Despite the generously lit sign and the vibrant, playful colors painting the innocuous building, Takashi noticed that Katie still clung to the hem of his shirt. The young man threw his gaze down, mostly confused, but also sympathetic. The little girl only occasionally stole a peak at the preschool in front of her, but she would quickly bury her face against Takashi, using the taller man as a barrier between her and her supposed prison.
She was scared, that much was obvious, and Takashi couldn't fault her – so much had changed for Katie in just a few months, and she was hardly adjusting to any of it yet. And to her, she felt as if Takashi had sprung preschool at her out of the blue.
Which, of course, he hadn't; she had been technically enrolled for a long while before the term actually started. But a four year-old couldn't know that.
So, yes, Takashi was essentially the bad guy simply for following directions. He didn't mind, of course, as long as Katie did eventually learn to begrudgingly accept school as a part of life. But there had been so many things she had had to do the same with recently, and Takashi hated bringing another curveball into the child's life. But school was a necessity, an actual and legal obligation he had to adhere to. As much as Takashi was fine with Katie staying home with him, the two of them flipping through picture books and watching Top Gear together, he knew that he had to take Katie to preschool. For her well-being.
And he had a class at nine-thirty that morning. But mostly for Katie's sake.
"You don't have to be scared, Katie," Takashi started, kneeling down beside the little girl. He put on his best smile, making sure to keep it subdued enough to not seem creepy yet encouraging enough to avoid looking forced. Yet, Katie's response of a pursed lip and narrowed eyes informed Takashi that his attempt held little value.
"'m not scared," she responded, folding her arms across her chest. She wasn't fooling anyone, though, not when she couldn't even hold eye contact with Takashi for more than a few seconds. There was an actual amount of fear hidden in her honey-colored eyes, and Takashi felt his heart sink into his stomach.
He had never intended to make her life any more difficult than it had to be, and he certainly hadn't planned on scaring her with preschool. He just wanted to do right by her, right by her family. And, from burnt breakfasts to frightening clown cartoons to a jail cell disguised as a state-regulated preschool, it seemed as if he was doing more harm than good.
On top of all that, Takashi was coming to the crushing realization that life with only one arm was eons more difficult than with two. It had only been four months since – since Katie lost everything and since he lost his arm, and he was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he was handling his situation just about as well as Katie was handling hers.
To Katie's credit, though, she wasn't the one who punched a hole in the wall of her rented apartment. No, she was just the one who toddled to the freezer to retrieve a few ice cubes for the idiot (whom she affectionately referred to as "Shiro) who did.
Takashi was only just beginning the fittings for a new prosthetic, and it would be a few more months before he would finally have the finished arm. Selfishly, he was glad for Katie's presence. She was a child, an excitable and curious one, and she gave him something to occupy his time and thoughts. Otherwise, he certainly would have been in a much worse state.
Takashi nodded slowly. "I know you're not; I was just saying that because I'm a bit scared right now, actually," he confessed, and it was only a half-lie. He was nervous for Katie, and he was nervous for himself, too. Classes, whether they be preschool or college, could be intimidating and lonesome. He understood Katie's hesitancy, but he also wanted her to be honest about it.
"You are?" the little girl practically whispered, looking up. Her eyes were huge, her mouth in a thin line, and Takashi had to stop himself from thinking that she too similarly resembled her family. It was just a little too hard, sometimes, seeing a childhood friend and a close family reflected so honestly in a child. Takashi thought sadly to himself that Katie will mostly have stories and hearsay information to gauge her family by, and not her own memories. A few, naturally, but not enough.
"Of course I am. It's a new year of school, and I'm kinda scared to go to class right now. But you wanna know something?" he asked, pausing to wait for Katie's response. The girl nodded and inclined her head a bit closer so she could hear Takashi's words of wisdom. "Just about everyone is scared for their first day of school, no matter how old you get."
This thought seemed novel to Katie, and she bit her lip in thought. "But…you've been to school before," she mumbled, her feet dragging aimlessly across the ground. She was turning over gravel, kicking up a few rocks, but not bothering anything. Takashi righted himself, another action that proved to be more difficult with only one arm. He stumbled for only a moment, finally managing to bring himself back up to a standing position.
