Chapter Text
Sending a little one off to school is scary. Especially when yours is... not friendly.
The Sakurayashiki's were concerned, their little boy was finally going to school. Dropping him off wasn't even the hard part, he was okay when they left. No tears, no fussing, nothing. Just sat with his chin tilted down, and eyes wide as kids around him started screaming and playing. Kaoru was a quiet child, happy to sit in a desk, and not move. The hardest part was worrying he wouldn't make a friend. Due to how quiet he was, most of the other children didn't really know how to include him. So he would sit and draw, by his lonesome.
"Kaoru," Said a teacher, kneeling down to see what he was doing. He was sitting neatly at this tiny desk, where all the other students were off doing their own thing, "do you want to play with everyone else?" She asked. He gave a small shake of his head, closing his eyes tightly when he did so. "You might have fun though, are you sure?" All the other students were playing a game, a loud game. It made poor Kaoru overwhelmed, but he didn't know how to express it. Loud noises were not his favorite thing, at all.
"Yes." He pouted, not wanting to be forced. His parents had made sure to leave a note for the teacher, 'Don't force him, he is very quiet and doesn't like doing certain things. Give him time.'
"Okay, well, what do you want to do while they're playing?"
"Draw."
"Okay. You can join them any time you like though." She stood up, looking down at him with a smile, before walking back over to the gaggle of children. So he sat, nice and quietly at his desk. Doodling with a green colored pencil. It was mostly random shapes, nothing coherent. But to his little brain they made sense. One was a small circle with spikes all around it.
"What’re you drawin'?" Asked one of his classmates. Another little boy with green curly hair.
"Dunno." Kaoru barely looked up, giving him a tiny glance. The other boy had dark eyes, looking down excitedly at the shapes on the paper.
"It looks cool."
"Thank you." Kaoru responded, finally looking up.
"I'm Kojiro!" Laughed his classmate. "What's your name?"
"Kaoru."
"Kaoru, come play with me."
"No."
"Can I watch you draw?"
"Yes."
Their teacher looked up, seeing Kaoru and Kojiro sitting together. It was realistically the most she'd seen Kaoru speak all day. He was so shy, but it seemed Kojiro knew how to get him talking. She whispered something to the other teacher, making a point to break the rules with their seating chart. Tomorrow, Kaoru and Kojiro would sit together. For the rest of the term they would, actually.
When Mrs. Sakurayashiki came to pick up Kaoru, he was waiting with another child. They were holding hands, talking about whatever it is little kids talk about. In this case, dinosaurs. It's always dinosaurs.
"Hey honey," She had a big smile on her face at the sight of the two of them. The teacher saw her enter the room, and quickly pulled her into the hallway.
"You said he was quiet!"
"Well he seemed to make a friend today, he's never this talkative usually."
"I'll make sure to leave a note in his file, to keep the two of them together in classes. Kojiro is one of the most friendly little ones I've ever had, he went up to Kaoru and never left his side all day."
"Really?"
"Yes! I'm going to have them sit together starting tomorrow."
"Thank you!" She was so relieved. Her biggest fear hadn't come true. Kaoru had indeed made a friend. Someone who would hopefully be a good one. She walked back into the door, beckoning over to Kaoru. "Kaoru, it's time to go."
"Mom I made a friend!" He beamed. A massive smile on that little face. He was missing a tooth, and his pink hair was messy from finally being convinced to play.
"Well bring him here, I want to meet him." Kaoru dragged Kojiro by the hand to meet his mom. "What's your name honey?" She asked.
"Nanjo Kojiro."
"A very nice name. I'm Kaoru's mom. It's nice to meet you, Kojiro."
"Mom can Koko come play?"
"Not tonight, but maybe this weekend, okay?" Both boys let out big laughs. Very excited at the prospect, despite how long it would take for it to happen. "We just have to make sure Kojiro's mom and dad are okay with it first."
"Okay!" They both nodded.
"Alright, Kaoru say goodbye honey, we've got to go home."
"Bye Koko." Kaoru gave a tiny wave. For the first time since being dropped off today, he looked ready to start crying. He just made a friend, he didn't want to say goodbye already.
"Bye Kaoru!" Kojiro returned the favor with a big hug, before they left. He was the last child waiting in the classroom to be picked up, sitting quietly after Kaoru left, talking with the teacher.
Mrs. Sakurayashiki walked Kaoru to the car. He was crying, big tears falling from his eyes. Without a word she scooped him up, letting him cry into her shoulder. As quiet as he was, emotions were a big deal for him. Everything was heightened it seemed. He'd been so shut off to school, that he hadn't been sad. But now he had a friend, and he didn't want to be apart from him.
“Are you happy you made a friend today?” she finally asked when he calmed down a bit. She buckled him in his car seat, and his bottom lip trembled.
“Yeah,” He sobbed, “I want him to be my friend forever.” She shut his door, opening hers and sitting down.
”Me too, honey. Me too.”