3rd POV

Throughout the day, (Y/n) had stayed in the abandoned Drive-In the whole time. For most of the hours, she slept on the old benches that were inside the restaurant to at least catch up on her sleep. But during times when she was awake, she would either be practicing a few tricks under the canopy in the open area or study more of her Japanese grammar and vocabulary.

She wants to make sure she gets better at speaking Japanese, but after everything that the child went through, she was struggling. She couldn't focus properly and felt as if she wasn't learning anything. It was times like these when she felt like learning a different language under so much pressure was hard.

But as soon as night fell, (Y/n) couldn't hold back the urge to continue skating down the streets at that hour. It was always a habit for her to go to "S" at midnight, so she was going to be feeling bored. Hardly anyone was out, so it was a perfect time for her to go skating.

The only thing that could be heard through the girl's ears was the sound of the wheels of her skateboard rolling on the sidewalk as the wind blows past. She would constantly look at her surroundings, but she mostly looks down as the feeling of negativity never faded away. She didn't know where she was skating off to, so she was just going to find out where the world takes her from then on out.

'Just give up.'

Her mind continued to wander as did she. She was deep in her own thoughts that everything around her seemed to have vanished, almost like she was in the zone, which is something she remembers encountering before.

'It's not worth trying to find someone you don't even know.'

'It's a waste of time.'

'I probably won't find him anyway.'

(Y/n) lets out a sigh as the thought of finding her dad comes to mind. She was starting to contemplate if finding him would still be a good idea... But it obviously wasn't. It makes her wonder if her long-lost father knows if she even exists. And if he did, would he want her in his life?

The girl pauses for a moment as she places her foot on the ground, causing the skateboard to come to a complete stop. Her eyes widen after the realization of her problems.

'If my dad knew about me, why hasn't he come to find me?' The thought of that makes the child shed a tear, but she quickly wipes it away while shaking her head. 'No! That can't be the case. He probably doesn't know about me. That's why! But yet again, why hasn't my mom told him about me? If I was to find him, would he accept me? Would he just send me away because he doesn't want me?'

All of these questions went through the child's mind, which was making her rethink everything. But before she could think of anything else, she heard the sound of a skateboard landing on a concrete floor. She looks up from the ground and realizes that she was right by the skatepark she always went to. But the thing was that it wasn't empty.

Upon close examination, (Y/n) could see two teenage boys skating with each other and performing tricks on the half pipes. One thing that really caught her attention was that one of them had light-blue hair and the other had red hair. Her eyes widen when she realizes who they were.

"Reki. Langa."

Out of instinct, she quickly hides behind a light post that was the closest to her. Even if she would still be seen from behind the thin pole, their attention was not on her, so she had the advantage of watching the two from a distance.

She saw their faces. They looked... happy. It made (Y/n) confused just by looking at them. The last time she checked, Reki was mad at her and Langa for wanting to skate in the tournament. But it made her wonder...

"Did they make up? Are they friends again?" she asks herself as she stays behind the light post. Her breath hitched as she watches the two teenagers skate past one another and go up the half pipe, high-fiving one another every so often. But at some point, she watches as they skate into each other.

(Y/n)'s eyes widen as she grew worried at the sight of them falling to the ground with a loud thud due to the fast speed they were skating. One of them was probably lost in thought and she could only guess that it was Langa. She wanted to get out of her hiding spot to make sure they were okay, but she had to stop herself when Langa started laughing. Reki sounded a bit pouty but gave in.

The (h/c)-haired girl's eyes sparkled when she was listening to them speak to one another in Japanese. She noticed that Langa was speaking a lot more this time and had a smile on his face while doing so. At some point, she saw Reki blush as he looked away from Langa. Seeing this made (Y/n) feel something in her heart. She felt it beating inside her chest, but it was different.

'Why am I feeling like this?'

The nine-year-old girl lifts her hand and places it over her beating heart. It was beating harder than before. It was also followed by a painful feeling each time she inhaled and exhaled.

'I should be happy that they're friends again. But...'

Reki and Langa speak to each other for a few more minutes before Langa lifts his hand towards the redhead, wanting to add something new to their dap. Reki does the same and they high-five their hands together, fist bump... and then make an infinite sign with their hands together.

(Y/n) reaches her hand out to them, almost as if she wanted to join in on that as well, but stops...

'I can't be with them. I've been hurt by a friend before... I don't want that to happen to me again.'