"Well, yes, but a new school year makes everyone nervous. Sometimes you have to make new friends, and sometimes you're worried that you're not gonna remember everything. But I'm telling you, this teacher – well, she doesn't have any stars on Yelp yet, but I bet she's really nice." Takashi was sure she had to be a lovely person – after all, Mr. and Mrs. Holt signed Katie up specifically for her class. His certainties were compromised, however, when he failed to find any reviews for her online; but desperation won out over trepidation, and Takashi was left praying that this teacher was suitable.
No, better than suitable – commendable. Takashi wanted Katie to have a commendable preschool teacher.
Katie still seemed unsure, but she nodded, allowing Takashi to grab her hand and lead her inside the building. Planet Altea Preschool, it was called, and the inside was strongly reminiscent of a galaxy. Cut-out stars lined the ceiling and walls, and there were twinkling lights everywhere. Soft cushions that resembled clouds and nebula where scattered along the floor. The carpet was a soft black with sparkling glitter embedded in it, and the walls were a pastel mixture of pinks and blues, with purples and yellows, too. To be honest, Takashi wasn't even sure if he wanted to leave. He and Katie both devoted a few wordless moments to let their eyes travel across the length of the room.
"Good morning!" a chipper voice called. It caught Katie's attention first, and the little girl reverted to hiding behind Takashi once again.
Takashi looked down at Katie in surprise, then back up. Standing in front of him was a young woman, unable to be much older than himself. Her platinum hair was twisted in a romantic sort of braid, a few stray pieces strategically falling out to frame her face. She was watching the pair with her crystal blue eyes, then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear to reveal dangly earrings designed like crescent moons. Takashi tried to take in as little as he could, tried not to make a scene of staring too obviously, but she was didn't seem to notice either way.
He was relieved, but also disappointed in the sense that she didn't even chance him a second look.
"Are you here for orientation?" she asked, eyes bright and smile wide. Somehow she had managed to find a happy medium between smiling too widely and simply seeming uninterested. She, who was obviously the preschool teacher, looked inviting and friendly. Katie even loosened her grip on Takashi's shirt to get a better look at her.
"Ah, yes, we are," Takashi answered, quickly extending his hand. He noticed the way the teacher's eyes darted to the right side of his body, noting the lack of an arm, then returned to his outstretched arm. She returned the gesture, her handshake firmer than he would've pictured. Her hand was drier than he would've imagined, too. Already, Takashi had gained the opinion that this seemingly gentle and innocent preschool teacher was definitely tougher than her plaited hair and ankle-length skirt had impressed.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you both," she greeted, retracting her hand. "I'm Miss Allura." After she had talked a bit more, Takashi was struck with her accent. It certainly wasn't American, but it might have been English, or even an accent from New Zealand. Her voice was melodic nonetheless, and the young man nodded.
"I'm Takashi. Er, Takashi Shirogane," he hastily added, willing himself to simply shut up. "And this is Katie – she's the student, I mean."
Allura let out a small chuckle; it was one without any hint of malice. "Well, I was hoping you weren't one of my new students, Mr. Shirogane."
He laughed along with her, being careful to keep a slight hold on Katie to make sure she didn't wander yet. "No, not today. I am a student, but at college, of course. Not here. I'm sure it's more fun here, though. Don't you think, Katie?"
The child in question didn't respond, just continued to take in the sights of the room.
Allura smiled lightly, and she met Takashi's eyes. "I've already been informed of Katie's situation; and if there's a problem, or you need to pick up Katie early, or if there's a meeting you need to attend, everyone already knows you're the first person to contact." And without missing a beat, she turned to the little girl. "And Katie, you look absolutely beautiful! I love that dress!"
