Part 1

“I saw you leave, but then you tripped and I thought you might be hurt.” He said as he wrapped the handkerchief around the back of her hand.

“Y-You fell too,” she said. “The servants will help me, why don’t you use it for yourself?”

He looked back to where she was pointing. It’s true, he fell when his shoe crashed into a corner of a stone, but he couldn’t help it. All of the stones were tall and had writing on them, so he didn’t expect one to be long at the bottom. Plus, it was covered in grass, so he couldn’t see it even if he could’ve seen it.

Does that make sense?

Realizing he wasn’t answering her question, he turned back to the girl with strange, light colored hair. He didn’t think it was a good idea to mention it, but she looked almost like a doll.

“Father taught me that a man helps girls whenever they need it.”

“That’s…….still…….”

“Done.” He said tying the knot together.

“T-Thanks……..I’ll give it back to you.”

“It’s okay. Father says……. father said that stuff like this isn’t a big deal.”

“What? Why?”

He stared into the stone he crashed into earlier, but stopped almost as quickly— shaking his head and remembering his father’s words.

“I can’t look at the ground! Father wouldn’t do that! And after all— I’m going to be………!”

Part 2

The boy’s friends attempted to help at first, but they were the first ones on the ground when the girl charged at them. Before long, all three boys were incapacitated— with the girl focusing on the one who had insulted her in the first place.

“I told you to stop calling me that— I’m not a girl! Stop calling me a girl or I’ll kill you!”

“Sorry, I-I’m sorry…..” The boy was on the ground in the fetal position, his head and torso carefully tucked away, saving him from the nastiest of her strikes. No one else would be coming to the rear end of the school, where they currently were, so the girl had all the time in the world to continue. But their saving grace came; it seemed she wouldn’t get to finish.

In the distance, the school bell chimed, signalling the start of the first day of second grade.

“You got lucky.” she growled as she began walking away. “I’ll see you in class.”

As the girl slipped past the multitude of smiling families and first day photos, she noticed that the boys were saved from her yet again. None of them shared a classroom with her this year, in fact, she only recognized a handful of other students and the figure that stood at the head of the classroom.

“Tch. Again.”

And so she took her seat; waiting by herself for another ten minutes until the commotion died down, and the teacher called everyone’s attention to the front of the class.

“Hello everyone, I’m very happy to see you all again this year! Some of you I know, some of you I don’t know— but let’s all have a great year together, okay?”

“““““““Yes sir!”””””””

“Sure.” the girl mumbled. The teacher’s positive attitude put her in an even worse mood.

“I’m sure you’re all excited, I am too, but before we start we’re going to introduce a transfer student joining our class this year!”

Excited mumblings went around at the teacher’s announcement.

“Settle down,” he said, turning his attention to the door. “Alright, come on in!”

The mumbling intensified as a relatively plain boy with black hair and golden eyes entered the classroom.

“Now then young man, would you mind telling us your name and something about yourself?”

None of it interested her. Not the new year, not the announcement, not even the transfer student himself. No, it wasn’t until she heard his words that she perked her head up— eyes brightening like the sky on a summer’s day— and a look of awe covered her face.

“My name is Yuuko Asahino,” he declared to the class. “And I want to be a man!”