Sk8 the Infinity; Young Days

Eleven: Carla

After school, we were all hanging out together. Me, Sakurayashiki, Rozuka and Kojiro. The boys were skateboarding while Rozuka and I were looking for costume ideas for me so I wouldn't be spotted while skateboarding. Sort of the way Ainosuke covers his face as Adam. There had to be something I could do. And fashion was Rozuka's expertise.

"And I think the black with the red would look really cool, but you should add some blue here. Maybe..."

There was a huge crack. We looked over to find Sakurayashiki on his butt. I rushed over and his skateboard was in two. "Dammit!" He screamed.

"Relax, you can get another one." Kojiro told him.

"No, this is the one we got together! And tonight I'm going against Adam! I only have a few hours! This can't be happening! I need this board!"

I sighed. "There has to be something we can do to fix it. Dont they have skate shops for that?"

"Rin, it's snapped in half. There's nothing anyone can do."

Rozuka sighed. "This is why you should always have back ups. If one pair of pumps break, have an even more fashionable one to ease the embarrassment. Nobody will even remember the old ones."

"That gives me an idea. Sakurayashiki, is this the same place as last time?"

"Yeah..."

"I'll meet you there. Until then, Kojiro, have your board as a back up. I think I've got an amazing idea."

Sakurayashiki was always one to do things in such a calculated way. He always had to do things perfectly, he in control. What he needed was something to keep him in control. Keep him in the know. He tries to be traditional, but he's really more of an 'into the future' kind of guy. So I knew what I had to do. I really didn't have a choice in the matter. If I didn't, Sakurayashiki would most likely die. Adam would just shove him off the cliff. I ran as fast as I could.

Getting to the top of S was like hell, but I made it just in time. "What's this?"

"You're giving him your tech skateboard?"

"He needs it more than I do."

He held it in his hands and handed me his old skateboard. The metal spoke up. "Hello. I am Carla, a state of the art skateboard for your enjoyment. Please state your name."

"Cherry Blossom."

"Cherry Blossom. Thank you. Please step on my surface so I may weigh you."

He was so excited. "Carla... this is amazing, Hikari. Thank you."

"She'll take good care of you, so please take good care of her."

Kojiro nudged me. "I thought you were Carla."

"I guess there was a mistake in the system. But he seems to like Carla, so I'll let him have her. She'll be more use to someone like him than someone like me."

I held the broken board. Adam tried playing dirty, but Carla understood Adam's tricks thanks to me. Cherry Blossom didn't win though. Adam was just too fast and too talented. Even with Carla, Sakurayashiki didn't stand a chance against Ainosuke. And that hurt me deeply. Afterwards, we went out for burgers.

"This is my favourite place in America, and this is the only store in all of Japan that has this place."

"That's cool, isn't it, Kaoru."

"Sakurayashiki...?" I asked, touching his hand on his broken skateboard. "What is it?"

"Adam gave me this board. Kojiro and I worked on it together. I can't believe it's broken. This is the board we rode on walls, learned tricks on, and met Hikari with. I knew it was going to break eventually. Just as the last one had, but this was special."

"And it still is." I told him. "I know it's probably not helpful, but you can keep Carla. She's specially made for me, but we're not too different in body type and style. I think she suits you more anyway."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. And she's easily fixable. You can also use Carla for other things, because she's connected to the Cloud. You can transfer all her data onto your phone or laptop. She's the most intelligent AI the company has made so far. And she might be the only one."

He smiled up at me. "Thanks, Hikari. You've saved me a few times from a lot of trouble. I just can't believe Adam is so horrible."

My hand went to my cheek. "Me too. He didn't seem to always be this horrible. I don't know what's happened, but it's scary, isn't it?"

"Exactly."

Kojiro spoke up. "We're all upset, but come on, some good came out of this! Adam is bored and stepping down for a bit and Kaoru, you got an amazing skateboard! One that suits you! This piece of crap was barely holding together! I'm jealous you got the skateboard."

"I would have preferred to have a loving boyfriend instead."

"So would I, Sakurayashiki." I told him, shaking my head. "But Adam would kill him if anything happened. Don't you see that you're not the only one affected by Adam? Kojiro and I are also affected. But we're in this together. We all want Adam to be back to the way he was, but that's just not happening right now."

His eyes went wide. "Huh?"

"Rin and I can't be together until Adam is no longer a danger to any of us. He wants Rin, and that puts you and I in danger. Especially me."

"I'm going to ignore that, and I think Hikari wouldn't appreciate you saying that either, you Gorilla. But thank you for Carla. She's wonderful. I think I'll be able to skate better with her."

"Of course. I'm glad you like her."

When I left, Kojiro rushed after me. He grabbed my arm. "Hey, you're really just going to leave your freedom with Kaoru?"

"He needs it more right now. He needs something for his broken heart. Obviously, since you're guys, he's not going to talk to you. Carla is something that will help him. And I have Rozuka and you still, and Sakurayashiki too."

Kojiro nodded. "Get home safe."

"I will."

I got home and sat down in my room. Momma walked in. "Were you out with your friends again?"

"Yeah..."

"You don't seem too happy about it."

"Sakurayashiki is heartbroken, and soon enough, Nanjo will be too. I'm always just a phase. We're never in one place long enough."

"Have you told your friends that this is only temporary?"

"How could I? I care about my friends, especially Nanjo. I can't tell him that I'll be leaving. I want this to continue forever."

She sat down with me. "Do you love this Nanjo?"

"I do, but Ainosuke will do anything to have me now. I messed up."

"And you'd do anything for your friends. You know, I learned this early on in my life, but friends are far more important than business or anything else. The only thing more important is family. Your papa taught me that. If they're truly your friends, they'll understand and wait for you."

"I hope so. Because what I've found here, is worth more than anything else in the whole world."