Brothers

Escape

It had been a few weeks since Akashi met Mayuzumi and things have been more stressful than they were before. Work was starting to get harder for Akashi and he seems to be having trouble balancing his time with work and spending time with Tetsuya.

Ever since Akashi brought him to work, Tetsuya had been expecting to come with him every time Akashi would leave to the point that he'd wake up earlier than all of them so Akashi won't have an excuse for leaving him behind. But Akashi couldn't bring him all the time since their office isn't meant for a kid's playground and he couldn't keep on asking the others to come with him to work just to babysit Tetsuya.

"Nii-chan!" Tetsuya called as he tried to get down from Murasakibara when he spotted Akashi heading for the door.

"Sorry, Aka-chin," Murasakibara said, "He was looking for you and keep on going to places I can't fit like under the table,"

"It's fine, Atsushi," Akashi said, then took Tetsuya from Murasakibara.

He didn't want to be straightforward since he didn't want to hurt Tetsuya or make him think that Akashi didn't want to spend times with him, but he also can't keep on slipping through like a shadow and hope Tetsuya doesn't look for him for the rest of the day.

"Tetsuya, please listen to me very carefully," Akashi said as he put Tetsuya down and knelt in front of him. "Nii-chan is needed at work today. I know I promised that I'd take you to work with me, but there will be times when I can't, okay? Please understand this. I have to go to work and you have to be a good boy and wait for me to come home. You can do that, can you?"

Tetsuya looked at him then nodded, though his eyes reflected sadness. Akashi smiled, despite feeling the pang in his chest when Tetsuya looked up at him with pure sadness. He reached up and ruffled his hair. "Nii-chan will be back before the big hand in the clock reaches the number eight. Until then, be a good boy to Atsushi and wait for me, okay?"

Tetsuya turned and ran to Murasakibara, gripping his pants. "Don't be sad Tetsu-chin," Murasakibara said as he bent down and ruffled the toddler's hair. "Aka-chin will be back soon and you two can play then,"

But the toddler didn't give a sign that he agreed and kept his hold on Murasakibara. Akashi silently sighed and went for the door, glancing one last look at Tetsuya before leaving for work.

"Reo," Akashi called through his intercom and Reo came in.

"You called?" he asked.

"Cancel all my meetings for the next three days," Akashi said, "Hold all papers and phone calls as well. I'll be taking a short vacation,"

"B-but--"

"I'm sure the board members can handle the operations," Akashi said, "If not, then remind me why are we paying those old fools a few thousand yen to do nothing?"

"Understood," Reo answered.

"And call Daiki's and Shintaro's superiors, tell them that they'll be taking a vacation as well," Akashi said. "Thank you,"

Because of his sudden announcement, Akashi was forced to stay late at work and by the time he arrived at the mansion, it was already two in the morning. Akashi sighed and made his way up to his room where he lied down his bed without bothering to remove his coat or his tie and stayed at that position until he didn't realize he'd fallen asleep.

***

"Akashi," Midorima called as he shook Akashi lightly. "Akashi,"

Akashi grunted and pulled his blanket over his head. "Five more minutes," he mumbled.

"Care to why you pulled me and Aomine from work for three days?" Midorima asked.

"Vacation," Akashi mumbled.

"Vacation?" Midorima repeated.

"Beach," Akashi answered, "Be ready... five minutes..."

"Five minutes?"

But Akashi got back to sleep, clearly exhausted for working overtime last night.

"He still isn't up?" Aomine asked when Midorima got out of Akashi's room.

"He looks exhausted," Midorima said.

"Did he told you why we were pulled from work for three days?"

"He said something about a beach and a vacation," Midorima said, "And I'm hinting he'd want Kise and Murasakibara to stay home as well,"

"It's not like I'm going anywhere," Kise said.

"I think this has something to do with him coming home late," Aomine said, "Tetsu was pretty upset last night,"

That night, Tetsuya waited by the front door and refused to go to sleep despite the late hours. Aomine volunteered to stay up late with him and only managed to remove the toddler from his spot when Tetsuya fell asleep. This morning, he refused to come out of Aomine's room and had been staying inside for the rest of the morning.

"I think so too," Midorima said.

"Awesome! I wish I had a brother like Akashi-cchi!" Kise said, "Imagine he wanted to make up with Tetsuya-cchi by taking him on vacation for three days to spend time with him!"

After a few hours, Akashi finally found his strength to wake up and talk to the others. Unfortunately, Tetsuya was still upset with him that he didn't dare let go of Aomine while Akashi called in a "family meeting" or so what Kise called.

No one dared question Akashi pulling them from work as they knew what he planned to do. However, Tetsuya still refused to talk nor acknowledge his big brother and had been clinging to the others— an attempt to make Akashi jealous in Tetsuya's point of view.

The next morning, Tetsuya woke up in an unfamiliar bed and unfamiliar place— Aomine beside him, snoring. Quietly, Tetsuya got down and went to the balcony of the room and gasped at the most amazing view of the ocean.

The sun was shinning and the sand sparkled along the sunlight while the sound of the waves synchronized with the cool wind.

Behind him, Akashi stood silently with a smile on his face while his brother admired the beach. Today was an escape— from work, from stress, from broken promises, and from the unconfirmed fact that they might not be brothers.