I Am Big Brother (I Am Big Brother 1) ✅

Chapter Four

May 8th, 2029

"Time to go, Eiji," Masato said, lifting his little brother into his arms. "Toasa-san is waiting for—"

His voice broke off when the landline started ringing. Masato adjusted Eiji in his arms and hurried to the phone. On the caller-ID he saw that the phone number was Toasa's. Confused, he looked down at the floor before glancing back up and answering the phone. "Ohkawa residence. Toasa-san?"

"...Masato-kun..."

"Toasa-san?!" Masato's stomach churned in alarm. Toasa sounded like she had aged several decades on the phone. In the background, she could hear Toasa's children crying. "I-Is everything okay, Toasa-san?"

"Masato-kun," Toasa responded weakly. It sounded like it took considerable strength for her to speak. "My daughter...brought home strep throat from school."

Masato stiffened in shock. Strep throat? "I'm sorry," he said aloud, not knowing what else to say.

"No, I'm sorry. I can't...watch Eiji-chan in my condition. I don't...want to expose the baby to strep."

"No, I completely understand," Masato said. His tone was calm but his heart was racing. "C-Concentrate on getting better, Toasa-san. All of you."

"I'm so sorry, Masato-kun. Do you have other arrangements for—"

"Yes," Masato quickly responded. "Don't worry, I know what to do for Eiji."

He quickly ended the call and set Eiji back in his high chair. He raced over to the refrigerator and grabbed a piece of paper clipped there by a magnet. It was an advertisement for a daycare in the neighborhood. He quickly scanned it over. "Okay...they opened at 6, and it's 2,500 yen an hour," he read aloud. "If I plan for ten hours, that's 25,000 yen for the day. Okay."

He quickly picked up Eiji again and dialed the bank. As they headed to the door, the automated response told him the account balance.

10,000 yen.

Masato froze on the threshold. A cold feeling of panic started settling over him. "Oh no," he whispered aloud. He ran back into the apartment and set Eiji back down. "Haha should be awake," he told Eiji, quickly pulling up Umeko's contact. "She can deposit money for the daycare!" He called Umeko's number, but it went to voicemail. Confused, Masato called it again, and once again it went to voicemail. Three more tries yielded the same result.

His panic started to rise, along with desperation, and he quickly sent Umeko a text message. 'Haha, I need help! Toasa-san's family is sick, and I don't have enough money for daycare! Could you please put 30,000 yen in the account?'

Masato sank down to his knees in front of the table, his throat tightening. He looked at Eiji, who stared back at him with an oblivious smile. Masato forced a smile at him before staring at his phone. The minutes passed as he waited for Umeko to respond to his text...but no response came. After a moment he pressed a hand over his eyes and sighed quietly. What am I going to do?

The phone suddenly buzzed in his hand. "Haha!" Masato shouted in relief. But when he opened his texts, he saw that the text didn't come from Umeko. It came from Koji.

'Sa-kun, do you need me to come over? The train will be here soon!'

Masato exhaled quietly, and the pain rose into his throat. He swallowed hard and looked at Eiji again. Eiji was babbling to himself and pulling on his own fingers. Masato closed his eyes, feeling them burning behind the lids. He took a moment to compose himself before he sent a reply to Koji.