From A-Z, and Everything in Between

Side by Side

  There was a very sickly kid who resided in this neighborhood. According to the other kids who lived here, the sickly child could almost always be seen wandering about on his own. Even when it grew dark, when everyone else would all hurry inside at their parents' insistance, he'd still be out there. All alone, always. The other kids tended to stay away from him, afraid that they'd catch whatever the poor boy had. It was a strange thing, though. What kind of illness left bruises all over your body? It sounded very painful, whatever it was. So, no one spoke to him. No one drew near him. That is, until a new kid moved into the neighborhood.

The moving truck pulled into the driveway of a tidy-looking house that was painted a soothing shade of light green. It wasn't particularly small or large, just decently sized, and seemed to suit the new family just fine. A family of three, consisting of a mother, a father, and their young son. The son, being only ten years old, was too small to help move the boxes inside. So, he stood idly by and watched as his parents and the movers carried their possessions inside the green house. His mother noticed him standing nearby and, feeling bad about boring him like this, decided to suggest something.

"Soraru, honey, why don't you go introduce yourself to the other kids around here while we finish moving everything? There seems to be a lot of them, so I'm sure you'll be able to make plenty of friends," his mother said with a warm smile.

"Alright," the son, Soraru, responded simply.

He turned and began walking off toward the group of kids playing some kind of game at the end of the street. Honestly, he wasn't very interested in socializing right now, but he figured it was better than just standing around doing nothing. As he approached the group, they noticed him and stopped their game.

"Did you just move here?" one of the kids asked him.

Soraru nodded mutely.

"Where are you from?" a different kid questioned curiously.

"Miyagi," Soraru replied plainly.

"Oh, wow, that's pretty far from here!" a third child chimed in.

Soraru gave a low hum at this, his attention already starting to drift away from the group. He looked around at his surroundings, taking in what his new neighborhood looked like, when just then his gaze landed on a small figure huddled up beneath the shade of a tree. Soraru thought it was odd that someone would be off by themself like that, so he decided to go over there and see what the person was doing.

"Don't go near that kid, you'll get sick!" someone shouted.

Soraru ignored them and merely continued walking. When he reached where the strange person was sitting, Soraru plopped down on the ground in front of them, causing the person to jump. Soraru could now see their face, since they had had their head down before. Large, round red eyes stared at him in a mixture of fear and confusion, and the child's pale skin was a stark contrast to the brightness of his eyes. Along with this, slightly long strands of white hair framed his dirt-streaked face.

"What are you doing?" Soraru asked.

"H...Huh?" the child stuttered, his voice soft and high-pitched.

"What are you doing over here by yourself?" Soraru repeated the question.

"Oh, um... I-I don't know," he muttered awkwardly while averting his gaze.

This kid looked to be younger than Soraru, probably around seven years old, and was pathetically tiny for his age. Was he even eating properly?

"Why not play with everyone else?" Soraru questioned.