Day 3 - Friends (mixed with Life Outside of the Chosen): First Day In College
Koushiro stood in the sidewalk staring up at his college building. He had been stuck there for at least ten minutes and he didn't think he could move at all.
"Koushiro?" Kae Izumi placed her hand on his shoulder gently and that seemed to break his trance. "Is everything okay, sweetie?"
"Everything is fine, I guess." He looked at her and shrugged. "I'm just nervous about my first day."
"That's understandable. I felt nervous on my first day too." Masami Izumi stopped beside him.
"Really, dad? I didn't know that."
"Well, the first days were very hard for me. You were just a baby back then. But later I realized it wasn't so bad. I made some friends I still carry to this day. Maybe the same thing will happen to you."
"Or maybe you'll find love here." Kae said with a smile.
"Mom, I'm not looking for love, I'm sorry. I know how much you'd want this, but it's not my priority right now."
"Ah I'd love to have a daughter-in-law. Even if you're not looking for one, it can still happen."
"Son, I think it's time for you to go in or you'll be late for your first class."
"I don't think I can move, dad. I can't do this."
"Of course you can. You can do anything you want."
"What if they don't like me?"
"How can they not like you?" Kae was surprised. "You're such a nice boy, everyone likes you."
"That's true."
"You can do this, Koushiro. I believe in you."
"Thank you, mom." Koushiro smiled at her. "I can do this."
"Tentomon will be so proud of you."
"I think so too." He shook his head slightly. "Well, I'm going."
"Good luck, son."
"I want to know all about it when you come back."
"Got it." He gave a hug in both of them before finally walking into the building.
Kae burst into tears on Masami's arms when the boy was far enough not to hear her.

.

Koushiro took a deep breath when he walked into the building. He looked around before heading to his locker. There were quite a few people in the hall; most of them in a hurry to get to their classes. Some of the freshmen students were in small groups, and Koushiro couldn't help but wish the rest of the Chosen Children were attending to the same college as him. At least a couple of them. He sighed, accepting he would have to make some new friends. Not that it would be a bad thing, though. All the other Chosen Children had friends outside their group. It was about time he found some of his own.
"Hey." A voice echoed beside him, making Koushiro turn his head around. There was a young woman with curly long silver hair a couple of lockers away from his, but she wasn't staring at him. She was focused on putting her things in her own locker.
"Hi." He said eventually, and the woman finally looked at him. "I'm Koushiro Izumi."
"Natsuki Kato. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." Koushiro smiled at her. "Is it your first day in college?"
"Yeah." Natsuki nodded. "To be honest, I'm apprehensive. I don't know what to expect really."
"You're not alone, trust me."
"Is it your first day too?"
"It is, and I don't know anyone here."
"I'm sorry for hearing that."
"It's okay. Do you?"
"I do, actually. My friend studies here too." Natsuki looked over her shoulder. "In fact, she's right there. Akemi!"
"Hey, Natsuki!" Akemi gave a wide smile and approached her. "I was looking all over for you! Are you all settled now?"
"I am. Akemi, this is Koushiro Izumi. Koushiro, this is Akemi Murakami, my friend I told you about."
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Murakami."
"Nice to meet you too. Did you two just meet?"
"That's right. It's his first day too and I was thinking we could make a small group." Natsuki turned to him. "If that's okay with you."
"Sure, that's fine." Koushiro replied. "What graduation are you taking?"
"I'm studying Computer Technology. What about you?"
"That's great! Me too."
"See, Natsuki? You were so afraid of making new friends and already found one."
"That's true. Akemi studies Chemistry. She's on the second year."
"That's so cool! Chemistry was one of my favorite subjects at school."
"Really? I love it so much."
Natsuki looked up when the school bell rang. "Looks like we have to go our separate ways for now."
"Are we going to have lunch together, Natsuki?"
"Of course! We can meet here later."
"Great. I'll see you later."
"Have a good period!" The silver haired girl said loudly and was given a wave from her friend. Then she turned to Koushiro. "Are you going to join us?"
"Is it okay?"
"Definitely!" Natsuki exclaimed excitedly. "You're always welcome to stay with us."
"T-Thank you." He blushed heavily.
"Oh no! I didn't embarrass you, did I?"
"No, no, you really didn't." He said quickly. "I'm just not really a sociable person, as you can probably tell."
"A little. I apologize if I scared you with my personality. I'm very extrovert. Sometimes way too much."
"You didn't scare me, don't worry about it."
"Good. That happens quite often, trust me."
"How come?"
"I suppose it intimidates people most of the time. But I just can't be different, you know?"
"And you shouldn't be. You should be yourself."
"That's true. You seem very nice and sweet, Koushiro."
"You too, Ms. Kato."
"Please, call me Natsuki."
"Alright, Natsuki."

.

The weather outside was quite warm due to summer being just around the corner. Koushiro was leaning against a tree and opened his obentou. He wasn't an expert in cooking, but he knew the basics on it. However, Kae still prepared his obentou, despite his protests. Eventually, he learned not to argue that and let her do it.
"Wow, this looks yummy!" Natsuki exclaimed when she looked at his obentou.
"Do you want some?"
"A trade?"
"Sure."
"You can pick whatever you want from here."
"I'll let you choose."
"Alright." Natsuki pointed to a Niguiri. "What about this one? Do you like Niguiri?"
"Yes, I love it. It sounds perfect to me."
"Awesome." She put a few of them on his obentou e picked a couple of Sashimi from it.
"You can have more."
"I'm fine, thank you."
"Okay."
"Oh wow, it's seriously amazing! Did you make it yourself?"
"No, my mom did. She insists on making them for me, even after all these years. It's been a tradition since I started elementary school."
"That's sweet. Your mom must be a nice person."
"She is. She's an amazing mother."
"I have no doubt about it."
"Hey, guys!" Akemi said excitedly as she joined them. "I'm sorry for being a little late. I lost track of time because I was catching up with some of my classmates."
"That's alright." Natsuki replied. "It must be so cool to meet your friends from college when a new college year starts."
"It is." The brunette woman sat down next to her friend. "You two will get to experience it next year."
"I can't wait. Oh, you should try this Sashimi Koushiro's mother made. I saved one for you. It's so good!"
"Really?" She picked it up from Natsuki's obentou and ate it. "Oh wow, it's one of the best ones I've ever eaten, for sure."
"Thank you." Koushiro grinned. "I'll make sure to tell her that."

