On a warm spring day, rows of cherry blossoms bloomed in full. The soft pink petals drifted gracefully down to the ground, colouring the brown brick pavement with bright colours. It was the first day of daycare for many kindergarteners. Children held their parents' hands as they walked following the crowd of students and teachers to the entrance ceremony. Some of kids were running ahead of the group, with their parents frantically chasing them down. Within this group of children, a dark-haired girl with braided twin tails walked by her father's side, her head down dejectedly.

"Kaa-san wouldn't want you looking sad on your first day, Nao-chan," said her dad, with a smile on his face.

"But I wanted her to come," the girl whined. "It's my first day after all."

Her father got down on his knees and placed his hands on her shoulder reassuringly. "Kaa-san would've love to come to the school with you but..." The man paused before continuing with a sad smile, "She's doing it for your good." Despite her disappointment, she nodded. "Good girl." He patted her head before getting up. "Let's do our best to cheer up!" They continued their way to the medium sized building ahead.

*

"My name is Shimura Naoko," said the girl as she bowed to her classmates. "Nice to meet you."

"Good job, Naoko-chan," said a short brown-haired woman, smiling. "You may sit anywhere you like."

Naoko looked around the classroom as the rest of the children finished their introduction. The classroom was small with 6 small yellow tables and 4 green kid-size chairs, arranged facing one another. Some of the kids were already sitting in the small chairs. Naoko decide to sit next to the nearest table as the rest of kids introduced themselves.

"Welcome everyone," said the woman. "My name is Hanasawa Makina and I will be your teacher this year. You can call me Hanasawa-sensei. We will start by singing a nice little song."

Naoko glanced around nervously. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see a smiling boy. "Don't worry, Naoko-chan, we relearn this song every year."

She smiled gratefully at him, nodding her head in thanks.

"I'm Takao Ryoutarou by the way," said the boy, grinning from ear to ear. "You can call me Ryou if you'd like. Nice to meet you." Naoko nodded shyly in greeting.

*

The day went by peacefully. Naoko bounced, waiting excitedly to tell her parents how she made her first friend. When she found her father walking toward the kindergarten, her bright smile dimmed a bit as she noticed that her mother didn't come with him. Not wanting to disappoint her dad, she lit up again and ran out to him. "Otou-san! Otou-san! Guess what?! Guess what?! I made a friend today!"

Her father laughs heartily, rubbing her hair affectionately. "That's nice! Good girl!" she smiled proudly up at his dad, noticing the relief on his face. "I'm glad you had fun."

*

"Naoko-chan," the teacher said softly, getting down to her level. "Where is your Okaa-san? Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she is." Said Naoko quizzically. "Why wouldn't she be?"

The teacher hesitated before waving her hands nervously, "Nothing's wrong! Nothing's wrong! Don't worry about it!"

Naoko looked quizzically at her, wondering why she would ask. What she didn't know was the rumour of her mother neglecting her.

*

It was an ordinary day at the daycare when Naoko was called to the principal's office. She was surprised and confused at first when she heard the news of her father's hospitalization. While she was worried about her father, Naoko was excited at the idea that her mother would pick her up at the end of the day. Waiting at the entrance to the daycare, her eyes widen with surprise when she spotted her mother. Her mother, wearing a black suit and tie, came with her wheelchair and a worried and hesitant expression on her face.

"Oh My God!" breathed someone from behind Naoko. She looked up to see Hanasawa-sensei's shocked face. But it was her teacher's next few words that surprised her the most. "You poor child."

*

"Nao-chan," The sound of her mother's voice caused the girl to look up from her curry dinner. She confusedly turned towards her mother, Miho, who had just finished doing the dishes.

"We're going to get through this together," She said, her resolved echoed in her face and voice.

"Yes, we've always done things together, right?" Naoko said quizzically.

Miho turned to her with surprise before she laughed nervously, "Yes, we have, haven't we?"

The young girl stared at her mother as she tries to cover up what she said.

"Why don't we wash up and shower together? It's been a while since we've done something together, ever since you learn to bathe yourself." Said the flustered mother.

Naoko walked up to her mother and opened her arms. "It's okay, kaa-san. We'll get through this until Otou-san comes back right?" Naoko said with reassuring smile.

Her mother relaxed and smiled. "Thank you, Nao-chan." Miho said, picking her up for a hug.

*

Her teachers have been extra helpful this morning to Naoko. They held her hands as they walked her to the waiting area after her mother dropped her off at the door and helped carry her bag. They even gave her more help than usual in her craft class.

But Naoko didn't care about that. She cared more about her mother's obento. After all, it was the first obento that her mother had packed and worked tirelessly early in the morning. She worked so hard that her hand was still tense during breakfast. Naoko was excited to see the fruition of her mother's handiwork.

