This is just a little songfic based around Takeru’s 01 image song, which is (unsurpisingly) called Be All Right. Neither the song nor the characters belong to me. However, the translation of it is mine. I make no profit from any of it.

-------------------------

BE ALL RIGHT

-------------------------

“And just what time do you call this?”

“I phoned to tell you I’d be late, Natsuko. Kimura-san wanted to me to research something for her.”

“So that’s her name!”

“You’re getting jealous over nothing! She’s just a colleague!”

“Is she?”

They’re at it again. This is the third argument they’ve had this week - I’ve been counting them - and it’s only Wednesday. And it’s always the same fight every time, like they ran out of things about which to argue about a long time ago. Tou-san comes back late from work. Kaa-san gets mad because she thinks he’s been kissing other girls. Tou-san says he hasn’t. Kaa-san says he has. And it carries on like that for hours. It always ends up with Kaa-san bursting into tears and slamming the door to their room, while Tou-san sits down on the couch and smokes a cigarette. When that happens, I know the fight is over and I can relax. I can let out the breath that I was holding the whole time and go to sleep. They got through another one, and we’re still a family.

“If you’re so unhappy with me, why don’t you run off with Kimura-san?”

“For God’s sake, Natsuko, Kimura-san means nothing to me.”

“Great. Not only are you cheating on me, but you’re lying about it as well.”

The one tonight is bad, though.They’ve been fighting for a whole ten minutes now, and Kaa-san doesn’t sound like she’s about to cry. She sounds angry, but she doesn’t sound sad. If they don’t stop soon, they’ll wake up Takeru. That’s my little brother. He’s only five years old, and he’s got blond hair and blue eyes just like me. I hope they don’t wake up Takeru. He’s just a little kid. He shouldn’t have to hear them fighting like this.

“Onii-chan?”

Too late.

I lean my head over the side of my bunk to look at my little brother. He’s sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes.

“Is mama cross with papa again?”

“Yes, but it’s okay. Daijoubu saa. Go back to bed. They’ll stop soon.”

“Can I sleep with onii-chan until they do?”

“Uh huh.”

“Arigatou, onii-chan.”

I lift my blankets for him, making a little cave for him. A happy smile on his face, Takeru climbs up the bunkbed’s ladder and burrows beneath the covers. He snuggles into my side and wraps his arms around me with painful tightness - for a little kid, he has a surprisingly strong grip. Kaa-san would flip her lid if she saw him on the top bunk. Last time she caught him playing on it one morning, she completely lost it with him. She yelled at him, asking him if he wanted to fall and break his back. She even climbed up and brought him down herself. Takeru was so mad with her. He hates being treated like a baby, even though he isn’t much more than one. Somehow, though, I don’t think Kaa-san is going to check on us tonight.

“I am not having this stupid argument with you, Natsuko. Believe what you want, because I don’t care anymore!”

“Nor do I! I don’t why I ever married you, you bastard!”

Listening to them, I suddenly hate my Kaa-san and Tou-san. They are so stupid and selfish. They never think about anyone else except themselves. They don’t even think that Takeru may be listening. That he shouldn’t be hearing them fight, because he is just a little kid and may be scared by the things they say. I put my hands over my little brother’s ears, trying to keep him from hearing my parent’s angry words. But it is too late again.

“This one’s bad, onii-chan,” Takeru whispered to me, “Do you think they’ll get a divorist?”

“Where did you hear about divorce?” I asked in shock.

“Tetsuya. His Kaa-san and Tou-san don’t live together anymore, and he said it was because they got a divorist. Do you think they’ll get a divorist too?”

I don’t know what to say to him. He’s just a little kid. I can’t want to tell him that our Kaa-san and Tou-san will probably get a divorce, even though I know that they will. There will come a fight that doesn’t end with Tou-san smoking his cigarette and Kaa-san crying in her room, but with one of them walking out of the door and leaving us forever. I just hope that it won’t come today or the next day, that we will be a family for one more day. Sometimes it seems that I live from one fight to the next, holding my breath between them.

I can’t tell Takeru any of that, though. He’s too young, and it would upset him too much. I’m his big brother. It’s my job to keep him safe and happy.

Instead, I say, “Would you like to hear a song, Takeru-chan? I’ll make up a song especially for you.”

“Un . . . .”

Making up the words and melody as I go along, I open my mouth and begin to sing:

This morning, I rub my sleepy eyes again,

Then say spiritedly: "smile!"

It seems my head remains in a dream

While I brush my teeth.

I wish on a falling star

That I can use magic.

Sometimes my tears flow

Because it's all so frustrating.

We're not alone in our world.

But even I have my yearnings like everyone else.

If I remain barefoot, I'll definitely be all right!

If we are at the summit of the ferris wheel,

We're not far from the sky.

The same sky is protecting many people, isn't it?

Will today continue into tomorrow?

If we can wish for it, it will.

Tomorrow, the weather will be better,

We'll continue as far as my dreams

And smile happily with the teruteru bouzu.*

Look! If we can shake hands, it's a kind of telepathy!

Show me your smiling face as well – it'll definitely be all right!

Tomorrow, the weather will be better,

We'll continue as far as my dreams

And smile happily with the teruteru bouzu.*

Look! If we can shake hands, it's a kind of telepathy!

Show me your smiling face as well – it'll always be all right!

By the end of the song, I can see he’s fast asleep again. His eyes are closed, and his breathing is deep and peaceful. His tight grip around my waist has loosened too.

Through a crack in the door, I can smell cigarette smoke and hear soft crying. I let myself relax, because the fight is over and we’re still a family. For one more day, it’ll be all right.

-------------------------

*Teruteru bouzu = a paper doll to which the Japanese pray for good weather.