Under Inui Sadaharu’s data, the regulars had a preliminary understanding of Tezuka Koku’s physical condition. Even the usually carefree Kikumaru Eiji knew that although Koku seemed obedient and sensible, he was actually quite frail.
So during the tennis club’s dinner gathering that evening, Eiji proactively shared his favorite anago sushi with Koku. “Little Koku, you should eat more anago! It’s really good for your health, perfect for you to replenish your strength.”
“Okay, okay.” Koku nodded obediently. He never refused when others offered him food. So when Eiji gave him a piece of sushi, he immediately took a big bite from Eiji’s chopsticks and ate it.
“Koku, how can you eat sushi with Eiji’s chopsticks? What about the table manners mom taught you?”
Tezuka Kunimitsu didn’t expect to turn his head and see his brother eating sushi with Eiji’s chopsticks. Worried that Eiji might be uncomfortable with Koku’s actions, Tezuka frowned and looked at Koku seriously, “Apologize to Eiji right now!”
Then Tezuka Kunimitsu looked at Kikumaru Eiji with an apologetic expression, “Eiji, maybe I should get you another pair of chopsticks. I’m really sorry!”
Startled by his brother’s scolding, Koku realized his mistake. He withdrew his chopsticks, which were about to pick up another piece of sushi, and looked up at his brother cautiously, apologizing obediently, “I’m sorry, Eiji-nii. I didn’t mean to, the sushi was just too delicious…” He hadn’t noticed that Eiji was using his own chopsticks to pick up the sushi, and he just bit into it.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, I don’t mind at all.” Although Koku’s sudden approach did surprise Kikumaru Eiji, the sight of the little guy with his cheeks puffed out like a hamster while chewing the sushi was too adorable for Eiji to resist.
He wanted to feed Koku more sushi, so how could he be mad at him?
But seeing the serious and stern look on their captain’s face, and Koku looking all anxious, Eiji knew he had to say something to lighten the mood, or Koku would definitely feel like he did something wrong. So he deliberately picked up another piece of anago sushi and fed it directly to Koku’s mouth, “Here, Koku, have another one!”
“Does Koku like anago sushi as much as I do?”
“It’s delicious!”
Koku answered Eiji’s question obediently, but he didn’t accept Eiji’s feeding. After being scolded by his brother, Koku felt he should be a well-mannered child at the table and not share chopsticks with others.
Even though he really wanted to eat the anago sushi, he restrained himself from thinking about its delicious taste.
“Huh, Koku’s not eating?” Noticing the little guy’s longing yet restrained gaze, Kikumaru Eiji felt a bit heartbroken. As the saying goes, the more obedient the child, the less they get. Koku was too well-behaved, not even knowing how to be a little willful, which made Eiji feel he should take good care of him.
But Eiji also knew that if he didn’t come up with a good solution, Koku might never accept his feeding again. Now was the best chance to get closer to Koku.
So he deliberately raised his voice, hoping to use the little guy’s competitive spirit to solve the problem, “If you don’t eat, the other brothers will snatch all the sushi!”
“Yeah, yeah!”
“If you don’t eat soon, we’ll finish it all, and then neither Koku nor Eiji will have any anago sushi left.”
Noticing the little episode and hearing Eiji’s deliberately loud voice, the regulars cooperated with him, pretending to snatch the anago sushi in front of Eiji to attract Koku’s attention.
“Ah, no way!” Seeing everyone really seemed to be snatching his favorite anago sushi as Eiji said, Koku, who was trying to be a good boy, panicked. He hurriedly ate the sushi Eiji gave him and urged Eiji while eating, “Don’t let them take Eiji-nii’s sushi, I’ll eat it.”
“Eiji-nii, you should eat too.”
“Okay, okay, let’s eat together.”
The other regulars, who were just pretending, were now almost laughing out loud. The little guy waving his hands frantically to help Eiji protect the anago sushi was just too cute. They were really envious of the captain for having such an obedient brother!
But wasn’t the captain a bit too strict with his brother?
Everyone thought to themselves, but remembering how the captain was always serious and strict with himself, they felt it was only right for him to be strict. But they still felt a bit sorry for little Koku. What should they do?
Well, they could share more of their favorite sushi with Koku!
Seeing Koku regain his previous energy and start eating seriously, the regulars shifted their attention to their favorite sushi, following Eiji’s lead in feeding him.
“Here, Koku, try the salmon sushi, it’s really good too!”
“And the Arctic shrimp sushi~”
“The salmon roe sushi is also amazing…”
On the other side, seeing the members feeding his brother with their chopsticks, Tezuka Kunimitsu was about to say something when Fuji Shusuke pulled him aside, “Tezuka, come eat, I saved some plum rice balls and eel tea for you.”
“Don’t worry about Koku, he’s getting along well with everyone now. Let him handle his relationships with others himself!”
“Even though you’re his brother, Tezuka, sometimes you shouldn’t be overprotective of Koku. He’s growing up, and you shouldn’t always treat him like a child!”
Fuji opened his eyes, which were usually squinted from smiling, and seriously shared his thoughts with Tezuka Kunimitsu. Although Koku was indeed much younger than them, from a friend’s perspective, Fuji Shusuke felt that Tezuka Kunimitsu was a bit too concerned about Koku.
The little guy was just being greedy and didn’t notice Eiji was using his own chopsticks to pick up the sushi, yet Tezuka had such a big reaction and even asked Koku to apologize to Eiji. If Koku had a conflict with someone in the future, would Tezuka drag him to their house to apologize?
Fuji Shusuke really thought it was unnecessary. Although he understood Tezuka Kunimitsu’s actions, he didn’t think it was the right way to handle things, so he earnestly told Tezuka Kunimitsu, “He’s not you.”
So Koku doesn’t need to hold himself to such strict standards.
Tezuka Kunimitsu didn’t expect Fuji to pull him aside to say these things, but he couldn’t deny that Fuji’s words left him stunned for a while. Then he realized that he might indeed be a bit too controlling over Koku. He was always used to holding Koku to his own standards, without ever asking what Koku truly wanted!
His father had also told him before to learn to let Koku go, to let him grow strong on his own. Now even Fuji was saying this, could it be that he was really overprotective of Koku?
But was it really wrong to be like this?