Chapter Text
Rin is three years old when she first enters kindergarten.
It’s the first day, and she spends a few minutes clutching the hand of her mother in awkward shyness. The nice teacher promises Rin some playtime and the opportunity to make friends if she lets go. Rin hesitates, and then steps towards where the toy cars are.
“Why don’t you join the rest of the girls?” the lady suggests. “Maybe you can play with them!”
Rin squints and pouts, but she waddles off in search of the other girls. There still aren’t many children here yet, and she finds herself at a loss of what to do. Some of them are sitting and coloring quietly, and others are having a tea party. Rin feels unsure, like she shouldn’t interrupt. I don’t know how to play Tea Party.
Eventually, Rin picks up a doll with long, blonde flowing hair and begins miming noises she saw in an action movie once. With a mischievous grin, Rin rounds on a poor stuffed dinosaur on the floor. “I’m a soldier! I'll beat you up!” Rin announces cheerfully. “Surrender, Mr. T-Rex!” She shakes the doll and makes some little growly sounds in the back of her throat.
The teacher walks over. “That’s not very appropriate for a young lady,” she says in a friendly tone. “Could you tone it down to be something less violent?”
It’s not like Rin hasn’t heard something like that before from her mother, but she feels a twinge of resentment in her chest. Even here? Even at school? “But, but…” she protests, pointing at the boys outside running around and playing tag. “They did it too! I saw it!”
“Boys will be boys, and you shouldn’t follow their example,” the annoying lady replies. “You’re bored, aren’t you? Why don’t I introduce you to some of your new classmates?”
Rin’s annoyance and awkwardness are swiftly overwritten by the blossoming excitement of making some new friends. “I wanna go! I wanna go!”
The teacher takes Rin by the hand and introduces her to a small girl with tiny teal twintails. She looks up from her crayon drawings and squeaks when Rin gets too close. She jumps on top of the scattered papers to hide her work, much to Rin’s disappointment.
“Miku, this is Rin,” the nice lady explains patiently. “Rin, meet Miku.”
“D-don’t look,” the girl, Miku, stammers nervously. She glances away, eyes flitting between Rin and the bathroom door.
“Why not?” Rin asks, genuinely curious.
“The other kids…” Miku curls in on herself. “They said I'm bad. My kitty looks like a hippo. And I only have one color crayon. And… and…”
“…Okay. I won’t look.” Rin crouches down next to Miku. “I like your glasses.”
At that, Miku visibly brightens, smiling up at Rin and leaning forward eagerly. “Really?”
Rin gives Miku an encouraging smile of her own. “Definitely!”