Title: Primer
Author: jordannamorgan
Fandom: Appare-Ranman!
Characters: Appare and Hototo.
Setting/Spoilers: During episode three.
Rating: G.
Length: 534 words.
Summary: Appare notices much more than he lets on—including Hototo’s potential.
Note: Also for the prompts of “Mentors” at genprompt_bingo and “Benevolence” at smallfandomflsh.



Truth be told, it wasn’t Kosame’s scolding that halted Appare in his attempt to quiz Hototo about the terrain they would find to the east. It was actually the three simple words he heard the bewildered boy murmur when a map was shoved in front of him.

I don’t read, he had said, very quietly… and although Appare didn’t show it, he found himself brought up short by that statement.

Hototo claimed to have made the long trek from the opposite corner of the continent all on his own—something few adults would be able to do, let alone a child of his age. Obviously he had knowledge of how to hunt and forage and read the land, just as described in the stories Appare had read about North America’s native tribes. That was undeniably impressive; but in this rapidly changing country, he had surely been at a disadvantage when he passed from the wilderness into the growing cities, unable to read the man-made lettered signs that replaced the signs of nature he knew. How much more difficult had that handicap made his journey?

More importantly: how much farther could such a skilled and clever boy go, if he had the tools to navigate civilization the way he navigated the wild?

After breakfast the next morning, when Kosame went outside to practice his swordsmanship, Appare sidled up to Hototo without preamble and dropped a bundle in front of him. “Here.”

Blinking in confusion, the boy proceeded to examine the offered objects. Foremost was a notebook filled with simple English words, scrawled in large, ugly block letters and illustrated by crude stick drawings. It was accompanied by a small chalkboard, a half-full box of white chalk sticks, and a well-worn felt eraser.

“Last night you said you couldn’t read,” Appare said matter-of-factly, as wide eyes raised to stare up at him. “This stuff might help you learn.”

Hototo’s breath caught. “Wait. Do you mean you made this for me? Are you saying… you’d actually take the time away from working on your car to teach me?”

The sudden sparkle in those eyes made Appare feel an unfamiliar warmth rising to his cheeks. Weird.

“Of course not,” he muttered, fighting an inexplicable urge to glance away. “I made that primer book to help Kosame with his English while we were crossing the ocean. It was just something to do while I had time to kill on the steamer. Now with the race ahead of us, I don’t have a moment to spare, so you can do this by yourself.” A pause. “…I’ll just look over your work and make any corrections it needs when I stop to eat. That’s all.”

The clarification did nothing to dim that answering sparkle from Hototo. If anything, the boy’s eyes only took on a moist glossiness that made them shine even more.

Appare couldn’t figure out whether that made him want to squirm uneasily, or…

Or maybe smile. For some incomprehensible reason.

Instead, it was Hototo who smiled. He sat up straight over the makeshift lesson-book, resting his hands on his buckskin-clad knees, and looked up at Appare with a newly resolved intent.

“…Would you show me that map again?”

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2021 Jordanna Morgan