Just a note before you read this chapter. Please don't flame me about the basic sentence structure the characters speak in; they're grade schoolers right now, aren't they? I tried my best to make their sentences as simple as possible, but when I was a kid, english was a second language, so I have no clue whatsoever as to how the average little child would speak. If there's a word that a first grader shouldn't know that I happened to include, then point it out. But they won't be this young for long in this story, so... It doesn't matter so much if you overlook it.
Rating: K+ for name-calling and general bad little kid behaviour.
I'm using Japanese honorifics that I'm not completely familair with, and I'm afraid that I might have mixed up a few, so please tell me if any are out of place!
The small lunchroom was packed with young children all cheerfully munching on something, from kindergarteners to fourth graders. Every single table was packed of kids from varying grades...Every single table but for one in the corner, where a rather round child sat mournfully chewing a sandwhich. Some canned tea was next to the sandwhich, which he picked up after a moment and took a huge gulp from, then resumed eating. He had very short brown-black hair in a military buzzcut, and overlarge brown eyes that seemed rather out-of-place on his tanned face. Those eyes were his most distinguishing feature. They sparkled with intelligence that shouldn't belong on a first grader's face.
Two older kids sitting not far away glanced his way and then stood up. To them, Yuma Chiaki was just an overweight first grader. They knew he came from a wrestler's family, but unfortunately they did not know that it was a well-respected one.
"Oi, piggy." One called as he sauntered over, patting back his smooth black hair. "Turn some of that fat into hair. Yours is so short that ya look bald."
Chiaki was the the only one in the entire school, apart from some teachers, who bore a buzzcut. He placed a large hand protectively over his head.
"I'm liking my hair. It's fuzzy." he said simply, then continued eating. The black-haired boy frowned, and snatched his sandwhich away. Examining it closely, he first pulled out a layer of peanut-butter covered swiss cheese, then some mayonnaise-covered tomato.
"Ew! Look at this, Kaede! Look at what this guy eats! No wonder he weighs what he does!"
"Please don' ruin my lunch, Atsuo-kun." Chiaki pleaded. "My mommy made-"
"Mommy?" The second one, a short brown-haired third grader, scoffed. "Are you joking? Nobody but the kindergarteners calls their parents Mommy. Grow up, piggy." At this, Chiaki turned away and stared resolutely at the empty plate in front of him. Eventually they'd go away. Hopefully they'd go away before they-
No such luck. A hand grabbed his canned green tea and spilled it all over the table. Another pair of hands snatched away the special two pieces of candy that Chiaki's mom always slipped in to brighten his days. Finally satisfied, the boys left, leaving the first grader to stare into space where his food once was.
Chiaki let loose a small, pitiful sniffle as soon as they had left. The loss of the sandwhich he could take. The canned green tea he could survive without. But the special candies... Toffees. His favourite. And two- just two. Always two. His mom had always packed two, in case he made a friend.
Friend? He let out a snort of laughter. Imaginary ones couldn't share candy with him. And now, even if by some miracle one dropped out of nowhere and sat with him, he didn't have even one candy to give.
'And the worst part is, I canna fight back at all. Mommy made me promise not to, since I migh' hurt someone...'
lllll
It was a rainy Tuesday. Chiaki stared out the window from where he sat in the back as the class waited for the teacher to walk in. Giggling sounded. Paper airplanes flew around the room, often hitting Chiaki on the forehead and drifting down to his desk with their noses bent. The students had a lot of practice now that springtime was half over. Most of the airplanes managed to touch him now. He gave a sigh and sunk lower in his seat just as one that would have nailed him in the eye flew by.
There was a crunching noise. The teacher had walked in, and Chiaki knew by the sudden drop in air temperature that she had caught the airplane with that steel grip of hers and was now glaring at the disobedient students. He adjusted his light sweater-vest carefully and sat up straighter as Mrs. Hao walked to the front of the room, with a small boy behind her. His eyes widened.