She draws her hand back to her side as a single tear rolls down her cheek. She doesn't want it to be like this, but something was telling her to. The child feels left out when she stands there. She remembers the times when she was smiling with her two close friends. Skating together. Having fun. Playing around. Being happy... almost as if nothing else mattered.

(Y/n) lets out a sigh before she picks up her skateboard from the ground and starts making her way back to the abandoned Drive-In. She thought it would be best to leave the two boys by themselves since obviously...

"They look way happier without me. They don't need me," the girl says to herself with a saddened look on her face. Once she was far enough, she hops on her skateboard and rides it back the rest of the way. She wasn't expecting this night ride to be very upsetting.

It only took a few more minutes for (Y/n) to arrive back at the Drive-In. She stops her skateboard, but she does not enter the restaurant. She just keeps her gaze on the ground as the thought of Reki and Langa skating together without her lingers in her head. She was completely alone now.

.

.

.

Or she thought she was...

"(Y/n)?"

The said girl practically jumps when she hears a familiar voice speak to her in English from behind. she quickly turns her head and sees someone with short light-blue hair standing there. Her eyes widen in shock as she right away knew who that was.

"L-Langa?"

The teen who turned out to be Langa had a worried yet confused look on his face as looks down at the child. He also noticed where she had stopped by, which confused him even more. "(Y/n), what are you doing here?"

(Y/n) looks away from him as she tries to think of an excuse for being in front of an abandoned building that no one ever uses anymore. It made her feel a little better knowing that it was just Langa there and not Reki as well. "Uh... I was just heading home but stopped here to catch my breath," she tells him as she lifts her hood over her head more as a way to hide her face even more so that the snowboarder couldn't tell that she was lying.

Langa lifts an eyebrow as he looks at the setting around them for a quick second before looking back down at her. "(Y/n), you don't have to lie. I know what happened last night after you and Joe went to the hospital with Cherry."

The girl was so caught off guard when she heard those words leave Langa's mouth but then thought about it. If Joe and Cherry were the first ones to find out that (Y/n) had been alone her whole time in Okinawa, then they were the ones who told everyone what happened.

"Oh... so you know?" she asks as her eyes kept looking at the ground while sounding a bit disappointed and ashamed at the same time.

"Yeah. Joe told me and everyone else about it," Langa said with a nod as he continued to explain, seeing the child's discomfort and distraught expression on her face."But it wasn't in a bad way. He's actually worried about you... We all are. We've been texting you to try and get in contact with you, but I could only assume that you turned off your notifications on your phone."

(Y/n)'s eyes shift to her jacket pocket, which is where her phone is being kept. She did want to ignore everyone at the moment, so of course she was going to have to cut contact with her friends. After letting out a sigh, the thought of a redheaded boy entered her mind, which made her a bit worried when she asks the next question."When you say 'we,' do you mean Reki as well?"

"Yeah. He's worried, too." Langa tells the (h/c)-haired girl."He's not mad at us anymore. He especially felt bad after what he said to you. He didn't mean it. He was hoping that you would've been with me to apologize to you in person, but I had to explain to him what was going on with you."

Hearing those words in a way put the girl in a calmer state, but she was still feeling agitated by the whole situation she was currently in."I see." she mumbles to herself.

Langa can still see the nervousness in the girl's posture. He knows that she's more than likely thinking about Cherry. He feels bad for her considering that she is only nine years old and is going through something as tough as this at this age. The teen cares so much for her and would comfort her, even if she tries to deny it.

"(Y/n), whatever happened to you is very hurtful. I could tell. But I understand why you're trying to avoid us. Do you still blame Cherry for what he did?" he asks (Y/n). The said girl looks up at the light-blue-haired boy for a moment, before looking to the side as she fidgets with her fingers as her thoughts are running around in her head.

"A little. Right now, I'm just trying to put all of this behind me. Maybe doing that would help me." she tells him in a low tone of voice, but loud enough for him to hear. Langa lets out a sigh before he speaks the truth and his opinion about the AI skater:

"You can't really blame Cherry for that, though. You did, in a way, lie to us about your mom being alive. But then again, he shouldn't have gone that far to contact the inspector about being suspicious of you. You didn't feel like it was the right time to tell us about your past and that is very understandable. Just know that you can count on any of us to help you, no matter how bad you may think that we would send you back to America... Because we would never do that." He pauses for a moment as a smile creeps onto his face. "You are my best friend. If anything, I'll have your back and help you if things were to escalate."

