A/N: So I really wanted to do a Holiday fic for last month but I had a lot of schoolwork to do and now I have a huge essay coming up. About the fic, I intend this to be a collection of one-shots following the prompt of precious Umi and Maki as childhood friends. Whether Umi and Maki be any age, all fanfics in here will have them experience(d) friendship in their young ages. Enjoy!
Quiet steps emitted along a grassy garden as a party of three clung aside, two adults grasping opposite hands of the small child between them. They planted their fancy shoes in front of the wooden masterpiece as one, specifically the child, marveled at the callback to old architecture.
Honestly, the child knew their house was much better, having it be a mansion, but the smell accompanied with its wooden structure gave its traditional feeling she always wanted to experience. The aroma picked up, and the young girl breathed in what felt like the ocean, with a sweet blueberry hint to it.
She oddly liked it.
The two adults, mother and father, took note of the small redhead's awed expression and smiled at that.
"Our little dear Maki-chan is finally going to enjoy one of these parties, no?" The child shot back to reality at her mother speaking up, and quickly twirled her quite long hair.
"I-it's not that, Mama," the girl protested. "It's just that we always have parties at home, you know."
"Well, glad you enjoy the change then, you're going to have to get used to change when you inherit the hospital." Maki's father bumped in, making the tomato regret looking so dumbstruck in front of her parents.
"We haven't even gone in yet!" Maki complained, failing to deny any sort of enjoyment, clicking her stubby high heels.
"It'll be fine. I'm pretty sure the Sonoda family has someone around your age, you could play with her!" Maki's mother exclaimed quite literally, possibly at the chance for her daughter to make an actual friend.
"Play?" Maki made a questionable face, but in truth, the thought of meeting another child perked her interest. She never really had a true friend, and all the parties she went to already were filled with adults.
Come on, if we stand out here staring we'll be late," her father interrupted taking a step forward, with the other two soon following.
The building itself was quite marvelous, but the entrance itself caused her to frown, looking at how small it was. Of course, she could fit through the door, but seeing her mother and father having to duck when they weren't even that tall made Maki a bit iffy.
"Why is the entrance so small?" She questioned curiously, while also simultaneously noticing slots that looked like they were for katanas to be placed. "And what are those for?" The darker haired mother let out a giggle at the constant questions her child was throwing out.
"You'll learn when you grow up. You haven't even learned much history in school yet," was all the answer Maki got.
The tomato made a mental note to ask one of the owners for more information if her mother wouldn't answer her.
Stepping on the hardwood floor, a slide door opened, revealing a midnight blue-haired women holding a hardy glass of what Maki couldn't make up as.
"Welcome to the Sonoda household. Glad you could attend, Nishikinos," the greeting came off extremely formal, but all three of them remained unaffected, as it was only a slight improvement of their greetings whenever a party was held at their mansion. Maki's parents along with the women bowed in unison, and it took Maki a second to catch on and do the same.
"It's a pleasure to accompany you by your side once again, Mrs. Sonoda," the adults shared smiles, and then broke into laughter.
"Everybody else is in the living room, come, so we can discuss about whatever comes into our mind," the host reopened the slide door, motioning for them to follow. Maki took a step forward, but was blocked by her mother's hand.
"No need to rush, Maki-chan. Why don't you go explore the house? I'm sure you're curios." Maki made a reluctant face, but deep inside her mother's statement was quite true. She just expected the other child would be in the living room, but it wouldn't hurt to get a landscape of the house first.
"Sure," was all the little girl answered with.
"Great! Now if you excuse us, your father and I will be in the living room if you need us."
"I think I already know that, Mama," watching them disappear into the lively room, baring her alone.
For a moment Maki felt something. It didn't feel familiar, but wasn't new either. She couldn't piece it together until she realized standing awkwardly still wouldn't do her any good.
Her stubby high heels echoed across the hallway as she stared across an empty stairway, urging her to investigate further.
