A/N: This story follows the "Haneda Shukichi is the middle Akai brother" theory and the "mystery child is Akai children's mother" theory.

Here's the prompt (by stelraetnae): The Akai/Sera brothers (Shuichi and Shukichi, though you don't have to include Shukichi in the story if you don't subscribe to the idea) welcome the newest addition to their family, their baby sister Masumi.

Also, I did research. I just hope I did not miss anything or write anything incorrectly... *paramodes* xD

Oooh, also, of course, since we have little to no confirmation on ages, I made the kids' ages up.

As suggested by the prompt, this takes place 16-17 years prior the DC storyline. I had trouble writing the mother, since we know neither her real appearance nor her name. Heck even more with the father since we know NOTHING about him at all. T'was tough but I managed to string words together. Hope it didn't come out too awkward or anything.

In the meantime, enjoy this shot at an Akai family-centric fic, brought about by Poirot Cafe's Prompt Exchange #2!Also check out my Prompt Exchange #1 fic entitled "Operation Save Kudou's Hiney".

Enjoy!~

Oh, wait, putting this in for references:
*omamori - good luck charm
*~nii - contraction for the suffix onii-san/chan, meaning older brother
*~tan - cutesy suffix equivalent for ~san/chan

Bundle of Joy

Twelve-year-old Akai Shuichi struggles with being an older brother to an annoying Shukichi, and now, also to a new addition to their family. Written for Poirot Cafe's Prompt Exchange #2. Follows the "Haneda Shukichi is the middle Akai brother" and "mystery child is Akai children's mother" theories.

The usually calm, usually stoic Akai Shuichi was, for the lack of a better, more appropriate word to use, anxious.

He was looking forward to having a second sibling (even more when he realized he's going to have a little sister); he practically bought his mother an omamori for 'safe delivery' with the money he saved for a month.

Right now, though, as he stood in the middle of the elevator, his little brother by his side, he decided he wasn't sure anymore how to feel about it… for a variety of reasons.

Father's always at work, which means while Kichi and I are at school she'll be home alone with the baby. What if something happens and we're not there, or What if Mother falls ill, or the baby falls ill? Who's gonna be there for them? What if Kichi doesn't like her? No wait, he probably will but what if he gets jealous?

All this and more, even going as far and inhumane as What if the nurses switched her with another baby, as the elevator sounded to indicate their stop.

Such were his thoughts that he barely heard his little brother say "I wish Papa was here," as they stepped off from the lift and into the corridor.

"Can't be helped," he responded, in a voice nearly breaking, a minute later. "He's always busy."

This was why he and his grade school brother came here today in their father's stead, to pick up his mother and baby sister from the hospital.

-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-

There was a brief moment of hesitation before Shuichi knocked on the door of his mother's hospital room. Inside, he heard a woman's voice say "Come in," and he, hand-in-hand with his nine-year-old brother Shukichi, entered soundlessly. A couple more steps, a signal urging them to come closer, a graceful smile from the elder, a pair of school bags thrown hastily to the nearest couch, and both boys broke to a run to give the woman a hug.

"Mother," one breathed, and the other added, "We were so worried, Mama!"

The middle-aged woman chuckled as she hugged back and gave both boys a kiss each. "Oh come on, you guys. I'm all right."

"We're sorry Father can't be here," Shuichi mumbles, and Shukichi cuts in between his older sibling's pauses.

"We tried telling him to come with us…"

"Says she wants to see you and the baby…"

"But he said he's busy. Is a policeman's life really that hard?"

The older woman laughed again, more to the boys' words than their display of worry and affection.

"By the way," Shuichi detached from the fair-skinned woman before he continued, "When do we get to see her?"

"Soon," she replied, "I just asked the nurse to take her here."

The brothers exchanged delighted smiles. Shuichi watched Shukichi while he sang with a giggle, "Oooh I can't wait!"

Soon enough, after a conversation with baskets of fruits and apple slices, there was a knock on the door. The boy of twelve held his breath as it slid open, and in came the nurse with a bundle wrapped in pink cloth. The lady in white walked briskly but carefully to the baby's mother. Once she handed her over, she bowed, said her congratulations and left.

