Autumn-red eyes opened, seeing only a dark room before him. Akihito propped himself up with his left elbow, wincing slightly from the injuries of the day before. He yawned, stretching his muscles lightly. The injuries were less painful than yesterday's; due to Corvino's light magic, which healed the greenette slightly.
Akihito swung his legs over the bed and looked at the clock. 5:00 am.
'3 hours before school, huh?'
The greenette yawned again and got off his bed, going towards his closet, pulling out his uniform. After gathering his uniform, Akihito walked out of his room and to the bathroom down the hall. He opened the bathroom door and decided to take a small shower. The warm water felt like heaven on his aching body, as he sighed in relief. After a few minutes in the shower, Akihito got out and dried himself with a towel. He grabbed his uniform and put it on, and messed with his green hair for a bit. After checking himself in the mirror, he opened a secret compartment in the right cabinet of the sink. He pulled out a bottle of pills, shaking two of the tablets into his open palm.
The pills were a pale blue, small spheres that looked like beads. Filling up a cup of water, he popped the pills into his mouth and swallowed the cup of water. After taking the pills, be placed the cap back onto the bottle of pills and placed it back into the secret compartment. The cabinet's secret storage was only known to the greenette, nobody else, including Corvino.
'Haha, I wonder when my secret will be discovered...'
Akihito, then closed the compartment and cabinet, and then headed downstairs to start breakfast.
When he got to the kitchen, he decided to make pancakes. So, he opened a cabinet above the stove and pulled out the mix, also getting a big bowl and 3 pans from another cabinet. He started to hum again while creating the mix for the pancakes, and a small smile tugged at his face. The greenette poured spoonfuls of mix into the pans, creating 3 big pancakes. As the pancakes were cooking, he decided to start making some bacon.
Akihito opened the freezer and brought out a pack of bacon, closing the small door when he got what he needed. After pulling out a bunch of bacon strips from the bag, he placed it onto another pan, listening to the sizzling noises once the bacon made contact to the heated pan. He turned back to the 3 other pans and flipped the pancakes. After making 6 fluffy pancakes, and some crispy bacon, Akihito placed 3 pancakes and 5 strips of bacon each on two plates.
He ate his breakfast silently, while an orange canary popped its head in through an open nearby window.
"Aki, Aki! Hito, Hito!" The orange canary chirped.
"Haha! Good morning, Yuhi!" Akihito held out a finger for the small bird to perch on.
"Morning, morning!" The fluffy bird landed on the greenette's extended finger, chirping happily. Akihito then stood up, the small canary flying up to perch on his shoulder, and walked to a cabinet, pulling out a bag of seeds. He poured a small bowl of the seeds and also filled another bowl with water, setting it down on the table he was currently eating at. Yuhi immediately jumped off of Akihito's shoulder and started to eat the bird seed. The greenette smiled softly at the orange canary, and continued to finish up his breakfast. After finishing his breakfast and cleaning his dishes, he looked at a circular clock hanging above the stove. 6:05 am.
'Meh, I guess I'll leave early to school today.'
Yuhi, noticing that his favorite greenette human was leaving, left his bowl of seeds and flew up and landed on Akihito's head, nestling in the soft, but spiky, green hair. Akihito looked up and chuckled.
"Haha! Thanks for joining me; it gets lonely sometimes."
With that, Akihito grabbed his school bag and headed out of his home to school. He started to hum as he walked down the road to school, and the orange canary whistled along to Akihito's humming. When the school was in view, he went through the gate and into the school. He decided to head to his most favorite part of the school, the roof.
He opened the door, greeted by a blast of cool air. He sighed and smiled, looking up at the bright blue sky. The greenette had always been drawn to the sky, wanting to be close to it every chance he got. While watching the clouds drift by, an idea popped into his head. The sky was a perfect scene to draw, and the greenette couldn't help but capture the picture. So, Akihito rummaged through his bag and found his sketch book, noting that there were a pair of eyes on him.
He took out a piece of charcoal from a small case and started to sketch. After sketching for about 30 minutes, the greenette decided to call out to the little observer that had been watching him the entire time; trusting that the other could keep a secret on his ability to speak.
