They were the last two left in the sandbox. All the other children had left long ago, toddling after their mothers. Hiyoshi hadn't. He wanted to finish his castle. His brother would come back for him later, anyway.

Hiyoshi glanced at the person across him. A girl, dressed in boy's clothes, and her mound of sand was smaller than his. She looked up then and beamed at him, scrawling over to where he sat to peer at his castle. Lips brushed against his cheek, accidental, as the girl leaned closer to see. He started at the touch; she laughed and pushed at him with surprising strength.

And then a voice was calling, "Haginosuke? It's time to go home- Oh, Taki, you've gotten dirt all over yourself..." and his companion dashed off into the fading sunlight.

First year at Hyoutei, he met a boy named Taki, and the name echoed with an odd familiarity in his memory but went unheard.

The End

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