#halftwinmoonwrites

[halftwinmoon]

Little Red Riding Hood: Gakuen Babysitters Edition, Part 1

This work is inspired by the first Gakuen Babysitters CD's special drama CD (titled "Little Red Riding Hood" or 「赤頭巾ちゃん」). The full audio was on YouTube, but then was removed due to copyright. I do remember some parts of it with my level of Japanese, and will adapt it from translated excerpts from @kumapillow. As far as I know the special drama CD is an original story, but I will include some references to other chapters.  You can read part 1 of it below the cut (there is no intention of copyright infringement, as I am doing this for free as a hobby):

The day started out just like any other day at the Morinomiya mansion. Except the Chairwoman had recently fallen ill since last night. To the Kashima brothers, her being sick was quite the scare as not too long ago she had sprained her hip, luckily recovering quite relatively fast with her tenacity and strong will. It also didn’t help that months later Saikawa also caught a cold unexpectedly, but fortunately with the help of the Chairwoman the two brothers were able to help nurse him back to health. Thankfully, neither brothers got the cold from taking care of Saikawa as they both took care to wear personal protection equipment, though Kotaro’s was made by hand by the Chairwoman as what they had was too big for him. While Yōko recovers, Ryūichi and Kotarō spend their time together as usual, starting with a new picture book fairy tale to read after breakfast. COVID-19 was also not a major reason to panic.

Thankfully, their neighborhood was the least affected by the coronavirus outbreak with zero cases of hospitalizations and deaths. Saikawa with his usual versatility had already taken the precautions and bought the groceries and other house supplies; also, he took great care of cleaning and sanitizing the whole mansion, which Ryūichi was amazed by how he managed to do that within just 1 week. Within the first month of hearing the news, Yōko ordered that her school would be now conducted online until when the outbreak starts to calm down. Luckily, the teachers were well organized and managed their curriculum that was doable, but not too much of a pushover for all students.

Shizuka made sure that Hayato didn’t slack off of his schoolwork, and to have him play with Taka every now and then, as he, Ryūichi, and Usaida decided to halt all of the Babysitter Club’s activities as well, much to the chagrin-but-understanding of Taka, Kirin, Takuma, Kazuma, Midori, Maria, Yuki, Yagi (especially), the Nezu family, and even Inui-senpai (not that he will admit it). Once in a while, they manage to do video group meetings online, which does abate feelings of missing each other, with some amusing moments. Mostly on the Kamitani brothers fighting, with Ryūichi, Shizuka, and Maria scolding Hayato’s usual default of hitting Taka as a disciplinary method, while Shizuka also whacks Hayato in the head as well. And everyone is now aware of where Hayato gets this behavior from...

Ryūichi opens the book with Kotaro on his lap and starts, “Long ago, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest. She was nicknamed ‘Little Red Riding Hood by the other villagers as she was always seen wearing wearing one as she went out. One day she was informed of her grandmother falling ill.” Kotaro inquires, “Nii-cha...” “Hmm? What is it Kotarō?”, Ryuichi asks. “Hoo’?” Kotaro asks confused with a head tilt. (A/N: hood in Japanese is 頭巾/ずきん ‘zukin’, and since Kotaro tends to miss ‘ん’ in Japanese words, I’ve taken upon adjusting my story diction accordingly). 

“Oh that’s right. You probably still don’t know what a hood is. Hmm... it’s like this red handkerchief. Let me just wrap this around your head like so...”, Ryūichi explains to him while coincidentally finding a red handkerchief on the bedside table given to him by Saikawa after celebrating the Lunar New Year, with some basis in Chinese New Year tradition as red being a lucky color. “Ung?”, Kotaro voices in curiosity. “Alright, done! Have a look in the mirror.” As Kotaro turns to the mirror, his eyes sparkle in amazement and happily says “Hoo’!” “Isn’t that great? You look just like her in the story.”, Ryūichi encouraged. “Ung~.”

The Kashima duo then hears three even knocks from their bedroom door with Ryūichi answering, “Ah, yes? Please come in.” Saikawa enters the room, greeting with his usual formal demeanor, “Please excuse me for interrupting your conversation.” 

“Oh, Saikawa-san. How is Obaa-san’s doing?”, Ryūichi greets. “About that, the doctor has informed us that she caught only the cold. It is very unlikely that it is COVID-19 as we all have been following the appropriate health guidelines. The doctor had also collected a small amount of her blood as a sample to be sent to the lab for serological testing as reassurance. She is currently resting in her room.”, Saikawa replies. Ryūichi felt reassured and said, “Is that so? Thank goodness.” 

