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It’s another restless night.
Ichiro had been rudely awoken from a dream from a throbbing pain in his leg. It did this every winter, and it served as a reminder of his past.
He rolls his pant leg up then traces the scar lightly, memories flooding back of a time when things looked different. He yawns, stretching as he sits up and places his feet on the floor. Saburo and Jiro were definitely asleep at this time, or at least they should be.
Saburo had been having trouble staying asleep at night, and while a part of him would love the company, he’d rather have Saburo get some much needed rest.
He heads downstairs; it was Saturday and they were usually especially busy on days like this, specifically because it had snowed the night before. Lots of people were going to call and ask Ichiro for help removing the snow from their driveways and sidewalks. He bites his lip, thinking about how sore his muscles were going to be.
Not that he minded.
As long as he could help others he was okay with that. It was worth the pain.
Sitting down on the couch in the living room, Ichiro takes a moment to relax and enjoy his own company. He closes his eyes. Bounces his leg. The silence is loud and it doesn’t take long for him to feel restless. He was itching to do something.
It didn’t feel right just to sit here and do nothing.
And that’s how he goes from organizing papers in their office space to debating on looking through a box of things he swore he’d never open.
The box had been gifted to him by Rei on his birthday last summer, and of course it had just sat in the office collecting dust since then. They had all decided to leave it be. Ichiro would have thrown it out.. If there wasn’t something that stopped him from doing that every time he looked at the box.
(Almost like a feeling of guilt.)
Scissors in hand, Ichiro hovers over the box, eyebrows scrunched as he tries to think if he really wants to do this. For all he knows, Rei could have just been pranking him and the box was empty. Ichiro wouldn’t put it past him.
“It’s okay,” He mumbles to himself, “It’s just a box. After I open it we can finally free up some space in here.”
After steeling himself, he cuts through the tape and folds the flaps on the box back, a card sitting neatly on top of some paper. He puts the scissors down, opening the card up and reading what was inside.
‘
Ichiro, if you’re reading this then that means you’ve finally opened up my gift. Why did you wait so long, hm?’
Ichiro slams the card shut. Somehow even when Rei wasn’t here he still had the ability to irritate him.
It takes a moment before curiosity takes over again and he continues to read the card.
‘
Kidding~! But I’m sure it’s taken you some time to read this. It took me some time to write this. I know you’ve never been big on accepting gifts, but I thought you should have what’s inside. Let’s hope you didn’t throw this away. Lol!’
He rolls his eyes.
‘Oh, and. Happy Birthday, Ichiro.’
He sets the card aside and focuses his attention back on the box. Taking the paper out and tossing it in the trash, Ichiro sees that there’s something underneath it that’s neatly wrapped in more paper.
Ichiro unwraps the paper and stops.
It was an album.
There’s a picture of three people on the cover; a smiling Ichiro with a missing front tooth sitting behind a baby Saburo and Jiro. The album is checkered print blue, gold cursive words reading “Memories” at the top.
His eyes widened.
Ichiro opens the first page and there’s a picture of a newborn baby with Christmas light colored eyes being held by a younger Rei. It’s weird to see him looking like this; with eyes so soft and full of barely concealed joy.
He can’t remember the last time he saw Rei look like that.
He flips the page, looking at more pictures. They’re all of himself, from pictures of him holding a flower to pictures of him eating ice cream for the first time. All the pictures in there that aren’t of just himself have Rei in them somewhere, most of the time being caught off guard by the sudden pictures that were taken.
He flips ahead a few more pages, and suddenly there’s a new baby in the pictures.
Jiro.
Ichiro has vague memories of being told that he was going to be an older brother. It’s funny how memories work, because he was only a toddler at the time, but Jiro coming home from the hospital had been such a huge deal for him that there was nothing that could make him forget that day.
He flips through the pages fondly. There’s pictures of Jiro crawling for the first time, dressed up in a Halloween costume, messily eating raspberries, and so on. There’s a lot more variety in the things Jiro’s doing in his photos.
He turns the page, and there’s a picture of them outside having a picnic. Baby Jiro was wearing a floppy sun hat while Ichiro had a pair of red sunglasses on, being lifted by Rei in the sky.
He goes through a few more pages.
There was Saburo.
There’s a picture of Ichiro and Jiro looking down at the new baby. He had been so small, and look at him now. Ichiro’s smile grows as he looks at the new pictures.
And then he suddenly stops on a page.
It’s taken at an odd angle, almost as if it had been taken secretly. The photo is a little blurry. The camera must have been unfocused.
But it’s clear as day to Ichiro who the picture was of.
He stares for a moment longer, heart pounding in his chest.
“
Mom
,” He whispers.
There’s a sudden knock on the door, and Ichiro perks up, quickly shutting the album and putting it back in the box.. Not very smoothly at all. He turns, facing the doorway with his best big brother smile that he can muster.
“Aniki,” Jiro starts, and Ichiro prays that he doesn’t notice the tears still shining in his eyes. “Good morning!”
The smile becomes more genuine. “Good morning, Jiro.” He watches as Jiro yawns. “What are you doing up so early?”
“It’s not early. It’s almost 8! I’ve gotta hurry if I want to get a jog in.”
He totally lost track of time. Ichiro starts to stand up. “Ah, sorry. I can make breakfast.”
Jiro shakes his head. “Nah, it’s fine, Aniki! Promise!” He looks a little closer at Ichiro, noticing his eyes, and frowns a bit. “I think you should go back to bed. You’ve been working too hard again.”
Before he can protest, Ichiro yawns.
“See? Let’s get you back to bed. No more work for you until later!” Jiro grabs Ichiro by the shoulders and leads him up the stairs.
As he walks up the stairs, he can’t help but think of the photos inside of the album. Jiro and Saburo have really grown up so much.
He heads inside his room, Jiro says something, but he was too tired to listen completely. He lays down in his bed.
The album and all the photos inside..
Maybe he could share it with Jiro and Saburo one day.
Memories are meant to be shared, after all.
And with a smile, he closes his eyes.