Kin

"It was so nice of you and your friend to supervise Starrosa, Mr. Sasaku," A blonde-haired female teacher dressed in casual clothing spoke as she bowed in respect. "I know from past reference that she's been wanting to go on this field trip for quite a while. She's never had a guardian willing to take her."

Because she didn't have one, Chiaki thought as he turned his head away with a deadpan expression on his lifeless face. The kids around his vicinity laughed as he was sported with shorter hair and decked out in swimming gear wrapped around his body for Star.

"From personal experience, I've seen a couple of boys and girls pick on her for no good reason," The teacher continued, crossing her arms in disbelief. "No doubt jealous of her, nonetheless. I've tried talking to her about it, but she never really seemed to open up. I was worried about her going on this trip, but since you're here, I leave the rest to you."

Chiaki grinned, saluting the teacher to stand strong and affirm his position. "No problem!" He said. "It's my job. Now, I should probably go check on her."

"Yes, of course," The teacher nodded and bowed once more. "Please take care of her, and watch the other kids as well. We need as many eyes as we can out there, especially with a place like an aquarium."

In the distant hallway, children ranging from kindergarteners to sixth-graders stormed the sunny outdoors with their respective parents and guardians. Most of them were equipped with summer gear and clothing, such as sunglasses, sunblock, and sandals. One particular dark-skinned coach blew on a whistle to gather the parents and children towards several shuttle buses lined up in the parking lot. Children and parents have split apart into separate shuttle buses, and the parents said their momentary goodbyes before entering the buses.

Star, who now sported a bun hairstyle and wearing a cartoon shark-themed T-shirt, pumped her fist into the air as her class cheered together to have an amazing time at the aquarium field trip. The children dispersed as she pulled the straps on her pink-pastel-colored backpack riddled with pins of comic book characters. She fixed her hair as her second guardian approached and kneeled in front of her. The sun beat down on her forehead, forcing her to cover her eyes as she turned to face Sophie.

"Sophie," Star mentioned, lightly pouting as she tugged her sleeves. "Do you have to go?"

Sophie, whose appearance drastically changed, chuckled and nodded. Her hair was fully dyed light brown with an elongated fluffy ponytail style that extended down to her hips. She had a side bang parted on the right side of her face. She was adorned in a white-collar dress shirt, a smaller black jacket, black pants, and small black heels that revealed the top of her feet.

"Only for a few minutes," Sophie said, patting Star's head and fixing one of her pins. "The ride's not that long. Hey, I like your pin too." She complimented after seeing a chibi version of a yellow cartoon dinosaur with light gray spots.

"Goro! Don't run!" One of the female guardians called to a little boy leaping over several small fences leading back into the school. The guardian sighed and placed her hands on her hip. Sophie and Star both turned their attention to the boy who vanished.

"There's Goro again," Sophie said, sighing and wiping specks of breakfast food off of Star's shark T-shirt. She made a mental note of the different kinds of humans and beings from different planets boarding the buses and gathering around. A tentacle one-eyed student waved at Star, revealing suction cups in his hands. "School in Aries is so different," She said, patting Star's arm. "I hope Goro hasn't been causing you trouble in class. He's always so goofy from what I've seen."

"He's okay..." Star said, looking away in second-hand embarrassment. "He's a clown."

"Class clown, ah," Sophie said, chuckling again while fixing the conch necklace around her neck. "Just try not to get too involved with him."

"I won't," Star said.

"All right, my class!" Star's teacher waved at the children around her area. "Let's start boarding! Parents and guardians, if you could follow my TA, he'll guide you onto your bus. You can also take your car too!"

Chiaki came from behind and handed Star her swimming gear after noticing Sophie supporting her. He patted Star's cyan hair before rushing off to converse with another guardian about questions regarding the field trip. Sophie puffed out her cheeks and fixed one of Star's pins once again. She exhaled and tapped Star's arm, rubbing her up and down to comfort her.

"Time to go," Sophie said. "See you in a bit, okay?"

