hayama / childhood

You could say Hayama's childhood wasn't a happy one. And you'd be damn right. His mother (she's not ever given a name, so she's Hayama-haha, since "haha" is kind of "mama" in Japanese) died in labour, so the Hayama family was scarred right from the moment Akito was born. Hayama-chichi (Akito's father) tried to shut the pain down by becoming a workaholic, and at the same time he grew more and more distanced from his own children.

Natsumi, Akito's older sister, reacted to her mother's death by blaming it all on his little brother. She adored her mother so much, she couldn't stand the fact that she died so her brother was born. And so, she began punishing Akito before he could even realize it.

At the age of 3 (Natsumi was 6), Akito began to be aware of the situation he was in. He found himself being mistreated by his sister for a reason he didn't understand, but at the same time he didn't want to tell his father, since he adored him and didn't want him to know the two siblings weren't in good terms. He thought everything would be ok if he endured it and meanwhile cherised the baths he had with his father every night.

Except one day, not wanting to take it anymore, Akito faced her sister for the first time and insulted her. Natsumi, in response, told him their mother went to the hospital to have him and never returned. At that moment, little Akito couldn't understand what "death" meant, but he did understand when his sister told him that his father hated him too.

That night, when his father arrived, Akito refused to take the usual bath with him. He was haunted by what Natsumi had said, but didn't want to find out by asking his father. Since that moment, Akito started bathing alone and his father, who thought it was just a phase, let it pass. Akito's heart was beginning to be severily hurt, but no one was there to notice it.

And so Akito became a rebel at the young age of 5. He skipped classes whenever he felt like it and didn't hold any respect for adults. One day, Hayama-chichi brought his kids to a Dinosaurs Exhibition. Akito found himself in awe like he'd never been before and felt extremely happy when his father bought him a couple of dinosaur figures. He wasn't able to express his gratitude at the time, but he keeps those toys as a treasure for him even now.

However, on the way home, his father told him as a joke that some big round gas deposits where in fact dinosaur eggs. Hayama was amazed and thought his father was telling him the truth. When he found out, some time later, that what his father had told him wasn't true, he felt more betrayed than ever.

Akito kept growing and his heart kept hurting. He isolated himself from the world and became a harsh boy, with communication difficulties and very hard to be mixed with. That's where we find him when the story begins.

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