Jun kissed his mommy goodbye and squeezed her tight with his small, young arms before helplessly watching her walk away. He fought against the urge to call out to her.

He went inside his classroom and gingerly sat on the nearest chair, carefully placing his purple bag and purple lunchbox on the table in front of him. Looking around, he saw children his age playing alone or in groups. Jun never thought that children could be so… wild—everyone was screaming and jumping and running. A girl was chasing after another girl. Three boys were jumping from their seats and flapping their arms. A boy was pulling a girl’s pigtails, making her cry.

Maybe school was a bad idea…

He was so excited last night! He kept on arranging and rearranging his things in his new bag and he stared at his new uniform for hours. And he was extremely enthusiastic this morning; he couldn’t wait to finish his breakfast! He kept on telling his mom to hurry, today was the big day! This was the first of all his first days of school! No other day would be like this!

Things had somehow changed. He did not want to be in this roomful of noisy, rowdy kids, he thought resentfully. Jun gazed back to where his mommy disappeared.

From the corner of his eye, he saw another boy approach the bawling girl, offering her his stuffed toy. Jun smiled for the first time since he entered the room.

He fidgeted about, searching for something to do. Finally, he looked inside his purple bag, and deciding that his things had been a bit unsettled from the short trip to school, he rearranged some of the items. At least he had something to keep him occupied while waiting for his teachers, who were still outside greeting the newly-arrived children and their parents. The female teachers looked pretty and nice. And the male ones were handsome in a pretty sort of way, and seemed nice, too. Their aprons don’t suit them, though, he thought.

Someone tapped his shoulder and he turned around, suddenly face to face with a gigantic eye. He blinked several times.

“Hi,” said a boy with longish light brown hair, putting his enormous magnifying glass and stuffed dog behind him. “Let’s play together!”

Jun just stared.

The boy looked back at him curiously, and then said, “This,” whipping out his black puppy doll, “is Atom. Say hi Atom.”

The boy actually barked twice while moving his toy’s head. Jun almost cringed.

“Atom likes you. And he’s asking if you’d like to play with us.”

“But I don’t play with strangers,” Jun frowned.

“Oh.” Unperturbed, the boy said, “My name is Aiba Masaki. Call me Ma-chan. I’m older than you, I think. I got sick last year so I have to repeat,” he explained unnecessarily. “What’s your name?” This he asked with an open smile.

Jun suddenly felt nervous and he didn’t know why. In later years, he would identify similar feelings of unease as some sort of sign that something important was happening and that his life was about to change. At this age, though, the gods had seen fit to shield him from recognizing such warning.

“Ma-matsumoto Jun,” he said in trepidation.

The other boy grinned. “Ma-matsumoto Jun is kinda long. I’ll give you a nickname, then.” He furrowed his brows for a moment and looked deep inside himself. Then he beamed at Jun.

“Can we play now, MatsuJun?”

***

“Now, everyone please stand up,” Ohno-sensei began. All the children stood up and looked at the teacher expectantly. “In the last four days, you have made some new friends.” Ohno-sensei grinned as most of the kids nodded at him. “So starting today, you can be seatmates with whomever you like.”

Jun stood up, agitated.  He had not yet made any new friends in the first week of school! He had been too involved with learning new things, singing new songs. He didn’t know he was supposed to make new friends! He desperately tried to meet his classmates’ eyes but no one was looking his way. He turned around, getting very nervous, and was soon face to face with a big engaging grin.

“We are going to have so much fun!” Masaki stated confidently as he grabbed Jun’s things and transferred them to the seat next to his.

Jun was not quite sure whether he should be filled with happiness or dread.

***

Jun stealthily went to the playground. Upon sitting on one of the empty benches, he inspected his surroundings. Satisfied, he took out his food from his lunchbox slowly. Very slowly.

“There you are,” Masaki exclaimed. “I’ve been looking all over for you! Oh, is that ham sandwich? I love ham sandwich!”

Without further ado, Jun gave him his sandwich and started to leave his seat.

“Wait a minute, where are you going?” Masaki asked through his ham-filled mouth. He then presented Jun with a paperbag.

Jun eyed the bag suspiciously.

“That’s mayonnaise and peanut butter sandwich! I had my mom make that especially for you,” Masaki said in-between mouthfuls.

“Mayonnaise…”

“And peanut butter! I discovered the combination in an experiment! It’s my favorite! Atom loves it, too,” Masaki declared importantly.

***

It was raining hard outside. It happened so suddenly; the day started so beautifully, with only a few clouds adorning the high autumn sky. In their classroom, Jun, Masaki, and some other children had been waiting for their parents to bring them to their respective homes. Sakurai-sensei and Ninomiya-sensei had been taking turns in keeping them entertained at regular intervals, teaching them some songs, then excusing themselves every half an hour to go about their post-class duties, leaving the children to their own devices.

One by one, his classmates were fetched by their guardians, leaving him alone with Masaki two hours later.

“When we’re older, MatsuJun, and it isn’t raining, let’s walk home together! Your house is near ours!” Masaki suddenly exclaimed.