'A new student? Now?'
"Listen, my dear students." Mrs. Hao announced. "I would like you all to welcome Hibiki Kugenin. He just transferred from another school, and as this is his first time meeting you all, I want you all to be friendly and welcoming. Say hello, everyone."
"Hello, Hibiki." The class chorused. Chiaki caught a few sniggers among the crowd, and he bit his lip. They had reason to laugh. This new student... He was a bit tall, and extremely skinny, which made him seem all the taller. His clothes looked to be three sizes too big and hung on his thin frame like blankets on a washline. His silvery hair was unkempt and unbrushed, falling to a little bit past his shoulders, while his palest blue eyes looked nervously around the room. "Hibiki, why don't you take a seat in the back there? There's a few free seats next to Chiaki." The boy nodded and shouldered his backpack. He seemed oddly strong to carry such a backpack despite looking so skinny.
"Hi." Chiaki said carefully as soon as the new kid had sat down. "My name's Chiaki."
"Hello, Chiaki-kun." Hibiki said politely, smiling at him, but before he could say anymore there was a slightly anoyed shout from the teacher.
"Please pay attention, Chiaki, Hibiki!"
The two exchanged a glance and giggled. A warm feeling rose up in Chiaki's large stomach and caused the muscles of his mouth to stay pulled into a smile as he bent his head down to look at the kanji they were supposed to trace.
"Psst. Chiaki-kun." Hibiki whispered. His eyes darted to Mrs. Hao to see if she had noticed, which thankfully she hadn't.
"Yeah?" Chiaki replied in a low voice.
"Thanks for talking to me."
The pencil froze upon the tracing paper. Chiaki's heart pounded. Here he was, the least popular kid in the school, and this new kid was thanking him for just saying hi?
"No, thanks for actually answerin' me." he replied.
The warm feeling returned, stronger than ever. Somehow, in the space of a few moments, they had become friends.
lllll
"This is the first time in my life that I'm sitting with someone else at lunch." Hibiki commented as he sat down across from Chiaki with a tray.
"That's all you got, Hibiki-kun?" The latter asked, surprised. Sure, his own lunch was rather big, but even when he compared Hibiki's lunch to any normal kids then the tall boy's meal was small. Some apple juice and a school-issue peanut butter 'snack-which' was all. The snackwhiches were as small as their name suggested, fitting comfortably into the palm of a third grader's hand.
"Well..." Hibiki looked a little nervous. "I... I'm not hungry, is all."
Chiaki looked at him askance. "If you're sure." he said doubtfully. "So how d'you like our school so far?"
"It's pretty much the same as my old school." Hibiki said, taking a small and careful bite of the snackwhich. "Everybody has the same few notes here as my last one, except for you."
"Except for- hey, wait, whad'you mean by 'notes'?" Chiaki asked curiously. He had asked just the right question. His new friend's eyes lit up as soon as he had said it.
"Exactly what I said! I can hear the notes of music that a person gives off. It's cool. I can't hear songs yet, but I used to be only hear the tone of a person. A week ago those tones became notes, repeating over and over. Your notes are different from these kids- and the teachers too! I like the notes I hear around you. They're not as messy and weird as everyone else's. They're like, neater!"
Chiaki gaped at him for a moment, then abruptly he laughed. It wasn't a cruel, sarcastic laugh. It was warm and full of genuine merriment, as much as his sparkling brown eyes were.
"You're strange, Hibiki-kun." He grinned. "But I think you're cool. If I coul' hear the music of a person, I'd say the exact same thing for you."
Hibiki was about to reply when his eyes fixed on something behind Chiaki. Noticing this, the boy turned his head around to see.
"The touching meeting of two idiots, it's so emotional!"
It was Atsuo and Kaede again.
