Work Text:
"I should be going now. Don't forget to have fun and take care of yourself," Chiharu ruffled his head, making a mess out of his silky blue hair.
"Got it, Mom!" Valt replied vigorously while trying to remove the long strands of hair from his line of vision. Chiharu chuckled.
"Here, you'll need this," Kento kneeled down - for such a big man, his son was surprisingly tiny - and handed him a blue headband with yellow accents, "Keep looking forward, alright?"
"I know," the child said airily, more concerned about the item he was receiving than the advice. Mimicking his dad's morning routine, he slipped the headband under his bangs and pushed it up. It felt a little weird, having his forehead exposed for the first time since moving to land, but it was great! Now he looked just like his dad!
"Bye Mom, bye Dad! Love you!" he threw his small arms around Kento's neck, then moved to hug Chiharu's leg, "See you later, big brother's going to school!" he waved to the twins, who were mere babies in their mother's arms, before turning around and dashing through the gates, eager for new experiences.
Kento and Chiharu watched until the silhouette of their firstborn was out of sight.
"I have to say, I'm a tad bit worried," Chiharu commented.
"He's going to be just fine. He takes after his Dad, after all," Kento puffed out his chest in pride.
"That's exactly why I'm worried," Chiharu shook her head with a teasing smile, "Aren't Rusalki supposed to be graceful? Why does my son keep putting his head into the nearest bush?"
"Come on now, focusing on appearance takes away half the fun. Besides, curiosity is a good quality," Kento said, "We have a feeling that he's going to go far."
In the space behind him, he could hear his guardian spirit Kvasir humming in approval. Even though Valt was merely a four-year-old, there were already signs of an awakening. A powerful one, at that.
"His guardian spirit feels familiar," Kvasir had commented the day Kento caught a glimpse of blue aura behind his son, to which he had replied: "Someone reborn from your era, perhaps?"
But that is a story for years to come.
Meanwhile, Valt was staring wide-eyed at the sheer number of kids his age, many with non-human features: some had tiny horns, some with glowy eyes; some were distraught and crying their hearts out, while some were ecstatic in the new environment. Amongst the latter, the blue-haired boy ducked between the legs and outstretched hands of frantic caretakers, skipping and spinning as he tried to take in everything at once. The daycare's grounds were large; he spotted an obstacle course, a sand pit, and a rack of toy weapons. There was even a pond, so he didn't have to worry about his scales getting dry and itchy.
With his eyes on the sky, he didn't look where he was going and bumped head-first against a huge rock.
"Hey, watch where you're going, buddy!" the rock shouted, "Woah, you sure are tiny."
As it turned out, the rock was not really...a rock, but a very big boy with fiery red hair, pointy teeth, and skin rough around the edges - literally.
"You're. SO. HUGE!!" little Valt exclaimed, "And hard, too! Like a mountain! Do you eat rocks?"
"Nah, my granny's a titan, so I'm born tough!" the redhead flexed his muscles - for a kindergartener, the sheer amount was significant, "Say, you don't look very human yourself," he commented, pointing at his own neck in indication.
"That's because my Dad's a Rusalka!" the smaller boy showed the back of his hands, which were lined with glistening blue scales.
The titan child touched them before beaming in surprise:
"Woah, scales are so smooth! My spikes are much tougher, wanna see?" he gave Valt a fist to inspect, the other's small hands knocking on stone-like knuckles in curiosity.
"So cool! Hey, wanna be friends? My name is Aoi Valt. I'm four years old. What's your name?" Valt outstretched a hand - though it was more like raising it, considering their height different - signifying a handshake, an etiquette he had learned from his parents for making new connections.
"I'm Shakuenji Kaiza, also four years old. You can call me Xhaka," the redhead laughed, "You're a pretty cool guy, too."
"Really?" Valt replied, starry-eyed, "Thanks!"