“‘Any of you catching my cold will be more troublesome, so don’t go anywhere near my room! Hmph!’ is what the Chairwoman said in her own words to relay to you two.”, Saikawa informs with his impression of Yōko. Ryūichi replies with a laugh, “Okay. I understand.”

“Speaking of which, regarding Kotarō-sama’s appearance... is it that of the Little Red Riding Hood, if I am not mistaken?”, Saikawa notes while noticing Kotarō’s new accessory. Ryūichi then explains, “Aah that’s right. We’re right now reading a picture book and he didn’t know what a “riding hood” is, so I told and showed him that it’s something like this. Right?”, Ryūichi says while turning to Kotarō. “Kota, Hoo-cha!”, Kotarō replies while holding the edges of his makeshift red hood.

Ahh, how extremely adorable, Saikawa mentally notes. “Today is a free day, so we’ll be home all day. Let us know if we can help you with anything, Saikawa-san.”, Ryūichi states with his usual dependability. “Thank you very much. I will be preparing lunch after this, so please take your time to enjoy reading the rest of the picture book.”, Saikawa states as he bows to them both and leaves the room, closing the door.

“I hope Obaa-san gets better soon. Right, Kotarō?” Ryūichi suggested to Kotaro, in a calm and hopeful tone. Yesterday, he and Kotarō panicked when they noticed Yōko’s red face to then hear coughing. Saikawa already dialed their primary physician as soon as he suspected something was off, and told them to calm down. “Ung.”, Kotarō replied. “Let’s get back to reading... now where were we?”, Ryūichi pondered. “Nii-cha, Hoo’!”, Kotarō happily reminds his brother. “Oh, that’s right. Let’s continue the story, okay?”, Ryūichi suggests while readjusting himself and Kotaro, who replied “Ung~”.

Ryūichi turns the page and continues, “One day Little Red Riding Hood’s mom calls her over and said, ‘Here’s a basket with some chicken and veggie soup, a cake, and a bottle of wine to give to Grandma. Could you deliver this to her? Grandma is very weak with illness, so this get-well-gift should make her feel better soon.” Kotaro asks, “Baa-cha, get-well-giff?” “Yeah, yeah. She’s going to bring a get-well-gift – ah a get-well-gift is something you bring to someone who is sick to make them feel happy and better.”, Ryuichi explains while also teaching the green-haired toddler.

“Ung! Baa-cha, get-well-giff! Kota will bwing too!”, Kotaro states with determination of the new info he has learned. The toddler then safely climbs off of Ryūichi’s lap while holding the picture book and walking out of their bedroom. “Ah! Where are you bringing that book, Kotaro?!” Ryūichi claims concerned and confused.

To be continued...

[halftwinmoon]

Little Red Riding Hood: Gakuen Babysitters Edition, Part 2

Part 1

For a toddler with itty bitty jelly bean legs, Kotarō moves quite quickly, which doesn’t help the red-haired older brother figure out why he went on his own while chasing him. Ryūichi has a tendency to worry about his green-haired baby brother, which only worsens his apprehensiveness. If only Usaida was there to help him, as the pink-haired sleepy caretaker has quite the intuition in figuring out children’s thoughts and actions. Saikawa, the Chairwoman, the Chairwoman’s son, and Yukari mentored him in childcare and how to be teacher during the earlier days of the daycare center, in which Usaida then internalizes many of their advice and studies them with his own “How to be a Teacher” study notes every night, which does mostly explain his default sleepiness. This hidden secret is quite hilarious considering that one time while Kotarō stayed with him as Ryūichi went off to his school exhibition trip, Usaida didn’t want Kotarō to find his study notes even though the naïve toddler stumbled upon his more... mature materials to then look at his teacher manuals.

Kotarō stops near a certain double door, in which Ryūichi finally catches up to him and notices where the pathway that the two went leads to. “Huh? This is kitchen. What were you planning to do, Kotarō?” Ryūichi noted. “Oh, Ryūichi-sama and Kotarō-sama. Superb timing. I was just going to inform you that lunch is ready,” Saikawa says while walking to the Kashima brothers down the hallway. “Sa-cha! Shaggy!” the toddler says while noticing the rather fluffy gray blanket that is neatly folded under the dapper blond’s arms. “Ah, yes Kotarō-sama. How very observant of you, as usual. This is a cotton fleece blanket that Usaida-sama made for the Chairwoman. I was just finishing drying this after washing it,” Saikawa notes while unfolding the blanket to show the collaborative project. Usaida-san made that? I know that he made the vegetable costumes for the kids and me during our school culture festival, but I never knew how artistic he can be. Ryūichi mentally noted.

