"Class, I'd like you to meet our new student, Taruto. Please make him feel welcome." The teacher introduced a sullen looking young boy with pointed ears and reddish brown hair to her kindergarten class. He glanced out the window. It was a gorgeous day, and he would rather be anywhere but here… "Let's see, there's a seat next to Purin over there." The teacher pointed to a little blonde girl who seemed overly perky. With a sigh, he headed over and sat down.
"Hi! I'm Purin! You're gonna love it here, Taruto!" The girl greeted him enthusiastically. Taruto ignored her.
Later, everyone filed outside to play. Taruto headed towards the sandbox, trying to ignore the other children.
"He looks weird."
"Look at his ears."
Taruto plopped down the sandbox, staring at the piles of sand in front of him. He was trying to build a sandcastle, with little success, when the same little girl from before sat down next to him.
"Are ya tryin' to build a sandcastle?" Purin asked tilting her head at him.
"No." He said, flattening his sand mound, which, indeed, had been an attempt at a sandcastle.
"Yes you are." It sounded almost like a command, which kind of annoyed him. "Here, try it this way." She built the sand up, pounding it to make it stay the way she wanted it to. "That's the way you do it, Tar Tar!"
"It's Taruto." The alien boy muttered.
The next few days followed the same schedule of the first. Taruto arrived to the kindergarten sullen, Purin would greet him enthusiastically, and they would spend the day together, Purin doing most of the 'together' part. One day, on the playground, Taruto and Purin were on the seesaw when Taruto sprang a question on her.
"Why do you play with me?" He asked her abruptly. "Everyone else thinks I'm weird and you could play with your friends."
Purin looked at him for a moment before giving him a huge smile. "Because we are
friends, silly!" She exclaimed, giggling. "Didn't you know, Tar Tar?"
Taruto's cheeks turned red and he pushed the seesaw up, only saying, "It's Taruto."
Then, suddenly, one day she didn't show up. As soon as he could, he trotted up to the girls who he had seen Purin talking to.
"Do you know where that girl is?" He asked them, trying not to seem too interested.
The pink-haired girl looked at him. "You mean Purin? She's sick today." She told him.
The blue-haired girl turned to stare at him. "Why?" She asked, cocking her head.
Taruto's face turned red. "No reason." He muttered, walking off. She didn't appear the next day, or the one after that. Taruto was surprised to find out that he actually missed her, as annoying as she had seemed at first. Everyday when he entered the kindergarten building he looked for the little blonde girl and ever time he didn't see her there, he would get anxious for the day to get over with so that he could maybe see her the next day. Only four days had gone by when Purin returned. Taruto saw her come into the classroom and say hi to her friends before she came over next to him. "Hiya, Tar Tar!" She greeted him with a grin as she sat down. He didn't even object to the use of the nickname she had made up. Later, they all filed outside and Taruto followed Purin to the swings.
"Ichigo and Minto said you asked them about me." Purin commented and she settled herself into a swing. "Were you worried?"
"N-No. I-I was just wondering." Taruto stammered, sitting down in the swing next to her.
"Really?" Purin was looking at him now.
"W-Well, maybe… maybe a little…" Taruto was looking down, his cheeks red.
"I'm glad you were, Tar Tar." Purin smiled at him, and he managed a smile back.
A/N: My very fisrt story! I hope you all like it! This was my first time writing a TMM oneshot, or even a TMM story, but I think it turned out pretty well. Please tell me what you think!