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Hajime felt sick.
His stomach had been hurting all day. Ever since Uncle Yuki and Aunt Machi and Mutsuki rushed home that morning at the news that Mutsuki’s Uncle Ayame was in the hospital.
And it wasn’t a typical stomachache. No, this was nothing like the time he got the stomach flu, or the way his stomach used to hurt before he knew he couldn’t digest milk, or even the time he threw up after he and Mutsuki rode the merry-go-round at the park on full stomachs.
Although, thinking about that last one made his stomach hurt even worse.
If anything, it was kind of like the stomachaches he’d get before a belt test or an important exam in school. The kind that meant he was nervous.
But he was at the beach, having fun with his family. What was there for him to be nervous about?
“Hajime-kun, are you feeling all right?” his mother asked, her brow crinkled as she pressed a hand to his face.
“Stomach hurts,” he muttered, curling his knees to his chest.
Immediately, his mother flew into a panic. “Oh no! Are you getting sick? Kyo-kun, maybe Ernie-san should do an exam? Or maybe we need to go home? It-”
“Tohru, relax,” his father said, an amused smile on his face. “I think I might know what’s wrong, anyway. Hajime?”
“Yeah, Dad?”
“Why don’t you walk back with me and get some rest? If you’re feelin’ any better in an hour or so, you can join everyone back here, okay?”
Hajime nodded. He wiped a tear from his eye.
“Actually, I think Emiko-chan’s ready for a nap, too,” Tohru said, lifting the toddler from the blanket where she’d fallen asleep.
“Mind if we join you?” his Uncle Momiji asked quietly, bending to lift Mina, who’d fallen asleep beside Emiko. “I should see how Ernst und Johann are doing.”
“Hey, Haru, Rin, can you two hold down the fort for us?” Kyo called out.
From the water, Haru gave a deep bow, then returned to chasing Sora and Yuma through the crashing waves. Rin gave a nod from where she sat building sandcastles with Riku on the shore.
“Let’s go,” Kyo said, taking Hajime’s hand.
It wasn’t fair. Hajime had been looking forward to seeing Mutsuki for weeks, and they barely had one evening to hang out before Mutsuki had to leave. And even then, everyone else had been there, too, so it wasn’t like they really got to catch up or anything.
Why did Mutsuki have to go anyway? Ayame only broke his leg. It wasn’t like it made a difference whether Mutsuki was here or there.
But Hajime knew that wasn’t fair. He remembered how worried he was when his own mom had been in the hospital for the birth of his two siblings. Given how close Mutsuki was with Ayame, he wouldn’t have been able to stop worrying if he’d stayed.
Still, though, it stung. Every summer, he got to spend time with Mutsuki at the beach house, and it was always the best part of his summer. What if he didn’t get to see Mutsuki again until the New Year?
His stomach clenched at the thought. It was almost too painful, the thought of having to wait four more months to see his best friend.
This week was going to suck.
With Hajime and the two girls in bed, Tohru and Kyo sat around the dining table, sharing a pot of tea with Momiji.
“Ah, so he’s lovesick?” Momiji asked, raising his brows at Kyo.
Kyo chuckled. “Yeah. At least I’m pretty sure.”
“Well,” Momiji said cheerfully, “it only took fifteen years, but it seems Kyo finally understands love!”
Kyo rolled his eyes at the teasing. “Yeah, yeah. I was clueless. At least I figured it out eventually,” he said, sharing a fond look with Tohru.
“And Hajime-kun takes after his father,” Tohru added, beaming back at him.
“True. He’s actin’ the way I felt whenever you were gone,” Kyo replied. “I wonder if we should say something to Yuki?”
“He must be so worried about Ayame-san,” Tohru said, wringing her hands. “I’d hate to add anything to his plate…”
Kyo snorted, which he quickly tried to disguise as a cough.
Just then, Ernst came downstairs holding a wiggly three-month-old.
“Ah!” Tohru exclaimed, a huge smile on her face. “Is Yohan-san awake?”
