Chapter 16
Haru finds himself speechless. He drops the photo and stands there, frozen with shock. The woman bends forward and embraces Haru. “I thought I’d never see you again!” she cries.
“Are you Miss Mitsuye?” Hikaru asks.
The woman looks up at him and nods. “I am,” she replies. Mitsuye stands erect again. “How rude of me, making you stand out on the porch!” she exclaims. “Please, come inside.”
Asha has to pull Haru along as she and Hikaru follow Mitsuye into the house. The house is small and messy, but, at the same time, welcoming. “I know it’s not much to look at, but, please, make yourselves at home,” Mitsuye says. “Are you hungry at all?”
“Starving!” Asha cries.
Mitsuye laughs to herself. “All right. I’ll make dinner for us.”
As she leaves for the kitchen, the children sit down on the couch. “Aren’t you glad you came, Haru-san?” Asha asks. “She remembers you! She seems really nice.”
“I still can’t believe you completely froze up when she came to the door,” Hikaru comments. “What was up with that?”
Haru looks embarrassed, but smiles. “It was such a shock...I can’t believe she still remembers me...after all these years...”
“How long has it been?” Asha asks.
“I don’t know,” Haru replies. “The last time I saw her, I was just a little kid...”
He glances around at the house, noticing several pictures of him and Mitsuye. Hikaru points out a newspaper clipping. “It looks like she’s been looking for you, too,” he says. “She kept a picture of you from a news article– probably one that was released when you-know-who took you away.”
Haru digs around in his pockets and realizes that his photo is gone. “The picture!”
“You dropped it when you saw her,” Asha says.
Hikaru laughs. “No need to worry about a picture when the real person is here with you.”
“I guess you’re right,” Haru laughs. His smile fades somewhat. “I just don’t want to forget her again.”
Soon after, Mitsuye calls them into the kitchen to eat and brings in spare chairs. “I never even asked your names,” Mitsuye says as they sit down to the meal.
“I’m Hikaru,” he introduces himself.
“And I’m Asha!” she chimes in.
Mitsuye smiles. “It looks like you all take good care of one another. I’m glad that you’re such good friends.”
Haru smiles. I’ve forgotten what it feels like...to have something like family.
“You’re so quiet,” Mitsuye says to Haru.
“He spaces out a lot,” Hikaru says.
“Did I really space out?” he asks with embarrassment.
“Yeah,” Hikaru says, “you did.”
Haru tries to laugh it off. “I’m sorry.”
After they are finished with dinner, the kids wait for Mitsuye to finish cleaning up in the kitchen. Asha falls asleep on the couch and Hikaru plops down on the floor and starts practicing magic tricks, Haru watching him contentedly. “Hey, you’re not supposed to see how I do it!” Hikaru complains, shoving Haru playfully. “Quit cheating!”
“Sorry.” Haru gets up and looks around again, glancing at all the pictures around the room. We were so close, Haru thinks. How could I have forgotten her like that?
“Haru,” Mitsuye calls as she walks into the living room, “come with me for a minute.”
Haru slowly follows her into a room down the hallway. Mitsuye sits down on the bed, first moving a big black book to the small bedside table. It is a photo album full of old pictures of them. “You sure keep a lot of pictures,” Haru comments.
Mitsuye laughs. “What can I say? I just love all these photos.” She smiles at Haru. “I never thought I’d see you again after you were taken away that day. I didn’t know what to do but hope that someone would find you and bring you back to me. That’s why I’m so happy that you’re here, safe and sound.” She gently took his hands in her own.
Haru frowns. “I– I don’t remember much...about what happened before they took me,” he says. “For the longest time, I couldn’t even remember you. I have so many questions, I don’t even know where to start...”
“I see,” Mitsuye says pensively. She gestures for him to sit next to her on the bed. “I’m all ears, then.”
Haru sits next to her and glances around. “I guess...I just want to know more about what I was like–what my family was like...”
Sadness comes into Mitsuye’s eyes. “You don’t remember anything from before that day?” she asks.
Haru shakes his head. “Only bits and pieces.”