Jun did not answer, staring at the downpour outside, hiding all the questions riddling his head: Is mommy all right? Will she get here any time soon? When will we get home?

Will he ever get home?

His rising panic was interrupted by a raspy, loud voice singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

A raspy, LOUD voice singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

A RASPY, LOUD VOICE SINGING TWINKLE, TWINKLE LITTLE STAR ON LOOP.

“You’re so noisy!” Jun cried out in exasperation.

“Eh? No, I’m not,” Masaki denied. “Sing with me! Singing is good!” He shrieked before continuing with his song.

Jun sighed, but if truth were known, he was almost drawn in by Masaki’s enthusiastic singing. Almost.

“And you’re out-of-tune!” Jun screamed in despair.

 ***

“Wait a minute, why do I have to be the mommy?” Jun wailed.

“Because you’re prettier. Besides, I’m taller than you,” Masaki reasoned. To prove his point, he stood behind Jun and checked their heights.

“I don’t want to play house anymore if I’m the girl!” Jun shouted sulkily.

Masaki stared at Jun in silence. Finally, he asked, “What’s so bad about being a girl?”

The smaller boy thought about this. Hard. “Well, girls cry a lot,” he said after several minutes.

“So do I but I’m not a girl. Am I?” Masaki asked, confused.

Jun paused for a moment, then opted to ignore the other's question. “I don’t want to be the mommy because that means I just stay at home and you’ll be at the office all day and come back really late, and sometimes drunk.”

“No, no!” the older boy protested “We’ll be working together. We’ll have a Chinese restaurant and I’ll be the cook and you’ll be the manager and we’ll have a dog named Atom!”

Jun looked doubtful, but his frown had eased up a bit.

“All right,” Masaki conceded. “I’ll be the mommy. There are probably some mommies taller than daddies. I haven’t seen a daddy prettier than a mommy, though…”

Jun made a sound of frustration. “Does someone need to be a girl? I mean we’re two boys…”

Masaki considered Jun’s question. “Yeah. Maybe we need to play a different game… How about being two men…”

“… Who are working at the office!” Jun finished enthusiastically. “But what kind of work do we do?”

“Hm, what do men in the office do?” Masaki asked back.

“My dad goes to work carrying his briefcase and comes back home to look at piles of paper while having coffee,” Jun offered.

Masaki scrunched up his face.

“He seems to be doing something IMPORTANT,” Jun uttered indignantly.

“What if we become pilots instead? I’ve always dreamed of flying!”

“Pilots!” Jun shouted, nodding vigorously.

“We could fly big airplanes and go to a lot of different places! We could fly really high and touch rainbows! I love rainbows!”

“Great idea!”

“…Or we could be astronauts! Or superheroes!” Masaki trilled.

***

Jun was worried. All the kids in his class were grouped in twos and were asked to prepare a presentation for their class party. Some of the kids decided to recite poems, some to sing songs. Masaki, his partner, insisted that they do something different. And because when they were first taught how to dance Jun decided that he liked dancing, he proposed that they dance. Masaki immediately agreed.

Now, as they sat on their seats and watched the other pairs perform, doubt began to eat at Jun’s young heart. Maybe we should’ve chosen to sing, too. Maybe reciting poetry wasn’t so bad. Now, everyone will laugh at us because we’ll look like idiots, Jun thought, dazed. And it does not help that Masaki looked not in the least bit troubled.

“They will love us, MatsuJun. Trust me, everything will be okay,” Masaki stage-whispered in encouragement, making their classmates stare at the younger boy.

But Jun knew it would not be okay. They would not like our dance and it would be all my fault, Jun fretted, curling his little hands in inexplicable hopelessness.

Big fingers opened one of Jun’s fisted palms. Surprise enveloped his face as his eyes met Sakurai-sensei’s.

“Don’t be afraid. You’d be doing something you enjoy with your friend, in front of your other friends. There’s nothing scary in that,” the older man told him with a wink.

After their performance, Jun saw Sakurai-sensei and all his classmates, their hands red as they clapped vigorously.

Masaki grinned at Jun before they bowed in unison.

***

Jun spotted Masaki beneath the lined shrubbery.

“Masaki, what are you doing?” the smaller boy asked, intrigued.

“I told you to call me Ma-chan,” Masaki said as he filled two transparent plastic cups with water. He then pulled out a green pouch of what looked like salt from his pocket. “My dad told me that it’s easier to float in salt water,” he explained. “I’m going to test it.”

Jun sat beside Masaki, all eyes on the activity unfolding before him.

After stirring a handful of salt into one of the cups, the older boy picked up two stones of almost the same size and dropped each of them in to the salted and unsalted water.

Jun watched as both stones sank.

“Maybe it needs more salt,” Masaki murmured as he fumbled with the green pouch.

“Stones are heavy, maybe we need something lighter,” Jun said as he picked up something wriggly and presented it to the taller boy.

Masaki was aghast. Jun was amused. “Afraid?” At last  he found something that rendered the noisy boy speechless.