“Ja,” Ernst replied, striding over to the table and taking his seat between Momiji and Tohru. “And he’s very curious about this strange new place!”
Momiji’s husband was a nurse; a deeply compassionate and sensitive man with tidy, light brown hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and bright blue eyes. He’d spent part of his childhood in Japan, returning to Germany with his family in his early teen years, where he’d met Momiji at university.
Momiji smiled softly at his husband while Tohru cooed at baby Johann. “Tohru, would you like to hold him?” he asked.
“Oh, if that would be all right with Ernie-san!” she exclaimed, waving her hands.
“Of course!”
Practically vibrating with excitement, Tohru held out her hands. Johann, with his bright blue eyes, beamed as she took him into her arms.
“Is Hajime feeling all right?” Ernst asked.
“Ja, he’s just feeling a bit down since Mutsuki had to leave,” Momiji answered.
“Ah,” Ernst replied, smiling. “I’d wondered how those two would handle being separated.”
“So you do think it’s mutual, then?” Kyo asked.
“Well, I can’t say for sure, but Mutsuki did seem quite annoyed last night that Riku kept following them.”
Kyo nodded quietly, frowning.
“Something wrong?” Momiji asked.
“No,” Kyo answered. “Not really. I just don’t want my kid to get his heart broken, you know?”
Momiji and Ernst nodded.
“There’s very little in the world that stings in quite the way heartbreak does,” Ernst said.
“Ja,” Momiji agreed. “It’s one of the most painful things one can experience. But…”
He looked from Tohru, who was happily doting over his son, to his husband, who sat calmly between them.
“…but love is always a precious thing, even when it’s not returned. And I wouldn’t change a thing about the way things turned out, would you?”
“Nein, of course not!” Ernst answered. “Although, sometimes I do wish I hadn’t drowned my sorrows with quite so much beer and chocolate.”
Momiji laughed, flushing as Ernst pressed a kiss to his cheek. “And Hajime can always talk to us, you know? There’s a lot he’ll probably be figuring out over the next few years. It helps to have someone who’s been there before.”
Kyo nodded, a slight frown still remaining.
He really hoped Ernst was right about it being mutual.
Hajime came down a couple of hours later, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with balled fists.
“Hey, Hajime,” Kyo said. “Feelin’ any better?”
Hajime nodded quietly.
“Hajime-kun,” Tohru began, “would you like to stay here with us, or would you like to go back down to the beach?”
Before Hajime could answer, Kyo’s phone rang.
“Sorry,” he said, going to silence it. “Actually, it’s your Uncle Yuki.”
“Answer it!” Hajime blurted.
With a chuckle, Kyo answered the video call.
“Uncle Kyo!” came Mutsuki’s voice from the other end.
“Hey Mutsuki,” Kyo answered, his eyes flicking over to Hajime, who’d turned bright red. “Everything all right over there?”
“Yeah, Uncle Ayame’s going to be okay. I signed his cast already!”
“Oh yeah? What’d you write?”
“Well, on the front, I wrote my name really big! But on the back, I wrote ‘Uncle Ayame has big stinky toes!’”
“What’d he say?” Kyo asked, raising his eyebrows.
“He doesn’t know yet, and I don’t think anyone will tell him. Dad said I should’ve written that they were hairy, too.”
Kyo snorted. “He’s not wrong.”
“Is Hajime there?”
Kyo looked over to Hajime, whose eyes had widened at Mutsuki’s question.
“Yeah. One sec.”
Kyo brought the phone over. “You okay, Hajime? I can say you’re busy.”
“N-no, it’s fine,” Hajime said, taking the phone. “H-hey Mutsuki!”
“Hajimeee! I really wish you were here, too.”
“You do?”
“Of course I do! But I have good news; Mom’s gonna bring me back tomorrow, along with Chizuru!”
Hajime’s body language completely mellowed as they talked.
Yup. He had it bad for Mutsuki.
“…and Uncle Ayame got these cool crutches, look what I can do with them!”
