Author's Notes: So here's another compilation of fics I've written that are too short to be put up on their own. All three of them connect though, as they're about Nozomi and Maki being childhood friends.

#1: I Want Candy

Maki didn't want to be here. She had expressed as much to her mother, but the words of a pouting three-year-old never seemed to hold a lot of weight with parents, so off they went anyway. Maybe she was being forced to go, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't make things as difficult as possible.

The other kids at the birthday party were weird, and Maki felt uncomfortable around the birthday girl, a rather excitable ginger whose attentions were, luckily, on many things that weren't Maki. Throughout the entirety of the party, she stood by herself in her little pink dress, trying to find the perfect distance between the annoyingly-loud kids and the questioning adults. Even when her mother would persuade her to go try and make friends, she wouldn't say much more than a 'Hi' before subtly sidling back to her personal spot.

Honestly, trying to talk and make friends with kids she didn't know was a scary thought. Sure, she wouldn't know them until she actually talked to them, but she was intimidated by the sheer amount of people and their big smiles. Why were they so happy? She wished that she could go home. Her stuffed animals would be better companions.

Soon, everyone began to gather around a sturdy tree, where a piñata had been hung for the kids to beat mercilessly. Putting on a blindfold, the birthday girl was handed a bat to whack the poor thing with, though Maki noted that the woman - who must have been the girl's mother - seemed a little bit hesitant to give the bat over. Maybe it was a wise hesitance, since the moment the girl had finished her requisite spins, she immediately lunged forward and nearly slammed it down on someone's arm.

Quickly the parent hauled the birthday girl back and gently turned her in a safer direction. Satisfied, the girl resumed lunging forward, leaping up and smacking the piñata hard, causing a tiny rip in the material. Pulling off the blindfold, she smiled brightly, and for whatever reason Maki noticed that she was missing a couple teeth. She skipped back over to the group and handed the bat off to next person, whose turn was, thankfully, a lot less dangerous.

"Maki dear, don't you want a turn?" Maki jumped in surprise, having been unaware of her mother's approach. Quickly shaking her head, she tried to make herself seem busy by staring at her shoes. "Are you sure, sweetie? I'm sure the other kids would love it if you joined."

"I don't wanna!" Pouting, Maki crossed her arms and glared at her shoes like they had offended her. She hadn't meant to shout, and she did want to go and take a swing at the piñata, but she didn't at the same time. It was complicated. With a nod, her mother left it alone, but the silence only made Maki feel incredibly guilty.

A loud shout sounded from the group, and Maki looked up to see the piñata spilling its guts out on the grass, a wave of children rushing to grab its contents. She watched with nervous trepidation as they all swarmed around the candy, blocking her view of what was going on. Though she wanted to go and try to grab a piece or two as well, it seemed way too dangerous; way too scary. So she stood rooted to the spot, twirling a strand of her hair in order to have something to do.

It took a bit of time, but eventually the crowd dispersed, breaking off to different parts of the party to play and feast on their bounties. Tentatively, Maki made her way to where the piñata lay in ruins, a noble sacrifice to the celebration. Nothing remained on the ground to prove that anything had come out of the giant-sized hole that had brought the papered equine to the ground. With her foot, she pushed its remains over, but nothing came out of that either.

Tears started to prick at the corners of her eyes as Maki stared heartbroken at the ground. Okay, so she hadn't wanted to be pushed and shoved by a bunch of sticky-handed kids, but she had wanted at least one piece of candy. It was only a tiny bite of sugar that was definitely bad for her, but she wanted it, and now her own stubbornness had caused her to miss out. Quickly things went south where her emotions were concerned, and she was unable to stop herself from crying openly, her cheeks becoming soaked and stained with regret.

"Hey, are you okay?" Whipping around in fright, Maki saw through her tears a girl with purple hair tied up in pigtails. Wiping away her tears, she got a glance of the girl's concerned expression before quickly turning away, already embarrassed that someone saw her crying.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine!" She kept wiping at her eyes with her arm until she was as presentable as possible under the circumstances. When she turned around, she was surprised to find that the girl had stuck her hand out, two pieces of candy in her palm. "Wh-What's this?"

