Aloha E Komo Mai

Aloha E Komo Mai

by Wolf-Prince-Leon and Kit-The-Wolfy

Inspired by the song by Jump 5

~~~

Leon and Nicky, two nine-year-old friends, were more alike than most people thought. There was the obvious: both lived in Hawaii. Both were orphans, living in the same orphanage. Both were teased for something- Leon for his mental disorder, Nicky for his hair color and stutter. But there was more than simply that. Both of them had moved from somewhere else- Leon from Texas, Nicky from Maine. Both liked to write stories. Both wanted a canine pet. Neither liked spinach. Though neither would admit it, they both enjoyed old cartoons and Disney films, when there were opportunities to watch them. But most of all, they both wanted a family.

Ahh, but this is going too far. Let us backtrack and relate how the two of them met.

~~~

Two years ago, Leon was with his original family, having just moved to Hawaii. He was out of the house, trying to make friends. He was sitting on a bench, listening to "Aloha E Komo Mai" on his MP3 player. Leon hummed along idly as his cobalt blue eyes watched people come and go here and there, his short, chocolate-brown hair blowing in a light breeze. Then, he noticed a short boy about his age, with blond hair, trip and fall over right in front of him. "Oh, are you okay?" Leon said, taking the headphones out of his ears before helping the boy up.

The boy nodded. "Y-y-yeah..." he stammered. Leon noticed that the boy's hair was a soft, cherry-blossom pink at the tips. "S-sorry for the inconvenience..."

"Hey, is that pink in your hair natural?" Leon asked all of a sudden. Again, the shorter boy nodded.

"It is... I'm from one of those b-bloodlines with weird hair colors..." He looked a little embarrassed.

"Cool," Leon said. "Least it's better than my condition." Leon invited the blond kid to sit on the bench with him. "I'm... different than most people."

The blond tilted his head. "H-huh? How..? If you don't m-mind me asking, of c-course..."

"I have a unique condition known as autism."

"Autism? I see..." The shorter of the two sighed. "I have a m-mental d-d-disorder also... I have a form of n-n-neurosis."

"You're... special too?" Leon asked.

"Sort of... I'm not a special education type, but being n-n-neurotic means I'm very jumpy and anxious... b-by the way, what's your name?" the other asked, surprising Leon.

"Oh... I'm Leon McCloud, age seven. I'm going to be the founder of McCloud Gaming, the new Nintendo." Leon smiled jauntily- video game design had always been a desired career for him. "You?"

"I'm... I'm Nicholas Anderson, also age s-s-seven... c-c-call me Nicky." Nicky averted his jade-green eyes shyly. "I wanna be a novelist when I grow up... i-it's n-n-nice to meet you, mister Leon..."

"Please, just call me Leon." Leon patted Nicky on the head gently. "Wanna be friends?"

"Sure!" Nicky excitedly replied. He smiled wide. "I've never had a real, real life friend... c-could we be BEST friends?"

"Don't see why not," Leon said. But soon, his parents drove by, ready to pick him up. He sighed. "There are my parents. Guess I've gotta go. See you, Nicky." Nicky waved goodbye as Leon left. But that was the only time Nicky ever saw Leon's parents. Because on their way home, well... you can probably guess what happened. Supposing you can't, suffice it to say that Leon was soon dropped at the doorstep of an orphanage. There he laid, with his laptop, a suitcase with his stuff, and no more family.

On the bright side, the caretakers were more than happy to care for him, and unlike his former parents, worked with him on HIS level. He was mildly discontented, but not truly happy with life.