Once lunchtime finally arrived, Naoko jumped out her seat and almost made a beeline to her cubby. It was only thanks to Ryoutarou who stopped her, that she didn't end up embarrassing herself. While waiting for the other students to finish washing their hands at the washing area in the halls, she and Ryoutarou chatted about their lunch.

"I didn't know that it was your otou-san who normally packed your lunch," said Ryoutarou as they wash their hands. "They always looked pretty neat after all."

Naoko hummed to confirm. "'Kaa-san always worries about my lunch not looking good enough, so she asked my dad to make it for me."

Ryoutarou nodded in agreement, saying, "Kaa-chan always make me a kamen rider bento and she always complains about it not being good enough."

Naoko giggled. "Your lunch always looked nice!" Ryoutarou turned to her with beaming smile. "I know!"

As soon as all the kids came back from washing their hands and said thanks for their food, Naoko quickly open her lunch and found the 4 very clumsily made rice balls. The seaweed wrapped on the rice balls looked like it was falling out. Even though it didn't look as nice as the ones her dad had made, she remained happy with it. For her, knowing that her mom worked hard on the lunch was good enough for her.

When she looked up from her obento, Naoko knew that something was wrong. Everyone stared at her lunch box. Her classmates across from her were whispering to one another. The others crane their neck to see the commotion. What struck her was Hanasawa-sensei's pitied look as she stared at her lunch. Naoko glanced at a shrugging Ryoutarou as the teacher made her way towards her.

"Here," Hanasawa-sensei said with sadden looked as she held her hello kitty themed bento. "I've made extra today so you can have it."

"it's alright, Sensei," said Naoko, smiling down at her lunch. "I'd like to have my Kaa'san bento. Thank you very much for the offer."

"No, no, Naoko-chan," insisted the teacher, with a smile. "No need to be polite. You don't have to eat it if you don't want to."

"Okay..." Naoko said as she reluntantly took her teacher's lunch box. "Thank you."

"No problem, don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it." Hanasawa-sensei said as she returned to her lunch.

During the exchange, the other children were watching the interactions with hateful glares.

*

Later that afternoon, rumours were spreading among the kids in the waiting room.

"Did you hear what happened during lunch?" whispered one of the children in the small room. "Naoko from group B got a lunch box from the teacher."

"Really?" said another.

"Yeah! Yeah! I heard that her lunch looked really bad. So bad that it stinks!" a Third child chimed in. "I heard that there were even worms in it."

They all laughed.

"Hey! Don't talk like you were there!" yelled Ryoutarou. "Her kaa-san worked hard on it!"

"It's alright, Ryou-kun," said Naoko who entered the room, with a teacher holding her hand.

"Nao-chan! You can't let them make fun of your kaa-chan's hard work!" Ryoutarou exclaimed.

"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves, Ryoutarou-kun," said the teacher, firmly. "The rest of you! Let's talk badly about your friend okay?"

"But I was just helping..." Ryoutarou muttered under his breath.

"Thank you for doing that, Ryou-kun," Naoko said, her smile quivering slightly. "Only you know that my kaa-san did her best and that's our secret okay?"

"You don't have to worrying about me, Nao-chan," said Ryoutarou sensing her worry. "I'm tough enough and I'm just protecting you."

"You don't have to worry about me either," said Naoko. "I know you're feeling bad because Hanasawa-sensei didn't acknowledge your help."

Ryoutarou widen his eye in surprise, blushing slightly. "I really can't hide anything from you huh?" he said with quiet smile before quickly changing the topic. "Anyways, let's play with the new bakamon tops! I heard they're super cool!"

The boy dragged Naoko by the arm to the play area. Naoko smiled at her friend's antics, letting him lead her to the tops.

*

As a few months went by, Naoko and Ryoutarou couldn't get through the school hall without the other kids giggling. Ever since the rumour spread, she started dreading lunchtime when kids would secretly sneer at her lunch box. When this happen, the teacher would scold the class while handing her the lunch she had made for Naoko.

Even though she is grateful for Ryoutarou who would stand up for her against the rumours, she worries that the rumours will affect him too. The boy always brushed it off, saying that he's "too tough" for that to happen. Her fear became true as rumours began to circulate about her friend too. Some were saying that Ryoutarou became friends with Naoko, who was known for being the teacher's pet, so he could get closer to Hanasawa-sensei. Some say that Naoko bribed him to be her friend, saying that she "got lonely" since her mother doesn't care about her.

Lately, the rumours have taken a toll on Naoko. She constantly dread lunch time when kids would try to get a peek at her lunch box and sneered about it with their friends. She often come home, exhausted and sad. Her mother noticed her emotional state and had tried multiple times to cheer her up with her favourite dinner that she often doesn't have the appetite for.