Star pressed her head against Sophie's shoulder and embraced her warmly with her little arms wrapped around her. "I love you." She voiced out.

Sophie smiled and stroked the back of her hair, resting her cheek against the top of her head. "I love you too," She replied with an ache in her throat. She pulled back and released her grip on Sophie's waist. "Bye." She said.

"Be safe." Sophie reminded as she watched multiple guardians and parents escort her to the designated shuttle bus. She stretched her shoulders and arms by lightly rotating them and pulling them behind her body. Chiaki approached her after confirming information with another guardian and greeted her with a classic Japanese bow.

"You and Star have gotten so close for the past five months," Chiaki noted. "And I noticed you changed your hair again. It's just so... un-you."

Sophie twiddled her hair. "Really? Well, maybe it's because I've had a lot more free time on my hand now that Naoto's caught up in some business of his own," She said, gazing back at the shuttle bus Star was inside. "And yeah. She reminds me of one of my friends when I was still a kid in elementary school. Back when Ryo and I were still there, I had an innocent little friend just like her."

Chiaki smirked, eyeing Sophie from a distance.

"What's with that smirk?" Sophie asked.

"Nothing, it's just that Ryo's been my senpai for so long since we were young, and he's always talked about you. Hearing you talk about him always puts my mind at ease knowing everything's okay now between you two." Chiaki explained.

"Oh," Sophie said. "Did he say good things about me?"

"Only the best," Chiaki said. "You mean a lot to him, you know."

"Yeah, I know..." Sophie said, straightening her dress shirt's collar. "Well, we'd better get-"

"Goro!" The female guardian called once again, raising her hand out toward the little boy who hopped back over the fence toward one of the shuttle buses. "No, you're not supposed to be there! Goro, stop! Come back here!" She turned around and approached Sophie and Chiaki quickly. "Hey, could you two help me really fast? That boy Goro's been really hyper today. He wasn't registered for the field trip and he really wants to get in."

"I'll handle it," Chiaki said, checking his pockets. "I just realized that I forgot to give Star her aquarium tickets. I'll be right back, Sophie."

"Yeah, no prob." She replied, watching Chiaki and the female guardian storm off to catch Goro. She moved toward the shade underneath one of the classroom buildings and pulled out her phone. She received several text messages from her high school friends Ayaka and Celeste, with who we're speaking about a recent makeup trend.

She scrolled down more to see additional texts from her family, but no texts from Naoto at all. She sighed and placed her phone in her pocket. She dragged her back down and sat firmly below the shade with her hands parted. "Our vacation was only a few months back. What's happening, Naoto...?" She whispered to herself.

Sophie gently laid her head back against the wall, observing the kids moving onto the shuttle bus. Chiaki was nowhere to be seen. Before she stood up, her phone began buzzing inside her pocket. She pulled it out once again hoping to see Naoto's caller ID, but she saw Jinni's number instead.

"Hello?" Sophie began the call.

"Hi, Sophie!" Jinni began. "Still no word from Naoto?"

"No..." She worriedly replied. "I know he's been busy with some business back in Japan. Maybe I should visit him or something."

"Oh," Jinni continued. "We can talk about this, va bene per te? I really enjoyed our small dinner with Claude and Doctor the other night. Can you make it again tonight?"

"Nah, sorry, I can't," Sophie said. "Chiaki and I are supervising Star's aquarium trip today. We're gonna be here for a while today."

"Oh, that's okay," Jinni replied. "I wish Miss Springwell was here. She's still recovering. She would have wanted to see Star on her first field trip."

"Yeah..." Sophie said, sighing and looking toward the ground. She bit her lip and continued speaking. "Don't worry. There'll be other opportunities, for sure."

"That's true. And-"

Sophie completely zoned out Jinni's voice as Chiaki came sprinting across toward her in a panicked state. Sweat dripped down his forehead and arms. He panted and struggled to speak out as Sophie cringed at the sight of his behavior while on the phone. Jinni's words were being filtered out through a metaphorical brick wall.