Until, of course, his second encounter with Nicky.

~~~

It happened a couple days after their first meeting. Leon was about to go down to the orphanage cafeteria for lunch, intent on filling his hungry stomach. When he got there, he noticed how empty it was. Hardly surprising- there were only about seven or eight orphans there, counting himself. But this emptiness served to point something very familiar out to him- a shock of blond hair framing a young boy's pale, innocent face.

"Nicky? is that you?" Leon said. The blond boy stiffened up and turned to face Leon, revealing that his hair was tipped with pink. It WAS Nicky! His jaw dropped when he saw Leon.

"L-L-LEON!?" he squeaked. "Wh-what are you doing here?!"

"Before you ask... yes, I'm an orphan, courtesy of someone's greed and bloodlust." Leon cursed the name of the man who had ended his parents.

"I'm one thanks to alcohol..." Nicky clenched his fists. "Th-there's a reason why nobody drinks around h-h-here..." he said quietly.

"Drunk driver-induced car crash?" Leon asked. "Had them up the wazoo, back in Texas."

Nicky nodded slowly. Tears came into his eyes. "I still miss my mother... and my older sister's still in college... I w-w-wanna see my big sis s-so b-b-b-bad..." He buried his face in his hands and began crying.

Leon couldn't bear to see his self-proclaimed best friend like this. He hugged Nicky to comfort him. "Don't worry. You'll see her, I'll help with that. But in the meantime, how 'bout we be... brothers?" Leon offered. Nicky looked up, eyes shining. Leon looked down. Blue eyes met green. There was silence for what felt like eons. Finally, Nicky wiped his tears away and a weak smile graced his face.

"I'd... I'd like that..." Nicky hugged back. "Thank you, Leon... uh, which one of us is older, th-though? Both of us are seven..."

"Month wise, probably me. Born on January twenty-two," Leon said.

"I was born that day too..." Nicky flinched. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry..."

"Guess that makes us twins, then." Leon laughed. He patted Nicky on the back and ruffled the shorter boy's hair. Then, the two went to get lunch.

~~~

Over the next two years, Leon and Nicky bonded slowly, seeing each as brothers officially, especially since Nicky's sister actually wrote to them and approved it. They did plenty of fun stuff: writing stories, making their own wagon (and crashing it on its first run), exploring the forest, and just enjoying one anothers' company, relaxing together.

But for them, there was still something missing in their lives. It was, of course, a true family. Neither Leon nor Nicky wanted to think about it much, so they busied themselves by finding things to do. Going grocery shopping for the orphanage, for instance. They did that a lot.

Then, one day, Leon came into their shared room. "Hey, I just heard an interesting rumor."

Nicky looked up from a new book he was reading- Scorpia, by Anthony Horowitz. "R-rumor?" he asked, a little nervous. It was no secret that Nicky disliked rumors and urban legends.

"You heard of Yukio the Dragon?" Leon asked. Nicky shook his head.

"N-no... who is that?" Secretly, Nicky dreaded the answer.

"Rumor has it that there's a young dragon in the forest- a real dragon." Nicky gasped, eyes wide.

"A... a d-d-d-draaa... a d-d-dragon? Th-the kind that f-flies around and eats p-p-people?!"

"Flies around, yes. Eats people, no... though he does, apparently, cause trouble." Leon rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it's just some nonsense someone made up."

"But you c-c-c-could go into the forest to make sure... right?" Nicky began biting at his nails, a bad habit of his.

"And you're coming with, bro," Leon said. Not the best idea, because when he heard that, Nicky went rigid, then fell down in a dead faint. Leon stared with alarm at the comatose form of his brother. "...on second thought, maybe that's not such a good idea."

~~~

A few days went by, and with those days went the waking thoughts of Yukio the Dragon, dismissed as hokum. Secretly, though, Leon was a tiny bit scared of the mythical monster, and sometimes had nightmares about it. Nicky did as well, to Leon's relief- he wasn't alone in having bad dreams.

Leon and Nicky were finishing up some grocery shopping for the orphanage. It was getting a bit late, the sun already setting upon Hawaii. Leon tossed a jar of oregano into the basket he was carrying, paid the cashier, and bid him good day. Nicky followed behind after a few minutes, also carrying a basket of groceries.

"So, think we'll ever get adopted, Nicky?" Leon asked. Nicky shrugged.

"It's up in the air... I f-frankly doubt it," he admitted. "S-still, it would be nice to know people who don't tease y-you f-f-for a m-mental disorder or weird hair."

"Yeah..." Leon stopped when he heard something in the bushes. His head turned, quick as a whip, to where he heard the sound coming from. Nicky hid behind his "brother".

"Oh boy... now what..."

The bushes rustled until, to Leon and Nicky's surprise, a boy their age popped out! His sky-blue hair was disheveled, and his eyes, the same color as his hair, shone with excitement. "Hi there!" he said, sounding very happy. He was wearing something very odd- a strange garment resembling full-body pajamas without hands or feet. (He was wearing shoes that looked like an animal's paws.) It was blue everywhere except his front torso, where it was white. It had a hood, which was down, and something on the back that resembled a tail. The boy smiled widely at jawdropped Nicky and wide-eyed Leon. "You lost?" he asked.

"Um, no, just heading back to the orphanage. Uhh, who are you and what are you supposed to be wearing?" Leon asked tentatively. The boy laughed.

"I'm wearing a kigurumi!" was the reply. "Do you like it? It's like a costume and a pair of pajamas, all in one!"

"Kigurumi? Anyway, who are you?" Nicky just cowered behind Leon. Leon crossed his arms. The blue-haired boy laughed more.

"Scared of Yukio the Dragon?" he asked teasingly. "You shouldn't be!"

"Wait... Why not?" Nicky was shaking all over, terrified.

Another laugh from the kigurumi-wearing boy echoed across the road to the orphanage. "Because I'm Yukio the Dragon!"

"YOU?!" was Leon's first reaction. "But.. you're human..."

Yukio snorted. "What, you thought I was a REAL dragon? What are you, crazy? Oh, I see, everyone sees me taking a morning walk in the forest with my hood on, and they think I'm a real dragon.... anyway, you two seem a bit lonely." He looked sympathetic, putting a hand on Leon's shoulder. "Something wrong?"

"We're orphans. That should help you understand why we're sad," Leon said flatly. Nicky nodded in assent.

"Oh... I see..." Yukio frowned for a second, an expression that looked quite unnatural on his face. Then, his eyes brightened. "OH! Then you can join the club!" he realized, snapping his fingers.

"Club?" Leon asked. Yukio nodded exuberantly. This just baffled Leon and Nicky further.

"C-could you explain more, i-if you d-d-d-don't mind...?" Nicky requested.

"Okay! I'm part of a club of kids like you two- all of us are orphans. You could join, if you want!" Yukio offered. "Wanna?"

Leon looked at Nicky. "Wanna?"

Nicky gulped. "Well... I guess it would be n-n-nice... y-yeah."

"Sure, we'll join!" Leon said. He nodded decisively.

"Okay! First, let's get to your orphanage to deliever those groceries and get your stuff. Lead me there?" In reply, Leon continued walking to the orphanage, as did Nicky. Yukio took the cue, and followed.

