Work Text:
Genya had a lot on his plate, at this point in the school year he felt like every other day there was another major assignment due alongside the piles of homework he was assigned.
Right now he was working on an essay, but once that was done he had homework for nearly every class he is in.
It wasn’t actually a lot in hindsight, the amount of work was manageable.
The issue was Genya himself. He was tired. He was tired, and stressed, and overwhelmed, and burned out.
All he really wanted to do right now was cry, find his brother and get cuddles until he felt better. But he didn’t have time for that right now.
And that was the second problem, he could feel the fuzzy haze of regression sneaking up on him. He really wanted to give into it, to just slip and be little. But he couldn’t do that because he had to write this stupid essay, and then he had to do his math homework, then his history homework and civics and everything else, it would likely take him the whole evening.
He just has to soldier on.
Genya normally didn’t even struggle with most of his classes. His grades were decent (except in math, which was ironic all things considered) and he rarely struggled. But this essay was killing him. He had been at it for hours at this point, he knew he should probably put it aside and work on something else, but the idea of not working on it felt wrong.
He just couldn’t seem to find the right words or put them together in the proper order.
A small sob escaped his throat. He wiped away the newly formed tears from his face, he didn’t have time to cry. Still as he kept trying to work the tears kept rolling down his cheeks.
Then there was a knock at his door followed by Sanemi’s voice, “Genya it’s dinner time.”
Genya didn’t move or respond; he just sat at his desk crying, staring at the papers in front of him.
Another knock, “Genya?”
And Genya still did not respond.
This time the door to his room was slowly opened.
“Genya, dinner time,” Sanemi repeated once he was in Genya’s room.
“Not hungry,” Genya replied sniffling.
“You okay?” Sanemi asked, clearly concerned about this little brother.
Genya just nodded, tears falling down his cheeks.
“Are you little right now?”
“No,” Genya shook his head.
“You sure? Crying like that isn’t like you.”
Genya nodded, “just overwhelmed,” he admitted.
Sanemi walked over to Genya, looking over his brother's shoulders to see what he was working on.
“It’s this stupid essay,” Genya explained, as he began crying more, “then I have all my stupid homework.”
Sanemi rubbed the space between Genya’s shoulder blades. “How about we take a break for dinner,” he suggested.
Genya didn’t want to leave his desk for dinner, he really didn’t want to eat at all, but he still nodded and then got up from his desk.
“It’ll be okay,” Sanemi said, trying to comfort his brother.
“I know.”
Sanemi had already dished out dinner and had it set on the table before he went to get Genya.
Genya sat at his place at the table and poked at this food, tears still streaming down his cheeks. He was hungry but he didn’t have it in him to eat right now.
“At least take a couple bites, Gen,” Sanemi told him.
Genya nodded, and took some of the rice and ate it. He hated that it felt good to eat, he hated that now he had started eating he was unlikely to stop until he had finished his dinner.
“Feeling better now?” Sanemi asked.
“A bit,” Genya mumbled.
“Good, grab your homework and bring it here, we'll work on it together,” Sanemi instructed.
Genya nodded and went to his room to grab the papers from his desk. Just looking at them made him want to break down into tears all over again, but he pushed the feelings aside because right now he had to be big and get his homework done.
Papers in hand, Genya returned to the kitchen. Sanemi had cleared the kitchen table and had moved his chair so it was beside Genya’s.
Genya put the papers on the table then took his seat.
“We should put the essay aside for now,” Sanemi told Genya, taking the papers and moving them out of the way, “what subject do you wanna start with?”
Sanemi was uncharacteristically warm. Normally he was a lot more strict when it came to Genya’s schooling, wanting his brother's grades to be as high as possible.
Genya shrugged.
“Why don’t we start with math then,” Sanemi suggested.
Genya nodded, not really having a strong preference.
Sanemi looked through the small stack of papers and pulled out the work sheets of math he had handed out for homework then placed it in front of Genya.
“Okay, we talked about this in class today,” Sanemi told Genya.
Genya stared at the paper. He knows they talked about this in class, but he couldn’t remember what Sanemi had said. He was paying attention in class, he understood it this afternoon but looking at the question now he couldn’t make any sense of it.
Genya could feel tears welling up in his eyes as he struggled to remember how to solve the problems.
“Hey,” Sanemi said, his tone soft and gentle, “no tears, we’ll go through it step by step.”
Genya nodded. He was happy his brother was being oddly patient with him. Right now there was no way he could handle his brother's usual harshness.
Sanemi slowly helped Genya work through the math problem, carefully explaining each step. It took Genya much longer than it should have but eventually the first question had been answered.
