Astro Boy Day of the Living Dead

The First Day of School

Orrin served Tenma the egg and toast while the doctor checked the news on his tablet.

"Thank you, Orrin."

"No problem, Doctor Tenma."

Two knocks were heard on the door, causing them to look toward it.

"Are you waiting for someone, doctor?"

"No, Orrin, I didn't invite anyone."

The robot left the frying pan on the stove and went to open it; while Tenma let his device rest on the table. There was a panel attached to the wall, Orrin pressed a button, and the entrance hall appeared on the screen, then he could see who his guests were; he smiled and pressed the button to open, giving way to:

"Dr. Elefun, Yuko, Momo!" Tenma said, got up, and offered both arms, "Good to see you; what brings you to my house this morning?"

"We wanted to wish Astro good luck on his first day," Yuko replied with a smile, "he must be so nervous; I still remember how worried I was when I entered school."

Tenma nodded; it was common for those two to show so much attention to Toby... Astro. Heavens, it was hard for him to separate them; every day it was easier, but... he still wasn't used to it, even if Astro's attitude couldn't be more different from Toby's. From the kitchen, Orrin observed the change in the doctor's expression, every time he was going to mention Master Toby, Tenma would make a face when remembering his son... tragic destiny, to later remember that he still had a son; the robot sighed while pouring another cup of coffee, little Toby had been in his care since babyhood, and Orrin was almost always with the boy when Dr. Tenma was working. He missed him too; although Astro was a great kid, he did not have the same energy as Tobio: active and sure of himself. While Astro, on the other hand, was more modest and calm, playful but not in an energetic way like Toby, more like... he was more restrained.

Orrin went to hand the cup over to Elefun, but he offered it to Yuko.

"Thanks, Orrin, but I'd rather check on Astro."

"Of course, he's in his room," Tenma replied.

Elefun went to the boy's room while the others took seats; the doctor knocked on the door three times before entering.

"Come in," Astro replied.

The doctor entered and found Astro in front of a mirror, examining his outfit: a yellow sweater, a white polo shirt, and black shorts. Elefun blinked at him. Astro was not used to dressing so formally.

"Astro, is everything okay?"

"Yeah?" He answered, puzzled; the boy turned slightly to look at the doctor and then at himself in the mirror again, "Oh yes, doctor Elefun, all good."

But the doctor knew he was lying; Astro had that look, the one he always had when he was nervous, plus his movements were somewhat clumsy.

"How funny, this boy can defeat crazy robots and aliens, but if it comes to choosing his clothes, he is a scared puppy," Elefun funnily thought. He approached the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, Astro, you can tell me what's wrong."

The boy sighed, looked down, then up to see the doctor's eyes in the reflection.

"I'm a little scared, doctor. I've never been to a school; what should I wear?"

Elefun laughed kindly; that little boy never failed to impress him; only Astro could have that kind of worry; many robots didn't wear clothes because they didn't consider them necessary, and here was this little boy worried about looking good in front of the other boys. It was impressive how human he was; Astro reminded him a lot of himself in his student years; being a lover of robots, he never really fit in with the other children in his class since the others saw them as mere tools.