It was true – Katie was dressed to the nines. Takashi had made sure to iron her dress – a neat violet dress with flowers adorning the hem, and he had even tried to shine her yellow Mary Janes (now they were just a touch less dull than before). The pair had argued for a long while over what to do with Katie's hair – Takashi had practically begged her to wear her yellow headband to match the shoes, but Katie was simply not having it. She claimed that headbands gave her headaches, and Takashi had no proof to correct her – he had never worn anything like that in his hair. Eventually, both begrudgingly came to a truce; nestled in Katie's hair was a white barrette. Takashi had liked the yellow one more, but it simply didn't look right against the little girl's shade of hair.
That aside, Takashi was already gratified to see the amount of care Allura had put forth for Katie. If, in a few months, no one had given her a hearty review on Yelp, he made a mental note to issue one for her sake. Allura seemed very sweet and incredibly kind. If anyone was going to make Katie's preschool career tolerable at least, it seemed as if Allura and Planet Altea Preschool were the best choices.
With a sharp clap of the hands, Allura caught both Takashi's and Katie's attentions. "Alright, then, shall we all meet each other?" she asked, and it was a rhetorical question, because everyone was going to meet up anyway. "We've got a very small class this year, so it shouldn't be too hard to learn everyone's names, right? But you're all going to have to help me, because I can be very forgetful," she laughed.
It was then that Takashi noticed just how empty the room was. In fact, there were only three other adults in the room. Two, a large and gentle-looking man and a sweet-faced woman, were kissing a round boy on the head. From just four seconds of looking at the child, Takashi could tell this was a sweet boy, especially by the way he kept a tight hold of his mother's hand while Miss Allura was at the chalkboard, getting ready to write names down.
The other adult was a young, naturally beautiful woman with a hand kept over her swollen stomach. She looked to be quite far along in her pregnancy, yet she managed to wrangle her energetic child in with the utmost of agility. The boy was taller for his age, and his eyes were a dark blue; he wore a sly smile that could tell any perceptive adult that he was the type to be constantly up to something.
Takashi almost didn't notice that, tucked away in the corner of the room, was a black-haired boy who was watching Allura intently. He had his arms crossed, his jacket pulled over his hands. There was no one else beside him, and Takashi inferred that his parents had already left the teacher to do their work. Though for the life of himself, Takashi couldn't imagine leaving Katie alone in her new preschool until she was ready for him to leave. But by the way she was already leading her guardian to a stack of cloud-shaped pillows on the ground, she was nearing that stage sooner and sooner.
Miss Allura had finished writing her name, the letters neat and bubbly, and turned around. "So, then, everyone, my name is Miss Allura. And I want all the children to tell me your names, too, alright? I'll write them up on the board every day for a while so that we can learn them and how to spell them. Also, after you tell me your name, I want you to tell me your favorite color and something you like to do. Alright?"
The only response the teacher received was a far-too-energetic one from Lance. His mother shushed him without even looking over, not unkindly, and Takashi yearned for the day that he could do that – parent without having to hover.
But Allura still took Lance's enthusiasm as a statement from the class as a whole, and she smiled. "So, my favorite color is pink. And something I like to do? Well, I love picking berries in the spring! Who wants to go next?"
To no one's surprise, Lance's little hand shot up in the air in record timing. Allura pointed to him, and the boy boldly stood up. "My name's Lance!" he informed everyone. Dutifully, Allura wrote the name on the chalkboard under her own.
Lance nearly sat down, proud of himself, until Takashi felt a shift of movement, and Katie called out, "What's your favorite color?"
Springing back up, and without missing a beat, Lance said, "Blue. It's cool, like me. And I like to go surfing with Daddy during the summer. Yeah, we go to the ocean!"
The first to clap was Allura; Takashi soon followed suit, and the rest of the class (sans the boy with the red jacked) joined in. The teacher didn't even have to ask who wanted to go next, because the chubbier boy with two parents stood up. His face was sweet, and his hair was dark, and Takashi smiled. It was nice to see how much he looked like his parents, just like Lance would probably follow suit with his mother's lean figure and wavy hair.
Then again, Katie was a dead ringer for her family, and it was just a little painful to look at her sometimes.
