The people in the mountains lived clustered together. There was long stretches of land filled with rice fields with random homes close together popping up in between. It was because of this that everyone knew one another, and so of course everyone knew when the new family had moved in.
Shoyo remembered kaa-chan peaking out their window, her round belly brushing against the wall as she tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. He remembered her gasp, as she caught a glimpse of the new neighbors. He remembered the whispers kaa-chan and tou-chan traded when she called her husband over to the window.
Kaa-chan, Kaa-chan, can I see?, Shoyo had asked, tugging on her skirt to get her attention.
Oh, not now, Sho-chan, but it looks like your tou-chan brought home some pork buns, kaa-chan had whispered, a smile on her face despite the weird look in her eyes. Shoyo remembered being excited about having a new possible friend but it was quickly forgotten in light of his tou-chan coming home with pork buns.
The next day, Shoyo was walking home with his mother from school and it was only then that he remembered the new neighbors. There was a little girl he didn't know playing in the sandbox at the park near their house and Shoyo knew all of the other kids in his part of the mountain. So this girl, Shoyo decided, this girl was definitely new and she was also definitely...different, reminding him of the whispers between his kaa-chan and tou-chan.
Her dark skin was like the earth beneath his feet. The cocoa powder his mother used when she baked that cake for his fifth birthday. The shining brown was decorated with freckles from the top of her head and he could see the spots dancing across her shoulders in the tank top she wore. Her hair was a bright, brilliant white and it beamed underneath the sun, like the spun sugar his mother would share with him when she made trips into town. It was springy and coily, circling her head like a cloud and he wondered if it was as soft as it looked.
She was building a sandcastle, he realized, tucking sand into a blue bucket next to her and Shoyo decided that he wanted to build a castle too.
"Kaa-chan, can I play in the park today?" Kaa-chan hummed back at him, directing her gaze towards the park. He thought he could see the moment she saw the girl there in the sandbox as her face did something funny, but the look disappeared before he could ask her about it. She turned to Shoyo and whatever she saw on his face made her sigh.
"Hm, I don't know-"
"I promise I'll be good, kaa-chan, please!"
"Alright, alright. Only for a little bit, I need to start on dinner in about an hour or so. I'll be right on the bench if you need me, okay?"
He rushed toward the sandbox with a "Thank you, kaa-chan!"
"Sho-chan, slow down!"
Shoyo popped down next to the girl causing her to stop immediately and look at him. Her eyes were a golden brown similar to his own and that made him grin.
"I'm Shoyo! Can I play with you?" She blinked back at him and his smile dimmed as she stared at him long enough for him to feel a little silly. He dropped his gaze to his knees and went to stand again when a soft touch to his elbow made him look up.
"Yes! I'm Sashiro! Please take care of me!" Her words were spoken kind of funny and slow, thought Shoyo, but her grin made her eyes sparkle and the freckles on her face dance and that was why Shoyo said,
"Let's be friends, Shiro-chan!"
She tried to stifle her sobs, wanting to be a big girl for her tou-chan and kaa-chan. She clutched her giant stuffed polar bear to her face, soaking the soft fur with tears. She didn't want to sleep on this strange bed. She didn't want to live near her tou-chan's family who were mean to her and her kaa-chan. She wanted to go back home.
A door creaking caused her to duck underneath her blanket, quieting her cries. Steps creeped closer to her futon and she heard someone kneel down next to it. She froze her shuffling and listened closely as the person sighed heavily.
"Blossom, are you there? Where could my beautiful flower have gone?" Sashiro clutched her bear closer to her, curling up into a ball to make herself smaller. The blankets were pulled off her and she hid behind Kuma, not wanting him to see her tears.
"What's this? I only see Kuma-chan, I guess my little flower ran away. I guess I'll just eat my dango all alone..." At the mention of dango, Sashiro poked her face out from behind her bear only to see her tou-chan staring back at her, grinning. Realizing she had been tricked, she tried to duck back down only for him to pluck her away from her bear and clutch her close. He spun around in a circle, dizzying Sashiro as he began to sing out.
"Aha! There's my little Shiro! You were hiding from your tou-chan? What have I done to deserve this?"
"I want kaa-chan! Why did we have to move away?" Sashiro squirmed away from him, fighting his hold but he only held her closer. He swung her around and around until Sashiro couldn't help the giggles that bubbled out of her throat. His laughter joined hers as he slowed down to a stop. He collapsed on her futon and she sprawled out across his chest, breathing in biting scent of mint and smoke that often clung to her tou-chan.
"Blossom..." Sashiro, dazed, look up at the feeling of her father wiping her face clean of tears. He smiled down at her, hand sliding over the bushiness of her loose, white hair, a color which she had inherited from him.
"I know this is all sudden and new, and I know you're not used to your mother not being so close..." Tou-chan seemed to sigh with the words, and it struck Sashiro that maybe her father wasn't all that excited about the move as well.
"But your kaa-chan needs both of us to be strong, while she supports us overseas. We get to spend time with my family-"
"Tou-chan, your family always makes fun of how I speak and look and-" Sashiro could feel tears flood her eyes at the thought of her Oba-sama poking at her 'unruly hair', 'too dark skin', and 'strange accent that she'd picked up from her foreign mother'.
"Sashiro." Her father's fierce tone and face made her tears stop immediately. He tucked her underneath his chin and breathed words into her hair.
"You let your tou-chan worry about his family, alright? You're getting better at Japanese, ya? And with the new friends you'll meet at school, it'll only get better!"
"I don't start school for another week, tou-chan. How am I going to make friends?" He hummed in response. He sat up suddenly, knocking Sashiro to the floor with the shout.
"We'll go to the park! Kids should be returning from school around this time, I think."
"Waaaaaaa, Tou-chan is just going to embarrass me."
"Huh? My flower is embarrassed by her tou-chan!" Harsh giggles filled into the air as fingers dug into her side.
"No! Tou-chan, please stop!"
With the sensation of sand biting into her knees and stuck under golden brown eyes similar to her own, Sashiro was struck by the sensation that her entire life was going to change. The bright smile that greeted her seemed to agree with her.
"I'm Shoyo! Can I play with you?" Shoyo had bright red hair that burned in the bright light of early afternoon, pale skin so different from her own, and a smile that rivaled the sun beaming above them. Sashiro felt caught, prey under the gaze of predator, fighting to translate the Japanese spoken to her.
She watched that light dim in response before she could finish and she felt dazed as if she was blinking away bright spots in her vision. She saw him shift up to stand and reached out toward the light, like a flower starving for the sun. The smile across her face bloomed suddenly and splendidly as a strange happiness began to bud in her chest.
"Yes! I'm Sashiro! Please take care of me!" She knew her words were stumbling and slow, but the smile she got in response made her feel as though she could fly.
"Let's be friends, Shiro-chan!"