Interlude 1 – Everglow

You come in waves

Till you're all I know

Then you fade away

Into nothing

Weighed down by dark matter inside

You leave me frozen

You leave me frozen in time

There were a lot of people here. A three-year-old Yamcha hugged his teddy bear tightly to his chest, nervously glancing around at all the people—both grownups and other kids—in and around the schoolhouse. A lot of the children were running around, laughing and playing together, but Yamcha was hesitant to approach any of them, shyly staying by his sister and parents' sides.

Simply put: he didn't like being around so many unfamiliar faces.

"This is where you two will go to preschool in a few months," Chawan said, giving the twins a reassuring smile, as if he had sensed Yamcha's nervousness. Sencha, for her part, looked more curious than anything.

"I don't like it," Yamcha mumbled out, trying to bury his face in his favorite toy's material. He just wanted to go home. He didn't want to be around so many people.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Fukusa said in a gentle voice, kneeling next to her son and putting a hand on his shoulder, prompting him to glance up at her. "I know it can be a bit scary at first, but trust me. There'll be a lot of other kids you can make friends with."

"I don't wanna!" The black-haired boy argued back, returning his face to the teddy. Fukusa simply gave him a sympathetic smile, rubbing his upper back in a comforting manner.

It was sign-up day for preschool here in Kioku Town, which would be starting in only two months. Like many of the parents here, Fukusa and Chawan had opted to bring their children to the sign-up, hoping to give the twins an idea of what the school would be like and who their classmates would be.

Sencha had always been the bolder of the two, though she preferred to spend her time with picture books instead of other kids. Yamcha, on the other hand, was the shy one, always hiding behind his parents in the presence of strangers and usually staying with his sister.

Their parents were quietly hoping that preschool would bring the two of them out of their shells and improve their social skills, and maybe even let them develop a few friendships along the way.

OoOoOoO

Once the family of four had entered the building, they were introduced to the teacher, an older woman named Mrs. Kyoshi. And while the adults focused in the required paperwork, Yamcha and Sencha were sent outside to the playground area with the other kids.

A stark contrast to the other children, who were either running around or playing on the playground equipment with each other, Yamcha and Sencha had opted to sit up against the nearby fence, huddled together as they tried to ignore everyone else around them.

"I wanna go home," Yamcha whined out, still clutching the teddy bear as he drew his legs close to his chest. He hated being around so many strangers.

"Me, too," Sencha grumbled out, just as unhappy about this as her brother. She wanted to go back to her cartoons and picture books. Besides, the other kids were too loud; always screaming at the top of their lungs in excitement, it made her ears hurt.

The brunette looked up. Mrs. Kyoshi had told them about a snack table that had been placed on one end of the playground, where the children could grab something to snack on between playing and waiting for the parents. She squinted her green eyes at it. From the distance, it looked like the table was covered in several plates holding snacks—slices of bananas, apples and oranges were there, but it looked to be mostly sweets, particularly cookies and brownies.

Sencha looked back at her brother. They had always looked out for each other, as far as their young minds could remember. They always hated it whenever the other wasn't smiling and laughing, and would do whatever they could to cheer each other up. The chestnut-haired girl looked back over at the snacks table, and not a moment later, you could've seen a lightbulb appear over her head.

"I'll be right back," Sencha told her brother. Yamcha lifted his head to watch her stand up and dash across the playground, heading straight for the snacks table.

Even though she promised she'd be back, Yamcha felt his nervousness amplify and become accompanied by a feeling of loneliness. His sister was really the only one he liked to stay with. It only made him squeeze his favorite toy even tighter than before, if that was even possible.

As he waited, Yamcha took the opportunity to really look around for the first time, watching the other children from his spot. When he turned his head slightly to the right to get a better look, he paused as his eyes landed on a spot of blue.

There was another girl sitting against the fence as well, not too far from him. She looked to be a bit older than the other children, and similar to him, she refused to look at or interact with anyone. Her messy hair was aqua-blue and tied into a ponytail, and her dress was covered in dirt and grass stains.

Yamcha couldn't help but tilt his head slightly when he looked at her. She looked...lonely…He didn't know how else to describe it…

The sound of approaching footsteps made the black-haired boy look up, seeing Sencha walk back up to him, a smile appearing on her face. "Here," she said, handing him one of the two cookies she had. Mommy's cookies had always managed to cheer him up, so maybe these would work, too.

Yamcha smiled and accepted the treat from his twin. But just as he was about to take a bite out of it, he hesitated and looked up at the blue-haired girl again. He could feel a knot forming in his stomach. As much as he wanted to go home, he didn't like how lonely she looked.

