It was a beautiful day, March 27th. The sun was shining, the birds were singing sweetly and Mifune Chi was downright terrified.
Why, you may ask?
Well, from going outside to being around people, Mifune Chi was NOT happy about being dragged outside to the park to meet someone Chi, herself, didn't know.
She whimpered pitifully. Her mother had felt her daughter's tiny hand grip her slender fingers even tighter. Mifune Makoto smiled sympathetically at her child and bent down, coming eye-to-eye with an identical pair of translucent yellow eyes.
"Chi-chan," she whispered comfortingly, "I know you're scared, but Nana-chan is my friend, I trust her, she won't hurt you."
"…" the little girl murmured almost silently. Makoto smiled gently, and soothingly rubbed Chi's head.
"I promise," she said, "she won't hurt you," the woman stood back up, her daughter's hand clinging tightly once more to her fingers, "Now where could she be?"
"Ma-chaaaan~!" came a voice from a short distance away. Makoto looked towards the voice, her eyes lighting up.
"Nana-chan~!" she waved with her free hand, taking note that Chi had hid behind her long, moss-green skirt, "We're over here! Come on, Chi-chan."
The two women met each other halfway and grinned ecstatically at the other.
"Ah, Ma-chan it's been such a long two years!" noted Nana, her brown eyes filled with happiness at seeing her longtime friend again.
Makoto laughed, the sound light, "It has, those phone calls just weren't enough!"
Nana giggled along, "True, true, phone calls aren't enough to cover the distance," the brown haired woman caught sight of black hair behind Makoto's skirt, "Ah, is that Chi-chan?"
Makoto nodded, seeing a spiky head of hair behind her friend's leg, "Mmhm, and is that Tsuna-kun?"
The two mothers pulled the two shaking children away from their hiding spots. Chi had turned as pale as a sheet while Tsuna had put up a small fight by clinging relentlessly to his mother's leg.
"Tsu-kun, Ma-chan's a very close friend of mine," Nana admonished gently, "You don't need to be scared."
Tsuna whimpered, turning away.
Chi looked down, her joints beginning to freeze up, preparing herself for either a verbal attack or muddy, and maybe gummy, projectile to get smushed in her hair again.
"Chi-chan," Makoto told her softly, "Why don't you go greet Tsuna-kun?"
Chi bit her lip, her legs didn't want to move, neither did her arms.
"U-um…" came a small voice. Chi visibly flinched as she slowly looked up, "M-my name i-is S-Sawada Tsu-Tsunayoshi, wh-what's your name?"
"M-Mifune Chi," she whispered, loudly enough for the both of them to hear, "It's nice to m-meet you…"
The two took this time to examine the tiny being in front of them.
A small boy in a light green t-shirt and tan shorts with a pair of dark brown sandals. His spiky hair stuck up in all directions.
'Spiky, but soft,' thought Chi.
His skin was a healthy shade, though it was also a bit clammy-looking at the moment. Tsuna's eyes were a very bright honey-brown, reminding Chi of her father's favorite caramel candies.
Tsuna was brought in by the girl's eyes. They were such a striking yellow, like those pretty stones his mommy would sometimes have hanging from her ears.
The girl was wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts, her tiny feet adorned with a pair of black sandals. Her hair was short and black, and was rather dull, having no shine. It curled a bit around her face too.
Her skin, however, had him curious.
She didn't look very healthy. The skin under her eyes were darker than the rest of her body. She seemed so tired…
The two noticed something.
They were both clinging to their mommies, shaking and wringing their hands. They let out a short giggle before smiling.
"It's nice to meet you too."
After the introductions, Makoto and Nana left their children to their own business, deciding to sit down on a nearby bench keeping a close eye on the two all the while talking about what the other had done in the two-year period they spent apart.
Tsuna and Chi were running all around the playground, which was surprisingly empty on this clear day.
The two had spent some time on the swings, trying to push past their fear of flying off the swings leading to an untimely death, but had soon decided that they were both too scared to go any higher than a foot off the ground.
Next, they chose to climb up the jungle gym, once more challenging their fear of falling and getting hurt.
Needless to say, they stayed at the lowest level.
They then decided that the safest thing to do next was to build a sandcastle. They looked around for something to carry water in and found a small, abandoned, unused plastic cup and excitedly ran to the sandbox to begin their building.
"U-um…Tsu-Tsuna-kun…?" Chi asked, hesitantly, "Are you having fun?"
Tsuna nodded, "Uh-huh! Are you…?" He had noticed that his 'maybe-friend' was looking rather 'white-ish'.
Chi had a small smile on her face, which was slowly going back to its healthier-looking pale shade, "I'm having fun, I like playing with you, Tsuna-kun."
They lapsed back into their almost comfortable silence, both poking and prodding at their own pile of damp sand before looking up at each other and grinning, getting rid of that last bit of discomfort.
After finishing their lop-sided sandcastle, their mothers helped them wash off the sand in the restrooms and had sat them down for lunch. Makoto and Nana were sitting at the bench again with Tsuna and Chi eating under the tree right next to them.
"How old are you, Tsuna-kun?" Chi asked, nibbling at an apple slice shaped as a bunny.
"I'm four-years-old," he replied, sipping his juice box.
"Ah! I'm four years old too!" Chi was surprised, she had never met anyone her age that was so nice!
"Really!?" Tsuna stared, wide-eyed. Seems the same went for Tsuna.
Chi nodded furiously, "I didn't go to the primary school here though, I went to one far away from here since my mommy and I were staying with my sick auntie. The kids there weren't very nice…" she trailed.
"The kids at my primary school aren't all that nice either…" Tsuna mumbled loud enough for only the two of them to hear, "but, if you're going to kindergarten here, then we could sit next to each other and play with each other too!" he smiled.
Chi let out a quiet, relieved sigh, "Okay."
With their lunch finished, Nana and Makoto decided to stay for a little while longer, wanting their children to bond some more before going home for the day; which left both Tsuna and Chi wondering what to do next.
They lounged under the tree, relishing in its cool shade.
"What do you want to do, Chi-chan?" Tsuna asked.
"I don't know, Tsuna-kun," she replied, "What else is there to do?"
Tsuna quickly sat up, "Ah! I know!" He looked over at his yellow-eyed friend, "Let's have an adventure!"
Chi sat up too, looking curious, "How do you play?"
Tsuna grinned, "We imagine!"
The two scrambled around looking for twigs to use as swords, declaring themselves swordsmen and the strongest in the world, ready to slay bad guys and monsters and protecting the innocent and weak.
"…Oh no!" Chi cried dramatically, "Tsuna-kun, the river's moving too fast! What do we do?"
Tsuna bit his lip, thinking, "We'll have to jump across, Chi-chan!"
They were standing next to the fountain and in front of a wide, half-dry puddle made from the water they took from the basin of the large, marble decoration. They looked at each other and the 'river' before leaping over and landing safely on the other side of the puddle.
"Yay! We did it!" the two cheered.
"Time to slay the dragon!" Tsuna shouted.
"And save the kingdom!" followed Chi.
Their first adventure had soon come to an end, it was reaching dinnertime and Nana and Makoto had to begin their preparations.