“No,” Masaki shook his head, his eyes bulging. “But the last time I used catterpillars for another salt experiment they all died.”

Jun’s face fell.

“And mommy told me butterflies came from catterpillars,” Masaki said in a small voice.

*** 

Classes for the day were done; the bell rang just some moments ago. A heavy feeling had latched on to Jun since morning and he did not understand why. The day went on like usual – he and his classmates learned a lot of new things from today’s lessons, played new games, and sang new songs – but something seemed to be wrong, Jun thought as he picked up his things.

Jun replayed everything that happened in class. In his memories, everything seemed strangely muted. Then, it hit him.

Masaki was not around.

Something heavy settled on Jun’s chest as he gazed at the absent boy’s place.

“What is it, Jun-kun?” Ohno-sensei, who approached Jun quietly, asked him. 

Jun scuffed his shoes on the floor, unaware that he was touching Masaki’s chair, unable to explain his sadness.

Ohno-sensei’s hand reached out for Jun, intending to ruffle his hair but thought better of it, deciding instead to pat Jun’s shoulder. “He’s sick today. He couldn’t go to school.”

“Sick?” Jun repeated.

The teacher nodded, then, chewed on his lower lip in thought. “I know, let’s make him a gift to make him feel better!”

“A gift?” the boy asked his teacher dumbly.

“When Sakurai-sensei was sick and had to stay at the hospital, I gave him a picture I drew of myself so he won’t feel alone.” Jun just stared at the older man blankly. “But maybe, that won’t do, huh? Drawing takes a lot of time… Ah, I know, let’s make a card!”

“A card?”

“Yes, Little Mr. Echo, a card. When Ninomiya-sensei gets sick, I make him one so that he’ll know I miss him and he’ll try to get better faster.”

Jun only nodded.

Ten minutes later, Jun was coloring his card for Masaki.

“Sensei, when you’re not feeling well, what do your friends give you?” the boy asked innocently.

“Food,” Ninomiya-sensei answered, leaning by the doorway, his apron matching his yellow shirt. “That monster will eat anything.”

Jun dropped his blue crayon. Maybe he should give Ma-chan a peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich instead. Or kara’age. Yes, kara’age would be good.

***

Ninomiya-sensei taught them a new song with a small number of dance steps, and they needed to get a friend for it. Jun expectantly turned to Masaki, but a girl ran over to the older boy, taking his hands in hers. Jun ended up dancing with Toma.

He did not speak to Masaki all day. 

***

Friends say they're sorry when they hurt their friends.

Jun stared at Masaki, Ninomiya-sensei’s words echoing in his head, and approached the older boy who was walking towards the playground. As soon as he got within earshot, he began to apologize. But Masaki suddenly dashed behind the nearest tree.

Jun was puzzled, and a bit bothered. Maybe Masaki was sore at him, too. He can’t blame the taller boy, it was his own fault, after all. Strengthening his resolve, he stepped closer to Masaki, and started to speak.  

Before he could even open his mouth, Masaki motioned at him to keep silent and pointed at the two trembling kittens sleeping between the big roots of the tree.  

“I found them this morning.”

Jun crouched down and stared at the animals. It took a full minute before he reached out to pet them.

“They were wandering about when I first saw them. Their mommy’s gone now so I’m taking them home,” Masaki stated calmly. “Now, we have to name them.”

Jun looked at the older boy questioningly, “Name them?”

“My mommy said that when you get a pet, you should name it immediately, because it’s yours,” the older boy pronounced, stroking the shivering balls of fur. “And it won't get lost anymore because it now belongs to you.”

After their classes, Masaki’s mother carried the perforated box Sakurai-sensei provided for the kittens. Inside, Hime and Uran were dreaming baby cat dreams.

***

Jun rolled on his bed, wide awake. Earlier today, he learned how to count numbers higher than one hundred, to draw words starting with ra- [Ramen! A certain loud voice replayed in his ears], to sing a song about adding all numbers from 1 to ten, to recite all the months in a year, and to tell a story using pictures.

Tomorrow they will cook, Jun thought, his eyes landing on the purple apron draped on his school bag. He was not sure what they’d make [It’s kara’age, I’m sure of it! A certain loud voice echoed in his head] but whatever it would be, he knew it would be good.

Jun squeezed his eyes shut. He was far too excited to sleep, but he had to try, so that he could wake up again and sing and dance and learn and laugh and be with his teachers and friends.

Finally, the boy smiled as he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of his days at school, of pushing himself on the swings, of playing tag and hide-and-seek, of inspecting things using a big magnifying glass, of helping out in a dozen experiments, of trying to crawl upwards on the slides.

And of walking home hand-in-hand with Ma-chan.

***

“Let’s play hopscotch,” Masaki exclaimed.

“Everyone will call you a sissy if you play that,” Jun said maturely.

Masaki tilted his head. “Maybe being a sissy isn’t so bad, if you get to enjoy the games you like.”

A little while later, Jun was gripping his lucky coin, concentrating on chucking it on the third square.