Recess on the first day, and a new freind made

Kintsugi Tachibana

Nine years old again... and I still can't figure out how to talk to children.

Vasuki Heditori

Hey! You're the transfer student, right? Kintsugi-chan?

Kintsugi Tachibana

Tachibana Kintsugi. Yes.

Vasuki Heditori

Mind if I sit? You look like you're the odd one out and scared to talk.

Kintsugi Tachibana

I-I dont know how to start talking. Everyone else is already in their own groups...

Vasuki Heditori

Recess politics? Yeah, they're brutal. Last week, Yamada cried because someone said dinosaurs were cooler than trains.

Kintsugi Tachibana

You... don't think I'm strange?

Vasuki Heditori

Everyone's strange if you watch long enough. Wanna hear my worst pun?

Vasuki Heditori

Why don't eggs tell jokes? They'd crack each other up!

Kintsugi Tachibana

That's... that's so bad it's—

Vasuki Heditori

Made you smile! I win!

Vasuki Heditori

C'mon, I'll give you the five-yen tour. First stop: the ninja nook behind the equipment shed.

Kintsugi Tachibana

I… don't know how to hide properly anymore.

Vasuki Heditori

It's easy. You just walk like you're heading to the bathroom and duck left instead of right. Even dinosaurs could do it—if they had thumbs.

Kintsugi Tachibana

What if someone sees us sneaking?

Vasuki Heditori

Then we'll tell them we're secret agents on a carrot-recovery mission. Works every time.

Vasuki Heditori

Mission accomplished… she followed.

Kintsugi Tachibana

I heard that, Heditori-kun.

Vasuki Heditori

Ninja nook dead ahead. Rule one: no loud crunching of leaves.

Kintsugi Tachibana

Understood. I was once the Gardener of Silence.

Vasuki Heditori

Perfect. My new partner has epic backstory cred.

Vasuki Heditori

See? Total invisibility. Just remember—when the second bell hits, we sprint like we're Pokémon fleeing a rustling bush.

Kintsugi Tachibana

I… might actually want to stay here after the bell.

Vasuki Heditori

Careful, Tachibana-chan. That's how you end up with a permanent negative mark… and mandatory playground detentions.