"Do you want to get a closer look?"
The greenette could just see the watcher freezing in their spot without turning his head.
"You don't need to hide; I felt you up there ever since I first stepped up here."
There was the sound of movement, and the watcher landed gracefully beside the greenette. Tsukino Amaya. The name matched up with the face of the girl beside him. Akihito smiled brightly to the newcomer.
"Sit down, Sit down. If you want a closer look, come on over!"
"..."
"Hm?"
"...You're not angry with me?"
"Haha! Why would I?" The greenette continued to smile. Amaya stood there awkwardly, assessing the situation. With slight hesitation, the rougette finally sat down next to Akihito, getting a closer look at what the greenette was sketching.
"The sky?"
"Yep! Just wanted to capture the moment."
"...You really love the sky."
"Hm~, maybe! To me, the sky represents everlasting freedom."
Akihito started to get a distant look in his eyes, one filled with nostalgia and sadness. Amaya felt a bit disturbed by the distant look, and decided to tug on the greenette's sleeve.
"Oh! Sorry; just thinkin' about some stuff!"
"..." Akihito smiled nervously at the rougette.
"Eheh, let's continue drawing then!"
The greenette smiled cheerfully at the rougette reassuringly. Amaya let it slide and continued to watch Akihito sketch the sky and clouds with charcoal. The rougette was awed by the realistic detail of the sketch. The greenette beside her knew just the right places to shade darkly or lightly.
"It's beautiful..."
"Haha! Do you really think so?"
"Un."
"...You can also talk?"
"Haha, yep! So please don't tell anyone, neh?"
"'Kay."
Akihito grinned at the other, while he finished his sketch. After the sketch was done, the bell rang, signaling that school was about to start. The greenette started to put his stuff away, while Amaya was heading for the door.
"Ah! Amaya-san! You can come up here to watch me sketch another time if you want!"
"...Sure."
The greenette smiled brightly at the rougette, as she went through the door, blushing slightly at the smile; not that Akihito noticed. After Amaya left, Akihito turned his head to the orange canary that was sitting on his shoulder.
"Gomen, Yuhi, but I have school now," The puffball chirped angrily. "But I'll make sure to spend time with you later, 'kay?"
The bird fluffed up his feathers, looking a bit annoyed that his favorite human was leaving, but relented none the less, and flew away. Akihito smiled softly at the shrinking orange dot in the sky, and started to head down to his class.
~~
'Waaah! One would think a hurricane--no, World War One passed through!'
Akihito sweat-dropped at the sight before him. The entire classroom was in ruins. Tables and chairs were flipped or destroyed, and glass windows were broken, scattering dangerous shards all over the place. But what stood out the most were the two 'demons' surrounded by the wreckage, and the pile of 'dead' bodies in the corner of a room.
*C-Corvino-san? I-Izaak?*
"Yo, Akihito/Baka-Hito." The two 'demons' greeted.
*I thought the house was empty...and Izaak wasn't at the front gate...What are you guys doin' anyway?*
The greenette smiled nervously at his father and friend. Akihito then turned his head to an energy source he felt outside of the classroom window. The boy spotted a shine in the tree next to the window, and was not surprised to see his very own creation sticking out of the leaves.
'Really, Cielo is here too...Agh! I should have expected this!'
The panicking greenette was brought out of his thoughts when his demonic father spoke.
"What we're doin', is beating up these little brats that tormented my son, you." Corvino said, rather loudly, probably to announce to the whole class why he was pissed.
"By the way, I...persuaded the principal in giving you a day off, so go back home."
Akihito sweat-dropped once more, praying for the principal's health.
*Ehh? What about homework?*
"Canceled. Now go back home and rest your injuries."
*\(0~0)/*
"Go. Home. Right. Now." Corvino growled, pointing his gun menacingly at the smiling greenette.
Sigh *So be it...Otou-san! :)*
BANG! BANG!
"That brat..."
After writing down the comment to his father, the happy-go-lucky teen was out of the wrecked classroom, barely missing the two gun shots to his head. Akihito laughed in his head, remembering the slight tint of pink on his father's face. The greenette knew that Corvino liked being called 'Otou-san', but didn't show it; always covering up his blush by shooting at the grinning greenette.