“Good job, Gen,” his brother praised him.
Genya smiled, then looked to the next problem, which was just as confusing to him as the first one.
Sanemi was still guiding him through each question, this went on until they were half way through the paper when Genya put his pen down frustrated.
Genya pulled his knees to his chest then rested his forehead on them doing his best to hide his face as tears began rolling down his cheeks again.
“Need a break?” Sanemi asked.
A soft sob was the only response Sanemi got from Genya.
“You sure you aren’t little bud?” Sanemi questioned, rubbing Genya’s back.
“‘M not,” Genya muttered.
“Genya, it’s okay if you are, we can deal with your homework later.”
“I don’t wanna be little,” Genya sobbed.
“I don’t think you have a choice,” Sanemi explained softly.
Genya whined. He knew Sanemi was right, he very rarely had control over when he would slip and become little, and he had no control over how young he ended up regressing. It was annoying, and sometimes scary. Right now it was also very inconvenient.
Sanemi hadn’t stopped rubbing Genya’s back as he waited for his brother to respond.
“Can’t be little right now,” Genya tried to argue.
“Why not?”
Genya just pointed to the papers on the table.
“Gen.”
“Don’ wanna get in trouble,” Genya added.
“You won’t get in trouble if you don’t do your homework,” Sanemi tried to explain.
“Will,” Genya retorted.
“Why do you think you’ll get in trouble?”
Genya then pointed to Sanemi and suddenly the kitchen felt very quiet.
“Oh,” Sanemi eventually responded, “I’m sorry I made you feel that way Gen.”
Genya's response was just a small sniffle.
“You won’t get in trouble if you need a break,” Sanemi told Genya, “I promise.”
Genya sniffled again. He and Sanemi sat in relative silence, just the sounds of Genya sobbing and sniffling as he continued to cry. The whole time Sanemi sat beside his brother rubbing his back.
At this point, Genya had slipped and was now little, but he didn’t want to admit it to his brother.
But in the silence there was suddenly the sound of liquid hitting the floor. Because of course he would end up wetting himself. Genya couldn’t help but cry more, he hated when he had accidents. He hated how they made him feel, he hated that he couldn’t tell he had to go until it was far too late.
“Gen,” Sanemi said sympathetically.
Genya just sobbed harder and louder.
“I think we’re done with homework for the night, bud,” Sanemi ran his fingers through Genya’s hair.
“S’rry,” Genya muttered.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about,” Sanemi replied, still running his fingers through his brother's hair.
“Peed my pants… like a…. baby,” Genya tried to argue between sobs.
“It was an accident," Sanemi explained, “you didn’t mean to.”
Genya just sobbed more. His wet pants made him feel icky.
“Let’s get you cleaned up okay?” Sanemi told Genya, as he stood up from his chair then picked his brother up.
As Sanemi lifted Genya from his chair some more of Genya’s accident ended up splashing onto the floor which only made him cry more.
“No tears,” Sanemi cooed as he cradled his brother, “it’s okay. You're okay.”
Genya pressed his face into the crook of Sanemi’s neck. There was still a part of him that wanted to pull away from Sanemi, a part of him that didn’t want to get his brother wet, but the part of him that was little and wanted comfort was so much stronger.
Sanemi carried Genya to the bathroom. While still holding his brother he turned on the tap and began filling up the bathtub. As the water level rose, Sanemi put Genya down on the toilet.
“Let's get you out of these yucky clothes, okay?” Sanemi told Genya.
Teary eyed Genya nodded.
Sanemi first got Genya out of his t-shirt, then his wet jeans and boxers.
“Lets get you into the tub now bud,” Sanemi said, as he helped Genya into the water.
Genya splashed at the water a bit, still trying to fight off his headspace.
“I promise it’s okay if you need to be little right now, Genya,” Sanemi told his brother, seemingly able to read his mind.
Genya just sniffled, his noise still stuffy from crying.
“You can be as little as you need to, whenever you need to be,” Sanemi reassured.
Genya stared at his brother, his eyes wet from tears.
Sanemi grabbed a Bluey washcloth and put some body wash on it, “I’m gonna start cleaning you up okay bud?”
Genya nodded.
Sanemi was careful as he washed his brother's body making sure to clean around his thighs to prevent his brother from getting any type of rash.
Once that was done Sanemi grabbed the shampoo and started washing Genya’s hair, Genya leaning into the touch.
Sanemi could tell Genya was finally beginning to slip more into his little headspace. Tomorrow he would explain to his coworkers and Genya’s teachers why his little brother didn’t get his homework done.
