"We're approaching Earth's orbit now sir."
"Very good, report to me when we catch sight, Captain," the man replied as he turned back towards the forward viewing window. Directly outside, he could now see a rust colored planet nearby. Earlier they had traveled through an asteroid belt; one of them had hit an engine temporarily damaging it, greatly slowing their journey. This of course was an even bigger pain than trying to slip past the sailors' notice. Scowling down at the planet, he snapped out of his irritation when he heard everything around him rattle. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, mentally scolding himself for his foolishness. Soon… he'll get there soon enough; he just needed to be patient.
"Hotaru stay close okay?" Michiru told her gently as she sat on a nearby bench.
"Yes!" A young girl about the age of nine answered, short black hair shifting slightly as she ran. For a moment, she stopped to enjoy the beautiful flowers. "Wow! So pretty…" Bending down she sniffed their wondrous aroma.
"Thank you."
Startled she began to flail her arms into a fall. A hand grabbed hold of the back of her shirt and tried to keep her from falling into the blossoms. "Erk…" Finally managing to bring her back from the flowers, she fell back landing instead on someone. "Oww…" Looking behind her, she found a boy about her age with white hair.
"I'm so sorry!" Hotaru apologized as she helped him up.
"It's alright;" he smiled "I'm just glad someone enjoys my hard work."
"You planted these?!"
"Yes, I get bored and the doctors allow me to care for this little garden of sorts."
"Doctors… are you sick?"
"Not exactly…" he nervously rubbed the back of his head, "at any rate I'm not contagious to anyone." Glancing away as he blushed, "Do you want to play?"
"Yes!" She smiled not seeming to notice his awkwardness. Dipping a bubble wand into a container of soapy liquid he blew through sending a torrent of bubbles through the air. Giggling she ran around trying to catch them as they floated away quickly then gently through the air. "Wow!" They watched together entranced by the rainbow iridescence as the bubbles floated on the faint breeze.
"Hey, watch this!" Sitting on the ground, he pulled out a smaller bubble wand. Holding both wands together, he dipped them both into the solution. Softly blowing through one opening to create a beautiful orb, he positioned the second wand against the larger to blow smaller bubbles into the first. With a flick of the wrist, the new bubble filled bubble was free to float through the air, gliding with any breeze. Blissfully floating until a single touch of nearby branch popped the outer sphere releasing the smaller ones.
"Wow… How did you do that?" She asked watching him in awe from her wide purple eyes.
"Sshh, it's a secret." He winked casually making her giggle.
"You're goofy." She smiled at him. Smiling back, he held out his hand. "I'm Hiroki. What's yours?" Taking his hand, she answered, "My name is Hotaru." Blinking she was surprised by the sudden power that she could feel coming from his hand.
Before she could comment, a rock came through the air, slamming into the back of Hiroki's head. Eyes watering, he went to his knees holding his now injured head. "Oww…"
"Hey freak!"
Looking behind Hiroki, Hotaru found a group of older kids glaring at Hiroki. "Thought we told you to never come back to OUR park!" The tallest one snarled. "Yeah, freak!"
"You don't own this park!" He shot back, silently easing in front of his new friend and managing to block her view.
"Aww, trying to protect your girlfriend?" The first one mocked.
"She has nothing to do with this!"
"Oh really…" one of the bullies smirked.
*Wait a minute, where's the other one.*
Then he heard a panicked squeak. Spinning around, he found the other bully forcibly holding onto Hotaru.
"Leave her alone!" He ordered. Around him, an unusual air started to build, coming from multiple directions with amazing strength. The swings sets started to swing back and forth, the marry-go-round was spinning, and everything fastened down started to shake.
"Ooo the freak's upset…"
"What's going on here?" A beautiful blue haired woman asked as she tapped her foot.
Immediately they dropped Hotaru and ran away. "Thanks Michiru," Hotaru chirped looking up at the woman. As soon as the boys were out of sight, the air began to go back to normal. Grabbing Hiroki's hand she pulled him closer to Michiru. "Michiru this is Hiroki, my new friend," she chirped in a glee-filled matter of fact tone.
Blushing heavily he stiffly bowed, "N-nice to meet you Miss Michiru."
Kneeling down to be beside him, she ruffled his hair. "My, aren't you a little gentleman." She smiled causing his blush to deepen, making his whole face red.
"M-mom says that I should treat every girl like a lady," he muttered out as he kicked a stone on the ground.
"Your mom is a wise woman," she told him.
"Hiromi! Hiromi!" A tired woman's voice called through the park.
Turning away from the girls, he called out to answer, "Mom! I'm over here!"
Took only a moment for the black haired woman in a disheveled suit to reach them. She would look nice if she didn't have badly concealed bags under her eyes. "Mom, this is my new friend Hotaru."
"Nice to meet you little Hotaru." The woman greeted with a small professional bow. Turning back to her son she asked him tenderly, "Did you run away from the doctors again little Hiroki?"
Even though her words were soft and gentle, he still winced at her words "No mother, the doctors said I could have a break after they took about twenty vials from me."
Looking at her audience, she gently smiled as she took his hand. "You can tell me all about it when we get home."
Instead of going with her, he tugged on her hand. "Can't we stay here for a little longer? Or can she come over tomorrow?" He asked looking back at Hotaru.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to Michiru and gave her a calling card. "If you don't mind, can you bring your little sister by tomorrow so they can play? Hiromi rarely has any interest in other people let alone someone that looks around his age…" After minutes of speaking, they agreed on a time for a play date. For the first time in a long time, Hiroki left the park with a smile across his face.
author: Yes I know twenty vials is a bit much but face it Hiromi is a kid. It's okay for him to exaggerate.