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"Catch us if you can, Kobazing!" Satsuki called out, laughing as she and Teruya ran away from Haru.
Today was a sunny day, so the Sunshine Trio decided to spend the entire day outside, starting with a game of tag. After a tournament of Rock-Paper-Scissors, Haru had been decided to be the one "it" and would have to catch Satsuki and Teruya.
"Oh, I'll catch you guys all right! Come here!" Haru yelled playfully, chasing after Satsuki while Teruya hid behind a tree, giggling. It really didn't help though that Satsuki was really fast, and the fact that Teruya's short height was a blessing in disguise when it came to games like tag or hide-and-seek only made it worse.
2 things that Haru didn't have.
Haru tried to not let that deter him that much. While he wasn't that fast or small, he was tall, which counted for something. Satsuki and Teruya always said he gave the best piggy back rides, for one. That was a perk to his height! And he could reach things up high!
Haru thought about those things as he chased Satsuki around, eventually changing his path to Teruya when he spotted him behind the tree.
Height didn't help in tag, speed and being small helped. Haru did not have either.
Once again, Haru tried not to let that get to him that much. And eventually, he did manage to tag Teruya, but only because of dumb luck.
Haru cheered and dashed away from Teruya, who began chasing after him giggling, before spotting Satsuki making faces at him and chasing after her.
Satsuki ran, laughing, and Teruya chased her. While Satsuki was basically the fastest of the three of them, Teruya was still pretty quick himself, and since he was small, he was less likely to run into things like Haru had before.
Teruya and Satsuki never let him live that down.
Haru decided to take a page out of Teruya's book and hide behind a tree, where he watched Teruya switch courses and manage to gt in front of Satsuki, where he successfully tagged her. Satsuki looked around giggling, spotted Haru from behind the tree, and made a beeline towards him.
Haru immediately took to running, but it didn’t take long for Satsuki could catch up to him and tag the pilot.
Haru held in a sigh and began chasing Satsuki around, but she soon disappeared and hid.
Looking around, there was no one in sight. Haru began walking around and keeping an eye out for either of his best friends, a bit suspicious.
Then something hopped on top of him from behind and Haru yelped, jumping into the air.
"Gotcha, Haru!" A voice said. Haru turned and saw Teruya, hugging onto his back. Suddenly, Haru got an idea and smirked as he said, "Well, you know how what you did is gonna give you karma?"
"How?" Teruya asked. "This. TAG, YOUR IT!" Haru said as he tagged Teruya.
Teruya yelped in surprise, then pouted. "I thought Satsuki was still it!"
"Nope! Satsuki tagged Kobazing! And now Kobazing has tagged you!" Satsuki's voice came from behind Teruya and Haru, and they turned around.
Satsuki was laughing at the mix up, and Teruya got a mischievous glow in his eyes as he looked down at Haru from his place on top of him. "You wanna help me tag Suki?"
"Oh, heck yeah, Ruya!" Haru said. "You'll have to catch Satsuki first!" Satsuki said. the 2 boys both turned to see what Satsuki meant.
...only to realize she had already started running.
Teruya hopped off Haru's back quickly. "You go left, I'll go right! We'll trap her!" He ordered.
Haru mock-saluted and took off, managing to get in front of Satsuki, who turned around, where Teruya was waiting for her.
"TAG, YOUR IT!" The 2 boys said in unison, tagging Satsuki.
Satsuki laughed. "You guys sure got Satsuki!" She said. "But now I'm going to get you!"
She began chasing after Teruya, who squealed in delight and began running. Haru was going to start running too, but he noticed something on the ground.
A small light green crystal laid on the ground at Haru's feet, almost invisible, and Haru's eyes lit up in delight as he picked up the crystal.
"Hey, Ruya! Suki! Come look at this!" The pilot said. Teruya & Satsuki both turned to see Haru looking at the Crystal in absolute awe.
They quickly hurried over, eyes sparkling with wonder. "What's that?" Teruya asked. "A sparkly rock?"
"No, it's a crystal, a bright green one!" Haru said excitedly. "I'm not sure what kind it is yet, maybe we can find out if we brush all this dirt off of it. We should do that soon! It's so sparkly, I love it! I can add it to my collection. Hey, did you know..."