Right then, as they had successfully calmed down most of the children, the caretakers started to gather the children to sit in a circle and started the first activity of the day, which was self-introduction. The teachers went first, then picked a random kid to begin the round. During the exchange, Valt didn't miss a single word, his brown eyes scanning each and every one of his classmates as they showcased the little things that distinguished them, be it non-human features like his scales and Xhaka's spikes or magic. How interesting was that? Having spent the first four years of his life under Beigoma Bay, it was his first time seeing this many people who were not merfolk, after all!
Except when it was his turn.
As all eyes focused on him, Valt froze, his head unable to make a single command. It was until Xhaka nudged him, whispering You got this, little buddy that he was able to stammer something along the lines of H-HI! My name is Rusa- AH! I mean my name is Valt! I'm a-... uh... A FISH!
Hence, on his first day at school, he had called himself a fish, all because the spotlight petrified him, even after his Dad's crash course on how to introduce himself! His Mom was going to get a good laugh out of this. He sulked. That was not the first impression he wanted to make in Beigoma. Xhaka had tried to console him by telling him that everyone could tell a merfolk from a fish, and that his amount of scales did make him look fish-like enough.
"Not funny..." Valt pouted.
"Haha, you've got to practice more on speaking in front of people, then!" Xhaka laughed and gave him a hearty smack on the back that sent him flying, his forehead colliding with the wall and eyes spinning.
"Oops, my bad," the titan child apologized as he helped his friend up, before noticing the Rusalka child's eyes looking at something behind him, "What'cha looking at, Valt?"
"See that guy with white hair?"
Xhaka followed the direction of the half-Rusalka's finger and sure enough, there was a lone white-haired kid by the pond with their back turned to the duo, quietly stirring the water with a stick.
"He looks lonely. We should make friends with him!" Valt declared, "Operation, get him to be our friend!"
"On it!" Xhaka enthusiastically agreed, rolling up his sleeves. Then, doing what kids would - or would not - do to greet a new face, the titan child snatched the kid from the pond and carried him on his shoulder like a potato sack, Valt hot on his heels.
"Hi there! My name is Aoi Valt, what's yours?"
The white-haired victim blinked groggily, unable to comprehend what just happened to him.
"Huh? Are you sick?" Valt asked.
"Eh? You're sick?" Xhaka halted in his steps and set their new not-yet-friend down, "Sorry lil' guy. Are you alright?"
Being able to get back on his own two feet, the new kid seemed to have regained his senses somewhat. He flailed and stuttered:
"I-I'm alright..."
"That's good, that's good!" Xhaka laughed, "I thought you might've passed out there!"
"You weren't responding to me at all!" Valt added.
"Well... That's because you suddenly grabbed me," the white-haired boy calmly explained, "I was shocked."
"Ooooh..." Valt and Xhaka wore similar expressions of surprise, then Valt added: "That's because we saw you there all alone! We want to be your friends!"
"What he said!"
"..." the kid hummed in contemplation. The red-and-blue pair didn't look like bad kids. If anything, they sounded like they sincerely wanted to be his friends. However, that stunt they pulled earlier almost gave him a little heart attack.
"Let me introduce myself again," Valt broke the silence, "My name is Aoi Valt, my Dad's a Rusalka, so my human form has scales. You can touch them if you want," he offered his hand. The new kid, albeit hesitantly, brushed his fingers over the line of neat blue scales before stars filled his crimson eyes.
"You are real."
"Of course I'm real. Hmph!" Valt put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest.
"I'm Shakuenji Kaiza. Everyone calls me Xhaka, so you can call me that, too," Xhaka piped in.
"..."
"Why are you so quiet again?" Xhaka bent down to enter his line of vision, "Helooo, Earth to- erm..." the half-titan sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, we haven't got your name."
"...Kurenai Shu."
"It's great to be your friend, Shu!" Valt eagerly shook his hand, while Xhaka almost broke his back with a smack of monstrous strength, "We're gonna have a great time together!"
Shu blushed but didn't move away, feeling a gnawing headache at the back of his mind for years to come.
Well, at least somebody had to keep tabs on these idiots.