It was a lovely morning at the Shuyu residence. Haru was slowly waking up from probably the best sleep he had for a long time. Haru stretch out all the kinks in his bones and rub of the sleep from his eyes.
"Man, Haru has forgotten a bed feels so wonderful compared to the ground. Haru hadn't had a good sleep like that since… well Haru can't remember when but it sure was good. Haru is very thankful they let Haru stay for the night." Haru said.
Haru at first was nervous about going to Koukin's home even if Koukin said it was alright. When they got to his home, Haru was stun to see how big Koukin's place really was. Koukin actually was in a wealthy family and had many things Haru never knew existed till now. They were met by an older woman in her mid-30's wearing a traditional Japanese kimono. She had short brown hair and eyes and had glasses, this was Koukin's aunt and Hakufu's mother Goei Sonsaku. She was shocked when the three came through the door looking like they did. Both Koukin and Haru were taken care of first since they had the greater damage on them. Haru couldn't help remembering what happened after he was bandaged up…
"So you must be little Haru-kun I've heard so much about. It's a pleasure to meet you in person." Goei said in a nice voice.
"Ditto, Haru is sorry to be a bother for being here."
"Nonsense Haru-kun, we couldn't let you go with those injuries you had. And you look like you hadn't had a decent meal for days."
More like a week and three days. Haru thought.
"So I whip up a big old meal, hope you have an appetite." She said cheerfully.
"Oh please you didn't need to do that for Haru." But his stomach stepped in with a loud growl.
"Your stomach says otherwise Haru-kun. Please come sit with us and have as much as you can." Goei took his hand and led him to the dining table where Koukin and Hakufu were.
What Haru saw made him nearly had a heart attack. There in front of him was the biggest spread of food he ever saw. As a homeless person, he doesn't get to eat much or eat at all. So to be given an opportunity to have a meal like this was not only rare but a God send. Haru was having a Niagara Falls moment with his drool.
"Well dig in Haru-kun, there's plenty for everyone!" Goei said with a smile.
Haru took a seat next to Hakufu and started to eat anything he can get his hands on. One of the many rules of a street rat like him was that when presented with the opportunity of getting a good meal, don't pass it up and fill your plate up as many times as possible cause you never know when you will ever get another chance like this. However Haru didn't want to seem like a pig and he didn't want them to know that he was homeless. They might pity him and Haru never liked it when someone pity's him because of his situation. So he ate slowly and copy what they do when they ate.
"So Haru-kun, where do you live?" Goei asked.
The question startled him a bit but he quickly thought of his last sleeping place.
"By the park." Haru lied.
"Oh that's a lovely area and what of your parents? Do you need to call them to let them know where you are?"
"… um… they're not home… on a… business trip for a while."
"Oh so you live alone at this time?"
"… yeah, Haru lives alone." He said with a hint of sadness.
"When will they be back?"
"Haru doesn't know yet, could be tonight or a few weeks… their job has odd timing."
"Well you can stay here for the night Haru-san." Koukin said.
"Oh no, Haru doesn't want to be a bother. Haru should leave soon." He tried to protest.
"It'll be best if you stay for tonight and let those injuries heal."
"But—"
"Now no buts young man, you are staying here and that's final." Goei said with a stern voice.
"Yes ma'am."
"And how on earth did you get those injuries Haru-kun?"
Haru didn't answer right away, he already felt unconformable with all the questions she was asking. And it was getting hard to come up excuses plus all this attention towards him was really making him feel uncomfortable. Luckily Koukin jumped in.
"I'm afraid that's my fault Aunt Goei, Haru-san lend his services to help me with a problem we had which lead him to have those injuries and mine own."
"And what was the problem you were in?" Goei asked.
"Let's just say I had a disagreement with some people and it leads to…. well how we look now. Haru-san stepped in to help me and you can see the outcome."