As soon as the door slid close, both boys scurried to their mother's side to take a glance at the youngest addition to their family.

Shuichi pursed his lips in anticipation. From where he sat, tufts of hair, a quarter shade of black lighter than his, peeked from under the cloth.

The boys watched as a silky hand pulled the blanket to reveal the baby's face, and then it was pulled lower to reveal her little hands. Baby Girl Akai were written with black felt tip pen on a pink band around one arm. Shuichi silently laughed at this—a red-faced baby girl named Akai—and wondered if he's the only one who found that humorous.

"I wanna see her! I wanna see!" Shukichi exclaimed, much to Shuichi's annoyance.

"Stop pushing!" he scolded, but Shukichi did little conformity to the other's request.

"Gosh, she's tiny!" the grade-schooler commented, prolonging every syllable as much as he can to stress his apparent surprise.

"Is this your first time seeing a baby?"

"No," Shukichi pouted. "But I've never seen one as small as her. Why's she so tiny?"

"She's barely a week old. It's natural," said the blonde-haired woman. "You were a lot smaller back then."

"Was I really?" the younger of the two asked, not believing the story one bit.

"She'll soon be bigger," was Shuichi's comment, just so his little brother forgets about Baby Shukichi and focus instead on the baby girl in front of them.

"Oh. We'll keep her right?" asked the younger kid innocently.

"Of course we will. She's our sister," was the ebony-haired boy's statement.

"I've never had a little sister before," stated the boy with an eternal bed hair, moving his head side-to-side to an imaginary beat inside his head.

"Yeah. Me too. All I had to put up with was an annoying little brother," the older one chided, earning a side glance from the boy beside him. Together with that was a scolding tone from his half-lidded mother.

"Hey…"

"Shuichi!"

"Just sayin'…" said boy shrugged. Just then, Baby Akai shifted awake in her mother's arms and let out a yawn, drawing the others' attention to her.

"What should we call her?" asked the girl out of the blue, to which Shuichi couldn't help but blink stupidly.

"You mean you and Dad haven't picked a name yet?"

"I was waiting to ask you two," said she, moving to brush stray hair from the baby's face.

"Ooh!" the brown-haired kid clapped, as if he just had the best idea ever. "How about Shukichi junior."

Shuichi visibly cringed in disapproval. "We can't name her that. She's a girl! Besides, if anything she looks more like me than you. She should be called Shuichi junior."

"Eh? Liar!"

"Look at her eyes," said the older boy, trying to prove his point. "They look just like Mother's. And everyone says I have Mother's eyes."

As if by cue, the infant twitched her little eyes and opened them. Still getting used to the brightness of the room, she squirmed under her mother's hold, moving her head as much as she can, making little moaning noises to voice her discomfort. Shukichi moved closer, close enough so his shadow will obscure the blinding white light for her. This time, she opened her eyes wide, eyelids blinking out of sync, much to her middle brother's amusement.

"She winked at me!" he announced jovially, like a toddler very much excited for a walk to the local playground. "Mama, Shuu-nii, she just winked at me!"

The older Akai scoffed at his brother's childish display.

"Yeah right," said he, rolling his eyes. Really, he knew babies can't wink. Trust Kichi to exaggerate every little thing, and there's always Shuu-nii to ruin his mood.

When Kichi says, "I think she likes me," Shuu-nii chuckles and says, "That's debatable."

When Kichi bragged about "being a responsible older brother who will feed her and hug her and read her bedtime stories," Shuu-nii would ruffle his ever-messy hair like he would a stray cat and tell him, "I'd like to see you do that. You can't even wash yourself correctly."

Shuichi likes it, this exchange of words he always had with Kichi. It keeps his mind occupied, keeps him distracted. And right now, it's exactly what he needs—distractions from the anxiety deep within his gut. Anxiety brought about by the presence of his little sister, and the absence of his Father.

