Author's Note: FYI - since this fic takes place several years before WWII, Hawaii is not a US state yet. You'll see why I mentioned Hawaii. Anyways, enjoy! :D

"Wake up, Kiku-chan," Mrs. Honda shook him and smiled as she spoke in her usual gentle and amiable tone.

Kiku slowly opened his eyes, yawned, and sat up.

"Good morning, mother," he greeted with another yawn.

"You looked so cute when you were sleeping! It's like you returned to being a baby!"

Kiku's face immediately turned red. "Mom, don't say that! I'm more mature now!"

Mrs. Honda giggled. "Alright, alright. Come on, let's go downstairs. Your father made a delicious breakfast for you."

Mr. Honda had cooked up miso soup, rolled omelet, and salted salmon.

"Wow, my favorite!" Kiku exclaimed. "Thank you for the meal!"

Following the most important meal of the day was getting ready for school. Kiku put on a long-sleeved blue and white sailor outfit accompanied by shorts. Like putting a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae, Mrs. Honda adorned his head with a sailor hat and stepped back a bit to see his overall appearance.

"You look even cuter, sweetie!" she giggled and placed her hands on her cheeks, unable to resist her son's adorableness.

"Mom, I'm a big boy now…"

XxXxX

Before Kiku could step out of the car, his parents kissed him on the cheek, wishing him good luck on his first day of school.

"Have fun, Kiku-chan!" his mom called out.

"Make more friends!" his dad added.

As Kiku walked his way to the main entrance, he could heard an echoing voice calling his name.

"Kiku, I missed you the entire summer!"

It was one of Kiku's long-time friends.

"Kojiro!" he called back. "I missed you, too!"

Kojiro caught up to where Kiku was and enveloped him in a big embrace.

"I feel really warm and comfy…" Kiku commented and hugged him back. "Such a nice feeling to have…"

"Hey, Kiku," Kojiro said. "Do you think we're in the same class again?"

The school bell rang.

"How about we find out now?" Kiku asked with a grin.

XxXxX

They were in the same class and they were able to sit next to each other because of their surnames.

"Hello, everyone! My name is Mr. Hiroki Takahashi and I will be your homeroom teacher! I will be teaching you guys math! I hope all of you enjoyed your summer! Can each of you share anything interesting about your summer vacation? We'll go by family name in alphabetical order!"

The list was pretty long as there were forty kids total in his homeroom.

"Honda, Kiku."

His hand shot up and he stood up from his seat.

"Did you have any interesting experiences during your summer vacation?"

"Yes, I did, Takahashi-sensei. First of all, my parents and I flew to Hawaii, a chain of beautiful islands. There were many Japanese people so we were able to talk them about where certain tourist spots were. Also, since Yokohama has a Chinatown section, I got to interact with a Chinese kid for the very first time."

"Really?" almost all of his classmates exclaimed.

"Wait a minute. You can't understand Chinese," Kojiro pointed out. "How did you two communicate with each other then?"

"He told me that his mother taught him how to speak Japanese."

"Very intriguing, Kiku," Mr. Takahashi grinned. "Please tell us more about this Chinese boy."

"His name is Wang Yao and he and his mom own a restaurant called Hungry Panda."

Some students murmured about what he just said.

"I've heard of that place! It's new, right?"

"Lots of people saying that their Chinese food is really good!"

"I guess you had enough to say, Kiku. Nice to meet you, by the way. Who's next on the list?"

"Same here, Takahashi-sensei."

XxXxX

Mr. Takahashi moved on to important school announcements.

"This year, our class has been chosen to perform for the winter play."

This woke every student up. They all stared directly at Mr. Takahashi and leaned more forward as if they wanted to eavesdrop on a long-hidden secret.

"We will be doing a play on samurais!"

Everyone cheered, showing how much they had an interest in samurais and their history.

"You will randomly choose your role in the play whether it be in acting, scenery and props, or writing the script."

After Kiku picked out a small slip of paper, Kojiro asked curiously,

"What did you get, Kiku?"

"I got…"

XxXxX

Kiku waited outside the school to be picked up. Suddenly, Kiku felt someone from behind hugging him tightly. When the person lifted him up, he shouted,

"LET ME GO OR I'LL CALL THE POLICE!"

The person put him down and started laughing. The voice sounded very familiar to Kiku. Very.

Kiku slowly turned around with a horrified but surprised look. "Yao-kun? What are you doing here?"

"I want to go to the same school as you, aru. Here I am."

Kiku just stood speechless at how much Yao was determined to be with him.

In case you didn't know yet, Hiroki Takahashi is actually Japan's seiyuu! Also, Kojiro is just a character that I made up. Bye, see you next chapter! :D