Work Text:
Tobio was in the backyard setting to himself when the ball fell through his hands and hit him in the face.
It didn’t hurt but his mouth felt.. funny. he didn’t like it.
A little further investigation with his tongue and he realised the tooth, that always annoyed him cause it was way looser than the others, was gone. Although he was constantly frustrated with how hard it was to eat on that side of his mouth and how uncomfortable it was for it to be moving so much, it was a much weirder feeling to just have a gap there. He really didn’t like it.
He looked down at the ground to find it sitting next to the ball. His tooth fell out and the odd gap left there felt gross to touch with his tongue. He felt it over and over, picking the tooth off the ground and staring at it in his hand. He started to panic.
How was he gonna eat?? Was he gonna have to live with this horrible feeling in his mouth for the rest of his life??
The kids at school would have something else to pick on him for.
He started to cry. Picking up his volleyball with one hand, rolling it up his leg and into his arms, careful not to drop the tooth in his other hand, he went inside for help.
“Jiijiiiii,” he cried.
He quickly kicked off his shoes and jogged towards the kitchen to find his grandfather slicing vegetables for lunch. There was music playing quietly, his grandfather swayed and sang along to the tune, stopping and turning down the music when he heard Tobio’s cries,
“Ojiichan,” he coughed, he was finding it a little hard to breath through his crying.
“Tobio? whats wrong?” He walked towards a small hyperventilating Tobio and got down on his knees to address the problem at his level, “Are you hurt?”
Tobio shook his head but he checked the boy for injuries anyway. When he found nothing physically hurting he took the ball from Tobios hand, set in on the ground beside him, and held his hand,
“Remember how we breath Tobio? Do it with me.”
His grandfather slowly breathed in, exaggerating the motion and bringing Tobio’s hand up as he breathed. He held it there, cheeks puffed out to show Tobio. Tobio tried his best to keep his cheeks and more importantly his lungs filled with air but it was a lot more difficult than his grandfather made it seem. He let the air out with a huff and continued crying, bringing the hand that was held up by his grandfather down in frustration.
“Try again Tobio. You can do it.” his grandfather reassured him.
He wanted to make his grandfather proud, he could do it.
His grandfather breathed in again and Tobio reached for his hand to bring it up with his breath. He filled his lungs with as much air as he could, cheeks puffed out and face determined. His grandfather held his hand there, slightly above his head, for what felt like minutes but in reality was only a couple seconds. As he lowered his hand down slowly, he matched it with his breath, blowing as if he was blowing one of those big soap bubbles him and his sister always play with outside. His breath came out a little faster than his grandfather's but his grandfather looked satisfied,
“Good job Tobio!”
Tobio couldn’t hide the small smile from the praise but his breathing was still erratic and his tears were still flowing down his cheeks,
“Let’s do it again.” his grandfather instructed.
They did it a few more times until Tobio was calmer and his grandfather felt he was ready to tell him what was wrong.
“Good job! Now tell me the problem and i’ll help you fix it.”
Tobio didn’t say anything, he just slowly held out his hand and opened it up to reveal a small tooth. He looked at the ground, scared for his grandfather's reaction.
“You lost a tooth? Lemme see, open your mouth.”
Tobio pouted but opened his mouth just wide enough for his grandfather to see a small gap where one of his front teeth should be.
“Does it hurt?”
Tobio closed his mouth and shook his head, his eyes never leaving the floor.
“Then that's great! Your baby teeth are supposed to fall out Tobio!”
“They are?” Tobio asked as he looked up.
His grandfather laughed, “Yup! was it wiggly?”
Tobio nodded and his grandfather laughed again taking the tooth from his hand and holding it up for them to see.
“But my mouth feelth weird.” he stopped and looked puzzled, “feelth” he tried again.
His grandfather laughed again, louder, as Tobio pouted and blushed, embarrassed at his new speech impediment.
“Don’t worry, a new one will grow in soon.” his grandfather said as he gave him his tooth back, “it means you’re growing up Tobi. Soon you will have all new adult teeth like me!”
“I’m gonna have teeth like you?”
“Even better than mine if you take care of em!” his grandfather joked.
Tobio looked excited at that. Adult teeth like his grandfather. Anything that made him more like his grandfather was a good thing, he thought.
His grandfather ruffled his hair as he stood up and returned to the forgotten vegetables. Tobio’s smile dropped a little as he followed him, pulling up a step stool to see over the counter,
“But how do I eat with no teeth? and what if people at thchool are mean becauth I look weird?” he asked, “and talk weird.” he added, shrinking a little.
His grandfather continued cutting the vegetables as he spoke,
“You can still use your other teeth to eat, the new one will probably grow in before others fall out.” Tobio looked a little relieved and he continued, “Also all the other kids at school are losing their teeth too. They’ll probably think you’re really cool if you show it off!”
Tobio brightened even more, looking from the vegetables to his grandfather and then at the tooth still in his tiny hand. He made a mental note to bring his lost tooth to school on monday.
Maybe he’ll be able to impress a few people into playing with him if he shows them the cool gap in between his teeth.
“You’re growing up so fast Tobio.”
His grandfather looked down at his grandson who looked right back up. He bent down and planted a kiss on his forehead to which Tobio scrunched his nose and wiped it off with his hand. His grandfather laughed and looked back at the chopped vegetables. Satisfied, he put the knife down and looked back at Tobio,
“Grown ups need know how to cook. Go put that tooth somewhere safe and then wash your hands, i’ll teach you how to make lunch.”
Tobio hopped off the stool and scampered off to his room. His grandfather listened to the sink being run in the other room and turned his music back up just a little, smiling.
Tobio really was growing up so fast.