(Y/n) didn't know what to say as she was speechless. She looks back up at Langa with wide eyes. But all of that shock changed to despair as she thinks about what might happen in the future. She feels like she can't hide forever."I don't know what I'm gonna do now. I feel like I have no one else to trust now that I know that the inspector from earlier is still out there looking for me."

Langa's smile brightens as he hears her words. He responds with a reassuring look on her face. "And it's okay to feel that way. You just do what you believe would help and benefit you. If you want to act as if I never saw you here and keep hiding, I'll respect your decision and follow through with it. Just know that I would not stop seeing you though. I still want to make sure that you're okay. Keep that in mind."

(Y/n) felt like she had something else to say, but was debating whether or not she should say it. She turns her head around to look at the abandoned Drive-In for a few seconds. The moon reflects off of her (e/c) eyes as they glisten from the moonlight. She takes in a breath before speaking again."Langa, you said that you would be willing to help me, right?" Her head turns back around as she looks up at the snowboarder with pleading eyes."C-could you help me?"

The teen felt a sense of pride in his heart when he hears (Y/n) asking for his help."Of course. How would you want me to help you?" Langa says before asking.

"Can you take me to your place for tonight? If it's alright with you." (Y/n) answers, hoping that it wouldn't be too much if she was to stay with him.

"Sure," Langa says with a nod. "And if you need to stay at my house for a while longer, then I'll let you. I'll just tell my mom that you're a friend who needs a place to stay for a few days. If it makes you feel better, I won't tell any of the others that you're staying with me."

And at that moment, it was as if the trust the child had for Langa had been restored. (Y/n) nods her head as if appreciating the help he was providing her with."Thanks, Langa. You're a good friend."

Langa couldn't help but smile more as his eyes soften when looking at the girl."You're welcome, (Y/n). You're like a sister to me, which means that I would do anything to make sure that you are happy."

(Y/n) was about to walk towards him to follow him to his house, but she stops when she remembers something that she left in the Drive-In restaurant. It was her backpack. There was no way she was going to leave that behind."Wait right here real quick, Langa. I need to get something," she says before running towards the old restaurant doors.

Upon entering, the girl looks for the bench she left her backpack on. It wasn't that hard since she took her phone out and used the flashlight from it to shine a light in the dark place. She finds her backpack and picks it up, realizing that it was still open. She places it on a nearby table and was about to close it, but stopped when the light shined on something familiar inside the bag.

The picture she had kept of her mom and a five-year-old version of herself was resting on top of the wooden box that belonged to her only parent. Her face softened when seeing her mom in the photo, which put her more at ease as she thinks to herself. 'I'm sorry, Mom. I failed you.'

Quickly brushing that feeling aside, she closes the backpack and puts it on her back. Once secured, she walks out of the abandoned building while turning off the flashlight on her phone. She opens the door and closes it behind her as she walks back to Langa. The boy was waiting patiently for her and grew curious when he saw her backpack.

"Is that all your stuff?" he asks her.

"Yeah. It's not a lot, though." she briefly tells him in response. Langa didn't complain about that and only nodded in an understanding way.

"That's fine. Come on. I'll take you to my house now." he says as he places his hand on her shoulder and gently ushers her to follow him. The night was dark, but it was as if Langa was the light that was guiding the girl on the right path.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Come on in, (Y/n). Make yourself at home."

Langa leads (Y/n) into his house. Once they were inside, the girl exhales a long breath as she looks around. The light to the living room was still on along with the kitchen light, so it wasn't completely dark in the residence.

"Thanks again, Langa, for helping me out." (Y/n) says as she clings her skateboard close to her and makes sure that the straps of her backpack was still slung over her shoulders.

Langa smiles down at her in a reassuring manner."It's no problem. I'm just happy to help you and know that you're okay."

As soon as he says that, someone speaks from the kitchen. It was a woman with light brown hair and brown eyes. that seem to brighten up at the sight of the teenager. "Oh, Langa, you're back. How was it with your friend?" She speaks to Langa in the Japanese language but stops when she notices that it wasn't just her son who was standing there. She sees (Y/n), who seemed a bit nervous as she holds her skateboard closer to her, but she smiles nonetheless. "Oh, is this another friend of yours?"