Goei looked at both of them not really believing them. Now Goei may not be the smartest person but she knows a lie when she hears one. And she knows without a doubt that something deeper was going on that they aren't telling her. Another way she knows is that her daughter is in the slums for a fight she lost and the missing memory she got. She was beginning to fear that it was starting to come out and the wheels of fate are starting to turn. She looked at Haru and couldn't help but feel that he may hold a darker secret than her daughter. But she didn't feel any hostility by him; she could feel a raw and unknown power within him. It was faint and she can't tell what it is but there is a strong chi in him one that may do the one thing her and so many others have tried and failed.
To change fate itself.
Goei mentally sighed and for now just pretend to believe their story.
"I see… well that was very reckless of you Koukin-kun, I would expect this from Hakufu but you? How can I trust you keep an eye on her when you get into trouble like that? And you brought in Haru-kun too, a sweet and adorable child who could have gotten critically hurt and dare I say even worse than that, you're lucky that whatever went down didn't turn for the worse."
"Yes Aunt Goei." Koukin lowered his head.
"And Haru-kun you shouldn't go recklessly into situations like that. I know you wanted to help your friends and I understand that. But you don't know what could happen if they wanted to seriously hurt you. You don't know how to fight do you?" She asked.
"No… not really." He said.
"That's what I thought… but since you're all ok I'll let it slip this time. Now finish up eating before the food gets cold." The two nodded and went back to eating.
As they ate, Haru couldn't help but felt a little something within him when Goei talked to him like that. A stern voice that was filled with worry and compassion. It was the first time anyone talked to him with a tone that actually sounds like they really care for him. He was used to being yelled or being called hurtful names, but to have someone talked to you like that and knowing it was because they cared, it was hard for him to even imagine that something like that could exist for him. It made him feel happy that someone cares for his well-being. Haru looked over to Hakufu. She barely said a word or showed any signs of her usual self. She just sat there picking at her food not even eating it. Hakufu looked lost, like she had hit a dead end and doesn't know where to go next.
Haru wants to cheer her up; maybe a little conversation about a random topic would snap her out of her gloomy ways.
"So does Hakufu like her new home?" Haru asked.
She didn't respond, almost like she was in deep thought.
"Is Hakufu ok?" Haru gently pokes her arm.
Hakufu came out of her silence and looked over to Haru.
"Huh… oh sorry Haru-kun, I wasn't paying attention. Did you say something?"
"Haru asked if you like your new home here." He repeated his question.
"Yeah it's ok." She said simply.
"And does Hakufu like the weather too?"
"It's fine." She went back to picking at her food.
Haru sighed; he saw that this was getting him nowhere fast. Haru felt a hand on his shoulder; he looked over to see Koukin with a small smile.
"Don't feel bad Haru-san, Hakufu needs time to get over what happen that's all."
"Haru guesses as much but Haru doesn't like seeing her like this."
"I know… hey Haru-san; I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Yes?"
"Yesterday when Saji-san asks you if you were the kid that can fix anything and you replied you're a Tinkerer, what do you mean by that?"
"Oh! That's cause Haru can fix anything you give Haru. Haru is actually good at fixing things or making things work from uncommon items." He said with a little proud tune in his voice.
"Is that so Haru-kun? Then maybe you can take a look at this, I found it while I was doing a little sprucing up this morning." Goei got up and went into another room and brought out an old looking box.
"What is it?" Haru asked.
"It's a music box my brother receive years ago, it use to play the sweetest melody's you have ever heard. I found it in a closet and wanted to play it but when I tried to play it, nothing."
"Yeah it stopped working about a few months ago, my dad was going to get it fixed but thanks to his 'revolution' of being a farmer, he never got around to getting it fixed."
"Revolution to be a farmer?" Haru looked at Koukin questionably.
"Don't ask."
"So do you think you can fix it Haru-kun?" Goei asked.
"Let Haru take a look at it."
Goei handed it to him and Haru looked it over. He turn the crank but didn't hear the gears moving at all nor could he feel it winding up. Haru got his satchel bag and pulled out an old plastic box. He opened it up and pulled out a butter knife with a broken tip, tweezers, a rusty eight inch nail, and glue. The others looked at the items he pulled out in confusion.