Akihito chuckled softly, and stopped his running, continuing on his way home at a leisurely pace, waving his hand at the concealed sniper in the tree.
Going back to the classroom, the students and demons were quiet for a bit. The silence was broken by the trigger-happy father.
"Now that Baka-Hito's gone, let's continue."
While the bullies were getting shot and zapped, the three new students watched the scene, Anatole with amusement, Aleta with irritation and Amaya with disinterest.
"Incroyable! Look at them go!"
"Bunch of idiots."
"....Akihito-san."
The rougette was gazing out the window, watching the retreating figure of Akihito.
~~
Sigh "I didn't expect Corvino-san, Izaak, or Cielo to be there..."
"Aki, Aki! Hito, Hito!"
There was a sound of small wings fluttering, and Akihito spotted a familiar orange canary.
"Ah, Yuhi! Yo!"
"Early, Hito?"
"Yeah, Corvino-san was there, and let me go home early."
The fluffy bird settled in the greenette's soft hair, chirping happily, since its favorite human had come home early.
'You should've stayed there! I wanted to see those idiotic brats get beaten up!' A dark, but five year-old, voice sounded in Akihito's head.
"Haha! Now, now, Kage-Otouto!" The greenette chuckled.
'Quiet, Akihito-nii! Do a 180, and head back to school!'
"I really don't want to irritate Corvino-san any further..."
'All of those brats deserve the beating for hurting you, and I want to witness it!'
'Count me in! I want to see them say sorry, fufu!'
A chirpy voice entered the greenette's head, joining with Kage's voice.
'Hikari! Sorry ain't good enough! Those brats need to grovel at Akihito-nii's feet!'
'Fufu, that would be too harsh!'
'You're too soft-hearted! Rule them with an iron fist!'
"Hey you two, calm down!"
'Fu, sorry Onii-san.'
'Sorry, Akihito-nii.'
"Well, let's head home now!"
When the greenette turned the corner, he saw a man trying to rob a brown-haired girl with sky-blue eyes, beating her up. (O.D.D.- Sorry. Cliche bad guy that Akihito will beat up for us; Yay! :P).
"P-please! Let go--Someone help!"
"Shut up, brat! Give up the purse!"
"N-No! Please, anyone!" The robber started to get irritated with the screaming girl, and aimed a kick at her.
"Oh, will you just--GWARGH!"
The robber was sent back flying a couple of feet, rolling along the rough gravel of the road. When the man lifted his head up, he spotted a greenette helping the girl up.
*Are you alright?*
The brunette blinked at the words on the notebook, and looked up at her savior. She gave a small, nervous smile to the taller teen.
'A mute?' "I-I'm fine. T-Thank you for saving m-me."
"YOU BRAT!"
'Wao~the monkey got up.'
'Kage-Otouto!' Akihito chided.
'Che.'
"BRAT! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" (O.D.D.- Rhyme! ;D)
The robber pulled out a flip knife from his pocket, and pointed it at the greenette. Said greenette didn't even flinch and smiled slightly, pulling the terrified brunette behind him. The robber lunged at Akihito, thrusting the knife at the greenette's stomach.
Still smiling, Akihito dodged to the right, and kicked the man in the gut, sending him to the other side of the road.
"HOLD STILL BRAT!"
'Like Akihito-nii would do that.'
'Kage-Otouto?'
'Yes?'
'Please be silent; I need to concentrate.'
'Hai, Akihito-nii.'
Then the greenette turned to the small brunette behind him, smiling brightly, bending down to her level, unknowingly making the girl blush.
*Please wait here, ne?*
"H-Hai."
Akihito grinned once more and straightened his back, turning back to the robber that had finally regained his breath. The greenette walked to the right, bringing the little scuffle away from the small brunette.
"Che! You don't know who you're dealing with brat! I'm Moeki Iwa, a C-class criminal!"
In this city, Sekai no Ki, criminals have different levels of danger on them, and C was fourth to highest. (O.D.D.- From highest to lowest: S, A, B, C, D, E and F.). The brunette's eyes widened in surprise, and started to tremble. She looked up at her savior, and feared that the greenette would run away after hearing such a high ranking.
