Chapter 1: Pinky Promises and Mud Pies

The summer sun is absolutely roasting the little neighborhood of Shimokita, and three ten-year-old kids are sitting under the biggest oak tree in the backyard like they own the entire world.

"I'm telling you, if you eat that bug, I'll give you my last popsicle," Kitao says, his orange hair sticking up in every direction like a baby chick that just discovers static electricity.

Ikuza pushes his glasses up his nose - the same glasses that are way too big for his tiny face - and crosses his arms. "That is disgusting. And unhygienic. And also disgusting."

"You said disgusting twice," Kitao grins.

"Because it IS twice disgusting."

Inoe is sitting between them, her long black hair tied into two messy pigtails that her mom definitely did not approve of. She is quietly making a mud pie with the focus of a surgeon performing open-heart surgery. Her little hands press the dirt into a perfect circle, and she places a dandelion on top like a cherry.

"There," she whispers. "Wedding cake."

Kitao immediately perks up. "Wedding cake?! Whose wedding?!"

Inoe's face turns the color of a tomato. She hugs the mud pie closer to her chest, which is a terrible idea because now her white shirt has a massive brown stain on it.

"N-nobody's wedding! It is just a cake!"

Ikuza leans over and inspects it with the seriousness of a food critic at a five-star restaurant. "The structural integrity is actually impressive. Good dirt-to-water ratio."

"See?!" Inoe beams at him, and her eyes are literally sparkling.

Kitao notices this. Even at ten years old, something in his little chest goes thump. He does not understand it yet. He just knows that when Inoe smiles at Ikuza like that, he wants to be the one she is smiling at instead.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Kitao jumps up and strikes a pose like a superhero. "When we grow up, let's all get married!"

Silence.

Ikuza blinks. "All three of us? That is not how marriage works."

"Why not?! We can make our own rules!"

"Because literally the law-"

"RULES!" Kitao shouts, throwing his arms up. A cicada screams in the background like it is agreeing with him.

Inoe giggles. It is the kind of giggle that sounds like tiny bells, and both boys stop arguing to look at her.

"Okay," she says softly, holding out her pinky finger. "Let's promise. When we grow up, we will all still be together. Always."

Kitao grabs her pinky so fast he almost dislocates her finger. "PROMISE!"

Ikuza sighs like a tired old man trapped in a child's body, but he hooks his pinky around theirs too. "Fine. But I am not eating any bugs for this friendship."

"Deal!" Kitao and Inoe say at the same time.

The three of them sit there under the oak tree, pinkies linked, the summer breeze carrying the smell of fresh grass and someone's grandmother cooking curry down the street. Inoe is smiling at Ikuza with her whole heart in her eyes, and Kitao is smiling at Inoe with his whole heart in his eyes, and Ikuza is looking at the sky wondering why clouds look like math equations.

This is the beginning of everything.

They do not know it yet, but twenty-one years later, this exact moment is going to come back and absolutely wreck them.

The rest of the summer is a blur of adventures. They build a "secret base" behind the shrine that is literally just three wooden crates stacked together. Kitao declares himself the president, Ikuza is the secretary because "someone has to keep track of things," and Inoe is the vice president because she brings the best snacks.

"My mom made onigiri!" Inoe announces one afternoon, pulling out a perfectly wrapped bento box.

Kitao's eyes go wide. "ONIGIRI! Inoe, you are the best person in the entire universe!"

Inoe's face combusts into red again. "I-it is not a big deal..."

"It IS a big deal! Ikuza, tell her it is a big deal!"

Ikuza takes a bite and nods seriously. "The rice-to-filling ratio is excellent. Your mother is a skilled cook."

"See?!" Kitao points at Ikuza triumphantly. "Even Robot Brain agrees!"

"Do not call me Robot Brain."

"Robot Brain! Robot Brain!"

Inoe watches them argue and laughs so hard she snorts, and then she covers her mouth in horror because oh no, she just snorted in front of Ikuza. But Ikuza just raises an eyebrow and says, "Interesting sound. Like a small pig."

Kitao absolutely LOSES it. He is rolling on the ground laughing, and Inoe is torn between wanting to crawl into a hole and die and also laughing because okay, it IS kind of funny.

These are the golden days. The days before university applications and career stress and adult responsibilities and stupid, stupid feelings that make everything complicated.

But for now, they are ten years old, and the world is made of mud pies and popsicles and pinky promises.

And that is more than enough.