
"Mom and Dad would never have another kid besides me, but they'd probably spoil them and never pay any attention to me and suddenly they forget about my existence." He pouts, wiping off the excess oil from the croissant.
"I forgot about that Kanchi! It's always involving sibling rivalry and I don't like it when parents pick favorites!" She splatters ketchup onto her tots and sandwich.
Johnson came around handing out green napkins, placing them in the middle of each group. Keita grabbed a couple, to clean the mess of fish that dripped onto his pants. Messy food can never be avoided.
"Having a sibling sounds like a lot of work if you ask me." The star boy picked his pudding cup up and commenced eating it. The vanilla flavoring was a favorite to all the children.
"If WE were the siblings…" He chews through in sentences. "As in younger siblings, I guess it would be alright. Parents must look out for all their children regardless. My Mom and Dad were talking about it in the morning, and they were at a standstill. I… I think it'd be nice to have a little brother or sister around my home."
This intrigued Fumi-Chan and the crew, Kuma licking his fingers and grabbing few napkins to wipe his dirty face. Kanchi continued to eat his sandwich little by little. He never had a big appetite to begin with, but he was a hungry and ferocious boy when given the chance.
"It does get… lonely being an only child though." He hated to admit it, but that part was always true. It stunned his friends in the group. They must feel the same way. Save for Kuma whose sister is from America, but it still shocked him to hear Keita say that.
Wanting to be alone was one thing, but loneliness was the horrible ulterior. "It would be nice to teach new family member things I've learned, even small things. Video games, story-telling, everything." Maybe the Yokai Watch when they get old enough.
Fumi-Chan smiled brightly at him. He'd have to be a good father someday if he's talking about helping to raise a baby. The man of her dreams is still lost in the future, even in her deepest dreams someday she'll find someone to start a family with.
*Ding-Dong-Ding! *
The school bell rang, indicating it was time for the students to go home. No one rushed out. They all came along at their own individual paces. The Detective Agency went to the soccer field to discuss further matters concerning spooky rumors.
Others go out of their various ways to downtown Sakura for an afterschool snack, some to try the new latest craze in meals and sugar filled treats.
Most of the girl's head to the shopping area for clothing, some to get latest comics.
Keita is walking with Kuma and Kanchi down to the crosswalk to head to the Sakura Community Center to brush up on new dancing skills, Fumi-Chan left to attend to her matters in afterschool activities.
"You think you could beat me with the new dance routine we're learning, eh Kuma?" The shortest of the three teases. The dance sensation they were talking about was more of a tune for the shorter kids. They had far more stamina when Kanchi figured it out.
Kuma becomes flustered, "O-Oy! Not all of us are flexible!"
"You're right, you need to lose some weight." Kanchi retorted. A chase began, the tech boy running and laughing for his life from the small bear. Keita laughed as well, walking his usual pace.
Leaving the school gate, a pale purple fog started filling all the space around Keita. He was a tad shocked, even bewildered to see his best friends running here and there without having to stop and look where the other went.
"H-Hey, what's going on?!"
The loud piercing cry of a baby broke his attention. Out in the middle of the crosswalk was a brown-haired baby, bawling to the sky. Not even in a carriage or basket, just left there abandoned in the street. Just who would leave it there is a despicable parent. The sign turned red signaling not to walk.
Keita couldn't leave the baby alone and calling a Yokai would take too long.
*HONK HONK! *
His eyes widen, seeing a large truck come at a fast speed down the road. His instincts tell him he couldn't do anything, but his gut argued against it. As reckless as the act would be, the baby didn't deserve this. Not even Jibanyan would be fast enough to reach the infant in time.
With all his might, his legs pounced towards the street, abandoning his backpack to lose extra weight. "KEITA!" His best friends cry from the sidewalk.
Fuu 2 would make an early comeback and he didn't care. He takes the baby in his arms, truck coming in at high speed.