'Is he going to leave me?'
She bent her head, preparing for the worst. Instead, she was given a reassuring smile and a note, that flew to her in the shape of an airplane.
*I will never abandon you.*
Her eyes widened at the unfolded note, and looked up at the greenette, who grinned and gave a thumbs-up to the brunette.
"DON'T IGNORE ME, BRAT!"
The robber once again lunged at Akihito, aiming for his head. The greenette dodged the attack and grabbed the wrist of the other, twisting it. Akihito then kicked the man's legs out from under his, slamming the other onto the ground. The greenette plucked the blade out of the robber's hand and threw it into a nearby trash can with ease, then pinned the taller man's right arm behind his back.
"Ge'roff me!"
The robber squirmed underneath Akihito, until the greenette brought his left hand down on the robber's neck, knocking him out. Akihito sighed in relief, knowing that the other was finally unconscious. He then turned to the small brunette that he left to the side, who was staring at the greenette with awe.
*It's alright now; he won't be getting up for a few hours.*
The greenette smiled at the young brunette, who blushed madly at Akihito's smile.
'C-Cute!' "Y-Yes, t-thank you."
Akihito observed the small girl for any injuries, and saw that there was nothing wrong, only a very red face.
'Is she sick? Maybe a fever?'
The greenette placed a hand to the brunette's and his own forehead, checking her temperature. The brunette blushed even harder, making a ripe, red tomato put to shame.
*Are you alright? Do you have a fever?*
'E-EEH?! I-Is that what he's doing? Checking my temperature?' "A-Ah no, no! The heat must be getting to me! Eheh!"
*Hmm? I see...Well, you should get home now! Where do you live? I'll walk with you to your home.*
"O-Okay. Follow me!"
The brunette grabbed onto Akihito's arm, and dragged him along to her home.
'Haha! Not planning on letting me go, huh?'
'That girl has some nerve to drag Akihito-nii around on his day from school; he's still healing!'
'Now, now! I'll be sure to get some rest when I get home!'
"Erm, we're here."
Akihito was snapped out of his thoughts from the voice of the small brunette, looking up at the giant mansion in front of him. The greenette was a bit surprised.
'Wow...so the little one is rich...that would sort of explain about the robber...'
The small girl finally let go of the greenette, turned, bowed, and spoke.
"T-Thank you very much for saving me!"
Akihito grinned in response, and ruffled the brunette's hair.
*No problem...*
"Ah! My name is Hayashi Akiko! N-Nice to meet you!
*Nice to meet you too, Hayashi-san!*
"N-No! Call me Akiko! No honorifics p-please!"
*Then...Akiko-chan?*
"Y-Yes! That's fine."
*Well, I'll be taking my leave!*
Akihito smiled once more to the brunette, turned around, and started to head down the road, only to be stopped by the voice of the small girl. Her sky-blue eyes shined brightly.
"W-wait, Onii-chan!"
Said greenette turned around.
"M-May I ask f-for your name?"
The brunette watched as the the greenette shook with silent laughter.
*Haha! Sorry! Where are my manners? My name is Kaede Akihito!*
The brunette looked at the words written on the notebook, and smiled tentatively at the older teen.
"Nice to meet y-you, O-Onii-chan--Ah! Is it alright to call you that?"
Akihito's smile brightened further, as he held out his notebook once more.
*Haha! Sure!*
"E-Erm, well, thank you again!"
*Haha! Don't worry about it! Be careful next time. See you around!*
With that, Akihito walked away, waving back at the small brunette.
(O.D.D.- I've just realized this...that this is the longest chapter so far! :O gasp!)
~~
When Akihito finally reached home, he took off his shoes and entered, placing the shoes on a nearby rack. The greenette yawned, stretching his right arm, which was still injured, and winced. Akihito started to massage his right arm, when Kage's voice popped into his head.
'You should really rest now, ya know.'
'Fufu, he's right~! We can both sense the strain on your body!'
"Eh~? Is that so?"
The greenette looked up at the hanging clock in the kitchen. 10:03am.
