That afternoon was warm. Spring wind wound itself lazily through the plants as Ash ran, the sound of his footsteps echoing through the field. Strands of grass were whipping at his elbows and legs, but he hardly minded it. He was gasping, trying to breathe through his laughter and fatigue.

"Rika, I'm going to get you!" he squealed, hardly containing his excitement.

"E-Eh? No way!" Rika was a few paces in front of him, keeping her distance, "You're never going to catch me!"

"Rika, I've been 'it' for an hour!" Ash groaned, making a desperate lunge forward.

He managed to succeed in brushing his fingers through Rika's long hair, but without any bodily contact his efforts were wasted. Stumbling, Ash fell to his knees, choking and heaving with exhaustion.

"Rika stooooooooooop!" he cried out through short pants, "I give up, I give up!"

Ash directed his gaze to the ground, catching his breath and pulling at the ends of his shorts in frustration. No matter how many times him and Rika had played tag, Rika was always faster than him. He didn't understand why when he liked to think of himself as stronger than her. Aren't boys supposed to be faster? He wondered. He had brought this up to his mother once only for her to chide him for not being more considerate.

He flinched when he felt pressure on his head and looked up to see Rika beaming at him, her green dress daintily dancing in the wind. She was affectionately rubbing her hand against his head, and Ash could see she was breathing heavily too. It made Ash feel better about losing to her.

"Mii~" she purred, "It's okay that you lost, Ash. You'll do better next time, I promise!"

Ash couldn't help but smile back. Rika never failed to make him happy. "Yeah! You're right. Thanks Rika."

She helped him stand up, grass and dirt falling from his clothes. As he was dusting himself off he heard the gentle roar of a truck whirring by. When he looked up, he saw some of the local villagers driving down through the dirt road cutting into the field. They waved when they saw Ash and Rika.

"Oh! Hello Miss Furude! Hello Young Katou!" they called out, "You two look quite disheveled! Did you fall down a ditch?"

"No, we were playing tag," Ash admitted, "Rika beat me."

"Aw, poor kid," one of the men tossed his head back in a cackle, the blackening of his molars showing, "Never underestimate girl power! I hope it was fun for you kids."

"Where are you going?" Rika asked.

"To the protest!" one of the other men stuck his head out from the back window, "They're organizing another one in a few minutes, the Sonozaki family is leading it. We're going to show those city folks what we bumpkins are made of!"

"Oh, okay." Ash was disheartened. "I-I hope you're all okay."

"Oh trust me kid!" the man snorted, "It'll take one million dams to take us down! I'd love to stay and chat more, but we must get going. We'll see you later, Miss Furude, Young Katou. Stay out of trouble and away from the protest, okay?"

"Okay, sir!" Rika chirped, "Goodbye!"

As the truck drove away, Ash felt Rika's hand on his shoulder, "You're worried about your dad, aren't you?"

"Mm." Ash nodded but didn't look at her, kicking against the dirt.

Rika was quiet, rubbing her thumb against his shoulder blade.

Although his father hadn't told him, Ash was aware of his dad's involvement with the Hinamizawa Dam Construction Project. His electrical power company was funneling money into the chief executive's pocket, so the dam could go through without going into debt. His father was against the dam, but he could not participate in the protests for fear of losing his job. Ash didn't understand that part; wasn't his father more than just a worker of Aoki Electric Co? Why didn't he just protest anyways?

The town was unnerved by his father's silence; silence was considered siding with the enemy. It was considered the same as the Houjou family, who was pushing against the protest to make way for the dam. As a resident of Hinamizawa, Ash's father had the expectation to resist but instead he complacently allowed these riots to happen without him. It made the villagers angry and Ash scared for what could happen to him.

"It's going to be okay."

Ash was startled by Rika wrapping her arms around his torso, " R-Rika?"

"Nothing will happen to your father this year." Her voice was suddenly low, "That fate belongs to someone else. Your father will not be harmed this summer."

Ash felt bewildered. How could Rika know what he was thinking about? He looked down at his hands and saw that they were shaking.

"Mii~" Rika's voice sounded girlish again, "By the magic of friendship, your father will be safe! Nippah!"

"Thank you, Rika," Ash giggled, "We'll use our friendship protection spell!"

"Yes! Then everyone will be happy!"

The twosome giggled and another warm gust of wind blew through. The trees shook and whispered, and they brought ease to Ash. His nerves disappeared in the sunlight.

"Okay, on the count of three, I'll race you down the hill!" Ash cried out, "I promise I'll beat you this time!"

"Mii~ okay!" Rika responded excitedly.

"Okay, onetwothreego!" Ash broke loose from her grasp, tearing down the hill as fast as could. He was determined to win this time.

"Wait! That's not fair, mii!" Rika cried out, taking off after him, "Ash!"

Together, the two children ran with quick little feet down the slope, unknowing of the horned figure watching them, tears in her eyes.

There are no Pokémon in this universe, hence to the change in Ash's last name. "Ketchum" was a Pokémon pun so I chose a different surname, this being Katou ("From Japanese 加(ka) meaning "add, increase" and 藤(tou) meaning "wisteria". The latter character may indicate a connection to the Fujiwara clan"). There's some other tidbits that are better left unexplained as I am planning on uploading more one-shots based around this universe! I hope that's okay for everyone. Thank you for reading 3