"Oh, maybe I can even sing to her!" Shukichi announced excitedly, jumping up and down as he did, only to get a "Kichi, you don't sing," comment from his older brother.

"Cos you've never heard me sing," the younger one retorted, and when Shuichi snorted, he can only stay silent in defeat.

After a while of staring at his little sister, the middle brother thought out loud, "She should have a 'Shu' in her name too don't you think so? I mean I'm Shukichi, Shuu-nii is Shu—ichi. She should be called Shu… Sh-Shuuu…"

"Don't push it," Shuichi scolded and gave the other boy a nudge on the side. Only, the nudge turned out to be a lot stronger than he intended and Shukichi screamed in pain upon contact.

"OW! What was that for?" the grade schooler shouted. The sudden screaming frightened Baby Akai enough to bring her to tears.

"Oh look what you did. You made her cry!"

"Did not! Mama, Shuu-nii's picking on me!"

The blonde let out a huff, effectively blowing her bangs away from her face and shutting both boys up.

"How about," she stressed, and both Shuichi and Shukichi tensed immediately, "Instead of fighting each other all the time you should get along and be a good example to her? You boys should learn to protect your little sister, until the time comes when someone else can protect her for you. Starting now."

The siblings exchanged apologizing glances before they whispered in unison, "Yes, Mother."

With the room once again enveloped in silence, and with the gentle rocking movements her mother makes, the five-day-old child finally stops crying. Young Shukichi once again settled beside the hospital bed, chin leaning on the mattress and a finger stroking Baby Akai's little nose. It was then that his mother's words sank in.

"Protect her, huh?" he pondered. "But I don't like that…"

The mother of three looked up to meet dark blue eyes and asked, "Don't like what?"

"Someone else protecting her," was his answer. Turning to his older brother, Shukichi continued, "If anything we should be teaching her to protect herself, right Shuu-nii?"

Shuichi crossed his arms together in thought, curved a smile and responded. Finally, for the first time in a while, the siblings came to an agreement.

"Yeah. She'll be brave and strong and she'll help other people. She just doesn't know it yet."

"Right now she just looks so innocent," commented Shukichi with the most blissful smile on his face, now with his arms on the mattress. For a while silence fell into the hospital room once more. Until Shuichi broke it with an exultant, "That's it!" completely standing up from his crouched position.

The mother and son tandem glanced at the olive-eyed boy and said in unison, "Huh?"

"Masumi," Shuichi muttered as he reached for pencil and paper inside his bag. Taking three giant steps from the couch to the bedside table, he settled down to scribble two characters on the sheet. The nine-year-old followed suit, and peered down, head slightly tilted to one side. When he was done, he raised the paper to his companions.

Shukichi's brows furrowed in concentration. He's very well familiar with the first Kanji, but not with the second.

"Makoto—no, Ma… Shin… uh, Jun?" he mumbled.

"Ma-sumi!" the older boy repeated, pointing on the characters with his pencil. "It means real pure, Kichi."

Shuichi watched as the woman smiled in delight and took the piece of paper from his grasp. "Genuine purity," she mumbled, "It's a wonderful name," and the twelve-year-old couldn't help but curve a satisfied grin.

"That's what we'll call her," she confirmed and gave the grinning Shuichi a pat on the head.

"Akai Masumi," Shukichi said, letting each syllable roll on his tongue. "Sounds like a girl's name."

"That's because she's a girl, baka!"

The younger boy puffed his cheeks at this. "I know that!"

"It suits her, Shuichi," the mother whispered to her eldest son, who then gave both girls a big hug.

"Masumi-chaaan!~" called the middle-aged beauty, and the little bundle looked up, squirmed and smiled and moved her free hand in response.

Shuichi, amused by the display, gave a small laugh, let his head crash onto his mother's shoulder and said, "I think she likes it."

Beside them, little Shukichi couldn't help but agree. Giggling like a true blue fan girl, he let out a high-pitched squeal and cried, "Oh isn't she a little bundle of joy…? Mii-taaaan!"

Just for the sake of annoying the younger one, Shuichi lifted his head and stated, "A little bundle of trouble, maybe, like you."

