Maybe I Can Change After All

*Prologue*

*Kazuma's POV*

"Don't go too far!" My mother warned me. It was a fruitless attempt to control me, because young children always find a way into trouble, and four year old me was no exception.

"Okay!" I yelled, excited to play and run around in the seemingly endless field.  The entire family was outside, the women talking about how their lives had been since the last time they had seen each other, and the men bragging about how much their lives had improved in the last year.
"Kazumaaaa! Come ooooon!" My cousins called to me, running further away from the tables where our family sat.

"Coming!"

I yelled back, running away from my parents. I ran around with my cousins, picking flowers and running around. I  ran after my cousins in a game of tag, and fell in a hole about 6 feet deep. My cousins saw me fall, and tried to get me out, but they were too big to go down the hole. As they went to go get help, I looked around. The space was the size of a big closet, and in the corner, was a girl with long black hair, about my age, crying. She looked up. Her eyes widened in terror when she saw me, and she stood up. "Hello. My name is-" I started to say, but was cut off by her punching me in the face. "Owww!" I said, the tears welling up in my eyes. I touched my cheek, and felt a cut where blood was coming out. "Why would you do that?" I whined, wincing in pain. I was close to crying, but I remembered to never cry in front of girls. She ran up and touched my cut. She looked more hurt than I was. "I'm so sorry.."She said, about to cry again. "It's fine!" I said. "I bet I was being a little annoying, huh?" She shook her head. "No.... You weren't at all... I just... Don't trust boys..." " You're afraid of boys?" I asked. "We're not that smelly!" She smiled and laughed, and I laughed with her. She wasn't that bad. "So you come down her a lot?" I asked. "Only when I'm lonely or sad." she answered "So I guess that's a lot." She sighed, making the hole silent again. "Come on." She said, standing up, holding my hand, and pulling me away. In the side of the hole, there was another tunnel I didn't see before. She and me crawled through the tunnel up to the top of a hill, which gave us the perfect veiw of the sunset. The vibrant. colors that streaked across the sky was so beautiful. In the distance I could see my parents and my cousins in the distance, running towards me. "Are they for you?" She asked pointing to them. "Yeah. I have to go." I said sadly. I actually was starting to like this girl. "But before I do, promise me that you won't judge or hit people before you actually get to know them." I said "Okay!" She pulled off her necklace with a bunny center, and gave it to me. "So you won't forget." She explained. She started to walk away from me. "Wait!" I yelled after her. She turned around to look at me. "I never got your name!" She smiled back at me. "It's Kaede."

Kaede. What a really nice name. It suits her.

"KAZUMAAAAA!" I heard my mother scream my name.

The girl turned around at me once more. "Hey Kazuma, maybe I can change after all."She flashed me a smile.

Then she turned around and started running.

My cousins reached me first, and my parents followed them there.

"Kazuma! Oh my baby!!"My mother shrieked, pushing me into her arms. "Where have you been? How did you get this scar? How did you fall? Did you-"

"Calm down, you're going to scare the boy."My dad said. "And I think this scar makes him look very manly."

I smiled in my "Manliness".

"Come on, lets go home now."

On the drive home, I stared at the bunny necklace.

I looked out at the sunset we watched together, and made a promise to me and Kaede.

I promise Kaede, that I will never forget you.