He stood back up, still holding his bear and the uneaten cookie as he walked away from Sencha, who watched him in surprise and confusion. He made his way over to the blue-haired girl, who raised her head to look at him once he was close enough.

The girl had big, pretty blue eyes. It was the first thing that Yamcha noticed. The expression on her face was one of disconcertion. "Can…I help you?" she asked hesitantly.

Yamcha found himself unable to answer for a moment, glancing away from her shyly before he found his voice. "I…I just wanted to give you this!" he said quickly, closing his eyes as he thrust the cookie in her direction.

"Oh, uh…T-Thanks…" the girl sounded a bit flustered. Yamcha reopened his eyes just as she took the cookie from his hands, her blue eyes scanning it with an unreadable expression. She frowned and looked back up at him. "What's this for?"

"Huh?" Yamcha asked in confusion.

The girl narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't play games with me!" she hissed, her voice suddenly embittered. "What, does it have something in it that's disgusting or will make me sick?!"

"No!" Yamcha exclaimed, feeling his eyes starting to water in frustration. He didn't understand. He just wanted to be nice!

The girl looked like she didn't believe him. Then, she broke the cookie in half, and held up one of the halves. "If it's so good, then you eat it first!"

"Okay!" Yamcha exclaimed out, timidly taking it from her. If it got her to stop yelling, then he'd do it. He brought the treat to his mouth and bit into it. It was sweet and soft, and even thought it wasn't as good as his mother's cookies, it was still delicious.

It wasn't until he swallowed the mouthful of cookie that the hostile look on the girl's face finally disappeared. Instead, it was replaced with a mix of surprise and rue. She looked back down at her half of the cookie and hesitantly nibbled on it.

The girl quickly finished off her half, refusing to meet Yamcha's eyes. "I…I'm sorry…" she said quietly, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Yamcha smiled at her. "It's okay," he said, sitting down next to her. This prompted the girl to look up, her blue eyes meeting his dark orbs. After a moment, his smile disappeared as he asked, "Was someone being mean to you?"

The girl looked hesitant to answer, but after a minute or so, she sighed softly. "Yeah," she said, her voice still quiet. "Some of the other kids like to pick on me. They…They said I'm not good enough…"

"Why?" Yamcha asked, titling his head in confusion. "You don't seem like a bad person."

The girl smiled at his words, though it vanished again. "Well…I don't have parents like them…" She bit her lip, tears starting to form in her blue eyes. "They said that my parents didn't want me, that I wasn't good enough, and that's why I don't have any…" Her hands curled up into fists. "They think it's funny to push me around, and trick me into eating nasty snacks, and call me names, and…and…"

She trailed off, her voice starting to crack. She sniffled and fought the tears back. A moment later, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked back up to at Yamcha. "Well, my Mommy says that bullies are just angry with themselves. It doesn't matter if you have parents or not. They're just doing it to be mean." His smile returned. "And besides, who cares what they think? I think you're a good person!"

The girl's cheeks turned pink, her eyes widening as she stared at him. She looked shocked at his words, as if she were hearing them for the first time. Then, a tender smile made its way to her face, the tears still brimming in her blue eyes.

"Yamcha!"

The pair looked up at the sudden voice, seeing that Sencha had made her way over to her twin, a confused yet curious look on her face. She looked between her brother and the blue-haired girl. Yamcha had never gone to anyone else before, always staying with Sencha and their parents, so why had he run off like that?

Yamcha's smile never faltered. "Hey, Sencha," he greeted cheerfully.

"Yamcha?" The blue-haired girl echoed, drawing the twins' attention back to her. "That's your name?"

"Yeah," the boy said. "What's yours?"

The girl was silent for a few seconds, then quietly responded with, "Tenshi. My name is Tenshi."

"Tenshi," Yamcha repeated the name. "I think that's a nice name."

Tenshi's cheeks went from pink to a light shade of red. Sencha, meanwhile, couldn't help but smile. It looked like she and her brother had a new friend.

"I'm Sencha," the brunette introduced herself. "Yamcha's my brother."

"Nice to meet you," Tenshi replied.

"Will you be going to preschool with us?" Sencha asked, and Yamcha looked intrigued.

"Oh, no," Tenshi said, shaking her head slightly. "I'm too old for preschool. I'll be starting first grade soon. Mrs. Kyoshi just lets me hang out here."

"Oh," Sencha said. Yamcha looked disappointed, lowering his head slightly. Tenshi no doubt noticed this, based on what she said next.

"But we can still play when our lessons are done." Yamcha looked back up, his smile returning to his face.

"Yeah!" He exclaimed happily, prompting Tenshi to smile in return.