Ever since, she started picking her daughter up from daycare, she had read about the teasing at school in the journal that the teacher had written her. Miho wanted to do something to stop those nasty rumour about her daughter's lunch box. With resolve in mind, she decided she will fix this for her daughter, and she knows just how to do it.

*

"Really?!" said Naoko surprised as she walked to school with her mother. Naoko woke up the next morning to see her mother working hard in the kitchen. She didn't wear her usual suit and tie. Her mother looked exhausted as they walked to school early this morning.

"Yes. I'll visit the school after I'm done with it so please wait patiently for it." said her mother, smiling.

"Okay!" Naoko said, as she rushed to the daycare entrance.

"DON'T FORGET TO TELL RYOU-KUN TOO!" shouted the mother.

Naoko nodded before rushing into the building. Miho watched her daughter go inside the daycare before looking down at her hand. It has been extremely stiffed from the work she was doing all morning. But she wasn't finished. Feeling determined, she quickly wheeled her way back home to complete her project.

*

Naoko had never been so excited for lunchtime ever since she brought her mother's first bento. Even though she is scared of being teased, she knew her mother wouldn't let her do so she perseveres through the day. She had told Ryoutarou to wait for a surprise at lunchtime.

Once lunchtime arrived and they both had washed their hand, the two friends sat with their table empty. Everyone stared at them. Children began whispering to one another again. The teacher came over to the pair, asking worriedly if they wanted to share the bento she had made for Naoko. The pair shook their head, explaining that they'll wait for Naoko's mother to deliver something. The teacher hesistantly let them off.

The two friends waited and waited as the classroom began to fill with murmurs that got louder as time went on. It was not until there was a knock on the door. To everyone's surprise, Miho was at the door, holding a plastic bag. The children looked at the disabled woman as she made her way toward the teacher who had her eyes and mouth wide with surprised.

"Hello Hanasawa-sensei," said Miho, bowing her head. "Sorry to have disrupt your lunch period. I am Naoko's mother. I've come to deliver my child's and Ryou-kun's bento."

The teacher tried to regain composure but failed as she stuttered out, " G-g-good-d-d afternoon, Shimura-san!".

By the time she bowed, Miho has brushed pass her to where her beaming daughter sat with a shocked Ryoutarou.

"Hello, you must be Ryou-kun," Miho said with smile.

"Y-y-yes! I am Ryoutarou," Ryoutarou quickly straighten his back and bow, nervousness written over his face.

"I'd like to show my appreciation for taking care of my daughter with this bento box. I hope you will enjoy it." She said as she lowers her head in bow.

Ryoutarou turned to her smiling friend who nodded. "Thank you so much, Shimura-san! I was only doing what's right!" He bowed once more, only this time lower.

"Ryou-kun! No need to act so formal!" said Naoko, shoving her friend playfully.

Turning to her mother, Naoko gave her mother a grateful smile, "Thank you, kaa-san, for working hard and bringing the bento."

"As long as you're happy, I will happily brave a storm just to come to you, my precious child," said Miho as she caressed her child's smiling cheeks.

"Now let's not wait until the lunch get cold." the mother said. "I made it fresh in the morning."

The two friend turned to each other before taking the lunch out of the bag. When they opened the bento box, they were dazed by what's inside. Ryoutarou's lunch was decorated to look like the face of his favorite kamen rider while Naoko had snowmen-shaped onigiri. Both of their obentos had nicely cut octopus wiener and chocolate-coated bunny-shaped apples.

"Woow! You made all of it? All by yourself?" Exclaimed Ryoutarou. Miho nodded.

"Whoah..." he stared down at his bento, in wonder.

Looking to Miho, Naoko and back down at his lunch, he couldn't believe his eyes. "You made all this? It must have taken all night to make!"

"This is as thanks for such good taking care of my daughter," smiled Miho with a bow. "I'll leave her in your care." Turning to the teacher with a small bow, she said, "I apologised once more for disrupting your lunch period. I will return home now. Have a good day."

As she began to turn to leave, Miho felt something on her lap. Looking down, she was shocked to see that her daughter had jump on her lap to hug her, "Thanks again, okaa-san... it's must be hard for you..." Miho was shocked at her child's introspectiveness before returning the hug, smiling warmly.

"Hey Nao-chan! It's really good!" The mother and child pair turned to see Ryoutarou stuffing his mouth with the lunch. The two giggled before Miho let Naoko make her way back to Ryoutarou, who chides him to be careful to not choke on the rice.

Seeing her child happily eating her obento with Ryoutarou filled Miho with joy as she wheeled her way out of the classroom. Over the course of her husband's hospitalization, she was able to brave her way past her fears to protect her precious child. If anyone were to ask her how a mother is to express her love, then her answer will always with an obento.