"Why you—"

"And don't call her that," he added harshly. "It sounds like you're calling a cat."

"No it doesn't—"

"Now boys," their mother cut in, now sporting the deathly glare that make the kids freeze in fear. "Would you just stop arguing already?"

"Yes Mother," the brothers said in unison. In an instant, the scary stare left the woman's features, to be replaced by a kind, harmless smile (which was even scarier than the death glare, if you were to ask Shuichi).

Turning to the younger boy, the blonde held out the bundle and queried, "Want to hold her?"

Shukichi pondered on the question for a moment before uneasiness spread across his face.

"I might squish her. I don't want Mii-tan to hate me," he mumbled between pouted lips. The woman then turned to the older boy and, like earlier, handed the bundle out to him.

"Shuichi?"

Moss green eyes turned wide at this. Mother actually wants Shuu-nii—she wants him—to hold Masumi-chan! It's a chance of a lifetime. But once again his anxiety takes over. All uncertainties and what ifs flooded his young mind once again. Even so, he chose to hold her.

Nervous lips moved to form the words, "Uh… okay," the quiver in his prepubescent voice giving his uneasiness away.

"Don't drop her," she quickly reminded him, to which he replied as quickly.

"I won't," he stated, as his fingers touched soft cotton.

He didn't know how, and he would probably wonder all his life about this, but somehow, upon contact with his little sister all those uncertainties and what ifs just seemed to have mysteriously vanished, and twelve-year-old Akai Shuichi heaved out a long sigh of relief.

"Hehe, Shuu-nii you look like a dad," the younger boy teased, poking his Shuu-nii on the cheeks.

Shuichi glared at his younger brother, who stopped short by the silent threat, but that didn't keep his brother from letting out playful chuckles. He then rolled his eyes in irritation, before small squirming movements caught his attention.

Tiny fingers clung to his, tight but tender. Green eyes, still unseeing but too much like his, looked up at him as if expecting a promise. The eldest Akai child looked on with curiosity at the bundle. It was true, what his brother said, she really does look innocent. Except Shuichi sees more than that—a female image of himself, unassuming on the outside but a fire within. She's a bud with a fierce spirit, and her grip on his finger confirms that.

Yep, she's gonna break bones—maybe even hearts—someday. For now, he simply shrugged that thought off and played with her, silently swearing he's never going to let anyone hurt his little sister.

Shuichi wriggled his finger, as he chanted three syllables that is the creature's name—a name he so proudly picked for her. From beside him his little brother chanted along, clapping his hands together as he did. On the hospital bed, the mother of three looked on, very much pleased with seeing her children get along. Little Masumi responds to her brother's calls, picking up what little sounds she can, looking up at the silhouetted figures looking down at her. Tiny cherry lips moved soundlessly, ending off with an angelic giggle. A small smile of contentment curved on the features of the usually stoic twelve-year-old, and, probably for the first time ever, a lone tear rolled down his cheek.

"Thanks for being born, sis. Glad to have you here with us…"

A/N: Aaaaand there we go! It took forever to be posted here WAT~

My personal rule of thumb when writing about kids, there must always be at least one dork in the story. For this one, it's Kichi XDD

I have to say, despite the fear of making anyone OOC, I had so much fun writing Chuukichi~ He's so quirky and all, and Shu is always like "meh, whatever, you suck but you're my brother so I love you anyways." HAHAH! I like little brothers. They're annoying by default. It's sad that I don't have one, being the youngest in a family of five (minus one *sigh*), which explains why out of the siblings I can relate to Masumi the most.

Also, I was not gonna mention this for fear of being repetitive but... if you guys nag me about updates I'd appreciate it. I swear I will not get mad at you. Just be careful not to flood my email with the same message over and over again. I just need to get my multichaps over with! X_X AND I SHALL NEVER ABANDON ANY OF THEM!

As usual Reviews are looooooved, and this person *points to self* strongly encourages nagging about updates. Love ya all. Stay awesome, lovelies!~

-neonquincy1217