Inevitable x Michaeng

K-9

They meet in kindergarten at Minatozaki Sana's birthday party.

Sana invites the whole grade, swarms of kids show up to the rickety, wooden roller skating rink bearing colorfully wrapped gift boxes and clutching at a parent's hand. Mina's dad takes her in the musty blue hatchback, and her stomach is jittery with excitement when he helps her out of her booster seat in the back of the car.

He kneels with her in the gravel of the parking lot, tucking a strand of hair back into her ponytail as he grips her shoulders. He assumes an expression that is meant to be serious, but she can see the smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Remember to say thank you, Baby Girl," he tells her as he runs a hand over her back, "don't eat cake until you vomit again, okay?" She grimaces at the memory and he leans in to press a hard kiss to her forehead. "I'll pick you up in three hours, all right?"

Mina nods seriously before grabbing Sana's present out of the backseat and tugging her dad toward the door. He leaves her there after running a hand through her hair again, watching her dodge through the crowd of children to deposit her present on the gift table, tiny arms pumping as she rushes to tackle Sana in a hug.

Sana is wearing a crown which Mina thinks is pretty cool, and she helps Mina tie her Unicorn roller skates on without laughing when Mina stumbles over the double-knot.

(Mina commits the double-knot to memory after that because even though Sana was there to help her this time, her dad says you should always be prepared to do things on your own)

Sana goes to snoop around the gift table and Mina skates, arms pinwheeling, to the slick, shining wooden floor of the rink. There are purple and green lights strung across the room, and Mina moves to hit all the purple reflections on the floor, watching enraptured as she glides through them.

She is just skidding her way around the curve of her first loop when she sees a girl clinging to the railing of the rink. The girl looks absolutely terrified, eyes wide and knuckles white as she grips the metal bar so tightly that Mina almost fears she will break it. Her brown locks keep falling across her face and the girl can't push them back, unwilling to release her hold for even a second.

Mina figures it is her duty to help her, no one should look so scared at a birthday party, there is going to be cake later and the whole room glows with color and the noise of pitched laughter. Mina rolls toward the girl slowly, holding out her hands to stop when she reaches the railing next to her. The girl turns to her, still fearful but eyes narrowed a little bit in distrust.

"Do you need help?" Mina asks, beginning to reach out a hand.

"No," the girl snaps, harsh and cutting as her grip tightens on the rail. Mina pulls her hand back as though she has been bitten, pouting out her lower lip and angling away, just a bit.

"I was only offering," Mina mumbles, "I was just trying to be nice like my dad said." And maybe her dad hadn't explicitly told her when he dropped her off to be nice, but he was always reminding her of it, like, all the time and he certainly wouldn't object to Mina trying to rescue this pretty girl with the grumpy mouth. Mina shrugs and turns to skate away, but the voice interrupts her again, softer this time.

"Wait!" the girl says, and Mina turns, "I didn't mean it," and then quieter "I'm sorry." Mina lets her pout drop and just stares at the girl. "I like your unicorn skates," the girl says and this, even more than the apology, makes Mina smile.

"Yeah?" Mina says, glancing down at them, "My mom got them for me. Unicorns are my favorite animal."

The girl's fearful glare drops completely now and she actually smiles, "Me too!" she says as she looks down at her own skates, "Mine don't have any."