Chapter 99

Synopsis
Keeping an injured hand under wraps has taken its toll on Hayato. At the behest of Shizuka, everyone at the Babysitting Club pitches in to make sure Hayato gets well soon.

Long Summary
The Kamitani brothers arrive at the daycare. Ryuuichi, in the middle of changing Midori, asks Hayato to hand him the wet wipes. Hayato obliges, and hands the wipes over with his right hand, which Ryuu is shocked to see is covered in bandages. Ryuu asks what happened, and Taka simply explains that Hayato got hurt. Ryuu urges Hayato not to worsen his injury even if it means he can't help out in the daycare. Hayato shrugs off the concern, claiming that wiping Midori's butt is a bigger deal than his injured hand. Shizuka comes in and promptly smacks Hayato for not taking his injury more seriously, and declares that she'll be in charge of getting Taka to and from the daycare for a while. As Ryuu pleads for Shizuka not to hit her injured son, Midori begins to crawl away.

After Ryuu finally finishes the task of changing Midori, Usaida and the other children join to hear the story of how Hayato was injured. Shizuka says that she noticed something was wrong yesterday when Hayato couldn't hold his chopsticks properly. Upon closer inspection, his wrist had swollen, which caused a fever. She took him to the hospital immediately, where he revealed that he slipped in the bathroom two days before. Shizuka was livid that he didn't say anything sooner, considering that there were no club activities keeping him busy. She wishes that, if there's one thing Hayato could learn from Taka, it's to loudly alert others when he's in pain (Taka was extremely delighted to be praised in such a manner). Shizuka said that while she would definitely keep him from doing anything related to baseball, Hayato could not be trusted to remember to rest. Since he wouldn't heed his mother's advice and take a break from his daycare duties, she requested that everybody in the daycare help take care of him. She added that it was especially important that Taka take care of his brother. Taka eagerly accepted this responsibility, and the other children followed suit. Hayato announced that all this was unnecessary, adding that he could still do some muscle training for baseball. Taking a dangerous tone in her voice, Shizuka warned her son that if he didn't listen to her, she would break his prized baseball DVD in half. This tried and true method of getting Hayato to behave did the trick once again, even if he only yielded begrudgingly. With that settled, Shizuka left Hayato in the hands of his caring friends in the daycare. She said that this was a great opportunity to teach him how to rely on others for a change.

Hayato was frustrated, but Ryuu asserted that Hayato really did need to learn how to rely on others. Even as he was chafing listening to Ryuu repeat what his mother said, the children immediately began to fuss over him. Kirin told Hayato that he shouldn't be up when he was sick. Even though Usaida said that being sick was different from being injured, Kotaro prepared a pillow for Hayato and urged him to lie down on it. Taka followed up by getting one of the blankets and covering his brother with it by tackling him. Ryuu picks up Taka and tells him not to be so reckless with his bedside manner. Takuma and Kazuma are up next, and try the rubbing and chant they use on their friends and each other. They mistakenly rub Hayato's head instead of his hand, where the injury lies. Hayato gives up, and says that he'll be going to sleep. When Hayato asks Ryuu to wake him when class starts, Taka exclaims that he'll wake him up instead. Usaida sits by Hayato and jokingly singing him a lullaby alongside Midori, which angers the patient to the point of balling his bandaged hand into a fist. Ryuu urges him to take it easy, and Kirin repeats what Shizuka said about meetings despite not understanding some of the words she used. Kirin then sings a genuine lullaby, which Hayato listens to completion.

When it's time for class, Saginuma, Usokawa, and Ebizawa crowd around Hayato and asks questions about his injury. Usokawa laughs when he hears that the baseball star got hurt from an accident in the bathroom. When Ebizawa points out that the girls are angry with their callousness, the others offer to help Hayato with anything other than studying. Having no need or desire for their help, Hayato tells them to leave him be. Seeing Hayato act his usual self after around their classmates, Ryuu can't help but smile when he thinks back to when the children's care wasn't rebuffed. Ryuu is reminded of several similar incidents from his past. There was the chairwoman's hip injury, when she reacted to loving concern much like Hayato. Believing that Hayato chose not to tell his mother out of concern of making her worry during a busy grading period, Ryuu also remembers wanting to not make his own mother fret, with similar reactions from her. Taizo eventually arrives, and instructs the class to sit down while he takes attendance. But before he begins, the sight of Hayato's bandages distracts him. After Usokawa explains the situation, Taizo tells him to have a friend take down notes for him (Ryuu promptly volunteers) while he doubles his efforts on paying attention to the lecture. At his father's beck, Hayato complies to these terms before the taking of attendance is resumed.

When they return to the daycare, the children each offer to feed Hayato a part of their own bentos. Though flustered by the fussing, he graciously accepts all of their offers. All except for Taka, whose attempt to get Hayato to eat his broccoli for him couldn't be more obvious. Despite trying to sneak his vegetables into someone else's mouth, Taka really does want Hayato to get better soon. He takes his treasured hamburg steak, and makes a more sincere offer to his brother. This time Hayato accepts it, to Taka's joy. Despite the intentions of the children, all of this care makes Hayato uncomfortable, which Ryuu notices. Hayato asks Ryuu if he'll make good on his word to help with anything by changing places with him. Ryuu responds that becoming the children's patient in Hayato's place is out of the question. However, he also promises that he'll find a way to make the situation a little more bearable for Hayato. As he tried to figure out what Ryuu intended to do, the children continued to try to get Hayato to rest, and Taka drew a picture on the bandages hoping it would heal his brother with magic. Taking to heart Shizuka's words on being able to rely on anyone during these times, Ryuu seeks help from Taizo. While Hayato visited his father's office ostensibly for after school tutoring, his real purpose for coming here was to spend some time in solitude while waiting for his hand to heal. When Hayato remarked about his pain, Taizo replied that it served him right for making his mother worry. After scolding his son, Taizo instructed him to hold out his hand so new bandages could be applied. Working together, the Babysitting Club did everything they could to ensure Hayato could make a full recovery.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Taka Kamitani
 * Hayato Kamitani
 * Kotaro Kashima
 * Ryuuichi Kashima
 * Midori Sawatari
 * The Goldfish
 * Shizuka Kamitani
 * Usaida Yoshihito
 * Takuma Mamizuka
 * Kazuma Mamizuka
 * Kirin Kumatsuka
 * Saginuma
 * Usokawa
 * Ebizawa
 * Ryuu and Kotaro's mother (flashback)
 * Taizo Hebihara
 * Ushimaru Yuki