Bet you weren't expecting a new story, huh?
Yeah, I've had this little idea in my head for a while now, and I figured I'd get it on paper, so to speak, while I could.
Don't worry, After Hours fans - I'm not abandoning that story. I've come too far to turn back on it now. I'll probably put a couple chapters of this up to establish a nice start, then alternate between the two stories. I don't expect this to be too long a story anyway.
The Cat Returns belongs to Studio Ghibli, and the name of Baron's daughter in this story belongs to the great TCR author YarningChick. Check her out, she's awesome. Enjoy!
The Unforeseen
The Dive
Haru's body ached. The rain pouring down did nothing to help with that.
He probably should have stood up already, but he was in a bit of shock at what had just occurred to think about that. That car had been sliding out of control, and the little girl could've been hurt...! But even so, to just dive for her and tumble out of harm's way like that... Haru certainly enjoyed helping others, but that was a risky save no matter how he looked at it.
Speaking of which, Haru turned his head slightly downward to check on the girl. She'd buried her face in his chest, and even against the aggressive rainfall Haru could hear her sobbing and feeling her trembling against him. The poor thing was terrified – Haru couldn't blame her – but she'd definitely live. And so would he.
Tiring at last of lying down on the hard concrete road, Haru rose back to his feet, the young girl still in his arms. He winced painfully as his muscles shifted – he'd hit the ground hard and then rolled, his back and shoulders taking a great deal of the abuse. Fortunately, his coat had soaked up some of the impact, but Haru was pretty sure that it had torn in the process. He cursed internally; he'd really liked that coat, and now his mom would doubtlessly chew him out for ruining it. All things considered though, it was a small inconvenience.
He didn't see the car. Apparently they'd sped away to avoid being caught, the pricks. They'd started to draw a crowd, however. People watched the scene from the sidewalks on either side of the street, not sure whether to move on with their business or check on the girl and the young man.
"EMILY!"
Scratch that – one person had decided. Haru turned in the direction of the shout and saw a man charging toward the two with a distraught look on his face. The rain made it difficult to tell, but he seemed like a fairly young man, likely somewhere in his thirties or so. He wore, Haru noted oddly, a full white suit. He even had a matching pair of gloves. Who dressed like that to go out? And in this weather?
Was this her dad?
He quickly released the young girl, and the man in turn swept her into his arms and held her closely, protectively. Haru felt a twinge of pain (if only his father was around to hold him like that), but ignored it with a practiced skill. Instead, he focused on the man and the girl, and he could hear them speaking quietly to each other in a language that wasn't Japanese. It was probably English – the man looked European. Haru knew some English, but the two were speaking too quietly, and the rain was too loud. Besides, he didn't want to eavesdrop.
So with nothing else to focus on, Haru shivered as the rain continued to pour down. He'd had an umbrella earlier, but when he'd seen the car speeding toward the girl – Emily, was it? – he'd thrown it aside. Who knew where it was now?
"Excuse me?"
Haru's attention was brought back to the present by the voice, and the man was now standing in front of him. Strangely, Haru's immediate thought was just how tall the man was. Haru wasn't exactly short for his age, but the person in front of him surpassed his height by at least a full head. It was a strange thing to fixate on, so Haru moved on.
"You... speak Japanese?" Haru asked hesitantly.
The man smiled. "I do, actually. Quite well. Now then, I-"
"Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt whatever you're saying here," Haru interjected. "But I lost my umbrella and we're probably all freezing here. My place is just a few minutes away – we can dry off and talk there. Sound good?"
If the man was annoyed at the interruption, he hid it well. Instead, he merely nodded. "Yes, that's probably a good idea. Lead on, if you would." He then turned to the young girl standing next to him and took her hand in his. "Stay close, Emily."
"Okay," the girl replied softly, also in Japanese. Haru raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing, rather turning and walking briskly down the road whilst checking occasionally to make sure the other two weren't falling behind.
The group reached Haru's house in a matter of minutes – which was good, because the torrential downpour wasn't letting up in the slightest. The young man wasted no time in ushering the older man and his daughter into the house before slipping in himself.