The blanket already looked luxurious enough that it almost look like it was made of silk... until the Kashima brothers noticed Saikawa’s touch: graphic of Ryūichi, Kotarō, Saikawa, and Yōko that was seemed to be made with cross-stitching. The style being much like the time Saikawa drew Ryūichi on a yellow ball when he was “playing” with Kotarō, who still keeps it in his toy box. Wow that’s... impressive. I guess he became a lot more productive since quarantine? Ryūichi thought while sweat-dropping in embarrassment and also touched by the symbolic implications that the four were indeed a family: a new family that he sometimes wished that his and his brother’s parents met each other before the plane incident, but now visit their respective graves including the Chairwoman’s son and wife as often and as safely as possible.

“Oh, thank you Saikawa-san,” Ryūichi responds while bringing back to the topic. “Actually Kotarō was planning to do something in the kitchen, but I’m not sure what he’s thinking...” One glance exchange between the green olive-haired toddler and the hybrid butler/secretary with Kotarō claiming “Ba-cha get-well-giff!” was all the info Saikawa needed. “I see now. How thoughtful of you. You plan on making something for the Chairwoman as a get-well-gift, correct?” “Ung!” he answered with his default way of communicating of head nods, which was becoming endearing to everyone and even strangers before the pandemic. “Lemo-cha!”

Oh so that’s what he meant. He’s so sweet and considerate. Just like the time I was sick and he, Obaa-san, and Saikawa-san nursed me back to health with Kotarō’s lemon tea– No! I can’t start crying now. I should help him. Ryūichi mentally says while also taking part of Kotarō determination... until suddenly *growls* “Eh? Umm...” Ryūichi mumbles with a growing blush. *growls* “Ung...” Kotarō mirrors in surprise while putting one tiny hands on his tummy while still holding the picture book close to his body. Since the hallway was very clean and not full of decorations, hearing the brothers’ stomach growls was easily detectable. With a light chuckle, Saikawa says, “Well we shouldn’t keep tarrying on then, should we? Please head on to the dining room so that I can serve you lunch.” as he bows and heads to the kitchen.

“How about we eat lunch first? Can’t help nurse others when we can’t take care of ourselves, can we? Obaa-san would for sure not approve of that.” The older Kashima brother suggests to the little one. “Ung~!” Kotaro replies. As they enter the dining room and taken their seats, with Ryūichi putting Kotarō in his seat booster while taking off the red makeshift hood – Saikawa enters with lunch that includes lightly-salted grilled mackerel – deboned with pristine precision that rivals master sushi chefs – with rice, miso soup, and kinpira gobo, scaled to the appropriate serving sizes for all three of them. “Thank you for the food,” Ryūichi thanks with clapped hands while Kotarō mirrors and says, “T’ank for food.” As usual, Saikawa’s cooking is superb and then both brothers give their respects to the man. “I am always honored to serve you two. Speaking of which, have you finished reading ‘Little Red Riding Hood’? I am going to give the Chairwoman her meal, which is a simple rice porridge made with chicken, ginger, ginseng, and leeks after I have collected your dishes,” Saikawa noted while observing that the picture book was besides Kotarō’s dishes. 

“Oh no it’s fine, we’ll put away our dishes won’t we? And we’ll continue where we left off.” Ryūichi reassures while turning to Kotaro, in which the toddlers nods with his usual grunt. “Very well then. Please do continue to enjoy reading.” Saikawa bids them off to then deliver the Chairwoman’s meal. Ryūichi collected both of his and Kotarō’s dishes to then head to the kitchen sink, in which he wash, scrubbed, and rinsed the dishes while handling them to Kotarō to dry with clean towels (with some assistance to make sure the little one didn’t accidentally drop it).

“Alright then, how about we continue reading ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, Kotarō?” the older Kashima brother suggests. “Ung~!” is Kotarō’s expected happy response. The duo heads back to their room and resume reading together. However, will learn later on how this book decides to tell this version of ‘Little Red Riding Hood‘...

To be continued