"Take it!" The girl gave her a big smile, shoving her open hand closer. "I got too much and I saw that you didn't get any, so have some." Maki flushed with embarrassment at the confirmation that someone had definitely seen her, but she found it hard to decline the chance to get some candy a second time.

"Th... Th-Thank you," she mumbled, taking the candy and unwrapping one before popping it into her mouth. Still smiling, the other girl took one of her own candies and started to chew on it. They stood there together for a couple minutes, just eating their candy away from the rest of the party. Whoever this girl was, she didn't put Maki on edge like kids her age usually did.

"My name's Nozomi! What's yours?" She was cheerful and kind, and despite having not wanted to go in the first place, Maki found herself regretting what had happened less and less. Her usual frown cracked into a small smile.

"Maki."

Sitting side by side at one of the tables that had been set up beforehand, Maki and Nozomi enjoyed a piece of cake, one treat that Maki was not going to miss out on. The party was as loud and crowded as before, but with Nozomi by her side and holding up a decent conversation, she felt a lot more at ease. Admittedly, it was nice to have someone to talk to.

"So what's school like?" Being two years older, Nozomi had already gotten to start going to school, something that Maki was curious about.

"It's big and scary!" For emphasis, Nozomi spread her arms wide. "But there's lots of other kids and we get to learn things and read and stuff." Maki nodded as she took another bite of her cake. It sounded really exciting. Her parents had already been preparing her for this, so she was eager to get started with her schooling. "Hey, do you wanna come over and play sometime?"

"R-Really?"

"Yeah! My mom can take us to the park and we can go on the swings and stuff! It's a lot of fun!" Nozomi beamed at Maki, stuffing the rest of the cake in her mouth. "We cn be best fwiends!"

"Friends?" This was a concept that her mother had hoped she'd make at the party, wasn't it? Well, she didn't need friends, but Nozomi was really nice, and the thought of getting to play with her made her happy. Maybe having one friend wouldn't be so bad. Smiling, she nodded. "S-Sure! That'd be fun!" For all the embarrassment and annoyances that had come with the party, the one thing that would stand out was positive: Maki had a friend now.

#2: A Lot of Hot Air

Maki looked up in anticipation at the strange clown, his hands twisting long, purple and red balloons around like magic. Most kids apparently expressed terror at the sight of a strange man with a painted face, but Maki was already six: too old to be afraid of clowns. Besides, where else would she get an amazing balloon animal?

When he was done, the clown presented Maki her prize: a red and purple balloon panther. Her eyes lit up in happiness as she took it in her hands and hugged it gently, careful not to apply too much pressure. She thanked the man happily as her parents paid him for the work, and then they were off for home, with Maki humming under her breath.

The restaurant they had just left wasn't too far from their home, so the family had decided to walk there, which Maki didn't mind too much. If only they would send a construction crew to fix some of the issues with the sidewalk they were walking on. There were several cracks and parts of the cement jutting out that should be considered rather dangerous, though apparently not dangerous enough for someone to go and fix them.

They were nearly home when those sidewalk issues became a problem. Maki was trying to be careful, but her foot caught the risen concrete despite that and stuck, sending her toppling to the ground. Upon contact, her knee scraped the sidewalk, reddening with a trickle of blood sticking to her skin. However, the stinging pain wasn't what Maki noticed: it was the loud 'popping' sound.

For a moment, Maki felt numb with disbelief. Even with the deflated remains of her once-proud balloon panther clear as day in her hands, she couldn't wrap her head around what had happened. Hadn't it just been fine? Well, before she'd fallen on it, anyway.

"Oh no, Maki dear..." Her mother bent down to give her a hug, but by that time Maki was already crying. Loud, childish sobs shook her body as she still held the ruined balloon in her hands, not even noticing that her knee had been scraped. All she cared about was that she had popped her precious balloon animal, and now she didn't have one.

