Nostalgic Scar

“Yeah, this is my father.”, Ayane said proudly. “And Papa, these two are my classmates, Akihiro and Natsume.” she said as she pointed towards them.

Ayane’s father was still perplexed. He then looked at Akihiro, “Oh so he’s your classmate, huh?”

“Oi! Old man, I’m her classmate too!” Natsume interrupted.

“Hmmm…you look pretty handsome too. But my daughter is the prettiest person in the world.”, her father told Akihiro.

“Old man, you are indeed getting old. Please get your eyes checked.”, Natsume said.

Mr Kawasaki, the father of Ayane Kawasaki, wasn’t used to such thoughtless remarks from other people. After all, he was a renowned scientist, who used to work in various facilities including NASA. Normally he would let such comments slide but since his daughter’s beauty was in question, he couldn’t hold back.

“My daughter is the most beautiful girl in the world!” He shouted.

Mrs Kawasaki, his wife, was standing behind Ayane with her hands on her face.

“I knew it! You don’t find me beautiful anymore!”, she cried dramatically as she ran out of the house.

“Honey! I love you!” he shouted shamelessly as he chased her.

“Hahaha, your family is weird.” Natsume laughed.

“You don’t have to rub it in my face,” Ayane replied. “Anyways, come in. Would you like some green tea or soda?”

“Green tea,'' Natsume replied.

They entered the house and sat down on the soft luxurious sofa in the living area. Akihiro was looking around the house.

“First time in a girl’s house right! I can relate!!”, Natsume said.

“It’s nothing special.”, Ayane said as she brought the green tea which Natsume requested.

Mr Kawasaki returned back home alone.

“She runs really fast for her age!”, he panted.

He would have gotten into trouble for saying that, but he was lucky that his wife was still somewhere outside.

“I don’t think mom will come home anytime soon. The bath is ready, so you can go in anytime.”, Ayane said.

“Aunty isn’t very fond of Uncle, huh?” Natsume asked.

The air had just gotten heavier. Ayane looked at him with shock. Everyone had fallen silent. Natsume had just crossed the limits. On top of that, Mr Kawasaki never tolerated disrespect. After all, he was a renowned scientist even now, working at the JAXA space agency. Natsume looked around, realising he had just said something he shouldn’t have.

“She was the one who proposed to me. Now I am the one chasing her.” her father whined. “They say they love you, but it looks like you are the only one in love with them.”

“I know right!! I can understand! Women are evil for playing with a man’s delicate heart,” Natsume added.

“Exactly!”, her father exclaimed and sat down, putting his arms around Natsume.

“Your classmate over here is really mature. He knows stuff which took me fifty-five years to find out.”, he told his daughter and laughed.

Mr Kawasaki and Natsume seemed to get along pretty well already. They had achieved such a high level of connection just by talking about how evil women are, and how hard it is to understand a female brain. Indeed, a common enemy can bring people together.

“Oh, by the way, Papa, I completely forgot. How could I forget something so important? He is the one who saved my life the other day.”, Ayane said as she pointed towards Akihiro.

“Oh really?” her father said as he switched places and sat next to Akihiro. “Whoa now that I look clearly, you are pretty handsome.”

“Old man, I already told you to get spectacles. Your eyes are beyond repai-” Natsume was interrupted by her father’s death stare.

Mr Kawasaki then stood up, and bowed down, facing Akihiro. “In all seriousness, thank you so much for saving my daughter’s life. I am indebted to you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to thank me.”, Akihiro said as he stood up too.

“Please allow me to at least pay for your hospital bills. I would feel very guilty if I couldn’t do at least that much.”

Akihiro’s head stung again but no one noticed. He replied politely, “I wasn’t injured that day. And there is really no need to repay me. All this is good enough.”

Natsume was taken aback. This wasn’t the reply he was expecting from Akihiro. He had noticed Akihiro being more talkative recently but this was too generous a reply considering Akihiro’s general attitude.

Mr Kawasaki stood upright and looked at Akihiro’s face. He suddenly remembered his daughter mentioning the fact that his legs were bleeding, but there was no wound when she wiped the blood off.

“How bad was the accident?”, he asked his daughter.

“Pretty bad. I was so scared that he might have broken a few bones.”

That’s when it hit Mr Kawasaki. Memories of the past were suddenly re-ignited.

“Don’t tell me….”, he muttered under his breath as he lifted Akihiro’s shirt up.

“PAPA! What are you doing!?” Ayane said as she blushed and looked away.

There was a scar on his chest.

“This scar… Did the accident cause this?”, her father asked in a low tone, as he touched the scar on his chest with his fingers. It seemed to be an old scar.

