Chapter 5
Suzuki lays on her bed, checking the online phonebook on her laptop. “Without a last name, it’ll be impossible to look him up in here,” she complains. She sprawls out on her bed and heaves a sigh. “What a weird kid,” she muses. “He eats off-campus, he’s always hanging around at that abandoned rink, and nobody’s seen anything of his family. I wonder...”
“I’d stay away from him if I were you,” the older boy warns. “He’s a weird one.”
“I heard that he disappears during lunch, and no one ever sees him outside of the classroom. What’s up with that?”
“I never see anyone pick him up, either. He just walks off and vanishes. Maybe he’s some kind of weird alien or something.”
“Aliens?! What are you, crazy?”
“Shhh! Here he comes!”
As Haru walks by, the group of kids falls silent. He walks down the sidewalk and turns a corner. Those kids are always spreading rumors about me. But I guess it won’t matter once I’m gone, anyway. Still, Haru feels a little sting at thinking about their misconceptions of him.
He turns another corner, and another, when he realizes that he’s being followed. Haru whirls around to face whoever is behind him. Two upperclassmen stand a few feet away. “What’s the matter, weirdo?” one of them taunts. “Y’don’t like playing nice with the other kids?”
“Let’s play, freak,” the other one says. “The game’s called ‘Pay up’.”
“I don’t owe you anything,” Haru says defiantly. “Besides, you already took a big chunk of change from me the other day. Don’t you thugs have anything better to do?”
The two upperclassmen grab Haru’s arms and pin him down. “GET OFF ME!!” Haru yells.
“What’s he got today?”
“This kid’s rich!” the second one cries, pulling dollar bills out of Haru’s wallet.
Haru pushes the older boy off of him and grabs the money from his partner, then bolts off in the direction of the rink. One of the boys jumps on him and pushes him back down on the cement. “You don’t pay, then you’re askin’ for a fight!”
“All freaks gotta pay their dues,” the bigger one sneers.
“NO!”
“Fine, then. You asked for it!”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“What on earth happened to you?!” Hikaru exclaims.
Haru bandages himself up and holds an ice pack up to his face. “Stupid thugs got me again. I’m getting sick of those creeps.”
“Man, you gotta stick up for yourself!” Hikaru cries. “You just gonna keep letting those guys walk all over you?!”
“I’m a healer, not a fighter,” Haru points out. “I was never much good at self-defense.”
Hikaru groans. “Haru, sometimes you make me wanna slap some sense into you. You have got to get some street smarts, especially if you’re ever wanna settle down and quit running from you-know-who.” Haru doesn’t reply. “Speaking of which, are you still serious about leaving?”
“Yes, Hikaru, I am. We’ve gone through this a billion times already.”
“You really want to leave Asha all by her lonesome?” Hikaru asks pointedly.
Haru tenses up. “I know you like her, even if it’s only as a friend. And she feels the same way about you. She’s all alone. Do you really want to leave her behind?”
“What do you want me to do, Hikaru?” Haru cries in frustration. “I can’t stay, and I can’t bring her with me; she’s got a family. She’ll be safer if I leave.”
“You don't think she'll be sad when you go?”
“It’s not about that anymore!”
“Haru, listen to me!” Hikaru yells. He stands right in front of Haru and looks him in the eyes. “It’s time to stop running away,” he says. “This constant running isn’t good for you or anyone else. Even if they don’t have you, you’re still letting BIOTECH control you! Is that what you want, Haru? Is it?!”
“I DON’T WANT ANYONE TO GET HURT!” Haru yells. “Letting them find me is as good as letting them take away everyone I care about!”
Hikaru steps back. He closes his eyes and heaves a sigh. “You may be right about that,” Hikaru agrees. “But running isn’t the answer, either.”
Haru frowns. “I don’t know what else to do,” he admits.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Asha, you shouldn’t be doing this,” Suzuki says. “Kurosawa-san won’t stand for it.”
“If Haru-san is still there, I want to see him again,” Asha says. “I want to see him as much as I can before he’s gone. Besides, me and Hikaru-san still have to have our rematch!”
“Asha!”
Suzuki follows Asha all the way to the skating rink. As they step inside, Asha calls, “Haru-san! Hikaru-san! Are you still here?”
Asha laces up her skates. “Haru-san?”
“I don’t think they’re here, Asha,” Suzuki says.
Then Hikaru steps out of the back. “Asha! What’s up?”
“Last time went kind of weird, so I came back to say goodbye to Haru-san. Do you think we could have our rematch before he leaves?”
Hikaru smiles. “I’d like that,” he says, “but I doubt Haru will join us.”
“Where is he?” Asha asks.