Her parents eventually coaxed her to continue the trip home, though her pouting and still-falling tears slowed them down to the point where her father carried her the rest of the way. After they got inside, he disinfected and patched up her knee, and though it still stung, Maki didn't really care. When she found herself alone in her room, she grabbed her favorite stuffed teddy bear - Mr. Tom Ato - and cried even harder, sobbing miserably into his soft plush fur.

After some amount of time - she didn't know how long she sat crying in her room - she heard a knock at the door. She looked up, quickly wiping away her tears. "G-Go away!" She wasn't in the mood to talk to her parents: she just wanted to sulk in her room for awhile longer.

"Maki-chaaaan!" That wasn't her parents. Maki blinked in surprise when she recognized that voice.

"N-Nozomi?" The door opened and there she was, looking at Maki with a concerned smile, holding something equally familiar in her hands. "I-Is that..."

"I came over to see if you wanted to play, and your mom told me what happened." Nozomi walked over towards Maki and held out her hands, the same red-and-purple balloon panther held like a heavenly gift in her outstretched palms. "So I went back and got you this!"

"Wh-Why did you do that, though?" Still drying her eyes, Maki stared at Nozomi in utter disbelief, her gaze switching between the balloon animal and Nozomi's cheerful smile.

"Because I knew you'd be sad," was the simple reply she got, the balloon animal pushed closer to her. "And I like it when you smile. You have a great smile after all!"

"J-Jeez, d-don't say it like that!" A blush started to bloom on Maki's face, but it couldn't stop a small smile from appearing as she took the offering and held it even more carefully than before. A swell of warmth rushed through her body, and her smile only grew wider. "Th-Thank you, Nozomi."

Smiling brightly, Nozomi nodded and jumped onto the bed, sitting next to Maki. "No problem, Maki-chan!" Noticing something near them on the bed, Nozomi picked up a tear-stained bear and stared at it curiously. "Why do you have a wet bear, Maki-chan?"

"N-No reason."

#3: Missing You

Maki sat lonely on her bed, tears welling up in her eyes as her hands shook, grasping a photograph tightly. With much effort, she had pushed one of her bookshelves in front of the door, to make sure that no one came in uninvited. She didn't want anyone intruding on her emotional episode. Only Nozomi seemed to have the power to do that, and she wasn't going to be coming around.

"I'm sorry, Maki-chan. My mom and dad are getting transferred again, and..." She sniffed softly, the tears beginning to form.

"You're... You're leaving?" Maki just stared with wide eyes as Nozomi nodded slowly, unable to believe it. It felt like she had only just become friends with Nozomi, and now she was moving away. "Y-You don't have to go."

"But my parents-"

"You can stay with me!" It made all the sense in the world to Maki. Her house had plenty of little-used rooms for Nozomi to sleep in. Even if that wasn't possible, she could sleep in Maki's room. She smiled at her own brilliant idea, but it quickly faded when Nozomi shook her head sadly.

"My parents wouldn't let me stay here. I have to be with my family."

"But..."

"I'm sorry, Maki-chan." Unable to hide her tears anymore, Nozomi moved forward and hugged Maki tightly. Maki forced herself to return the hug back, trying desperately not to cry as well. They both cried anyway.

Maki had thought that she had shed all her tears, but they came back anew as she gently traced her finger over the photograph in her hand, a picture of her and Nozomi on Maki's first day of school. It wasn't fair: she was only ten and losing her one friend.

Why couldn't Nozomi have asked her parents if she could stay with Maki? Were her parents that unreasonable? Feelings of resentment quickly bubbled up, only to be doused by guilt at what she was even thinking. She was the one being unreasonable, but dammit, why? It wasn't fair!

The picture fell from her grasp as she covered her face with her hands, sobbing bitterly into them. "Nozomi... C-Come back..." There weren't any words that could change time, though. Nozomi was gone, and there was nothing she could do to bring her back. She had never felt so alone. "Nozomiii!"