#halftwinmoonwrites

The day started out just like any other day at the Morinomiya mansion. Except the Chairwoman had recently fallen ill since last night. To the Kashima brothers, her being sick was quite the scare as not too long ago she had sprained her hip, luckily recovering quite relatively fast with her tenacity and strong will. It also didn’t help that months later Saikawa also caught a cold unexpectedly, but fortunately with the help of the Chairwoman the two brothers were able to help nurse him back to health. Thankfully, neither brothers got the cold from taking care of Saikawa as they both took care to wear personal protection equipment, though Kotaro’s was made by hand by the Chairwoman as what they had was too big for him. While Yōko recovers, Ryūichi and Kotarō spend their time together as usual, starting with a new picture book fairy tale to read after breakfast. COVID-19 was also not a major reason to panic.

Thankfully, their neighborhood was the least affected by the coronavirus outbreak with zero cases of hospitalizations and deaths. Saikawa with his usual versatility had already taken the precautions and bought the groceries and other house supplies; also, he took great care of cleaning and sanitizing the whole mansion, which Ryūichi was amazed by how he managed to do that within just 1 week. Within the first month of hearing the news, Yōko ordered that her school would be now conducted online until when the outbreak starts to calm down. Luckily, the teachers were well organized and managed their curriculum that was doable, but not too much of a pushover for all students.

Shizuka made sure that Hayato didn’t slack off of his schoolwork, and to have him play with Taka every now and then, as he, Ryūichi, and Usaida decided to halt all of the Babysitter Club’s activities as well, much to the chagrin-but-understanding of Taka, Kirin, Takuma, Kazuma, Midori, Maria, Yuki, Yagi (especially), the Nezu family, and even Inui-senpai (not that he will admit it). Once in a while, they manage to do video group meetings online, which does abate feelings of missing each other, with some amusing moments. Mostly on the Kamitani brothers fighting, with Ryūichi, Shizuka, and Maria scolding Hayato’s usual default of hitting Taka as a disciplinary method, while Shizuka also whacks Hayato in the head as well. And everyone is now aware of where Hayato gets this behavior from...

Ryūichi opens the book with Kotaro on his lap and starts, “Long ago, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest. She was nicknamed ‘Little Red Riding Hood by the other villagers as she was always seen wearing wearing one as she went out. One day she was informed of her grandmother falling ill.” Kotaro inquires, “Nii-cha...” “Hmm? What is it Kotarō?”, Ryuichi asks. “Hoo’?” Kotaro asks confused with a head tilt. (A/N: hood in Japanese is 頭巾/ずきん ‘zukin’, and since Kotaro tends to miss ‘ん’ in Japanese words, I’ve taken upon adjusting my story diction accordingly). 

“Oh that’s right. You probably still don’t know what a hood is. Hmm... it’s like this red handkerchief. Let me just wrap this around your head like so...”, Ryūichi explains to him while coincidentally finding a red handkerchief on the bedside table given to him by Saikawa after celebrating the Lunar New Year, with some basis in Chinese New Year tradition as red being a lucky color. “Ung?”, Kotaro voices in curiosity. “Alright, done! Have a look in the mirror.” As Kotaro turns to the mirror, his eyes sparkle in amazement and happily says “Hoo’!” “Isn’t that great? You look just like her in the story.”, Ryūichi encouraged. “Ung~.”

The Kashima duo then hears three even knocks from their bedroom door with Ryūichi answering, “Ah, yes? Please come in.” Saikawa enters the room, greeting with his usual formal demeanor, “Please excuse me for interrupting your conversation.” 

“Oh, Saikawa-san. How is Obaa-san’s doing?”, Ryūichi greets. “About that, the doctor has informed us that she caught only the cold. It is very unlikely that it is COVID-19 as we all have been following the appropriate health guidelines. The doctor had also collected a small amount of her blood as a sample to be sent to the lab for serological testing as reassurance. She is currently resting in her room.”, Saikawa replies. Ryūichi felt reassured and said, “Is that so? Thank goodness.” 

“‘Any of you catching my cold will be more troublesome, so don’t go anywhere near my room! Hmph!’ is what the Chairwoman said in her own words to relay to you two.”, Saikawa informs with his impression of Yōko. Ryūichi replies with a laugh, “Okay. I understand.”

“Speaking of which, regarding Kotarō-sama’s appearance... is it that of the Little Red Riding Hood, if I am not mistaken?”, Saikawa notes while noticing Kotarō’s new accessory. Ryūichi then explains, “Aah that’s right. We’re right now reading a picture book and he didn’t know what a “riding hood” is, so I told and showed him that it’s something like this. Right?”, Ryūichi says while turning to Kotarō. “Kota, Hoo-cha!”, Kotarō replies while holding the edges of his makeshift red hood.

Ahh, how extremely adorable, Saikawa mentally notes. “Today is a free day, so we’ll be home all day. Let us know if we can help you with anything, Saikawa-san.”, Ryūichi states with his usual dependability. “Thank you very much. I will be preparing lunch after this, so please take your time to enjoy reading the rest of the picture book.”, Saikawa states as he bows to them both and leaves the room, closing the door.

“I hope Obaa-san gets better soon. Right, Kotarō?” Ryūichi suggested to Kotaro, in a calm and hopeful tone. Yesterday, he and Kotarō panicked when they noticed Yōko’s red face to then hear coughing. Saikawa already dialed their primary physician as soon as he suspected something was off, and told them to calm down. “Ung.”, Kotarō replied. “Let’s get back to reading... now where were we?”, Ryūichi pondered. “Nii-cha, Hoo’!”, Kotarō happily reminds his brother. “Oh, that’s right. Let’s continue the story, okay?”, Ryūichi suggests while readjusting himself and Kotaro, who replied “Ung~”.

Ryūichi turns the page and continues, “One day Little Red Riding Hood’s mom calls her over and said, ‘Here’s a basket with some chicken and veggie soup, a cake, and a bottle of wine to give to Grandma. Could you deliver this to her? Grandma is very weak with illness, so this get-well-gift should make her feel better soon.” Kotaro asks, “Baa-cha, get-well-giff?” “Yeah, yeah. She’s going to bring a get-well-gift – ah a get-well-gift is something you bring to someone who is sick to make them feel happy and better.”, Ryuichi explains while also teaching the green-haired toddler.

“Ung! Baa-cha, get-well-giff! Kota will bwing too!”, Kotaro states with determination of the new info he has learned. The toddler then safely climbs off of Ryūichi’s lap while holding the picture book and walking out of their bedroom. “Ah! Where are you bringing that book, Kotaro?!” Ryūichi claims concerned and confused.