'Only about 2 hours have passed since I went to school.'
'Yep. Time passes by fast. Now get to bed Akihito-nii, the others want to play.'
'Fufu, Yes! Let's play~!'
"Hai, hai."
Akihito grinned, Yuhi still nestling in his soft green hair, and walked up the stairs to his room. He took off his school uniform and put on a more comfortable set of clothes, a simple white t-shirt with black jersey pants. The greenette then settled gently onto his bed, Yuhi readjusting himself in Akihito's hair. After pulling his blanket up, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
(O.D.D.- The 'italic' is noise or sound. Bold is either demonic voice, flashback, or the children in Akihito's head. Later on, I'm gonna use the bold, italic, and underline for different languages. :3)
~~
Tweet, tweet.
Akihito heard the sound of a bird chirping. Also picking up the sound of water rushing by.
'So, I made it...'
"Oooooiii! Akihito-nii!"
"Oomph!"
The greenette felt a weight land on his stomach, as he was about to wake up. Akihito opened his eyes and wasn't surprised to see a small raven-haired boy with golden eyes hugging him. The small rougette wore a plain black t-shirt with long black pants, his feet barefooted. The greenette chuckled and ruffled the curly black locks of the small boy.
"Hey, there Kage-Otouto!"
The small rougette, now Kage, looked up at his older brother figure with bright molten-gold eyes, and grinned.
"You took too long! Next time, go to sleep immediately when you get home!"
Suddenly, there was a flash of brilliant white light, and out popped a small blonde girl, wearing a pure white dress, also barefooted. Her fluorescent-purple eyes brightened further when she spotted her 'older brother'.
"Onii-san!"
The small blonde lunged at her 'Onii-san', and hugged the greenette, along with the small rougette that looked about the same age as her.
"Gah! Hikari. I'm still here, ya know."
Said blonde just giggled while the small rougette growled her. Wisps of black started to roll off of Kage as he continued to glare at his sister. Hikari smirked mischievously as light began to surround her.
"Fufu, do you want to fight?"
"Shut up. I'll annihilate you."
"Hey, you two!"
Akihito was on his feet, crouching down a little, placing both of his hands on the heads of the two blood-lusting kids before him, smiling brightly. The two kids instantly calmed down and looked at their host, or elder brother. But their happy mood from being patted on the head died down when they heard other childish voices.
"Nii-chan!"
"Hito-nii."
"Yo, Onii-chan!"
"O-Onii-sama!"
"Gege, welcome back!"
"You finally came back, Grand Frère."
"Ciao, Grande Fratello, yo!"
"Ja! It's Altere Bruder!"
"Yay! Hermano Mayor is here, dang it!"
(O.D.D.- Technically they're all calling Akihito big brother.) The small group saw a larger group of nine children come towards them, most of them smiling, some smirking. All nine children tackled Akihito to the ground, who was laughing and smiling warmly to them.
"Hey guys! How have you been, Inazuma-Otouto, Koori-Imouto, Junsui-Imouto, Hinode-Imouto, Weifeng-Otouto, Volonte-Otouto, Chikyu-Otouto, Erwin-Otouto, and Ogan-Otouto?"
"Fine!" The eight children chirped simultaneously.
"Oi! We were here first!"
"Fufu, get off of Onii-san."
One of the eight, a red-head with fiery bronze eyes and darkly-tanned skin, looked up at them and stuck his tongue out at the the light and shadow children.
"No way, dang it! You guys got to spend time with Hermano Mayor the entire day, dang it!"
"Hey, cool it~!" A chirpy, but calm voice cut through the three children's conversation.
"Shut it, water balloon, dang it!"
A small girl, wearing a night-blue tank top and shorts, with blue hair and aqua-blue eyes, rolled off of Akihito and stood up, giggling all the way.
"Teehee! 'Water balloon'? That's a new nickname, Ogan-chan!"
"Junsui! Who's side are you on, dang it?!"
The tank-top-wearing child, now known as Junsui, continued to giggle as she started to pull the other six remaining children off.
"Come ooon guys~, Onii-chan needs to breath!"