“He got a little beat up after school today,” Hikaru explains. “He’s asleep.”
“Oh...”
Hikaru goes to get his skates, fastens them up and joins her in the rink. “You sure this is okay?” he asks her. “I mean, Suzuki is actually okay with you skating with me?”
Asha nods. “She’ll keep an eye on us just in case.”
Hikaru counts down, then he and Asha shoot down the rink.
As Suzuki watches from the sidelines, she sees Haru approach the rink. “Your friends started the race without you,” she says. “They didn’t think you were coming.” Haru just nods to her.
“What’s your full name again?” Suzuki asks.
Haru eyes her questioningly. “Haru Asahi,” he replies. “Why the sudden interest?”
“Just wondering,” she answers.
Yet again, Asha crosses the finish line first and throws her arms up in triumph. She glances out of the rink and notices that Haru has joined Suzuki at the railing. “Haru-san!” she greets him cheerfully. Asha skates out to meet him. She is startled when she sees how beat-up Haru is. “Haru-san, are you all right?” she asks.
Haru nods. “You came back awful quick,” he comments.
“I wanted to catch you before you left,” she replies. Asha digs around in her pocket for a moment.
“Close your eyes,” she says. Haru seems confused. “Go on, close your eyes.” Haru does as she asks. “Now hold out your hands,” Asha instructs him. She places something in his outstretched hands. “You can open your eyes now.” When Haru opens his eyes, he finds a tiny wooden cat in his palm. “I made it myself,” Asha explains. “Suzuki-san helped me with it.”
Haru gives her a shocked glance. “Wh-What’s this for?” he asks bashfully.
Asha giggles. “It’s a going-away gift, silly,” she says.
Haru stares in astonishment at the tiny carving. “Thank you,” he says, his face turning bright red.
Asha smiles. “You’re welcome.”
Hikaru leans on the railing and flashes Haru a questioning glance.
Haru suddenly looks ashamed. “What’s the matter?” Asha asks.
Haru’s eyes cloud with regret. Their eyes lock for a second, then Haru forces himself to look down at the floor. “It’s nothing,” he murmurs.
“Haru-san, come on, let’s race,” she invites, hoping to cheer him up.
Haru slips the wooden cat into his pocket, then goes to get his skates. The three of them glide around the rink, again and again. They look happy, Suzuki observes. Even Haru, who looked so downcast only moments ago, is now wearing a genuine smile as he and his friends joke around and skate. Suzuki lets her eyes wander around the rink for a moment, when she hears Asha scream. Suzuki almost launches herself into the rink until she realizes that Haru is the one on the ground; Asha shrieks with laughter as she and Hikaru pull him to his feet.
“You’re so clumsy,” Hikaru jokes.
“Haru-san, you have to be more careful,” Asha says, still giggling wildly.
“Sorry.”
“What are you apologizing for? It’s your behind!” Hikaru cries.
Come to think of it... Suzuki traces back into her memory as she watches them. ...I don’t think I’ve ever seen Asha so happy. Not since her parents started their business.
Suzuki suddenly glances over her watch and realizes how late it is. “Asha, we need to go!” she calls. “We’ve been here almost an hour already!”
Asha and her friends emerge from the skating floor and remove their skates. Asha goes to Suzuki’s side, then turns back to her friends and bows. “Thank you,” she says.
“This was fun!”
“No problem!” Hikaru says, winking.
Then Asha turns to Haru. “I’m going to miss you, Haru-san,” she says. “I hope everything goes well.”
The guilty look returns to Haru’s face. He tries to smile and nods. “Thank you.”
“Goodbye.”
Haru and Hikaru wave goodbye as Asha and Suzuki leave the rink. “Bye!” Haru calls softly, his pasted-on smile fading.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Asha and Suzuki are finally a block or so from their house. The sky blazes orange as the sun sets. “You know, Asha,” Suzuki begins.
“Yeah?”
“That Haru is a strange one. But still...it seems like you get along well together. It was nice to see you all having fun.”
Asha smiles at her neighbor. “You should’ve joined in, too,” she says. After a moment of silence, Asha heaves a sigh. “I’m really going to miss Haru-san,” she says. “He was special. I can’t believe I’ll never see him again.”
Suzuki gives her a sympathetic glance. “You’ll always have him in your memories.”
“That’s just not the same,” Asha murmurs.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Three men sit poised outside the skating rink under the cover of the dark of night. “Do you think that’s him?” the first man asks.
“There’s no doubt about it,” the second answers.
“Our search is finally over. He’s about to be ours,” the second man announces.
“That boy was ours to begin with,” the third man snarls icily. “This time, he won’t get away so easily.”
