Chapter 3
Several days after the incident at the skating rink, all Asha can think about is returning to see her reclusive new friend. Being stuck with her witch of a caretaker with nothing but study books to keep her company is simply insufferable. So, as she sits in the chair waiting for the woman to inspect her injuries, she is plotting a way to slip out of the house.
Mrs. Kurosawa peels the band-aid off of Asha’s knee. “There isn’t even a scab left – as if nothing was ever there!”
“Wow! Haru-san really must be an expert!” Asha exclaims in awe.
“Who exactly is this Haru you keep mentioning?” Mrs. Kurosawa demands. “Is he the one who keeps encouraging you to take such foolish risks?”
“No!” Asha cries, scowling. “He’s the one who helped me!” She gets up from her spot and stalks down the hall. Never mind sneaking out. She wouldn’t stay with this woman a second longer.
“Where do you think you’re going, young lady?” Mrs. Kurosawa yells.
“I’m going to see Haru-san to say ‘thank you’!” Asha says defiantly.
“You’ll do nothing of the sort! After all, you’re neglecting your studies!”
Before her caretaker can stop her, Asha bolts out the back door and slams it behind her. “She’ll never understand,” Asha murmurs. She carefully heads down the stairs, borrows Suzuki’s skates, and heads for the park.
When she gets there, she glances around, searching for any sign of Hikaru or Haru. She sees neither one of them and turns to leave when someone sneaks up behind her and taps her on the shoulder. Asha whirls around in time to see Hikaru trying to duck out of her line of sight. “Hikaru-san!” she cries happily.
“It’s been a while,” Hikaru greets her. “Where’ve you been?”
“My caretaker won’t even let me out the house,” she replies. “But I wanted to come see you and Haru-san, and I thought I’d find you here.” Hikaru looks uneasy. “Is Haru-san here with you?” Asha asks.
Hikaru shakes his head. “I haven’t seen him for a couple days,” Hikaru replies. Asha looks crestfallen. “If you want, we could check for him at the old skating rink,” Hikaru suggests, trying to cheer her up.
A smile returns to Asha’s face. “Yeah, let’s go!”
Hikaru and Asha find their way to the rink. They maneuver through the rubbish outside until they finally step through the door. “Hey, Haru, it’s us! Are you here?” Hikaru calls.
No one comes to the door. “I guess Haru-san isn’t here...” Asha sighs. Then Haru’s kitten struts up to them and rubs against Asha’s legs. “He remembers me!” Asha exclaims with delight.
“Haru’s got to be here,” Hikaru says.
“Haru-san!” Asha calls.
“That guy never comes to the door,” Hikaru mumbles.
Haru’s kitten darts across the rink toward the back exit. Hikaru motions for Asha to put down her skates and follow him as he cuts across the skating floor into the back of the building. An assortment of materials litters the area behind the rink. Asha realizes that the majority of it is Haru’s medical gear. Medicine bottles and band-aids are strewn across the floor. “This is Haru-san’s medicine,” Asha comments.
“You’re right,” Hikaru replies. “It’s not like him to leave his stuff all over the place like this. Unless...” Hikaru’s eyes grow wide with fear. “It couldn’t be them...?!”
“What do you–?”
“Where’s that cat?!” Hikaru cries, glancing around wildly.
Asha takes a quick look around. “There!” she exclaims, pointing toward the exit. The kitten mewls loudly and stands in the doorway as if it is waiting for them. Hikaru and Asha walk toward the door, and the kitten bolts off.
“Follow him!” Hikaru cries, giving chase with Asha at his heels.
“Where are we going?” she calls.
“I have a feeling he’s leading us to Haru!” Hikaru replies hurriedly.
The two kids round a corner and stop dead in their tracks. Ahead of them, the kitten sits perched on top of Haru, who is lying on the ground. “Haru-san!” Asha cries, rushing toward him. Hikaru comes up and shakes Haru until his eyes finally flicker open. “Haru-san, are you okay?” Asha asks urgently.
Haru’s kitten leaps off of him as he pushes himself up and rubs the bruise on his face. “Sort of,” he replies. He glances at Hikaru and Asha and then asks, “What are you two doing here?”
“We were just in the neighborhood,” Hikaru answers, helping him up. “Let’s get you inside. C’mon, Asha.”
Hikaru and Asha carry Haru back inside the skating rink and settle down. Haru sits cross-legged with his kitten in his lap as Asha and Hikaru fidget anxiously. “So what happened?” Hikaru asks.
“Yeah, who did this to you?” Asha adds.
Haru hesitates to answer.
“Don’t tell me it was them!” Hikaru says. “Are they after you again?”
Asha looks questioningly from Hikaru to Haru and asks, “Who’s ‘they’?”
“No, it wasn’t anything like that,” Haru assures Hikaru. Haru heaves a sigh. “It was nobody but a bunch of jerks from my school,” he replies. “Nothing much to worry about.”
“You sure?” Hikaru asks. “They beat you up pretty bad.” Haru nods.