Langa nods his head as he smiles at his mother. "Yeah. This is (Y/n). She only speaks English, just so you know," he tells her as he places his hand on the child's shoulder in a comforting way. Langa's mom walks over to the two and knelt to (Y/n)'s height as she speaks to her in English, which surprises the said girl a bit.

"Hello, (Y/n). I'm Nanako Hasegawa, Langa's mom." Nanako tells (Y/n) with the same smile she had before. The (h/c)-haired skater didn't feel as nervous as before as the grip she had on her skateboard loosened but still held it close to her. Just to be polite, she bows her head to greet the woman.

"Hi, Mrs. Hasegawa. It's nice to meet you," she tells her in the kindest way possible. Nanako seemed to have smiled even more when she heard the child greet her back.

"Oh, you're so polite. Langa always tells me that you're a sweet girl." Nanako then says, which catches (Y/n) off guard. She didn't know Langa talked about her whenever she wasn't around with him. 'Wow! I must mean so much to him,' she thinks in the back of her mind.

Langa looks at his mom with a curious look on his face."Mom, is it okay if (Y/n) stays here for tonight... or maybe for a few days if needed? She's going through a hard time right now," he asks her, wondering if it was okay with her.

"Of course, she can. She can stay as long as she wants." Nanako says with a smile and a nod. "I won't ask what's going on since it may be a bit personal, but I hope you feel better in time. I'll just get an extra futon for you to sleep with."

(Y/n) had a look of surprise when she heard Nanako say that, but she was glad that she was nice enough to have her stay for a little while."Thank you," the child says with another bow.

"You're so welcome, sweetheart," Nanako says before she walks towards the hallway to get the futon she requested to get for the girl. Now it was only (Y/n) and Langa left in the living room.

Langa looks down at (Y/n) with the same comforting smile as he speaks. "You're not hungry or anything, are you, (Y/n)?" he asks her with a compassionate tone in his voice.

(Y/n) shakes her head as a way of respectfully declining the offer. "No, thanks. I'm okay for now," she says, not wanting to be a bother to him or his mother.

"Are you sure? We always have some snacks tucked away in the cabinet. Do you want any cookies or anything?" Langa then asks, wanting to make sure that the girl is well taken care of now that she is in his house.

(Y/n) seemed to think about his question now that he asked again. The idea of having cookies this late at night was like any little kid's dreams. Reluctantly, she complies."Okay."

Langa nods his head as he goes into the kitchen and opens a cabinet by the fridge. He takes out a container that was filled with tasty pastries and puts them on the table. He gestures with his hand for (Y/n) to come over to the table with him as he sits down on a chair.

"Here. Take as much as you want," he tells her. The (h/c)-haired girl walks over to the table. As soon as she was close enough, she places her skateboard down by the leg of the table as she sits on another chair. Langa opens the container for her and she takes the opportunity to take a few and start eating them.

As she was eating, she got to savor the delicious flavor of the treat she was given. The thoughts in her head were of the happy memories she created whenever she spent time having snacks with her mother. The way they both shared the same smile was something she would never forget. Everything about the two were the same. It made her wonder if there were any traits she shared with her long-lost father.

'Huh, do I look anything like my dad?'

That sudden thought made her slow down her eating. She looks down at the surface of the table as her (e/c) eyes soften a bit. That was one thing she never got to find out about her father, which was what he looked like. If she did, then she might have found him already. Langa noticed the down look in her eyes as he tilts his head to the side with a lifted eyebrow.

"Is there anything on your mind?" he asks (Y/n) as he wanted to know if she was still sad.

(Y/n) snaps out of her thoughts as she keeps her gaze on the table, but she replies to the light-blue-haired boy."I'm just thinking about my dad. I've never met him before yet I want to find him, but is it worth it? Trying to find him?" she asks as she puts the last piece of her cookie in her mouth and eats it.

Langa was thinking about her response and he looked to be deep in thought. He didn't want to worry her even more, so he says the first thing that comes to mind.

"I can understand where you're getting at. I lost my dad before I moved here to Okinawa. I would do anything in my will to see him again. The only thing I don't understand is the feeling of wanting to meet someone you don't even know." (Y/n) looks up at Langa as he tells her his opinion and view on the topic of her unknown dad."I believe the only thing to help find the missing piece you have in your heart is to look for the people who truly make you happy. It's like how you told me before. You found that good feeling deep down inside of you through skateboarding. Maybe you could find that same feeling outside of skating."

