Family Ties

Basket

Yuri returned to the living room a while later carrying a basket with a lid. He grinned when he saw Uncle Haru sitting sulkily next to Yoko. "Hello, Uncle!~" he purred, walking up to the Mean Old Uncle. "I got you a present!~"

"What...?" Uncle Haru looked at Yuri in bewilderment. "A present? For me? What is it?"

"Open the basket and find out!~" Yuri replied, offering him the basket. The look on his face would've made anyone realize that he was up to no good and reject the gift. But it seemed that Mean Old Uncle was either oblivious to the cruelty that Yuri was capable of or was just plain stupid, or possibly both. Or perhaps he simply assumed that Yuri wouldn't dare mess with him, whether because they were family or because he was too arrogant to think he'd ever be a target.

Whatever the reason, Uncle Haru took the basket and set it on the coffee table to open it. As soon as he lifted the lid, he screamed and scrambled away. "SNAKE! SNAKE! HELP! AHHH!"

Hearing Uncle Haru's screams, Yuya ran into the living room. "Yuri! I told you not to do it! Why would you do that? That's so mean!"

"Yeah, so mean!" Uncle Haru shrieked. Yuya hurried over to the basket and picked up the snake inside, petting it soothingly. "Imagine how scared the poor snake must've been when it saw Mean Old Uncle looking down at it! Poor snake!"

"WHY ARE YOU HOLDING THAT THING?!" Uncle Haru screamed, trying to get away. Yuya pouted at him. "It's just a whip snake. They're harmless! They just eat garden pests. It won't hurt you! Be nice to the poor snake!"

"GET IT OUT OF HERE!" Mean Old Uncle shrieked. Yuya's pouting intensified, and he looked at the snake. "C'mon, lil buddy! I'll take you back to the garden where you'll be safe!"