Nino hated it when they moved to a new place even though his mom told him countless of times that it’s good for him. However, he only ignored her words and scorned at his parents whenever they tell him they were moving again. He really couldn’t blame either of them because he knows that it’s their jobs that requires them to move a lot. But every time they came home from a business trip or meetings, Nino hides under his bed until his parents find him, and tell him of that platitude news once every two months.

So there he was, sitting in his parent’s expensive car while they passed by unknown areas in Japan. He had heard from his mom last night that this place will be somewhere far away from Tokyo. But Nino didn’t care. All he wanted to hear from his parents that this will be the last time they will move. And so he waited and waited until he fell into a deep sleep.

When he opened his eyes, the car came to a stop and he couldn’t stop himself from being amazed. Even though he’s lived in so many houses, mostly mansions, he couldn’t take his eyes off of this one. Unlike all the other houses, he wondered why this one felt so different.

Taking a step outside, he ran to the huge entrance gate that was already open. He stopped running halfway the wide open road leading to the house itself, and he took his time to breathe in the fresh air. When he exhaled, everything was suddenly so clear that he started to run around the open space of the neatly mowed lawn. Someone must have known he was coming, because he loved it when the grass had enough space for him to run around and do whatever he pleased.

Then he ran to the bushes of multi-colored flowers and picked every flower he could see until his hands were full and smelt of fresh leaves. Just as he was about to pop a blue flower in his mouth, the sound of rushing water caught his attention. Trashing the flowers all over the lawn, he speed to the fountain in the middle of the circle road. He was tall enough to reach in the fountain and he used his hand as a cup  to grab a handful of water.

“Kazunari!” He heard his mom call him. He ignored her, mad at the fact they had to move and that he was just having so much fun splashing cold water on the bugs crawling below him.

“Kazunari!”

Annoyed, he threw the last of the water on the bugs and faced his mom who was walking towards him slowly. He rolled his eyes. Why did his mom have to be so slow? Seeing that she wasn’t progressing any further, he stuck his tongue out and ran to the top of the stairs. He laughed at her when she was still far away so he turned around again and ran into the mansion. However once the door opened , he bumped into something and fell on his .

“Ouch!” Nino yelped once he landed on the cold marble floor. It didn’t hurt, but it sounded a lot like his bones cracked. Just in case, he slipped his hand under him and was sure that there was nothing broken.

“I’m sorry,” he heard a sleepy voice apologize.

“You better be!” Nino hissed as he got up. “If my bones were broken, you would have to-” Nino was about to tell this person that in the near future, he would have to pay for his injuries, but he stopped himself. In front of him was a small boy, probably the same age as him, getting up while rubbing his like him. He wanted to help this boy up, but he was afraid of touching people other than his parents. All he could do was watch him silently until the boy was stood up, his small hand shooting out from his side.

The boy was about the same height as him, though he was sure he was taller than any boys. He had a slightly blond spiky hair, and his cheeks were so round his own hands couldn’t grab it.

“Hi, I’m Ohno Satoshi,” the boy smiled, his perfectly white teeth showing. His smile made him even more chubbier and Nino had to laugh at that.

“W-what’s so funny?” The boy named Ohno asked him, his hand going back down to his side.

Out of impulse, Nino grabbed the boy’s hand and held it in his own. He noticed there was no difference in the size of their hands, and he felt right holding it. Then he remembered how he hated touching other people so he let loose of the boy’s small hands.

“Kazu--”

Nino cut off his mom and ran up the stairs. He couldn’t care less which room he went it, but he ran inside and threw himself on the bed. “ARGH!” Nino screamed into the mattress as he repeatedly beat it with his fists.  Out of all the people why did that boy have to be the one that made him weird? Why did he make him feel so… different?

There was something wrong. Something wrong indeed and he was starting to think his mom’s words were really all lies.

“I hate you mom!” Nino yelled when he heard the door open. “You lied to me! You said that everything is good for me here and I would like it!”

There was no response. He figured that she was listening to what he had to say and that it was time she listened.

“Mom I hate it here!” He yelled. Then again there was no response. So he looked up from the bed and only saw the boy from downstairs. He was staring at him straight in the eyes and he could see tears were starting to form.

“B-but I o-only…met y-you,” the boy sniffled as he was wiping away the running tears. “Y-y-y-you ha-hate me?”

“NO!” Nino rushed to the boy and took him in his arms. At the moment, he really didn’t care at all at the contact. All he wanted to do was comfort him and make him happy so he could smile like he did earlier. He ran his hands up and down the boy’s back and told him that he didn’t hate him at all. Pulling back, he smiled at the boy and said

“I’m Ninomiya Kazunari. Let’s be friends.”

TBC