"Satsuki wants to see it!" Satsuki said excitedly, reaching out and grabbing it from Haru. "WHA-!? HEY, GIVE THAT BACK!!" Haru snapped, trying to grab the Crystal back.
Satsuki dropped the crystal quickly and backed up in fright, Teruya right alongside her. Neither of them had ever seen Haru snap like that before, and at them, no less.
Haru picked up the crystal and checked on it, making sure it was okay, before making eye contact with the fearful Teruya and Satsuki.
Oh, by kami, what had he just done?
He had just screamed and scared his own 2 friends, that's what he did. And he felt ashamed for doing that.
"I-I'm sorry!" Haru yelped. "I didn't mean to yell- I just wanted the crystal back- oh kami, I'm sorry-"
"Hey." Teruya approached Haru cautiously, Satsuki right behind him. "It's okay! You didn't mean to yell. And we're fine, see? No harm done."
"Ruya's right!" Satsuki chimed in. "We're fine. You did nothing that you should be ashamed of!"
Haru looked away, still upset by what he did, and also trying his hardest not to cry. But the fact that he was shaking, and sniffling had already given it away.
Satsuki and Teruya exchanged glances, and without a warning, the both of them hugged Haru tightly, trying to comfort him and reassure him that they weren't mad.
Haru yelped at the sudden hug, but soon relaxed and let it happen. He was uncertain at the turn of events, and he continued to sniffle slightly, almost crying as he hugged back.
"Please...just forgive me..." was all Haru could say before he broke down crying, hugging Satsuki and Teruya tight.
Satsuki and Teruya hugged back even harder than before, with Satsuki not wearing her usual smile and Teruya about to break down himself.
"We forgive you, Haru!" Teruya said, voice cracking the smallest amount. "Of course we forgive you!"
"We'll forgive you over and over and over! No matter what!" Satsuki added.
Eventually, after a few minutes, Haru had calmed down and the 3 separated.
"Sorry again for yelling... and I'm sorry for breaking down like that." Haru apologized, head hanging a little bit.
"Don't apologize, we've told you it's fine!" Satsuki said. "In fact, Satsuki should be the one apologizing! I'm sorry for taking your crystal, Haru!"
"It's okay." Haru smiled, taking a small pouch from his pocket. "I'll put it in here, and then we can go back to playing, alright?"
Satsuki nodded her head, but Teruya noticed something on the bag, a sort of rainbow symbol. It was a rainbow-colored infinity symbol.
Curiously, Teruya asked, "Uh, Haru. Just out of curiosity, what's that symbol on the pouch?"
Haru looked towards the pouch, eyes widening before putting a hand behind his head. "Shoot, I never told you guys, have I?"
"Told us what?" Satsuki asked, eyeing the symbol curiously.
"Well, I'm-" Haru stopped himself, seemingly thinking over his words, before speaking again. "I'm autistic."
Teruya and Satsuki looked a bit surprised.
"Really?" Teruya asked. "You're autistic?"
Haru nodded, a nervous hand making its way behind his neck as his eyes looked away. "Y-Yeah..."
Satsuki scoffed. "And why are you so nervous? Autistic or not, you're still our friend! And now that we know this, we can figure out ways to help you!"
"Of course! We can get you stim toys and other stuff you like or that may help!" Teruya added, sparkles starting to appear in his eyes.
Haru looked surprised at what his friends were saying. "You're fine with it? Really?"
"Why wouldn't we be?" Teruya questioned, looking up at Haru with genuine confusion on his face.
"Kobazing is Kobazing and nothing can change that!" Satsuki chirped.
Haru smiled, then suddenly wrapped both Satsuki and Teruya in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Ack! Of course, no problem! Let us go now, please, you're squashing us!" Teruya said, while Satsuki quickly agreed.
Thankfully Haru is not deaf, so he let the two go when he heard their protests. "Sorry about that."
"No problemo! Now..." Satsuki tiptoed over to Haru while he and Teruya watched her in confusion, and then tapped Haru's arm. "You're it!"
She sprinted away from Haru, with Teruya joining in a minute later, and Haru sighed and began chasing them again.
He was really grateful for his friends. Even if they were faster than him.