They were all soaked big time. Haru could feel his shirt and pants clinging tightly to him like a second skin, and the little girl – Emily – was shivering madly.
"Alright, you guys make yourselves at home. I'm gonna go find some towels," Haru spoke quickly before rushing up the stairs to find the linen closet. He came back down only a couple of minutes later with three large, white towels, tossing one each to the man and the girl and keeping the third for himself.
They dried themselves in silence, the only audible sounds being the ruffling of the towels. Eventually, Haru decided he was satisfied and wandered a short ways into the kitchen, tossing the towel onto the back of one of the chairs before plopping down into it. He probably could have afforded to change his clothes while he was upstairs, but he didn't want to cause a delay for his guests.
"You know, I feel like I should say sorry about the weather," Haru chuckled good-naturedly as the other two stepped into the kitchen to join him. "Rainy season's always at its worst in early June. You're welcome to stick around for a while if you want."
The man smiled warmly. "I'm grateful for the offer, but it doesn't seem right to impose on someone we've just met. We'll be out of your hair in a little while, I assure you."
"Really?" Emily spoke up again. "But it's so cold and windy outside!"
"Oh, we've got plenty of umbrellas," Haru chuckled. "Mom kinda stockpiles them, since we always seem to lose them. She won't miss one if you need it, although in this weather I'd say it wouldn't help much."
"That would be wonderful," the man replied, rising to his feet and facing Haru. As the youth met the other man's gaze, he was stunned to see tears – actual tears – welling up in his eyes. Without warning, the man in white bowed low at the waist to Haru.
"Thank you. You saved my daughter, gave us shelter, and you don't even know my name. I... words can't express just how grateful I am to you."
"What he said!" Emily shouted cheerfully.
"Oh! I-uh..." Haru stammered, completely at a loss for words. "I-it was nothing! I help out people all the time! It's really not something worth this much, what's the word... grandeur!"
"It absolutely is!" The man shouted and leaped forward. Haru flinched, but the man simply gripped his shoulders tightly. "My daughter is... the most important thing in this world to me! If she had died..." The man trailed off, too pained to continue. "...I cannot allow this to go by unrewarded. Please, name anything you want. I'll give it to you."
Haru stood up, shaking off the man's grip. "No, look – I'm glad to see you're so happy, I really am! But honestly, I don't really do this kind of thing for the reward. I see somebody who needs helping, and I help them. Rewards just... make everything complicated.
"Now, wait here and I'll get you an umbrella," Haru concluded, walking away as the older man and his daughter watched, the latter confused and the former dumbfounded. The young man returned before long, gripping a plain black umbrella in one hand.
The man in white sighed in response but took the umbrella. "...Fine. I suppose I can't force you to change your mind." The group of three wandered over to the door, but before anybody could open it the mystery man stopped and turned toward the younger one. "Wait, I'm sorry. I can't leave just yet. At least... tell me your name. I'd like to think I deserve that much."
Haru considered the request for some time... then turned to face the other man with a smile. "It's Haruto. Haruto Yoshioka," he answered, offering a hand. "It really is a pleasure."
The man took Haru's hand with – Haru noted – an oddly surprised look on his face. "Haruto... I imagine-" He swallowed. "Do your friends call you Haru?"
Haru laughed. "Friends? More like everybody I know. Now, what's your name?"
The man in white's eyes widened further, a marked contrast from his earlier demeanor. "...Humbert, actually. My name is Baron Humbert von Gikkingen. Thank you for your... hospitality."
Haru looked perplexed but said nothing in reply, simply turning and opening the door to the still-raging storm outside. "No problem. Be careful on your way. Especially you, kid," Haru nodded to Emily. "Stick close to your dad, okay?"
"'Kay," Emily simply nodded. Without another word, the baron and his daughter walked through the open door and Haru shut it behind them, leaving him alone in his home.
Well, that was an... interesting meeting.
But then again, that girl was alive because of him. He could hardly complain about that.
Hope you liked the first chapter. More to come. Later!
Tomorrow's Hero, signing out.