It's All About Haruko, Baby

Chapter 2
Chapter 2

Chapter Description: Naota realizes that he truly is as helpless as Haruko when Eri begins to teach him all he needs to know.

It’s All About Haruko, Baby!

Day 1

As soon as Naota heard the door to the ship open up, he quickly sat up and laid the pillow back in its proper place to hide the fact that he basically hadn’t watched Haruko a bit. Not like it was necessary to watch her, as she was taking a nap, but he still didn’t want Eri to know. She came into view carrying a large bag, emptying it out to reveal a few packs of diapers and all the things that go with them, as well as two dresses and some toys for the child.

“You didn’t get food?” he asked, confused by the fact that she would forget something as vital as that.

“No. I just decided she looks old enough to be able to eat solid food. We might have to cut it into small pieces for her, but I’m pretty sure she can handle it.”

“Um... hello!? How are we supposed to get food to her?” Naota snapped out of a reaction of sorts to the stress he was feeling, then blushed when he realized what just happened. “Sorry... just kinda stressed.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Eri answered. “We could just take turns sneaking leftovers from dinner to her.”

“That reminds me,” Naota said in response, “How are we supposed to keep watch on her all the time? Like at night, or during dinner, or school?”

“Now that you mention it, we do have a problem there. How long did Haruko say it would be before she came back for her?”

“Two weeks,” Naota answered. At least this part wasn’t entirely a lie.

“Alright. How about we take turns for two weeks with one of us skipping school one day and the other the next, and whoever is keeping watch on her for the day will also stay up with her for the night before.”

“That’d work,” Naota replied. He considered the possibility of being caught, but then remembered that neither his father nor his grandfather was likely to care. “But what about dinner?”

“Well, I’m sure we could leave her alone for a half hour or so.”

Naota didn’t like that idea; it wasn’t just the fact that he didn’t like the idea of Haruko being left in an uncomfortable situation, but Naota also wasn’t into the fact that, as Haruko put it in her note, there were many dangerous chemicals lying around in the ship. And if there was one thing worse than the prospect of having his visions of Haruko as a strong rebel shattered, it was the idea of causing her death just because of negligence.

“I’m not sure,” Naota replied. “For all we know this ship could have some sort of self-destruct mechanism or something. What if she were to accidently set off, or to launch the ship into space? Plus, what if she gets hungry or something?” Another lie, but it did express his concern, albeit not in the same way.

“You have a good point... alright, how about this? We can take turns keeping her at our bedrooms during dinner, and we could sneak her out afterward. If she starts crying or something, we... well, we could come up with something. Maybe we could turn on a stereo in the same room or something to drown it out.”

The idea of being caught didn’t seem to be a very pleasing one either, but Naota knew that he would much more easily be able to live with himself letting someone find out about Haruko’s current predicament than if she were to die or become seriously injured. Not being able to think of any better solution, Naota nodded in agreement.

“Good,” Eri said seeing his head nod in confirmation, “Now then, I’d better get her dressed.”

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While diapering and dressing the still snoozing Haruko, Eri decided to make sure Naota learned all of this now instead of when it was time to actually need to implement said knowledge.

“Alright, first thing in putting on a diaper is to lift her up and slide it under,” she explained, demonstrating it as she spoke. Naota found it hard to focus, but tried to pay attention as she guided him through the steps.

I really don’t want to make a girl so beau... NICE, go through all this, Naota thought as he continued onward with the tutorial on Toddlers 101. He had to correct himself at that one point: he really didn’t want to think of Eri as beautiful, or lovely, or hot, or attractive, or someone he did or ever could love; after all, he was just getting over the last two times he had seen someone in that light.

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Naota lay on his bed that night, flipping through a magazine and trying desperately to fall asleep as Eri spent the night in the ship taking care of Haruko but finding it to be nearly impossible to sleep as the events of the day raced through his head. The first girl he had truly loved was now a toddler, and the girl he’d thought he had loved but until he met Haruko he never realized what love really was... she was gone, off touring the world and expressing interest in photography. In fact, the page he was on in his magazine had a few photos of hers on it. And then there was Eri. She deserved better, he reasoned. He had snapped at her while she was offering a helping hand. He had lied to her so many times in one day that he couldn’t count them all. And he was making her go through doing almost everything for him.

“I’m as helpless as Haruko,” he whispered to himself, realizing that he was basically in the same boat as the pink-haired two-year-old. It made sense, this realization; she was still trying to understand potty-training, he was trying to understand taking care of someone her age. She was completely lost in a world much bigger than her, while he was stuck taking on a mission he knew nothing about. And she definitely had to feel as lost and confused being with two complete strangers as he did confronting his emotions. And while she was hurting him without even meaning to, in his mind at least he was doing the same to Eri.

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Eri lay on the bed located in the ship, Haruko laying beside her, awake but drowsy (and truth be told, Eri was in the same boat).

“Whatchur name ?gain?” the toddler asked before yawning deeply.

“I’m Eri,” she repeated for the third time. Still, she understood- she had been through this before and, despite the responsibility it thrust upon her, she had to admit there was fun in it. A lot of things that no one would ever consider fun, but it was still easy to get emotionally attached. She looked then to see that Haruko had already fallen asleep, a thumb in her mouth as a small amount of drool escaping from within said mouth. Eri sighed with satisfaction and laid down, joining her young charge in her slumber.