Once Otori Eiji confirmed that Tezuka Koku’s health was indeed fine, Tezuka Ayana finally relaxed and had the energy to think about other things. However, due to Koku’s insistence, Ayana had no choice but to prepare for Koku’s discharge procedures.
But the hospital was crowded and noisy, and to prevent Koku from catching anything from other patients, she decided not to keep him by her side. Yet, she wasn’t comfortable leaving Koku alone in the ward, so she had to trouble Otori Eiji to stay with Koku. “Eiji, could you please help take care of Koku?”
If it weren’t for the fact that Grandpa and Koku’s brother, Kunimitsu, were busy, and Tezuka Kunimitsu had to go to the hospital to excuse Koku, Ayana wouldn’t have wanted to trouble Otori Eiji. Moreover, she knew Koku didn’t like Otori Eiji, but considering her son’s health, Ayana didn’t dare to take any risks.
Fortunately, Otori Eiji was more than happy to accompany Tezuka Koku. Before Ayana could say much, he readily agreed, “No problem, sister-in-law, you go handle the paperwork. I’ll take good care of little Koku. After all, isn’t little Koku so adorable?”
“Thank you so much.”
“Koku, you have to be a good boy, okay!”
Before leaving, Ayana gently patted her son’s head to comfort him, “Once I finish the paperwork, we’ll go home. Can you wait here with Uncle Otori for a bit?”
“Mm-hmm,” knowing that his mom was going to handle the discharge procedures, Tezuka Koku cooperated with her actions. Even though he was told to stay with the uncle he disliked the most, he didn’t show any dissatisfaction and obediently said goodbye to his mom, promising to behave.
But as soon as Ayana left the ward and was out of sight, Koku’s little mind started to become active. He didn’t want to stay with the bad uncle, so he said to Otori Eiji, “Bad uncle, Koku doesn’t want to stay in the ward. Koku wants to go out.”
“Alright, alright.” Watching little Koku puff up with anger as soon as his sister-in-law left the ward, Otori Eiji was in a good mood. Even though he knew Koku was deliberately giving him a hard time, he wasn’t angry at all and instead asked with a particularly good temper, “Where does Koku want to go?”
Tezuka Koku hadn’t really thought about where to go, so when Otori Eiji asked him, he was momentarily speechless, not knowing how to respond. He just wanted an excuse to get away from the bad uncle, but now that the bad uncle asked, it seemed inappropriate not to give an answer. However, Koku didn’t know where he could go in the hospital, so he was successfully troubled by the question of where to go.
Noticing Koku’s dilemma, Otori Eiji proactively suggested, “How about Uncle takes Koku to the little playground downstairs?”
“The little playground is a newly developed entertainment area for kids. Koku probably hasn’t been there yet, right?”
Playground?
Hearing Otori Eiji’s words, Tezuka Koku’s ears perked up, and his eyes noticeably brightened. However, since it was the uncle he didn’t like who mentioned the playground, Koku suppressed his excitement and pretended not to be interested, saying, “Koku is not a kid, and I didn’t say I wanted to go to the playground!”
“Yes, yes, Koku didn’t say it. It’s Uncle who wants to take Koku to play.” Having taken care of Koku for over two years, Otori Eiji could easily see the anticipation in Koku’s eyes, so he didn’t tease Koku any further and directly took him to the hospital’s little playground via a special elevator.
Unlike ordinary playgrounds, the hospital’s playground for kids had many children’s facilities: small swings, slides, seesaws… Various toys shaped like animals were placed around the playground, making it look like a simple little zoo.
As soon as Tezuka Koku entered the playground, he couldn’t help but fall in love with the place. If he wasn’t still holding Otori Eiji’s hand, he would have run straight to the swings to play happily.
All his attention was drawn to the small swings in front of him, and he was incredibly excited. However, even though he was really excited, Koku didn’t forget what his family told him: not to run around outside and to seek permission from elders before doing anything.
With his mom not around, the elder was the bad uncle. So, Tezuka Koku obediently sought Otori Eiji’s permission before happily joining the group of kids in the playground, heading straight for the single swing.
While he was having a great time, Atobe Keigo, not far away, was puzzled by his presence. Because he was very familiar with Otori Eiji, Atobe Keigo was seeing such a gentle expression on Otori Eiji’s face for the first time today.
In Atobe Keigo’s impression, Otori Eiji always had the image of a mature and calm director. Even with his own son, Otori Yuushi, Otori Eiji rarely showed such an expression as he did today, as if he only had eyes for the little kid he brought along, who was happily playing on the swing.
Who exactly is this child? Why is Uncle Otori’s attitude towards him so special? Could he be Yuushi’s brother? But besides Otori Kanya, Yuushi never mentioned having another brother!
The more Atobe Keigo thought about it, the more curious he became, so he approached Otori Eiji to greet him, hoping to find out the identity of the little kid. “Uncle Otori, I didn’t expect to meet you here. What a coincidence. My family has always been grateful for your care.”
“Not at all, Atobe-kun, you’re too kind.”
Focused on watching Tezuka Koku play on the swing, Otori Eiji was so concentrated that he didn’t notice Atobe Keigo’s presence at first. It wasn’t until Atobe Keigo greeted him that Otori Eiji realized he was there.
Otori Eiji, who usually maintained a high and cold demeanor towards outsiders, initially planned to ignore the person greeting him. As the director, he needed to avoid the possibility of people trying to get close to him. However, as Atobe Keigo approached, Otori Eiji recognized his identity.
Remembering that Atobe Keigo was the captain of his own son, Otori Yuushi, and that Otori Hospital had a stable cooperative relationship with the Atobe family, Otori Eiji’s attitude was very polite. “Atobe-kun, why are you at the hospital at this time? Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, no, my father asked me to stop by and pick up a document. I just happened to see you here, so I thought I’d come over and say hello.”
“I see, what a coincidence then.” Hearing Atobe Keigo’s explanation, Otori Eiji didn’t think much of it. According to his estimation, Tezuka Ayana should have almost finished the paperwork by now. After letting Koku play for a while longer, he would take him back to the ward.
So, Otori Eiji didn’t plan to chat with Atobe Keigo for long. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he decisively stated that he had other matters to attend to and needed to leave first. “I won’t keep you, Atobe-kun. I have some things to do, so I’ll be going now.”
“Mm-hmm, you go ahead!”
Although he was a bit disappointed not to find out the little kid’s identity, Atobe Keigo wasn’t the type to force things. When Otori Eiji clearly stated he had other matters to attend to, Atobe Keigo graciously stepped aside, making way for the exit of the playground.
However, what he didn’t expect was that before leaving, Otori Eiji called out the little kid’s name in front of him.
“Koku, we should head back now.”
Koku??? That name sounds so familiar!
Atobe Keigo suddenly remembered that last night, when he met Tezuka Kunimitsu, he mentioned having a younger brother named Koku. Could it be that the little kid in front of him is Tezuka Kunimitsu’s brother?
Is his name Tezuka Koku?