"Goro stole Star's ticket! He boarded her bus!" Chiaki shouted.

Sophie impulsively spoke out words through her smartphone. "Sorry Jinni, I gotta go, bye!" She voiced out while dragging her back up from her seat. She snatched Chiaki's collar and yanked him close. "How the hell did you let that boy steal her ticket from your pocket?!" She yelled.

"He's... faster... than... I... thought..." Chiaki struggled to breathe after exerting so much energy.

"Go work out more, then!" Sophie said, releasing his collar. "I'll get them back," She said, eyeing her car from a distance. "Just stay here and catch your breath. Find Goro's guardian and take her car."

"Okay," Chiaki said, catching his breath by wheezing through his mouth. "I'll... see you... soon."

Sophie flipped her hair back and sped toward her car. She entered it and began following the shuttle bus after putting her vehicle into drive. The bus twisted and turned through a series of tunnels and passages with redwood trees scattered across the vicinity. Sophie noticed an unusual sight in the back of the shuttle bus's window, and she examined it closely while keeping her eye on the road. Goro, who stood in front of the window, taunted and swayed Star's ticket back and forth like a windshield wiper in front of Sophie. He lifted his eyebrows over and over again, wincing and winking at her.

"God, I hate this kid so much," Sophie said.

Goro moved inside the bus, rearing his back against one of the metal poles and holding on. The bus driver rolled his eyes and disregarded his abysmal behavior. All of the children on the bus disregarded his behavior and minded their own business.

Star made eye contact with Goro, which was a huge mistake. Acknowledging that she was someone who accepted his presence, Goro scooted next to Star, shoving her swimming gear aside behind her head and making a mess of their seats. Star's neutral expression made him sense that she was willing to accept him even further by letting him move. His poofy brown hair, childish face, and typical misdemeanor made him seem like the problem child.

"Hey," Goro began. "You're Star. Right?"

"Yeah," Star said. "Why?"

"The other kids call you a smurfhead," Goro explained. "I see it that way too. You always walk around with that blue hair thinking you're normal."

"But the others are weirder looking than me," Star mentioned. "Why me?"

"I don't know. Maybe they're jealous." He said, turning his head back after hearing a car engine revving unexpectedly.

"What was that?" Star asked worriedly with her eyes drooping in worry.

Goro stood up and stepped to the very back where the other kids were. They parted apart as Goro peeked out the back window. An angered and irritated Sophie appeared to snarl at Goro, who was taunting her by flailing Star's tickets once again. Several students inside the bus gasped, and murmurs of voices wanting to tattletale on Goro began surfacing.

"Hey, those are my tickets!" Star's voice surprised Goro from behind. "Give them back!"

"Oh, of course!" Goro said, walking into Star closely. He smacked her aquarium tickets toward her back and slipped it inside her pockets. He snapped his fingers and flicked something out of her head. He jerked back as the bus stopped in response to Sophie's arrival, and Star sensed a sharp pain coming from her head.

"Ow!" Star yelped.

Ths bus stopped completely and Goro placed his hands in his pockets. He stepped out of the bus as Sophie pulled her car over. Goro casually walked past her, defiant to a fault as he smugly smirked past her. Sophie traced her eyes over to Goro as he followed his guardian and Chiaki driving behind, stopping him and reprimanding her for his actions.

"Sophie!" Star's voice called.

Sophie rushed toward the bus, acknowledging the bus driver. The driver made a sharp nod. Star leaped into Sophie's arms and hugged her warmly.

"You got the tickets?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah..." Star sniffled.

"Man... what is wrong with that kid?" Sophie said, turning her head around to examine Goro from a distance. After his guardian snatched his hand, Chiaki moved toward the bus to check on Star. Goro turned his head around and Sophie was shocked. His face reflected a more mature attitude and demeanor, as if he calculated stealing the tickets in some peculiar manner. Sophie blinked and looked back at Star's head, rubbing it as the trip soon recommenced.