"Um… what's all that?" Koukin asked.
"Haru's Tinkering tools."
"Don't you have like screwdrivers, hammers, or other normal tools you can use?"
"… Haru doesn't have much money so Haru can't afford them at this time. Plus Haru believes it isn't the tools that make the Tinkerer, but rather what one can use to fix that makes them one."
"A very wise statement Haru-kun." Goei said.
Haru nodded and went to work. Using the butter knife, he carefully opens the box and starts looking around with the tweezers and nail. After a few minutes of looking around he found the problem.
"One of the gears is cracked and you're missing a spring. Haru has replacements parts for both of them." Haru pulled out another box full of junk parts.
Haru, among other things, was also a collector of items people usually throw away like spare parts or things they deem broken or useless. In a weird way, he felt a connection to the items he finds. To be cast out of life just because you're broken and are not what they want to see, he knows how it feels to be unwanted and deem broken and useless. So whenever he finds something like a broken toy or spare part, he takes them and either fixes them or keeps it till it is needed. He sees that everything has a purpose and a use, even broken items. Haru took out a small spring and a gear that was the right sizes. He place a small dab of glue on the ends of the spring and place it in the correct place and place the gear where the broken one was. After making sure they fit and double checking to makes sure he didn't miss anything, he closed up the box.
"Try it now." He handed the music box to Goei.
She took the crank and turned it and music started to play from the box.
"How wonderful! You really fixed it Haru-kun!" Goei said happily.
"That's so cool Haru-kun! I didn't know you can do that?" Hakufu said.
"Haru can, Haru a Tinkerer after all… is Hakufu ok now?"
"A bit, after seeing you fixed that old junk it made me feel a little better." She said.
"Haru is glad to hear that."
"Nice to see you out of your funk, now finish up you dinner I made specially." Goei said.
"Actually, I'm not all that hungry. I'm going to turn in early, night everyone." Hakufu bowed and went to her room.
"Not hungry? Oh my this isn't like her at all. And all cause she lost a lousy fight? What am I going to do with that girl? 'sigh' Oh well, she snapped back to her old self soon. Anyways, I'll be heading to bed as well. Night boys." Goei stood up and left.
"Haru hopes Hakufu will be alright."
"She'll be fine Haru-san, Hakufu just needs time to get over her loss and she'll be back to her normal self… which would mean I'll have to go back to watching her making sure she doesn't do anything stupid… again… what have I gotten myself into?" Koukin sighed.
"Haru can help if Koukin wants; Koukin doesn't need to do this alone." Haru said.
"Thanks Haru-san, really I mean it. I was hoping to keep her safe and maybe alter her fate but after the few days of knowing her and what she does it would really give me a breather if you could help."
"Then Haru will help. Hakufu is Haru's friend and will do anything for a friend." Koukin nodded.
"Cool… so what really happened to you?" Haru turned his head confused.
"How did you get those injuries? You said you ran into some people and did this to you? Who were they and why did they hurt you?"
Haru just sighed looking both sad and a little mad.
"To be honest… Haru has no clue. Haru was running as fast as possible to warn Hakufu but a bunch of teens came out of nowhere and tried to… kill Haru." Koukin inhaled sharply.
"Kill you?" Haru nodded and continued.
"Haru doesn't know who they are or why they were after Haru. Haru only knows that are from one of the schools, which ones Haru has no idea. They cornered Haru in an alley and started to beat Haru up."
"… How did you escape?"
Haru stiffen a little at the question. He didn't want Koukin or anyone to know what really happen.
"… One of the teens got distracted by something and gave Haru a chance to slip out of their hold and Haru ran from them and found a dumpster which Haru used to hide till they gave up finding Haru."
Koukin just looked at him; he knew that wasn't the whole story. Haru was hiding something but decided to let it go for now.
"Well at least everything turn out for the best. Let's finish up and head to bed, sounds good?" Haru nodded.
So they too ate their fill and went to bed, Koukin showed Haru a spare room he could use for the night as well as where the bathroom was. Haru thanked Koukin and went to bed.