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Sousuke’s face was fixed into a frown, standing among the other non-boarding students milling about the landing platform. Giant storm petrels came and went, dropping off other children like himself but Sousuke ignored them. So many of these children had grown up in a world like this but it was all so alien to Sousuke. What was normal for them was strange and unfamiliar for him and he knew that if he asked anyone what something meant, he’d be laughed at.
Moving towards the back of the group, Sousuke pushed through the throng of pale-pink robed children, his own robes swishing around him as he moved. He wanted some time to himself before he was taken to the castle to start his life as a wizard; he still couldn’t believe he was actually a wizard. It was strange to think about. He had always wanted to have magic or super powers but now that he did have it, all he wanted was to give it up and go home.
Once he was away from the crowd, Sousuke took a deep breath, trying to keep himself from panicking. He had no friends here and he was scared.
The sound of crying brought Sousuke out of his thoughts and he turned to his right, seeing a red-haired boy standing there, fat tears rolling down chubby cheeks. His fists were clenched in his robes so tightly Sousuke was sure he was going to rip it. Fighting back his own fears, Sousuke approached him cautiously.
“Are… Are you okay?” Sousuke kept his voice soft, trying not to scare the other boy.
The boy jumped in surprise before trying to scrub his face clean of tears. “I-I’m fine!”
Sousuke scowled, wondering why this boy thought he would believe something like that. “That’s dumb. You’re crying, so something must be wrong.”
Sniffling, the boy went back to gripping his robes. “I hate them… They’re pink a-and make me look like a girl. I heard the other kids say so… I-I’m not a girl! It’s not my fault my parents gave me this stupid, girly name!”
“I don’t think you’re a girl… Even if you might have a girly name.” Sousuke wasn’t sure why he felt compelled to make this boy feel better, but he wanted to be the one to comfort him. “I’m Yamazaki Sousuke. I… I don’t have any friends here, so we could be friends, if you want…”
The boy stared at him before rubbing his eyes again. “I’m… I’m Matsuoka. U-Um… Matsuoka Rin…” Rin looked up at Sousuke, fidgeting slightly as though he were expecting to be mocked again.
Instead, Sousuke simply gave him a small grin before reaching out to ruffle his hair. “Okay, Rin! We’re friends now, right? So I’ll make sure no one makes fun of you!”
Rin brightened up almost instantly, giving Sousuke a big smile full of missing teeth. “Thank you, Sousuke!”
Sousuke returned the smile and promised himself to do whatever he could to protect Rin’s smile.