~~~

At the orphanage, Leon and Yukio gave the adults the groceries, and under instruction of Yukio, packed up their stuff.

"Okay, now what?" Leon asked, holding his laptop bag and suitcase.

"Y-yeah... further instructions?" Nicky added, carrying his messenger bag.

Yukio smiled. "Follow me." he said. He went outside, and led the two other orphan boys to a house a short distance outside of town. "Home sweet home."

Leon tilted his head, reading the mailbox name. "The Kigu Club?"

"Yeah, that's the club name." Yukio laughed. "We all wear kigurumi."

"All of you? Then why was there rumor of only ONE dragon?" Leon asked.

"Because our kigurumi are different species, silly. C'mon in!" Yukio opened the door and entered the house. Nicky looked up at the house's innocuous ocean blue-painted walls, at its rich brown door and gold doorknob. He gulped.

"Are you SURE about this, Leon?" he asked. Leon nodded and entered the house with Nicky. The two boys were greeted by a girl wearing a caracal kigurumi, with matching paw shoes.

"Oh, hi there! I'm Leon, and this is my twin brother, Nicky," Leon introduced.

"Hi! I'm Suki! Are you two joining?" the caracal-costumed girl asked. "I'm a caracal."

"Yes... we are." Leon said. Then, in came a boy in a deer kigurumi, with shoes shaped like hooves.

"Wow, two new members! I'm Zeo the deer," the deer-costumed boy said. "Your names?"

"I-I'm Nicky, and this is Leon..." Nicky said politely. He shook Zeo's hand.

"Those are nice names," said another voice, belonging to a boy in a gryphon kigurumi and paw shoes. "I'm Cyrus the gryphon." He smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Leon and Nicky! I hope you like our club!"

"It's cool so far," Leon complimented.

"You're darn right!" a cheery voice chimed behind Leon, making him jump. He turned to see a brown-haired boy in a kangaroo costume and paw shoes, his brown eyes sparkling with mischief. "Call me Cody the kangaroo!"

("Just how many members d-d-does this c-c-crazy c-club have?" Nicky whispered.)

Practically in response, a boy in a donkey kigurumi and hoof shoes came into the foyer of the house. "With you two, we're at fourteen members," he informed. "I'm Marcus the donkey." He smiled. "It's pretty fun to call yourself an animal, heh."

"And I'm Sarabi!" a voice said behind them. Nicky turned to see a girl in a mouse kigurumi and paw shoes. "I'm a mouse!" Sarabi added, twirling. Nicky chuckled- a MOUSE? Inconcievable! From behind Sarabi came a very pretty girl with Spanish features, wearing a cute costume- a German shepherd kigurumi and paw shoes. Her honey-gold eyes widened when she saw Nicky.