One of the six children, a small brunette with orange eyes, instantly popped off of Akihito and started to apologize profusely.
"E-Eeep! I-I'm s-so sorry Onii-sama! I-I nearly killed you! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Whooaaa! Calm down, Hinode, dang it!"
Plants started to sprout and grow at a rapid rate, while the small brunette continued to apologize to the greenette that was finally released from the pile of children. Akihito walked up to the small brunette and caressed her hair, pulling her into a hug.
"It's fine, It's fine. Everything's fine, neh?"
"O-Onii-sama."
The small brunette poked her head out of the greenette's embrace and looked up at him, a slight blush dusting her cheeks. The sudden burst of magic faded, making the newly-grown trees disappear.
"Nii-chaaaaan! I want a hug toooo! Give me some candy also!"
A small boy with spiky, dark-green hair clambered onto Akihito's back, clutching the taller greenette's shirt. His golden eyes glinted with mischief, as he pouted at Akihito.
"Inazuma-Otouto! How's my evil overlord?"
Akihito plucked the smaller greenette off of his back as he pulled home into a warm hug. Inazuma squealed in response, enjoying the feeling that his 'big brother' was paying attention to him.
"Haha! Your hair tickles, Nii-chan!"
Suddenly, two weights grabbed his leg, clutching his pants.
"Gege! How was your day?"
"Sup, Altere Bruder, ja!"
A small raven-haired boy with calm, silver eyes gazed up at the taller greenette, giving a small smile. The small rougette wore a sky-blue chinese robe with baggy, tan pants. The other child, a small orange-haired boy with sea-green eyes, wore a grey jacket with dark-brown shorts. Akihito responded with another bright smile, as he looked at two children.
"Weifeng-Otouto and Erwin-Otouto! My day was fine--how was your day?"
At that question, Weifeng's expression darkened a little.
"It wasn't very peaceful..."
"He's right, ja!"
"We weren't that noisy, yo!"
A small maroon-haired child with onyx eyes popped his head in, as he clutched Akihito's unoccupied leg. He wore a sleeveless brown jacket with long, black pants.
"Dirt-face is right, we weren't making any noise."
A spiky, silver-haired boy with sharp, red eyes looked at the others indifferently, excluding Akihito, while he sat by the tall greenette's leg. The small silverette wore a grey cloak with a night-blue t-shirt and long, black pants underneath, a yellow stomach band surrounding his tiny waist. The maroon-haired boy turned to the silverette, glaring at the other.
"What did you call me metal-head, yo?!"
"Weakling, doesn't look like you understand Japanese."
"Shut up, Volonte, yo!"
"Can you stop with the 'yo's, Chikyu? They're becoming irritating."
"No way, Metal-head, YO!"
Akihito sweat-dropped as veins started to pop out of Volonte's head, a dark aura surrounding the silverette.
"You're dead."
"Calm down, Volonte."
A snow-haired girl gazed at the irritated silverette with cool, blue eyes, showing no emotion. She wore a white kimono that had a splash of blue at the edges.
"Koori."
The deadly aura died down as Volonte nodded his head in Koori's direction. Akihito sighed and chuckled at the children's antics, but the good mood died down when Inazuma, who was still in the elder greenette's arms, asked a question.
"Neh, why is Nii-chan injured?"
Akihito tensed up a bit, but relaxed quickly, although it didn't go unnoticed by the the group of 11 children. They all turned their heads to the shadow and light children, Kage and Hikari, expecting an answer from the two who had been with their 'big brother' ever since yesterday.
"We know that Hermano Mayor won't tell us, dang it! So, what the heck happened yesterday, dang it?!"
Kage's face darkened greatly as he spat out one word that all of the children present knew and hated.
"Bullies."
Suddenly, everything became disoriented. Water started to rise out of the large lake behind them, fire danced across the sky, wind whipped around violently, lightning began to to crackle around them, the grass started to freeze over, the surrounding earth began to crack open, metal started to shoot out of the ground, sound seemed to disappear, and thorns began to poke out of the ground and twist into the air. If anybody, besides Akihito and the children present, they would've fainted on the spot from the deathly heavy atmosphere.
"Fufufu, you all need to calm down."