“No, I’ve had this since I was born. Something like a birthmark.”, Akihiro replied.

Mr Kawasaki let go of the shirt and placed his old rough hands on Akihiro’s cheeks. Ayane was about to say something when she saw her father’s eyes turn moist. She rarely saw her dad get emotional, especially with everyone around. She instantly knew that if her father was tearing up like that in front of others, it had to be something that deeply affected him. She remained silent and kept watching. Mr Kawasaki then grabbed Akihiro’s hand and observed it with a sad yet grateful gaze.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. You reminded me of a colleague I knew, when I worked in the US.” he said as he let go of Akihiro’s hand.

“What happened to that colleague?” Ayane asked.

He turned around and looked at his daughter with sorrow-filled eyes. “He left this world for good. This place never treated him right.”

Before anyone could tell anything, he slouched his way into the room to take his bath, as if he was trying to hide his emotions from the youngsters.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. I don’t know what to say or how to react.” Natsume said.
“It’s okay. Let’s not talk about that. Anyways you didn’t even tell me you were coming. And how did you know where I live?”

“We thought you were not feeling well. So we came to check on you.”, Natsume said.

“Aww, that’s sweet. Yeah, I was a little tired, I’ll come to school tomorrow though.” she said. Natsume could see her exhaustion. The way she talked, the way the sparkle in her eyes dimmed, he had seen it all before too.

‘Looks like the toxic school environment is taking a toll on her health...’

You didn’t answer the second question though...”, Ayane reminded.

“Ohh...ahh...err-Oh my, look at the time! Aki-kun, we gotta go home before it’s too late.”, Natsume said nervously.

“Just the other day we were out late at night though.”, Akihiro said.

“That is why I need to go home early today. My mom is very protective, you know?” Natsume said.

“Fine, I’ll drop you till the station. It looks like it’s gonna rain too.”, Ayane replied.

----

They were walking down the lane to the station when suddenly Natsume said, “Oh shit, I forgot, I had to buy something. You guys go ahead. I need to go in the other direction.”

Before anyone could say anything, he took off.

“That guy, ugh. He clearly did that on purpose.” Ayane said as her cheeks turned red.

“Why didn’t you come to school yesterday and today?”, Akihiro asked.

“I told you right? I was just a little tired.”

“Really?”

“Yea...”, Ayane’s tone mellowed down.

“Natsume said that without you, his harem wouldn’t be complete.”

“That guy! I’ll kill him tomorrow!”

They continued walking down the rugged and narrow path. The sky had become overcast, as the big hazy grey clouds covered the setting sun. It seemed like it could start raining any moment now.

“Umm...Kimura-san, you’ve become more active nowadays. I like that.” Ayane tried starting a conversation.

“Oh is that so?”

“Yea..”

The conversation ended again, but the silence was immediately replaced by the sudden whooshing sound of the rain.

“Come here,” Akihiro called out as he signalled her to come under the shade of a nearby candy shop.

“Ah, yea thanks. It suddenly started raining so heavily, but lucky for you, I have two umbrellas. I’ll lend you one. I knew it would rain after all.”, Ayane said as she started searching for her umbrella in her bag.

“Why do you care whether I get wet or not? I don’t understand.”, Akihiro muttered.

“What? What do you mea-“

“Do you still feel guilty that you weren’t able to do anything in return when I saved you that day? Do you do all this, trying to pay me back for saving your life?”

“I DON’T DO IT TO REPAY YOU...I just-”

“You don’t need to feel guilty anymore. It’s enough. I don’t need your acts of gratitude anymore.”, Akihiro said.

She didn’t know what to say. She had never been the emotional type yet for some reason her mind and body were not on the same page. She couldn’t say anything. Her eyes expressed what her lips couldn’t. Tears started to well up in her eyes.

“Ayane, you don’t need to do anything anymore. You have repaid your debts completely. There is no need for you to be with me or help me. You are free...”

She felt her throat closing up. Tears streamed down her face. The gloomy sky pouring rain was in sync with Ayane’s tears. The last three words, ‘You are free…’ resonated in her head again and again. She wasn’t able to keep control of her emotions anymore. She couldn’t hold it in. She didn’t want to show him her vulnerable state, so she grabbed the umbrella and quickly ran away in the rain without saying a word.

Akihiro walked forward into the pouring rain. He could see her silhouette slowly getting smaller and dimmer until it was completely gone. His wet glossy hair, flattened by the rain, covered his grey eyes. His whole uniform was completely drenched but he paid no heed to it.

His head started hurting again, this time much more intense. But instead of clutching his head, his hand slowly moved up his shirt and grabbed his chest.

‘Why is it not just my head that hurts?’