"NICKY?!" she asked, shocked.

"Clara?" Nicky replied. He put a hand to his heart.

"Correction: that's Clara the German shepherd," Clara said playfully. "It's good to see you again, amigo."

"You know this girl?" Leon asked his twin. Nicky nodded.

"Y-yeah... we used to be playmates, back when I lived in Maine." Nicky hugged his old friend. "I thought y-y-you had forgotten about me, Clara..."

"Well, now we can make up for lost times. Ah, that reminds me. Jayden, Haru, come on in." Clara knocked on a door leading out of the foyer. It opened to reveal two other boys- an average-height boy with poofy black hair (wearing a red panda kigurumi and paw shoes), and a tall boy with blue hair in a ponytail (Siberian husky kigurumi and paws, the costume's hood down).

"Nicky, meet my newest friends: Jayden the red panda, and Haru the husky," Clara said.

Jayden smiled easily and waved hello. "Yo."

Haru shook Nicky's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Nicholas."

Then, Yukio re-entered the foyer, having disappeared some time before. "And finally... Jake, come on in!"

Nothing happened at first. There was an awkward silence.

"I... guess we get you two into YOUR new kigu now," Yukio said, pulling out two wolf kigurumi and paw shoes, one dark grey, the other light. He handed the dark grey one to Leon, and the light grey one to Nicky. But before they could don the wolf costumes...

"YAAAAAAA-HOOOOOO!"

WHAM!

Leon and Nicky were knocked to the ground by a brown blur, stunned.

"Ugh! Jake!" Yukio complained to the brown blur, which was actually a boy wearing a brown wolf kigurumi. "You wanna traumatize MORE people away?"

Jake chuckled. "Hehehe, sorry! I just wanted to give the new packmates a warm welcome! Howdy, you two! I'm Jake Washington, the timber wolf!"

Leon got up. "That was a warm welcome?" he said, a sarcastic edge to his words. He then helped Nicky up and changed into his kigurumi and paw shoes. "There. You comfy, bro?"

Nicky similarly changed into his own wolf costume. "Y-yeah..." He smiled. "It's very comfortable."

Yukio smiled. "Oh, Lily! You're back just in time."

Leon and Nicky turned to see a cute young girl in an equally adorable red fox kigurumi and paw shoes, who recognized Leon.  "Leon? Is that you in that wolf kigu?"

Leon's jaw dropped. "LILY?! What are YOU doing here in Hawaii!? Last time I saw you was in Texas!" he spluttered.

"I moved here a year ago, and joined this club. Now, I'm Lily the red fox. But enough about that." Lily came over to Leon and helped him zip up the back of his costume. "Welcome to the ohana." Leon knew the Hawaiian term, having watched Lilo and Stitch, but it just confused him. Why refer to a club as a "family"?

Likewise, Clara helped Nicky with the zipper on his own kigurumi. "You feeling okay, Nicky? Not intimidated?" she asked concernedly. She knew about Nicky's fragility and sensitive nature.

"I'm okay, but... why did Lily say family?" Nicky said, knowing the word from studying the Hawaiian language. Clara laughed and patted her pal on the back, then lifted his kigurumi's hood and ruffled his hair.

"Oh, don't go paranoid on us, Pinky," she teased. Jake sniggered at the nickname. "Here at the Kigu Club, we're an ohana of our own. We're brothers and sisters to each other- and now to you."

Leon blinked. So did Nicky. They looked at one another, and then at the rest of the Kigu Club. Neither of them knew exactly what to say.

"So... you're... my sister, Lily?" Leon asked the fox girl. She nodded happily. Leon gasped. After a moment of silence, Leon hugged his new sister. "Thank you. sis."

Jayden patted Nicky on the back. "Welcome to the crazy life, buddy. You're in fer one heck of a ride."

Clara then gave Nicky a hug as Lily returned Leon's hug.

"Awww!" was Zeo's reaction. He chuckled at the cute scene.

"This is gonna be great," Jake said. "More wolves! So awesome!"

Yukio stepped in. "From now on, you two are Leon and Nicky, the grey wolves," he said. "Ohana hug!" Before Leon and Nicky knew it, they were at the center of a HUGE, loving group hug! This was surely the best day of their lives. Yukio cleared his throat. "Aloha, e komo mai, to the Kigu Club Ohana!"