The first to answer the light child was the raging fire, Ogan.
"CALM DOWN? CALM DOWN?! Hermano Mayor is getting bullied, and you say, 'calm down', dang it?!"
The flames that were dancing around the sky began to burn brighter and fiercer, scaring away any nearby spirits.
All of the other children, besides Kage and Hikari, had the same reaction, as the dark aura surrounding them got heavier.
But it was all broken by a happy-go-lucky greenette.
"Hey, guys, settle down!"
The greenette was smiling brightly at the angry children, making them feel at ease. The heavy, dark aura disappeared almost instantly, and their surroundings became normal once more. Akihito then crouched down, grabbing all 11 children and brought them into a big hug, and whispered comforting words.
"It's fine, It's fine. Everything's fine."
He then released them from his embrace, but kept his arms wrapped around them.
"Hey~! I'm really happy that you guys care about me, but you can't get angry at those bullies, neh~?"
The greenette's grin grew wider as he looked at the children in his arms. The children's anger was brought to a low simmer as they stared up at their 'big brother'.
"Fufu, sorry. Even though I like being hugged and all, but it's starting to get a bit suffocating."
"Yeah, dang it! I'm actually starting to feel cold, dang it!"
"Sorry."
"Eh? Koori, dang it?! No wonder I'm starting to feel cold, dang it!"
"Trash, stop hugging each other."
"Shut up, Metal-head, yo!"
"Shut it, Dirt-face."
With that, the greenette released the children from his arms to let them breathe, while the metal and earth children broke out into a fight.
"You'll your own dirt, Dirt-face."
"Then eat your own metal, Metal-head, yo!"
As the fight broke out, Akihito noticed that the sky was darkening, stars starting to appear.
'Looks like it's almost time for me to wake up.'
The greenette sighed, loud enough for the children to hear, and for the earth and metal children to stop their fight. The children also noticed that the sky was darkening, they turned to their 'big brother' with pouty and sad faces.
"Fu, you need to leave now?"
"Aaaawwwwwww! Inazuma-sama demands you to stay!"
"Che."
"O-Onii-sama needs t-to leave?"
"Not cool, yo!"
"You better come back."
"Sigh, mingtian jian, Gege! Please be safe!" (See you tomorrow, Big Brother!)
"Please come back soon, ja!"
"...Come soon."
"Another time then, Hermano Mayor, dang it!"
"Haha, I'll make sure to come back soon, I promise!"
Akihito gave one more bright smile to them as white light began to surround him, blocking his sight of the small children. The light dispersed, leaving nothing of the smiling greenette behind. The children stared at the spot where their 'big brother' once stood, slightly wishing for him to appear once more.
"Fu, Onii-san is too kind to those bullies."
The fire child grimaced and spat.
"Yes. This is probably the 54th bone he's broken so far, dang it!"
The ice and metal child were silent, but still worried for the happy-go-lucky greenette.
"Waaah! Inazuma-sama doesn't want to see Nii-chan hurt anymore!"
The lightning child continued to sob, while Hinode brought the small greenette into an embrace and made soothing circles along his back. Chikyu sat down in a lotus position, while Hinode spoke soothing words to the lightning child.
"D-Don't worry, O-Onii-sama will c-come back; he p-promised."
"We also get to talk with him during the day, ja!"
"But," the shadow child spoke up, a dark expression marring his face. "His health isn't getting any better."
At that, everyone's faces fell. Even the ever-smiling water child, Junsui, felt tears prick at her eyes as she tried to smile.
"Onii-chan won't...g-give in that easily! He said he still has something to do!"
The water child rubbed at her eyes, trying to hide the fact that she was crying. Junsui thought about what she would of said, instead of 'give in'.
'H-he would di--'
"Oi, Junsui! Don't think of such depressing thoughts, yo!"
The maroon-haired child jumped from his lotus stance, walked up to Junsui and ruffled her hair roughly.
"Grande Fratello is strong, yo! When he's in trouble, then we'll just protect him, yo!"
"Chikyu-chan..."
The earth child grinned, giving and encouraging smile to the other. The happy moment for the maroon-haired child died off immediately when a certain metal child teased the other.