Right now his brother needed this and Sanemi wasn’t about to deny his brother that.
“Wanna stay in the water a bit longer?” Sanemi asked Genya once he was done washing him.
Genya nodded hesitantly.
“You have until the water gets cold, okay?” Sanemi told Genya.
Genya nodded in acknowledgement and began splashing at the water. As he was doing that Sanemi went over to the sink and pulled out a pack of bath crayons from the cabinet to give to Genya.
The crayons were always messy and something Sanemi would have to clean up later but he figured it would be something nice for Genya to play with, and Genya did like scribbling on the walls of the tub.
“I’ll be right back Gen,” Sanemi said to his brother. With Genya occupied with the crayons, Sanemi figured it was the best time for him to go and clean up Genya’s accident.
Genya acknowledged his brother with a small nod, not looking away from his drawings on the wall.
Sanemi grabbed the disinfectant and some rags. He started with wiping down Genya’s chair, and once that was clean and dry he cleaned up the floor. Once he was satisfied, he put the disinfectant away and tossed the rag into his laundry basket.
After that he went into his own room and changed clothes, which had gotten wet from carrying Genya after his accident.
He went back to the bathroom where Genya was still scribbling on the walls.
“You ready to come out?” Sanemi asked his brother.
Genya shook his head.
Sanemi went over to the tub and put his hand into the water, which was starting to lose its warmth. “I don’t know Gen, water’s getting pretty cold.”
Genya again shook his head.
Sanemi sighed, “you know, we have paper if you still want to draw.”
Genya stopped what he was doing, looked to his brother then raised his arms.
Sanemi couldn’t help but chuckle as he helped his brother out of the tub then wrapped him up in his Bluey towel.
Sanemi carried Genya to his room, then placed Genya on his bed. He went to Genya’s dresser and pulled out a set of pyjamas, then to the closet where he grabbed a diaper for his brother.
Genya whined at the sight of the diaper.
“I know bud, but you already had an accident and I’m pretty sure you don’t want to wake up in wet sheets,” Sanemi explained.
Genya nodded slowly, bringing one of his hands to his mouth.
Sanemi let his brother suck on his thumb for now, as he put Genya in the diaper, then the pajama pants. As he finished, he removed Genya’s thumb from his mouth, garnering a small whine from his brother. Sanemi pulled the shirt over Genya’s head then carefully pulled his arms through the sleeves. Once Genya was dressed Sanemi grabbed Genya’s pacifier and gave it to his brother.
Sanemi lifted Genya up once more and rested his brother on his hip, “do we wanna bring Bingo?”
Genya nodded and Sanemi grabbed the plushie from Genya’s bed and handed it to him.
Sanemi walked to the living room still carrying his brother. He set Genya down in front of the coffee table then went to get Genya’s crayons and some paper, once he had them he returned to the living room and placed the items down in front of his brother.
“Should we turn on Bluey while you draw?” Sanemi offered.
Genya nodded enthusiastically.
Sanemi just smiled and turned on the TV, logged onto Disney+, then put Bluey on. Genya seemed happy as he scribbled on the papers, every once in a while looking up at the TV.
It was a nice change compared to how Genya was at dinner time.
Eventually Genya started nodding off as he struggled to keep his eyes open.
“Time for bed?” Sanemi asked, noticing how his brother was practically falling asleep.
Genya simply shook his head then turned to his brother and did grabby hands.
Sanemi lifted Genya into his lap, where Genya immediately nuzzled into his chest.
“Cuddles before bed?” Sanemi asked.
Genya made a sound of approval around his pacifier.
“Yeah, we can cuddle before bed,” Sanemi held Genya a bit closer and gave him a small kiss on the forehead.
It didn’t take long for Genya to fall asleep. But Sanemi still held his brother as he sat on the couch. He liked how peaceful his brother looked, the stress of his big life looked like it didn’t exist. His homework sat incomplete on the kitchen table.
Soon, it was time for Sanemi to go to bed. He got off the couch holding Genya, careful to not wake his brother, and making sure he grabbed Bingo. He took Genya to his room, laid him on the bed and tucked him in, leaving his brother with one last kiss on the forehead.
As Sanemi was leaving Genya’s room he made sure to turn on the nightlight just in case.
“Goodnight Genya,” Sanemi whispered before he softly closed the door.
Sanemi went to his own room, changed into a loose shirt and baggy sweat pants before climbing into bed. He laid there awake for a while thinking about what the next day would be like, mostly wondering if Genya would still be regressed when he woke up or not.
Whatever the outcome, Sanemi would be there for his baby brother.