"Hey, piggy, you better be careful. That toothpick across from you might steal your food." Atsuo sneered. "Oohh, wait- what's this? A note? Haha!" Moving quickly, he snatched the little slip of paper out of Chiaki's lunchbox.
"Give that back, please." Chiaki made a grab for it, but Atsuo held it above his head and read it aloud.
"Dearest Chiaki, I prepared today's sandwhich with an extra helping of love. ~Mommy =). Now, wasn't that touching?" He said sardonically.
"Oh, stop, Atsuo, I'm crying." Kaede laughed, not looking sad in the least. "A smiley face? is she serious? Hey, buddy- let's take this note and post it on the school board! Then everyone will see just how much Chiaki's mom loves him!"
"Please don'! Wait!" Chiaki made repeated, but futile, grabs for the paper.
"Piggy! Piggy!" The two older kids taunted in unison. There was a loud slamming noise, and the three of them froze, turning their heads.
Hibiki had stood up, with one hand palm-down on the table. Chiaki looked at him with amazement. He hadn't really noticed it before, but right now his friend seemed as tall as the bullies, perhaps even taller.
"Chiaki-kun asked for his paper back. Maybe you should give it to him." He suggested pleasantly.
"Or- or what?" Atsuo faltered for just a moment before recovering his arrogant stance. "Do you wanna go, firstie? Do you really think you can take the two of us on?"
"If it comes to it, I bet I could." Hibiki smiled, and his knees bent slightly. There was a new light shining out of his eyes now that terrified his two opponents. Visibly shaken, Atsuo dropped the note and backed away. Kaede hastened to follow in his leader's footsteps and soon the two were back at the safety of their own table.
Chiaki picked up the paper and turned to Hibiki, awed.
"I guess it works differently on kids my age..." Hibiki was muttering to himself. "They run away, they don't hit me first."
"Hibiki-kun... were you actually going t' fight them? I never knew you could fight."
"Eh? Oh... I can't really fight." Hibiki looked embarassed as he sat down again. A pink blush was spreading across his pale face. "I just... my daddy teaches me self-defense. Er... well, since I walk home a long way from the bus stop... and a bad guy might go after a little kid like me walking down the street! Anyways, I noticed something. People have different notes when they fight, or feel like fighting. I heard it for just a second with those two bullies. It was... amazing, hearing those few notes!"
"Either way, thanks for saving me." Chiaki said gratefully. "My daddy runs a dojo, and he's teachin me some kinda wrestling. I'm pretty good at it already. But he said not to use it on kids at my school or anythin, so... yeah. Thanks, Hibiki-kun."
"It was nothing." Hibiki's cheeks were pink again.
"Hey- wait! I forgot about these!" A new, wonderful idea suddenly occured to Chiaki. He dug around in his lunchbox, and then withdrew two carefully wrapped toffees. He tossed one to Hibiki. "D'you like candy?"
"Can...dy?" Hibiki asked, clearly puzzled. "What...?"
"You've never had candy before?" Chiaki asked, and the boy shook his head, his long hair waving slightly with the motion. "You know, you surprise me every second! Just eat that. You can have it." To emphasize, Chiaki unwrapped his candy and popped it into his mouth. Hesitantly now Hibiki unwrapped his toffee before trying it.
"It's good!" Hibiki said, surprised. Chiaki laughed again at the delight on the skinny boy's face.
"I'm happy you like it!"
lllll
"Seriously, he was like this even as a little kid?" Kenichi asked Thor disbelievingly. "And I never knew your real name!"
"Thor is my real name now." Thor grinned at him, then tapped Siegfried on the shoulder. The composer had been staring into space, eyes distant, but snapped back to attention as soon as the tap was delivered. "Let's take turns now, okay? But please don't sing your parts!"
"I shall make sure of it!" Siegfried said solemnly, then cleared his throat. "Now, as..."
Takeda slowly stirred into wakefulness. He crawled over and sat with his legs crossed, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of long grass as he listened to the story.