All the doors she checked so far were locked, leaving Maki slightly disappointed at the limitations put on her. Frowning at another locked door, she approached the last slider of the upstairs area, expecting it to be locked as well.
Only for her to fall on top of the door as it collided onto the ground, emitting a humongous slamming sound.
The child stood up, quite dazed but seemed fine when there were no physical feelings nor showings of pain. Staring at the door on the floor, she attempted to lift it but her small size couldn't muster the parallel sides of the door to effectively stabilize and place it back.
"I guess I should get Papa or Mama…" Maki corrected her posture and turned to leave the room, until something had caught her eye, causing her to look back into the room.
Right into the amber eyes of a small child in her bed, hugging a book as if it provided any comfort. She looked quite startled, clenching the book, but her eyes were quite still, keeping contact with Maki's amethyst orbs.
None of them moved from their position, Maki swore she felt a gust of wind even though all the windows were closed. For some reason, the tomato felt entranced, staring not only at her eyes but the long silky midnight blue hair that seemed a bit too long for a kid around Maki's age.
Maki snapped back when the girl moved her mouth from her oval position, and Maki quickly semi-bowed to apologize to what was most likely the bluenette's room.
"I-I'm sorry for breaking the door. I'm going to go get somebody to help," she quickly turned around, feeling an abnormal heat up her cheeks, and almost broke into a sprint away from the room until the girl in the bed spoke up.
"W-wait!" For some reason, Maki stopped immediately as if the other child was one of her parents, reversing her head back around to start that awkward staring contest all over again.
"I-It's fine. The door has been broken for weeks now," the girl paused, as if she was trying to improvise another sentence.
"O-Oh. That's okay then," the redhead let out a subtle understanding, not really sure what to say probably because of her lack of experience communicating with strangers.
"You're the daughter of the Nishikino family, right?"
"Uh… yeah," silence filled the room again for the third time, and both of them knew they were looking really pathetic right now.
"I didn't expect to see you before dinner… But since you here, would you like to join me? That is… if you like reading, that is."
Not the ideal play date… Maki thought, but happily obliged, placing herself on the sheetless bed.
"So… what are we going to do about the door?" Maki asked, examining the cover of the book the girl revealed.
"It'll be fine, Father can fix it when he's done partying," the girl responded. Processing the speech made Maki remember something necessary to any friendship.
"Hey," the tomato spoke quite softly, as she had broken through the shell of being the heiress to the Nishikino family.
"What is it? If you're wondering about the book, it's a-"
"No no, not about the book. It's just that, we haven't done introductions yet."
"Oh!" The girl exclaimed, letting out a chuckle towards Maki's sides.
"I completely forgot about that. My apologizes," she set the book down beside her on the bed, connecting amber with amethyst once again.
"Sonoda Umi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Nishikino-san." Umi revealed, but Maki suddenly pouted, much to the ocean child's surprise.
"Maki," the redhead let out.
"Excuse me?"
"The name's Maki. And you don't need to speak so formally to me, okay? We're not even that old, you know," assuming Umi's age was only a small vicinity around her own.
"Well then, Maki it is. Sorry, formalities are usually a big thing with my family, but if you don't want it that way, we can work it out." She let out her hand, with a heartwarming blush on her cheeks, spreading the redness to Maki as well.
Soon, the blushes disappeared as two small hands secured against each other, igniting a rush of something none of them could identify as children. Releasing the handshake, Umi grabbed her book again and tilted it towards Maki.
"So this book is about…"
Maki didn't really pay attention, because for some reason, she felt like lost something within her. That unknown feeling she also felt when her parents went into the living room, that exaggerated feeling of her being the only one in the room.
Maki stared at Umi again, and watching her mouth move in explanation, she could feel the icy shards of that negative feeling evaporating as it left her.
Despite her being a young child, Maki thought that this would be the best moment of her life.
A/N: So there it is! Sadly I have a lot of work to do like I said before, but I'll try to update more with this lovely underrated ship. However, if you readers want this to be a multi-chaptered story following this one then I'll be happy to dump the collection plan and continue this one.