"That is if you're strong enough, Dirt-face."
"WHAT WAS THAT, YO?!"
Volonte smirked at the other and got into a fighting stance, preparing to engage the other in battle. The rest of the children laughed, giggled or gave a small smile at the scene; they were back to their usual banter. 9 of 11 children played or spared each other while the other 2, Hikari and Kage, watched for a little while longer, and then turned to each other to have a silent conversation.
'You know that he doesn't have much time left.'
'Fufu, yes. Onii-san knows that too.'
'How much longer?'
Hikari's expression saddened greatly and turned her head away from her shadow brother.
'...A-A year and a half...'
The shadow child's eyes narrowed as he grinded his teeth together, his hand forming a fist on his side.
'A YEAR AND A HALF?!'
The light child winced at the loud volume of her brother's thoughts.
'F-Fufu, Kage-niisan, no need to shout in your mind.'
'Sorry...it's just...it's too soon...'
The light child turned her head to look back at her brother, his eyebrows were furrowed, as he glared at the ground. Hikari gripped Kage's hand, which was balled into a fist, and stared into troubled golden eyes.
'Out of all the hosts that carried us, Akihito-nii was the only one that noticed us; cared for us! A-And now, he's going to--'
The shadow child cut himself off, not wanting to finish his sentence. The light child smiled sadly to her contrasting brother, as she turned her gaze to the night sky, stars shining brighter than before.
'Yes,' she thought to her brother, her fluorescent eyes darkening. 'Out of all the hosts that carried us...Onii-san is going to die.'
~~
Akihito opened his eyes slowly, blinking away the haziness. The greenette looked to his window, which was right next to his bed, and saw that it was dark, stars piercing through the black sky.
'Night time already? Haha, I slept too long.'
"Hito, awake?"
An orange canary popped its head into Akihito's vision, making the greenette chuckle.
"Hello, Yuhi! You probably haven't eaten dinner yet! Let's go down stairs and grab a quick bite, neh?"
"Bite, dinner!"
The orange canary hopped off of Akihito's head and settled onto his left shoulder, as the greenette sat up from his bed. He walked down the stairs silently, trying not to wake up his father, who had probably returned home by then. When he entered the kitchen, he was surprised to see that the dining table was not empty. A plate of food with saran wrap covering it was placed on the table, a note left on the side of it. The greenette picked up the note and read it.

Yo, Baka-Hito,
I saw that you were asleep already, but decided to make you dinner anyways. Heat it up for 1 minute and it should be fine. Also, tell me if those brats are bothering you again. If you lie to me, I will fill you with holes. Anyways, enjoy the food, Baka-Hito.
- Corvino

Akihito sweat-dropped at the threat of lying to the raven-haired man, but chuckled at how the trigger-happy father made dinner for him. The greenette looked at what was made for dinner--ravioli.
'Mmm! Ravioli! My favorite!'
Akihito hummed happily as he placed the plate of ravioli into the microwave, taking off the saran wrap before setting the microwave up. The smell of ravioli started to come from the microwave as it started to heat up. The microwave beeped, and the greenette took out the plate of ravioli. He also poured out a bowl of seeds for the small orange puffball, making Yuhi chirp happily.
"Itadakimasu!"
"Eat, thanks!"
After finishing the food, Akihito washed the dishes and put them in the drying rack. He then headed upstairs to the bathroom to brush his teeth, Yuhi nestling in his hair. When he was about to leave the bathroom, he was seized by a heavy coughing fit. He then remembered that he hadn't taken his pills yet.
'Geez, if I want to live a little longer, I need to remember to take my pills! Haha!'
After fishing out the bottle, he took two pills with a cup of water. But before he put the bottle back in, he considered something.
'Corvino-san will find it soon...maybe I should keep it in my room for now...'
Deciding to take the bottle of pills with him, Akihito closed the secret compartment and cabinet, making sure that everything was still in place. With that, he went into bedroom and slipped under the covers of his bed, Yuhi still nestled on his head.
"'Night, Yuhi!"
"Sleep, Hito!"
Akihito closed his eyes, letting sleep take over him.