It was hard not to laugh as cries of, “No, no no, Mutsuki, not in the shop!” sounded in the background, immediately followed by a loud crash.
“…oops!” Mutsuki said.
“Give me the phone, Mutsuki,” came Yuki’s stern voice.
“Aww. Fine.”
“Hajime-kun, is your mother around?”
Tohru was in the living room with Momiji, watching their daughters play together.
“Yeah, lemme go get her.”
As Hajime handed the phone to his mother, he couldn’t help but feel giddy.
Mutsuki was coming back tomorrow.
Maybe this week wouldn’t suck after all.
That night, Tohru asked Hajime to stay up while the other kids were put to bed. When she and Kyo finished putting Emiko and Yuma down, she asked, “Hajime-kun, would you like to take a walk to the beach with your father and me? Your Uncle Yuki said there was a meteor shower tonight.”
“A meteor shower? Cool!”
Tohru beamed and the three of them headed down to the beach with a blanket.
They walked down the shore a little ways, eventually setting the blanket down along an open stretch of beach.
“Ahh! Look!” Tohru exclaimed.
Sure enough, a star streaked through the sky where she pointed.
“Make a wish, everyone!”
Hajime wished for Mutsuki to get here as soon as possible.
“What did you wish for?” Tohru asked.
“You know you gotta tell us yours if you wanna know,” Kyo reminded her wryly.
“Right!”
A few more shooting stars appeared as Hajime watched, trying to bring form to the question that nagged at him.
“Mom, Dad… how did you know when you were in love?”
“Oh! Well…” Tohru stopped abruptly as she began to tear up.
“Mom! Don’t cry just ‘cause I asked you a question! Geez…”
Kyo gently wiped the tears from her eyes. “I actually realized I loved her the first time we came here,” he said.
“Really?” Hajime asked.
“Yup,” Kyo answered, putting an arm around Tohru and holding her close as she blubbered. “It’s hard to say what did it. It’s not like it’s one feeling. It’s a lot of little ones that add up over time. But… I guess I realized how crappy I felt whenever she wasn’t around, and how much better she made every little thing. Like… I’d do anything if it’d make her smile.”
“You still do,” Hajime blurted.
Kyo chuckled. “Yeah, well… guess that means I’m still in love with her, then,” he replied, kissing the top of her head.
Tohru dried her eyes, though to little end, as tears still rolled down her cheeks. “Ah- it took me a bit longer,” she admitted. “But I’d loved him for quite a while before I realized it.”
“Really? You can love someone and not even know it?” Hajime asked.
“Yes,” Tohru answered. “Especially if you’ve never loved someone that way before.”
“Wow. So how’d you figure it out, Mom?”
“Well,” she said, “I understood that if I didn’t tell him, there was a chance I’d lose him forever.”
“Why?”
“That’s… a long story,” Kyo interjected. “We’ll tell you one day, when you’re older.”
Hajime frowned, trying to make sense of his father’s comment.
“It was very hard for me to depend on people,” Tohru said. “But Kyo-kun was someone I could always depend on. To be separated from him… I couldn’t take it.”
“So,” Hajime said, “it’s kind of like… like a piece of you was missing, whenever you had to be apart?”
“Yes,” Tohru answered, nodding.
“That’s exactly it,” Kyo agreed.
They sat quietly for a while as Hajime thought about this. Soon, Tohru asked hesitantly, “Might there be someone who makes you feel that way, Hajime-kun?”
He flushed deeply. “N-no!” he exclaimed. “I’m just… curious. That’s all.”
At his father’s skeptical look, he scowled. “Etsuma said he likes a girl in our class, okay? I just wanted to know what he was talkin’ about, geez!”
Kyo raised an eyebrow. “Etsuma, huh? Wonder if it’s someone else in my classes. He tell you who?”
Hajime shook his head, his cheeks a deep scarlet.
As they watched the stars fall, a smile returned to his face.
His missing piece would be here soon.