When Tezuka Kunimitsu returned home with his younger brother, it was no surprise to see his mother sitting in the living room, waiting for them. Without needing to guess, he knew she was waiting for Koku to come back. So, Tezuka Kunimitsu handed over the gift that Kawamura’s father had prepared for Koku to his mother and explained, “This is a welcome gift from Uncle Kawamura for Koku. But since Koku already ate a lot tonight, Uncle Kawamura packed it for him to eat at home.”
“Alright, thank you for your hard work today, Kunimitsu!” After taking the bag from Tezuka Kunimitsu, his mother, Tezuka Ayana, exchanged a few pleasantries with him and then couldn’t help but turn her attention to Koku, who was obediently changing his shoes.
Tezuka Kunimitsu understood that his mother hadn’t seen his brother all day and must have missed him a lot. So, he sensibly said to his mother, “Mom, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to my room. I’ll leave Koku to you.”
“Yes, yes, Kunimitsu, you should rest early.”
Tezuka Kunimitsu was already used to his mother’s different attitude towards him, so he had no objections and was about to head to his room. However, before going upstairs, he remembered how much his brother had eaten at dinner and, considering his brother’s health, he reminded his mother, “Mom, if we have any digestive tablets at home, it would be best to give Koku a few. He ate too much tonight!”
“Okay, I’ll get some for him in a bit.”
After taking the bag from her eldest son, Tezuka Ayana’s attention was entirely on her younger son. Unlike her mature and steady eldest son, Koku had been raised under her constant care since he was little, so she doted on him especially and rarely let him eat outside. Today was the first time Tezuka Koku had eaten away from her side, and she was worried he hadn’t eaten well.
She originally planned to make a late-night snack for Koku to eat when he got home, but Tezuka Kuniharu stopped her. His reasoning was sound, “Didn’t Kunimitsu take them to Kawamura’s family restaurant today? You know how good Kawamura’s cooking is; there’s no way Koku would be hungry.”
“Instead of worrying about Koku being hungry, it’s better to prepare some digestive tablets for him! I think Koku will definitely eat too much today.”
Initially, Tezuka Ayana didn’t quite believe her husband’s words, but when she saw her younger son’s round, full belly, she couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed she had indeed worried too much. Her husband really understood Koku well.
So, she took out the digestive tablets she had prepared earlier from the table and handed them to her younger son, then asked, “Koku, what did you eat today? Can you share with Mom? Was Uncle Kawamura’s sushi delicious?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Obediently taking the digestive tablets from his mom, Tezuka Koku felt a bit uncomfortable from being too full, but he didn’t show his discomfort and happily shared with his mom what he ate that evening, “Koku had eel sushi, tofu sushi, salmon sushi, Arctic shrimp sushi… and lots and lots of sushi!”
“Eiji-nii, Momo-nii, and the tennis club brothers gave Koku lots of delicious sushi, and Koku ate until he was full!”
“Really? That’s great, Koku!” Hearing Koku list so many types of sushi, Tezuka Ayana roughly calculated and realized that Koku had indeed eaten quite a lot. So, she quickly had Koku take the digestive tablets and reminded him, “If you feel uncomfortable tonight, you must tell Mom, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
After taking the digestive tablets his mom gave him, Tezuka Koku felt a bit less full than before. So, he quickly held his mom’s hand and acted cute, wanting to eat a few more digestive tablets, “Mom, can Koku have a few more digestive tablets?”
“No, you can’t.”
Seeing her younger son acting cute, which was rare, Tezuka Ayana almost gave in. But then she thought, if she let Koku have too many digestive tablets today, he would definitely rely on them in the future. So, to prevent Koku from developing a bad habit, Tezuka Ayana convinced herself that refusing Koku was for his own good. She explained to Koku, “Even though digestive tablets are helpful, Koku can’t have too many!”
“Okay!” Hearing his mom say that, Tezuka Koku knew she wouldn’t give him any more digestive tablets. However, he wasn’t asking for more out of greed but to relieve the discomfort in his stomach.
Earlier, while walking home with his brother, Koku hadn’t noticed his stomach discomfort. But once he got home and stood still talking to his mom, he began to realize something was wrong with his body. He initially thought it was just because he was too full and it would pass soon, and after taking the digestive tablets, the symptoms eased a bit.
But before long, his stomach started to hurt intensely, as if many drills were spinning inside, one after another, making his face turn pale and his lips visibly lose color. So, he quickly told his mom about his condition, “Mom, Koku’s stomach really hurts.”
Before he could finish speaking, another wave of intense pain hit his stomach, making it unbearable. To alleviate the pain, Tezuka Koku had to clutch his stomach and curl up, still crying out in pain, “Mom, my stomach hurts! My head hurts too!”
Seeing her younger son looking so weak and lacking his usual energy, Tezuka Ayana felt heartbroken. Without thinking, she quickly pulled Koku into her arms to comfort him, “It’s okay, sweetie, we won’t hurt anymore!”
“Mom will take you to the hospital to see Uncle Oshitari, and it won’t hurt anymore!”
“Yeah, yeah, I want Uncle Oshitari, not the hospital…”
Even in his dazed state from the pain, Tezuka Koku subconsciously didn’t want to go to the hospital, but Tezuka Ayana didn’t plan to indulge him. When she held her younger son in her arms, she realized his body temperature was abnormally high, clearly indicating a fever. Remembering the complications from Koku’s previous fevers, she panicked and quickly called out, “Kuniharu, Kunimitsu, come out quickly.”
“Koku has a fever; we need to take him to the hospital!”
“What? Koku has a fever??”
Hearing Tezuka Ayana’s call, the other three men in the Tezuka family rushed out immediately, even Tezuka Kunichi, who was about to go to bed, appeared in the living room.
“Dad, why are you out too?” Seeing his father come out of the room, Tezuka Kuniharu was a bit worried about the elder’s health.
“How can I sit back and do nothing when Koku has a fever!” Tezuka Kunichi retorted energetically, “Even though I’m old, I’m not that useless yet.”
With that, he began assigning tasks to everyone, “You go start the car, Kunimitsu, gather the necessary documents for the hospital, I’ll contact the hospital, and Ayana, hold Koku carefully. Let’s move quickly!”
“Okay, Dad!”
“Yes, Grandpa!”
Under Tezuka Kunichi’s orderly command, the family managed to get Tezuka Koku to the hospital.