“Why would anyone want to hurt Haru-san?” Asha asks. “Who’s this ‘they’ that you’re talking about?”
“It’s nothing, really,” Haru tells her, obviously trying to avoid the subject. “So what exactly brings you here?”
Asha decides it’s probably best to stop bringing up the question. She answers, “I wanted to come see you and Hikaru-san.” She pauses for a moment, then says, “I’m really sorry for what Suzuki-san said. She didn’t mean it; she was just scared.”
Haru nods, slowly stroking his kitten. “You probably shouldn’t be here,” he warns Asha. “Do you want to get in trouble again?”
Asha looks down at her feet. “I just wanted to see you. I mean, you guys are the only friends I’ve had in a long time, and...”
Hikaru glances pleadingly at Haru as if to say, “Do something!”
Haru leans over and puts the kitten down in Asha’s lap. It paws up her shirt and laps her on the cheek. Asha giggles. “That tickles!” Haru and Hikaru exchange a smile as Asha pats the kitten on the head and scratches behind its ears. “So you’re not mad at me?” Asha asks, looking pleadingly at Haru.
“Whatever gave you that idea?” he cries, frantically waving his hands in the air. “I was just saying you ought to be careful, that’s all. I wasn’t trying to be mean about it...”
Hikaru bursts out laughing. “What’s so funny?” Haru cries. Asha starts laughing hysterically, just like Hikaru. “What?! What did I say?!”
Once Asha catches her breath, she answers, “It’s funny when you start freaking out like that!”
“What do you mean, ‘freaking out’?”
“Like what you’re doing right now!” Asha cries, unable to hold back a giggle.
“You’re so uptight, Haru! Relax!” Hikaru says, his eyes still watering from laughing so hard. Haru sighs.
“Don’t be such a worry-wart, Haru-san!” Asha says, nudging him playfully. She strokes the kitten a couple times more, then gets up and trots across the skating floor.
“Where are you going?” Hikaru asks. When he sees Asha bend over and strap on her skates, he knows exactly what is coming next.
“Who wants to race me?” Asha asks, skating over to meet Hikaru and Haru.
“You’re on!” Hikaru challenges. He goes in the back, straps on his own gear, and speed-skates into the rink.
“Are you coming, Haru-san?” Asha asks.
“Are you sure you should be doing this?” he asks worriedly.
Asha smiles. “There you go again. Stop worrying so much! I’ll be careful this time, I promise!”
Haru still looks unsure. “I think I’ll just watch,” he says.
As Asha enters the rink, Haru scoops up his kitten and walks to the railing.
“Three! ... Two! ... One! ... GO!” Hikaru and Asha shoot down the rink. Once again, Asha takes the lead, with Hikaru right behind her.
“I’m gonna win!” Asha teases Hikaru.
Haru can’t suppress a laugh as he watches his friend struggle to catch up to Asha. Asha crosses the finishing point for the second time – without falling, like the last time she raced Hikaru – and throws her arms in the air crying, “I win!”
“I’ll beat you next time!” Hikaru calls.
“I don’t think so!” Asha teases him.
“Yes, I will!”
“Nope!”
Haru laughs. “Quit laughing!” Hikaru calls to him. “I will SO beat her next time!”
Hikaru and Asha stop by the railing where Haru is watching. “No, I’m gonna win, right, Haru-san?” Asha says teasingly.
“I think you’ve got your work cut out for you, Hikaru,” Haru calls.
“HEY! What exactly do you mean by that, huh?!”
“Go ahead and do a rematch,” Haru says, waving them off.
“Come with us!” Asha says, grabbing Haru’s hand.
“That wouldn’t be fair; it’s between you two.”
“Aw, get in here, smart-aleck!” Hikaru says teasingly.
Asha skates to the opposite end of the rink, goes into the back area and comes back with Haru’s skates, putting them down at his feet. “Please?”
With a sigh, Haru puts his skates on and steps in the rink. The moment he steps foot on the floor, he slips and falls on his backside. Asha and Hikaru laugh, and bend over to pull him up. “Honestly, Haru, you’re so rusty, you’re worse than the newbie!” Hikaru jokes.
“I’m no newbie, Hikaru-san!” Asha argues playfully. “After all, I already beat you once!”
Unbeknownst to the three friends in the rink, Suzuki and Mrs. Kurosawa have made their way into the building. The two of them watch the oblivious children silently. “Asha Hirahara!” Mrs. Kurosawa yells. A hush falls over the rink as Asha and her friends turn to look at her. Mrs. Kurosawa folds her arms. “Come here, young lady,” she says sternly.
Asha glides across the floor, her eyes downcast, then stops to remove her skates. “You don’t belong here! Give those wretched things to me, now!” Asha reluctantly hands her caretaker the roller-skates. Mrs. Kurosawa casts a cold eye over Haru and Hikaru as they file out of the rink. “Asha will no longer be associating with the likes of you,” she pronounces. “If I catch either of you around her again, you’ll be in deep trouble. Do you understand?” With that, Mrs. Kurosawa drags Asha away as Suzuki follows her out.