.

"Hey, Koushiro!" Akemi yelled and he looked over his shoulder. As they were walking out of college. He looked over his shoulder and saw her running in his direction. "Do you live near here?"
"More or less. It's about fifteen minutes on foot from here."
"That's quite a walk."
"It is. What about you?"
"Yes and no."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm from Hokkaido. I thought I could take my chances at a college here in Tokyo, but wasn't that confident about it. I managed to find a good apartment to stay, which wasn't very expensive, and here I am."
"That's so cool, Akemi!" Koushiro exclaimed. "How has living in Odaiba been so far?"
"It's been great! I've been to Tokyo a couple of times, but a few years ago. But it's my first time in Odaiba and I fell in love with the city right away."
"I'm happy to know that. I can only imagine how hard it must be to live in a different city and without your parents."
"The first few months were very hard, but then I got used to it. It would be a lot worse if I didn't make any friends here."
"I can imagine. By the way, where's Natsuki?"
"She probably went to her dorm already."
"She lives in the campus?"
"She does. We were meant to be roommates, but my apartment was already full. So she applied for a dorm and was accepted."
"I see. Have you two been friends for a long time?"
"Since we were children. Our mothers lived close to each other and we grew up together. I'm only a few months older than her, even though I'm ahead in college."
"Cool."
"What about you?" Akemi looked at him. "Do you have any childhood friends?"
"I do, actually. Seven of them."
"Seven?" She was surprised. "Were you in the same class or something?"
"No, actually we met on a summer camp in 1999. We didn't know each other before that."
"And you became close friends right away?"
"Not necessarily, But we stayed in the same cabin."
"Even being in different schools?"
"That's right." He gave an awkward laugh, relieved he found a way to keep the fact he was a Chosen Child a secret.
"They must be very special people."
"They really are."
"That's it for me." Akemi looked up at her building and smiled when she looked at him. "Thanks for bringing me home."
"You're welcome." He blushed a little and looked down at his foot, which was playing with a small rock on the sidewalk. "Well, I should get going."
"Okay. I have some house chores to do before school work, so I should be going up."
"I don't want to hold you anymore. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Of course. Oh, and Koushiro?"
"What is it?" He looked over his shoulder after he turned around to start walking to his apartment.
"Tell your mother her food is amazing, don't forget it."
"Don't worry, I won't." He couldn't help but smile. "See you in class."
"See you."

.

Koushiro had barely opened the door from his apartment and his mother went to greet him, but he wasn't that surprised.
"Oh God, you're finally home. I was almost calling you, I was beyond worried you were taking too long to arrive."
"I'm sorry, I took a friend home."
"A friend?" Kae asked with surprise, but she couldn't hide her happiness with it. "Did you find a friend there?"
"Not exactly. I made a couple of new ones though."
"You what?!"
"I made two friends today. Two women."
"Did I hear it right?" Tentomon came flying from his bedroom and landed next to Kae, who immediately hugged him and started crying.
"Please, stop it." He begged, a little embarrassed. "It's not a big deal."
"We're sorry, we're just happy you made friends so fast." She looked up at him. "Are they nice?"
"They are." He nodded. "Natsuki made me feel so comfortable with her personality. She said your Sashimi was so good and one of the best she's ever eaten."
"Oh, that's so nice of her. Is she in your class?"
"Yes, she is. She has a friend who's on second year of Chemistry graduation. That was the friend I walked home."
"Are you dating her?" Tentomon asked all of a sudden.
"What?" Koushiro blushed again; this time, heavily. "Why would I be dating her? We met today!"
"I don't know. Isn't it what Sora and Yamato did when they started dating?"
"Not really." He pressed his palm against his face. "Besides, they were already friends when they started having feelings for each other."
"What is she like? Actually, what are they like?"
"Natsuki has long and curly silver hair and green…"
"Silver hair?" Kae asked confused. "Like white?"
"Silver, mom. Grayish."
"Oh okay. Go on."
"As I was saying, she has silver hair and green eyes."
"She must be so pretty."
"She really is." Koushiro blushed a little. "So is Akemi. She's brunette with short hair and brown eyes."
"Another pretty one." Kae smiled kindly. "So when are you bringing them over?"
"What?"
"When are you going to bring them over, so I can meet them? I want to make them some snacks for them, to show how grateful I am with their compliments about my food."
"Mom, we met today."
"I know, but I'm just so happy about it I feel like we should celebrate it."
"I agree with your mother, Koushiro."
"Alright, I'll talk to them and find a date that works out for everyone."
"Great. I can wait to meet your potential girlfriends."
"Mom, please." He blushed and covered his face with his hands to hide it.
"Okay, okay. I was just joking. Go get cleaned up so we can have dinner. Your father is arriving soon."
"Sure."

.

Koushiro was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. He was supposed to be sleeping or about to, but he was still so excited about his first day in college he simply couldn't turn his brain off. He couldn't help but think it turned out better than he expected and he was happy for managing to make friends on his very first day as a college student.