"My name's Hunk…and – and I like yellow. Mmm, I like to cook with my mom and dad. And I also like to play with my pet rock, Shay!" he exclaimed, reaching into his jacket pocket to pull out a bumpy-looking stone with a pink bow glued to the top of it. Takashi nearly chuckled at the sweet simplicity that Hunk presented, but he noticed that the other children seemed in awe at the boy's possession. Even Allura seemed both surprised and intrigued by this Shay.
Hunk's name was written under Lance's, and the classroom erupted in applause again. "That was very good, Hunk – you're quick on your feet," Allura said, throwing a smile in his direction. Definitely pleased with himself, Hunk sat down. His father put an encouraging hand on his shoulder, and the little boy relaxed in his chair, hand resting on his pet rock.
Eyes flitting about the room, Allura focused on both Katie and the little boy in the corner. "Who wants to go next?" she asked. And Takashi was nearly certain she was going to have to start picking between them; but to his surprise, Katie hesitantly lifted her arm. She stood up, almost shyly (which Takashi knew she wasn't, but Katie was never the best in public), and took in a deep breath. "I'm Katie Holt, and green is my favorite color. I like playing with my 3DS, too."
Katie received her congratulatory applause from her classmates, and she seemed rather pleased with herself. She sat down, barely sparing a glance at Takashi. But she still looked over, and he gave her a thumbs-up. "That was really good, Katie," he whispered encouragingly. Katie nodded wordlessly, shifting in a bit closer to her guardian. With a quick glance to his wristwatch, Takashi noticed that he still had a few minutes before he absolutely must leave for class. A part of him didn't even want to, because Miss Allura's classroom certainly was more inviting than he even imagined.
He had to give props to the Holts for choosing a wonderful preschool for their daughter. He just wished they could see that Katie actually voluntarily talked in front of a group of strangers.
The only child that hadn't spoken yet was the one in the corner, and everyone's eyes were trained on him. The boy shifted in his position, bringing his knees closer to his chest, nearly burying his head in his arms. It was obvious he didn't want to be there, but what Takashi found worse was that he had no one with him to help.
In hindsight, it was sort of embarrassing to stand up in front of a class of toddlers, but something in Takashi practically pushed the young man up and off the cloud cushion beneath him. Now standing, he looked right over at Keith and offered his best "parent" smile, one similar to the one that Allura had displayed.
"My name is Takashi Shirogane, but Katie here calls me 'Uncle Shiro.' My favorite color is purple. And something I like to do is go stargazing when the skies are really clear. You righting that all down?" he addressed Allura.
The young teacher seemed a bit off-guard, and she merely blinked in response at first. Once she regained her composure, however, she smiled. "Just the name, remember?" she responded, scribbling "Shiro" below Katie's name.
Lance was the first to clap, but the rest of the room soon followed. Hunk's parents nodded appreciatively in Takashi's direction, and Lance's mom grinned to match her son – they were very similar-looking when they smiled, especially together; and Takashi rubbed the back of his neck, sitting down.
Before Allura even had the chance to prompt the mystery student into divulging his information, he looked up. Still sitting, he rattled off, "Keith. Red. Zoos." His voice was quiet, his eyes dark, but it was a response. Allura made a noise of excitement, finishing her list of students with the flourish of her hand. She even nodded in Takashi's direction before putting the piece of chalk down.
As the classroom quieted, Takashi decided it was probably best to follow the rest of the parents out the door. He did have class after all, and he didn't want to be any farther behind than he needed to be. Just raising Katie alone was inevitably going to cause some distraction away from his schoolwork. The least he could do was just show up to class. The young man stood up, catching his balance on one of the low tables. Katie followed him, eyes imploring yet knowing.
"Listen, I gotta leave for just a couple hours, but I'll be back as soon as school's over for you, okay? You're not gonna have to wait for me to show up, I promise," he said, determined that Katie was never going to feel abandoned, even if just for a few minutes.