"Ooh, can we play a game now?" Sencha asked in excitement.

"Yeah," Tenshi said. "And I think I know a great one to play!"

OoOoOoO

"So, we just count to twelve and try to find you? Kinda like hide and seek?" Yamcha asked. The three children had found themselves standing in one of the playground's corners, with the twins listening closely as Tenshi explained the rules of a new game.

"Yep," Tenshi nodded. "And remember: you can't open your eyes until you get to midnight." She paused to giggle excitedly. "You ready?"

Yamcha and Sencha both nodded. The twins covered their eyes and counted out loud in unison as Tenshi ran off. "One o'clock…Two o'clock…Three o'clock…"

Tenshi made her way over to the first hiding spot she could think of: behind the slide. She giggled into her hands as she ran past the other rowdy kids and crouched down in her hiding spot. This was going to be so much fun!

"Eleven o'clock…Midnight!" The twins uncovered their eyes, grinning as they exclaimed together, "Starlight, star bright! I hope I don't see a ghost tonight!"

Yamcha and Sencha broke off, dashing around the playground in opposite directions to look for their new friend. Tenshi was able to peek from around the slide, seeing the two of them look for her. Just as she did so, one of the other boys, who was much bigger than Yamcha and had previously been running amok around the playground, suddenly changed directions when he spotted the sprinting black-haired boy. Tenshi watched in surprise as the bigger boy slammed into Yamcha, knocking him down with a surprised cry, and snatched the teddy bear and bolted again.

"Teddy!" Yamcha yelled out as he pulled himself up, tears forming in the three-year-old's dark eyes.

The other boy laughed and had a smug grin on his face as he ran, holding the bear up like it was a prize. He didn't get very far, however, as Tenshi swiftly jumped out of her hiding spot once the boy was close enough and punched him in the face.

The boy fell to the ground, a mix of bewilderment and pain on his face, and Tenshi yanked the stuffed animal from him before he could do anything else. "Don't be mean to him!" she snapped.

The sound of approaching footsteps made her look to see Yamcha rushing over to her. His clothes were covered in dirt and grass stains, and tears still brimmed in his eyes, but he wiped them away and smiled as he stopped next to the blue-haired girl and quickly tapped her arm. "Ghost in the graveyard!"

Tenshi blinked, then laughed lightly. The bigger boy quickly scrambled away, blubbering and holding his now bloody nose. Tenshi handed the teddy bear back to Yamcha, who hugged it tightly again. Then, he looked back up at Tenshi. "That was really cool! You were really fast, and you're strong! How did you do that?"

Tenshi's smile turned to a confident smirk. "Don't you know? That was martial arts."

"Martial arts?" Yamcha echoed. Those words were new to him.

"Yeah," Tenshi replied. "Y'know, fighting. Like they do in movies!" She then kicked and punched the air next to her, each accompanied by an exaggerated 'Ha!' sound. "And one day, I'm gonna be the best martial artist in the world!"

You could practically see stars in Yamcha's eyes as he stared at her in awe. "Wow!" He cried out. "That's awesome! Can I do it, too?"

Tenshi giggled again. "Sure, but I hope you're okay with second place!"

"Nu-uh! I'm gonna be number one!"

"You didn't even know what martial arts was a minute ago!"

By the time, Sencha had seen what had happened and arrived at the duo's side. She was glad that Tenshi had punched that bully. No one makes her brother cry and gets away with it!

The three of them decided to restart their game, and were having fun playing more than a few rounds when the number of children in the playground started to dwindle. And it wasn't long before…

"Yamcha! Sencha!"

The twins stopped their running and looked up to see their parents standing outside the schoolhouse doorway, and didn't hesitate to run toward them.

"Look at you two, you're such a mess," Fukusa laughed out as she lifted Yamcha into her arms, while Chawan did the same with Sencha. "Did you have fun?"

"Uh-huh!" Yamcha nodded happily. "We made a new friend!"

"Do you?" Chawan asked. "Who was it?"

"Her!" Sencha said, turning herself in her father's arms to point to the blue-haired girl, who was stopped running as well and smiled when the parents' eyes landed on her. "Her name is Tenshi. She's a lot of fun!"

"Sounds like you had a good time," Fukusa said. "But I'm afraid it's time to go home."

"Aww!" the twins both whined out, but chose not to argue as their parents started to walk away. Yamcha, however, still looked over his mother's shoulder and waved to Tenshi. The blue-haired girl was still smiling as she waved back until the family was out of sight.

It truly was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Everglow

You'll never know

The beauty I see when you open your shadows

Everglow

They'll never know

The worlds that I see in the darkness you don't show