Sincerely, Me [Kindaichi Yuutarou] | ✔

Smooth Sailing

Shino watched with awe as Sayori swept across the smooth concrete, an ethereal being in her younger sister's four year old eyes. Shino's eyes were pale and watery (not to mention wide) as she admired her sister from the other side of the metal barrier.

A hand descended upon Shino's blonde head and ruffled her hair, making the little girl scrunch her nose up. "Otou-san!"

"Hey, sport." Kido knelt down so that he was almost at eye-level with Shino. "Why don't you join your sister over there?"

"... Don't wanna."

"Why not?" Miho wondered. "Are you scared of falling, Shino-chan?"

Shino bit her lip, her eyebrows knitting in a frown. Then she rubbed her nose, pouting. "No."

"I know you're lying!" Sayori cheerfully called from a few feet away before skating up to the fence and leaning over it to poke Shino's nose. "You always rub your nose when you lie!" Seeing Shino's indignant expression, Sayori held her arms up in surrender before proceeding to remove her skates. "Our feet are about the same size, Shino-chan! Why don't you try? I'll hold your hand!"

"R-really? B-but..."

Sayori chose to be deaf to Shino's protests, and their parents did nothing but sit on a nearby backless marble bench and watch them, amusement dancing in their eyes.

Shino had about as much grace as a newborn giraffe, and she relied heavily on her older sister as she shuffled her way around the makeshift rink. Sayori's grip on Shino's hand was firm, which greatly relaxed the younger girl, though she was still tense at the prospect of falling. An image of Sayori gliding around made itself known in Shino's mind, and determination filled her. She scuttled back to the fence, tugging Sayori with her.

"Shino-chan?" Sayori said questioningly.

"I'm going to skate to the other side, nee-chan!" Shino proclaimed. "Watch!" Then, with some reluctance, she released Sayori's clammy hand and, with wobbly legs, made her way across the rink. She fell on her knees on a few times, but instead of crying, she soldiered on. Eventually, she did it, and Sayori clapped excitedly.

"You're so smart, Shino-chan! And brave! Let's ask kaa-chan to buy you some skates so we can skate together!"

Shino beamed. "Okay!"

xXx

"This is Naoko-chan. Her parents are locally famous musicians. Be nice, Shino-chan..."

Shino was about as unimpressed as a five year old could be. She thought of herself quite highly now that she was able to skate without falling on her ass a few times, and she was doubtful about this Naoko's skill.

When her parents said that an old classmate of theirs—Naoko's mother—expressed thinly veiled concern for her daughter's almost nonexistent social life, Miho had taken pushed for a play-date between Shino and Naoko.

Naoko—Shino never bothered to learn her last name—was six years old, so just a year older than Shino. There an air about the girl that made her seem unapproachable but Shino tried not to let it deter her from making friends with Naoko.

Too bad Naoko wasn't so receptive.

"So lame," Naoko drawled when Shino tried to show her a rollerskating trick that she thought was very, very cool. Shino bristled, but held her tongue. Miho and Kido wanted her to make a good impression, after all.