Around the room, the other children were saying goodbye to their parents. Lance threw his arms around his mother's leg, reaching up to pat her stomach. He said his farewell to his, then whispered one for the baby inside her. Hunk shrugged off his jacket, making sure his pet rock Shay was positioned safely on his table. He let his mom kiss his forehead, and he gratefully accepted a pat on the back from his father. Keith stayed in his corner, still alone, and Takashi really didn't think that was right; but there wasn't much to argue when he had no one to pick a fight with. At a later date, maybe; but he also had to remind himself that it would probably be best to simply stay in his own lane and mind his and Katie's business.
"But I…I don't want you to go," the little girl responded, bowing her head. She wasn't crying, wasn't nearly upset enough for that; but she was a bit distressed. Takashi understood where she was coming from; Katie now liked to know where everyone in her small world was.
And in Katie's world, Takashi was just about it. To not know where he was would be unimaginable and unfathomable. And Takashi could have easily accepted this and made sure the two were never separated, but he also recognized that Katie needed to broaden her horizons with school, despite the fact that she had fought her legal guardian tooth-and-nail over the situation.
That, and the argument eventually lost to the "government regulated" aspect.
"I know you won't, and I don't wanna go; but I promise today will go by super quickly, and you're going to have so much fun with your new friends that you won't even notice I'm gone. And you know what, I think you're going to like it so much that you're going to want to come back every single day."
"Why would I want to?" Katie asked, and the reality hit Takashi that he never quite specified to Katie that preschool (and its subsequent forms) was a permanent fixture in her life. This would certainly not be a one-day adventure, and the little girl probably didn't know that yet.
Taking in a deep breath, which was more of a resigned sigh, Takashi ran a hand through his dark hair. "Um, because you're going to like Miss Allura so much that you're going to want to see her all the time. And your new friends, too. You're going to want to play with them every day, won't you? I mean, look at them – they look like great people!"
Of course, he was referring to a boy with a rock, a boy sitting in the corner of the room by choice, and a boy who was trying to flirt with his teacher who edged him out in age by over a decade. Takashi couldn't blame Katie for the skeptical look she was giving him. After all, she was the only girl in the class, save for Allura; and despite her few quirks, Katie was relatively normal. Preschool was certainly going to be a challenge for her, and Takashi was starting to understand why Katie didn't want him to leave – not just because she was going to miss him, but because she honestly had no clue what to do.
Takashi glanced around, and he caught Allura's eyes. She smiled as if trying to convince him that everything was going to be okay; but now even he wasn't so sure. The young woman obviously sensed his discomfort, because she hurried over to the pair to resolve the situation.
"Katie, we have so much planned for the school year, but we can't possibly do everything in just one day. You're going to have to keep coming back so we can do all the fun things I've picked out for you all. I mean, we're going to have to see how today goes, but we'll decide at the end of the day if you want to come back, alright?" she asked in her gentle voice.
Takashi found himself nodding along with Katie. Allura was very convincing, and very good with children. So much so that Katie rolled her eyes before agreeing to stay for the day. She was determined not to enjoy herself, that much Takashi was certain of; but it was now Allura's job to win Katie over. His part over, Takashi patted Katie on the head, turning for the door.
"Wait-"
Takashi felt a pair of arms wrap around his legs, and he looked down to see Katie there. She glanced up, trying her best to still look angry; she failed, naturally, but she was still cute, most of all. Takashi smiled, kneeling down to quickly return the hug. As he righted himself, Katie exclaimed, "See you later, Shiro!"
What he heard first was a giggle. Allura's laugh was light and sweet, and Takashi quickly turned away so that she couldn't see the heat rising to his cheeks. He didn't mind being teased, not by his friends, but Allura was a bit of a stranger, which made it more embarrassing.
"Yes, see you later, Shiro," she repeated, waving, even if Takashi couldn't see the action.
He was especially glad he had turned as quickly as he did, because his ears now matched the shade of Keith's jacket. If this year was going to be a struggle for Katie, it was most certainly going to pose a challenge for Takashi as well.
A.N.: I got the title from a quote from Ptolemy - "Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day, but when I follow the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth; I ascend to Zeus himself to feast me on ambrosia, the food of the gods."