Chapter 283: Tachibana.

Haru walked over to the counter and helped out cleaning up the milkshake that had dripped down onto the floor and covered the register. The police officer outside had called for someone to collect the boy that he had just arrested and then scolded the other boys who were encouraging him.

Haru picked up a cloth and then began to wipe the milkshake before seeing the boy on the other side of the counter cleaning up the mess on his side.

"Hey, you don't have to clean. It's not your fault." Haru said to the boy with blue hair with a smile. He didn't want to make any of the customers clean, but the boy seemed to have a lot more manners than the ones who were with him.

"No, I shouldn't have told them about this place. It is my fault. I usually come here before school every morning and get my lunch. But they followed me here today, so it is my fault. It's the least I can do." Peter said with a slight frown as he used a napkin to wipe up the milkshake from the floor.

"Suit yourself. But if you want to help then take a cloth instead. You will just be pushing it around the floor with a napkin." Haru said before handing a wet towel over to him.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Thank you." Peter said, embarrassed by the fact that he couldn't even clean it properly. He took the towel from Haru and then cleaned up as best as he could before standing up and waiting for Haru to finish.

"Excuse me? What should I do with this?" Peter asked and held out the towel in his hands before the Woman that was training Haru reached out and grabbed it from him.

"Let me take that from you. I will go and wash it." She smiled as she took the towel from Peter and then disappeared behind a wooden door as she walked towards the laundry room.

Haru looked at the broken window and sighed.

'That little brat.' Haru thought as he saw the shards of glass lying on the floor. But that didn't seem to bother the customers. They had become used to seeing things like that happening since Tokyo was an international hub for mages all across the world.

Fights would break out in the street, and buildings would be damaged on a regular basis, and most of them had invested in reinforced glass so they wouldn't be broken by common attacks. But Luke thought that since his cafe was on the edge of the city, it would be acceptable to skip out on that expense.

"So, are they your classmates?" Haru asked Peter before picking up one of the drinks that he had made for them and starting to drink it.

"Well, Not really. They are in the grade above me. But we all go to the same school, so I guess you could say that." Peter responded before pulling money out of his wallet to pay for the drinks.

"Don't mind it. Just take them. I'm not in the mood to accept money for drinks. Tell me, which school do you go to?" Haru asked as an idea came to mind.

"My school? It's the Tokyo international school for mages. But we call it TISMO High for short." Peter said with a frown before hesitantly picking up one of the drinks.

"TISMO? That's a strange name. Where is it located?" Haru asked.

"It's not too far from here, actually. If you cross the river, it is the only building for miles. It's hard to miss if you're looking for it. But why do you want to know?" Peter asked, feeling a little awkward that he might know the reason why he was asking.

"Oh, that's not really that important. I want to have a word with your principal, that's all. Don't worry. I won't mention that you were here. It's just to make sure that those boys are punished for what they did." Haru said with a smile and then looked over to see that Luke had picked up a brush and had begun to sweep the glass.

"No, I don't think you should do that. The principal isn't the most tolerant person to complaints, and I have seen him get violent with parents over the smallest of things." Peter warned Haru, but he had already made up his mind.

"It's okay. Hey dad. I'm going to take a walk down to that school and let their teachers know what happened." Haru shouted out. Luke looked over for a moment and then nodded his head.

"Okay, Make sure you come back soon. I don't want your mother to stop by and freak out at me when she sees that you're not here." Luke said back with a smile.

He thought that it was great that Haru was acting responsibly. He previously didn't want to go outside, but now he was willing to go somewhere on his own to make sure that the children's teachers knew what they had been up to.

"Sure. You coming?" Haru asked Peter, who was standing with a shocked expression on his face.

"Didn't I warn you-? Fine, okay." Peter said with a slight pout as he realised that Haru didn't care about what he had to say. He had already made his mind up.

"Good, then feel free to take more of those milkshakes before they go to waste," Haru said with a smile and then picked up his drink again and began to walk towards the exit.

"You should seriously think about what I said." The man known as Mills said with a smile as Haru walked past him.

"Didn't you hear what I said? Don't try to recruit my son, you big oaf." Luke shouted out before laughing as he saw the frown on Mills's face. It seemed like they were a lot closer than they were letting on and were actually good friends despite them looking like they were planning to kill each other.

"Sure, sure, I will think about it." Haru laughed as he walked outside.

"You most certainly will not!" Luke shouted out once again as Hart continued to walk, with Peter following closely behind. He smiled before turning back to see Peter.

"So, Your name is Peter? Are you a foreigner?" Haru asked as he looked at the boy with blue hair and a face that seemed slightly familiar.

"Well, not entirely. My father is Japanese, but my mother is German. She came here when she was young to go to the Royal Institute of military arts, and then she met my father during the war." Peter said and then looked up at Haru, who seemed to be thinking.

"Your parents fought in the war? What are their names?" Haru asked, thinking that he could know them, although it was a stretch.

"I don't think you would have heard of them. They aren't particularly famous. But my father's name is Akimitsu Tachibana." Peter said while looking at Haru only to see his expression shift.

"Tachibana? Do you happen to have an older sister?" Haru asked curiously. Although Tachibana was a common surname, he knew that it wasn't common for people to have blue hair unless they dyed it.

"Yeah, I have a sister. She's called Mia. Why do you ask? I don't think that she would date somebody like you." Peter said, getting the wrong Idea.

"You're Mia's younger brother? What are the chances? Haru spoke softly before looking up at the sky and thinking back to his short time he spent with Jake and Mia.

"Wait. You know my sister? How?" Peter asked in a tone that said he was demanding an answer, but as Haru looked down at him, he silently retracted his attitude and looked up curiously.

"I was in the same class as her when I was around your age." Haru smiled and looked down at the kid.

"Now I wish I would have beaten some sense into those kids. If your sister knew that I let them get away bullying you, then she would never forgive me." Haru said with regret.

"They weren't bullying me. They were just-" Peter stopped what he was saying and looked down at the ground.

"I saw how they treated you when you called them out for being rude. Friends don't do that. Don't worry. I will have a talk with your principal and make sure that they are all punished appropriately." Haru reassured him and then put his hand on his head.

"Wait, if you went to school with my sister, then that means that you are an officer in the military too, doesn't it!?" Peter asked excitedly.

"Nope. I left during my first year. I then lived in China until a few months ago. I doubt they even have records of me attending, to be honest." Haru said matter of factly before Peter gasped suddenly.

"You left in your first year, and you were friends with my sister?! You're Haru Kitagawa, aren't you?" Peter was shocked by the sudden realisation.

"Mia mentioned me?" Haru smiled.

"Of course, she mentioned you. She said that you were the one who taught her the healing magic that she used to heal our mother. Please take my respect." Peter suddenly stopped walking and then bowed his head down with his hands by his side.

"What are you doing, kid? That's all in the past now. And I didn't really do much. It was all down to her hard work that she was able to learn it." Haru stated as they stood on the bridge over the river that met up with the hundreds of students that were walking down the same path.