Mitsuye sighs, staring into nothingness, as if looking into the past. “One day, I found...a sickly little boy wandering the streets all by himself,” she says. “I was so afraid for him, that I would leave him blankets and food; beyond that, I could only wonder where his parents were...and hope he was alright. A while later, I found him again, at death’s doorstep, and I nursed him back to health. I guess I got too attached – I kept him as my own.”
“That...was me?” Haru asks. Mitsuye nods and strokes her hand through his hair. So...she really isn’t...
“As far as your real parents go, well...” Mitsuye continues, “We had already become so close, that we were like family.”
Haru smiles. “It’s been so long, I’ve forgotten what a family is supposed to feel like,” he says. “I’m glad...we had this time together.”
“What are you saying?” Mitsuye asks. “Where have you been staying?”
“Anywhere and everywhere,” Haru replies. “I escaped from the men who caught me...and I’ve been running ever since. But Hikaru and Asha – they’re like family to me, too. With them, I’m never lonely.”
Haru gets up from the bed and hugs Mitsuye. “Thank you for everything.” He turns toward the door and says, “It’s getting late. I’m sorry, but we’ll have to leave, now.”
“But, Haru...”
Haru can’t bear to face her. But he also can’t stand to think of what could happen if he decided to stay. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay. I don’t want...to have to lose you again,” he says without turning to look at her. He tries to hide his tears from her as he leaves the room and goes into the living room, where his friends are waiting. “Hikaru, let’s go,” Haru says.
“Already? But I thought–!”
“Let’s go.”
Hikaru looks up at him. When he sees the look on Haru’s face, he packs away his coins and gets Asha up. “Come on, sleepy-head,” Hikaru coaxes her.
They leave the house trying to avoid talking to Mitsuye. On the way out, Haru picks up the picture he dropped and puts it back in his pocket. “Why are we leaving?” Asha asks.
“I can’t ask her…to take me back,” Haru says, trying to hold back his tears. “I can’t put her in danger...”
“Then why did we come in the first place, Haru?” Hikaru asks.
“I just wanted to remember her again...” Haru replies.
As they turn down the sidewalk, they see Mitsuye’s door fly open. She emerges only seconds later, calling after them as she runs out to the sidewalk. “WAIT! HARU, WAIT!!!”
“Should we run?” Hikaru asks.
“Hikaru-san!” Asha cries.
“Go,” Haru says. Hikaru takes off and pulls Asha behind him.
Haru glances back at Mitsuye once, his tears flooding over, then bolts off after them, Mitsuye still screaming his name. I’m so sorry.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“I don’t understand!” Asha cries. “Why did we have to run from her, Haru-san? She was so nice to us!”
“Asha, stop bugging him about it,” Hikaru says.
They split up and go their separate ways– Hikaru and Asha, to Ari’s; Haru, back toward his hideout. “Why, Hikaru-san?” Asha demands.
“Trust me. Haru feels horrible about it. You can tell just from the look on his face,” Hikaru says. “Don’t hold Haru responsible for this.” Asha gives up on her answer and follows him silently.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Meanwhile, Haru is on his way back to his hideout when he passes the abandoned BIOTECH factory. He decides to go back inside and search for more information. Why do they want me back so badly? Haru wonders, thumbing through the endless masses of destroyed files.
Finally, he finds a folder, mostly intact, in one of the drawers. He opens it up and thumbs through the files. This particular folder covered a single project: Project Power. The files covered everything– experiments, specific genetic patterns, and so forth. This is the project they used on me, Haru realizes. He runs across a file that has his name on it and yanks it out. “No way...! This can’t be!” He reads through the details of the powers they would have given him if he hadn’t escaped. The experiments were held for military use. I was supposed to be...a weapon?! I was just... Haru drops the folder; its contents scatter on the floor. Tears roll down his face. I was nothing more than a toy to them– a tool. They just want...their weapon. And when they’re done with me...they’ll just throw me away.
Haru falls to the floor and cries. “Why?...Why did they do this to me?! I just want friends and a family– a normal life like everyone else!” He crinkles up one of the files under his hand. “I’d give anything...for that...”