The girl considered his words, but she still had her doubts. The people she first thought about making her happy were Langa, Miya, Shadow, Joe... Reki... Cherry. As much as she wants to see the rest of the gang, something was still stopping her from doing so."What if I feel like I'm not ready to find those people?" she asks Langa after letting out a sigh in defeat.

"Then you take all of the time that you need. There is no rush, so you do what you believe is right for you," the snowboarder says as he puts his hand on (Y/n)'s shoulder in a comforting and understanding gesture.

(Y/n) was at least grateful that Langa was a good friend who would support and understand her. If anything, the loss of hope she once felt seemed to have slowly vanished as a small smile formed on her face. This was something Langa was hoping to see. Her smile always made him smile because he knew that he was doing a good job at helping his friend.

"Thanks, Langa... For the advice. I knew I could count on you," the girl says as she leans back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm happy to help you, (Y/n)," The teen tells her. He checks the time on the clock that was in the kitchen before standing up from his seat. "Now I'm sure you're tired, so we should head to bed. Come on, follow me. You'll stay in my room with me. My mom probably already got the futon ready for you."

With that said, (Y/n) also stands up from her seat before grabbing her belongings and following Langa as he leads her to his room. And as expected, there was already an extra futon waiting for them.

They both get ready for bed and get under the covers that were provided. Langa decided to sleep on the floor with (Y/n) just so that she doesn't feel lonely and would be right there in case she needed him. The boy turns off the lights in his room and goes over to his futon. (Y/n) rests her head comfortably on the pillow as Langa does the same. His soft gaze was always on her to make sure that she was still doing okay.

"Good night, (Y/n)," Langa tells the child as the said child slowly closes her eyes, feeling tiredness starting to overcome her.

"Good night, Langa," (Y/n) then says as a yawn escapes her mouth. It didn't take long for her to easily fall asleep. Of course, she was going to be tired considering that it has been a while since she slept comfortably in a while, so she was out like a light.

The light-blue-haired teen continues to look at the girl with his soft aqua-colored eyes remaining on her as his smile gets slightly more significant. He slowly lifts his hand and rests it on top of (Y/n)'s head and strokes it, hoping that she would have sweet dreams. If there was one thing that Langa knew, it was that she won't be suffering any longer.

"Things will get better... I promise."

~~~~~~~~~~

In a familiar Italian restaurant, two pro skaters are residing at Sia la Luce in the dead of night. Kaoru had just snuck out of the hospital and Kojiro was surprised to see him do that, but he was pretty much expecting something like that to happen.

The AI skater was passed out with his head resting on the table in front of him while Kojiro was sitting in the seat beside him. The green-haired male had just poured himself and the sleeping male a cup of wine. Even if his childhood friend was asleep, he still had the nerve to strike up a conversation.

"Adam is currently skating all by himself. He's an amazing skater, but I'm sure he's not happy right now. That's why his skating ends up that way. But you know, we're not alone," Joe says as his gaze shifts to Kaoru. "Right, Kaoru?"

When his friend doesn't give a response, he chuckles as he looks back down at his cup of wine. His mind travels to someone else he truly cares about, one who is young and also amazing at skating. "And neither is (Y/n). That girl always ceases to amaze me. You don't know what to expect when it comes to her. But you shouldn't beat yourself up because you are the reason she was about to be sent away. You did what you did because you were worried about her. You wanted to be aware of what was going on with her life and to keep her safe. You just became a little too overprotective." Kojiro picks up his cup as a small smile appears on his face. He looks back at Kaoru's sleeping form as he continues to speak to him.

"She'll come around. You'll see. She just needs time to think. She is still a kid, but I'm sure she knows what she's doing. We just have to trust her... and maybe she might return that trust. You know what I mean?"

Kojiro clinks his glass cup with Kaoru's as soon as he finishes speaking. He doesn't entirely blame the pink-haired male for what happened. Everyone makes mistakes in life and that is something they should learn from. Learning from failure is often the key to success, and that is something Kaoru should never let go of. Neither should (Y/n).

A/n: I am here!!! Yeah, that took a while to post. A lot of things came up, but I'm at least glad that I get to post something now before I go on a cruise trip this weekend. Hopefully, I get more time to continue writing during the trip because I know it's getting closer to finishing up this season of my Sk8 the Infinity story and I want to complete it. This won't be a long Author's Note, so I'll leave it at that. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm hoping to hear from you lovely readers until the next chapter!