This takes place when Asuka and “her friend” are about six. I think it’s a sweet story! Oh yeah, and remember, Asuka was really outgoing before Alex left! Hope you all like it and sorry it’s so long!
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‘Today is going to be an exciting day,’ I thought as I brushed my teeth. Today was my class’s field trip to a place called The Village Hidden in the Sand. It wasn’t too far from here, but we’d be gone all day. I checked my watch to make sure I wasn’t behind schedule and saw that it was 6:50. ‘Good, still have some time,’ I sighed as I thought about how early I had to be at school. Alex had to go to school too, but he didn’t have to be there until 8 or “normal time” so I figured I’d let him sleep while he could.
I pranced into the kitchen to grab a snack to take with me when I saw where Alex had crashed for the night, the kitchen table. So, quietly, I stepped to the pantry to see what my options were. I knew I’d have to take something with me and not buy anything while I was there because Alex and I had to save every cent we could to pay bills. I felt really bad for him. Ever since Father left Alex has stressed himself silly trying to make ends meet for the both of us, and he’s only 11.
“What are you looking for Asuka?” Great, I’d made him wake up. “Just a snack, you can go back to sleep,” I said gently not wanting to keep him from sleep. “Oh,” he trailed off, “Why don’t you just take this instead?” Alex reached in his pocket and pulled out a couple of dollars, his lunch money. “No, I don’t need that, you do! I’ll be alright really!” I tried to persuade him. “I want you to have it,” Alex said sternly looking deep into my eyes, “get yourself something nice to eat for once.” “But then you won’t be able to get lunch today,” I fussed. He sort of shrugged, “Well, it’s not the first time I would have been told I eat garbage.” “Alex,” I said whining, “you’re not gonna go foxcoon at school today and eat out of the dumpster are you?” He answered me with a playful smirk. I shuddered with a disgusted look on my face.
“Well, I’ve got to get going or I’m gonna be late,” I said walking toward the door. Alex (who was fully awake by this time) got up from the table and opened his arms signaling he wanted a hug before I left. Sighing, I trotted back to where him and gave him one and said, “Love you Alex.” “Love you more Asuka, be careful and make good choices alright?” “Ok, I will!” I said cheerfully. “I’ll be back late tonight!” I called as I ran out the door.
(Later that day)
After an hour or so of being teased on the bus to the Sand Village, we arrived. Getting off the bus I saw how different this village was from the city I lived in. It was barren. No trees, no water, nothing but sand. But, I suppose that’s how they came up with the name of the place. Our guide stepped in front of us with a smile on her face. “Hey kids, welcome to the Village Hidden in the Sand. I’m going to be your guide today and you may all call me Granny Chiyo. Now, if you’ll all follow me…” the guide led our group away and began pointing out important buildings. “That big round one over there is where our village’s leader, the Kazekage, works,” she explained, “And that one over there is the academy where the kids of our village go to school.” I looked over to see what she was talking about and I saw the academy. There were many students walking in and others outside practicing throwing knives and shuriken. Then something else caught my eye. It was a little boy, about my age, sitting all alone. Feeling that I should do something, I snuck away from the group and ran over to where he was.
When I got up to his side he glanced up at me with tears in his eyes. Then I noticed something else, his eyes had huge dark circles around them almost like a- “What do you want,” he asked coldly cutting off my thought. “I-I saw you were alone,” I stuttered not knowing exactly what to say, “I thought you might want to talk to someone.” The boy looked down and away from me and said, “No one ever wants to talk to me, they say I’m a monster.” “Monster?” I asked curiously, “You mean a half-breed?” “No,” the boy seemed to almost growl, “I mean a monster.” “Oh,” I blushed a little since I was wrong. “Well, not a lot of people like me either,” I began again. This apparently got his attention since he looked up. “I guess you could say I’m a monster too, I’m a half-breed.” This time he looked at me curiously, “What does that mean?” “Well,” I tried to think of how to explain it right, “It means I’m half human half animal. But in my case I’m actually half human and one-quarter of two different animals.” Again, I must have caught his attention with my explanation. “What sort of animals?” He almost whispered. “Fox and a raccoon,” I shrugged. Talking to him was easy, I guess because he seemed so interested and not disgusted. “A r-raccoon?” “Yeah,” I answered, “why?”
