4. Come here. Let me fix it.

Daiken does his best to get his siblings out the door in time

Content warnings: None

Notes:

Daiken: 14 | Sachi & Kazuki: 9 | Kaito: 4

Winter had crept into the city, little by little and then all at once, leaving Daiken scrambling to pull out his siblings’ winter clothing for the year. Last week, he had woken up and found it was too cold to leave the fire escape window open anymore and got to experience the pleasure of explaining to a miffed Kazuki why it had to be closed.

This morning, Daiken was running through his morning routine trying to get everyone ready for school on time, but if he was being honest, he wasn’t sure he would make it to first period on time. Their father was gone for the week, which made things easier, but there was always something little tripping them up every day. 

Sachi had taken longer than usual to get out of bed, and he already hated waking her when she had enough trouble sleeping as it was. The soft part of his heart won out, and he indulged her sleep for just a smidge too long, pulling the blanket off of Kazuki and nudging him to the bathroom first. Now, Sachi was rushing in and out of their room, grabbing things last minute between intermittent bites of her breakfast. Kazuki sat at the table fully dressed in his huge winter coat, nodding off into his cereal. Kaito stood quietly in the corner, back to the room, looking down at something intently. Daiken wondered if he should be concerned but decided to pick his battles and shrugged it off.

It was a little crazy, sure, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

It was around five minutes before they absolutely had to leave that Daiken finally found a chance to sit down at their kitchen table and eat something. He unceremoniously dropped his backpack on the couch before grabbing a slice of toast. He inhaled it in an instant, chewing furiously while staring at the microwave clock, which was 5 minutes behind. We’ve got time. I think we can make it.

Daiken was in the middle of buttering his second slice of toast, preparing to shove it down his throat when he heard little footsteps coming his way. Seconds later, Daiken felt a tug at his sleeve, and he turned. It was Kaito, the two halves of his unzipped jacket in his 4-year-old hands. Daiken raised an eyebrow, and Kaito made a frustrated noise. 

“Daiken!” he whined, bottom lip wobbling dangerously. “Daiken, help!” He stretched out his arms, holding the offending coat away from his body like it was poisonous. 

Despite his rush, Daiken smiled a little and held out his hands. “Your zipper not working, buddy? C’mere. Lemme fix it for you.” Daiken took the two halves of the jacket and zipped it smoothly, well-versed in the convoluted nature of toddler clothing. “See? All better.”

Kaito inspected his handiwork, going cross-eyed as he stared down his own front. After a few seconds, he deemed Daiken’s efforts acceptable and smiled up at him. “Thhank you Dee!” he exclaimed, and he wrapped his coat-laden arms around him. 

“You’re welcome!” Daiken said dramatically, standing to sweep his little brother into a large hug. Kaito squealed and wriggled his way out of his grasp, giggling as he ran away from him back into his corner. Daiken grinned at him, a light feeling rising up inside his chest.

His siblings were all rascals, but he loved them for it.

The sound of snoring across from him brought him back to reality, and he grabbed Kazuki’s shoulder right before he could faceplant into his bowl. “Whoa, be careful, kid,” he told him as he blinked awake. “Grab your shoes by the door.” He stood over him until he finally moved, shrugging on his bag with a yawn. 

He spared a glance at the clock again as grabbed his backpack and called out to Sachi to hurry. One minute. We can still make it.

Daiken slid into his seat in first period not a second before the bell rang.