Rain
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Rain
Dec 29, 2011 18:14:32 GMT -6
Post by Fuukami I. Iryna on Dec 29, 2011 18:14:32 GMT -6
Saturday, May 10 5:45 PM Finally, after three hours of strenuous activity, I can go out and do some shopping. It's Papa's birthday today, after all, and he said he could go home early today. Me and Mama will prepare a feast and the three of us will have dinner together, which has not happened for a very long time.
Thanks to the list Mama gave me, I didn't have much problem finding the necessary ingredients, and finished the shopping much faster than I expected. Even though we have cooks working in our mansion, my mother still insist on doing the work herself whenever she has a chance, and the food she makes has a unique, pleasant taste like no other. Maybe I'm one of those who get fixated over their mothers' homemade food.
Now I'm walking, maybe skipping, back to our home, with shopping bags in hand, and a larger-than-usual smile on my face. Then my cell phone rings.
That tune... It can only be Papa. Why is he calling me now, I wonder? I press the answer button, say the obligatory "Hello", and wait for his response. After some small talk, suddenly there is some... hesitation and... regret in his voice:
"I'm sorry, Iryna, but I cannot come home early this evening."
What...
"Some unexpected events have occurred at the company, and my presence is required, so... I'm afraid I cannot have dinner with you and your mother. I'm so sorry..."
"Don't worry, Papa." I cut in before Papa has a chance to say anything more, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. "It's your company, after all, so it must be serious if you have to be there. Mama and I will think of something, Papa. You can concentrate on your work. We... We can take care of ourselves. Good luck, Papa. Bye."
I quickly press the "End Call" button. Somehow, the phone's screen looks darker and blurrier than usual, and the sound of my phone shutting is so hollow. I absentmindedly slip my phone back into my pocket, ans stare aimlessly towards the end of the road. Ok... so he's busy again, it's normal, right? Papa is the breadwinner after all, he works hard for my sake and Mama's, right? That's his responsibility, right?
I don't whether I have moved an inch after that phone call ends. Somehow, I don't feel anything anymore. I don't even care when my vision is covered by a curtain of water, and my clothes start clinging onto my skin. Is it raining? And suddenly my eyes become blurry. Is it because of the rainwater's force?
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Rain
Jan 1, 2012 1:28:38 GMT -6
Post by Mizukami Ayumu on Jan 1, 2012 1:28:38 GMT -6
stay here, my sorrow, my solace... two parts. I.
Mizukami Ayumu adored rain.
In fact, sometimes he thought of it as Rain. As if it... as if She were alive, a moody, frolicking visitor, sometimes hesitant, falling slowly and sparingly, and sometimes raging, turning the noise into a sort of silence, just as light, when too bright, is the same as darkness. But he liked Her best when She was even and gentle, pondering, melancholic. That was Her temperament today; constant, persistent.
He owed her better poems than those he had already written.
He smiled as he observed Her fingers knock upon his umbrella. As with most things the white-haired wanderer adored, the Downpour made him happy, in a silent, sleepy way. He welcomed the refreshment of Her dancing, compared to the fury of the sun that wore him down.
His careless strides, the spring in his step, had made the edges of his clothes wet, even with his portable shelter. It was the last day of classes for this week, and that was reason to be joyous, too. He was in casual wear, having deposited his school stuff at home after classes and club ended. It was later than most Saturdays, but he still had time.
He had asked for permission from his elders to walk around the vicinity, and his request had been granted. So, here he was. He had been looking around the district, a place that changed rather quickly and as such surprised him even if he'd been there quite a number of times before.
He'd been contemplating getting a bite... and had been reminded a bit of a certain acquaintance, whose memory elicited a chuckle... when he saw a different acquaintance, whose appearance should have elicited the rising of defenses... except she didn't seem to have the energy to harass him, this time.
II.
It was Fuukami-san.
She was busy getting wet, and while Mizukami liked water very much, getting wet needlessly did have disastrous consequences. He decided on covering her head with his umbrella. She was rather drenched already, though...
"Oi." he uttered, with a note of concern.
Detecting feelings of other people may not be his strong point, even if he wished it would be, but at the very least he knew the person was upset. He was not good with reacting to the feelings of other people, too... he might come across as rather insensitive, and he'd been snapped on by certain snappish people before when he intervened... but he guessed something was better than nothing in this particular scenario.
Or perhaps he just wanted to talk to her, to know what could get this rambunctious girl down... and if he could do something about it. Girls look better when they smile... even if they're grinding you to the ground as they do it. He sighed to himself. People associate rain with sadness so freely... raindrops aren't always tears, and tears aren't always of mourning... perhaps he just didn't want somebody to be morose as his favorite weather, his aqueous Muse, passed by.
Or perhaps he wanted to comfort her.
"Sorry, I didn't get to attend your practice yesterday."
"And... today as well, I guess."
He wasn't very smooth.
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Rain
Jan 1, 2012 16:05:59 GMT -6
Post by Fuukami I. Iryna on Jan 1, 2012 16:05:59 GMT -6
Eh? Someone's here? And that person apologized for not attending my practice, so he knows about my training schedule. Wait, could it be... him?
"Is that all you have to say?" A reply comes out of my mouth, but somehow it sounds like a recorded voice mail alert. The other parts of my head, and my body, somehow still refuse to budge even a millimeter.
"What are you doing here?" Another sentence comes out of my parched throat, even though the rest of my body is totally drenched, as if it is some kind of a reflex. Is it me or just my automatic defense mechanism talking?
Still, what a situation I'm getting myself into. A high school girl, who doesn't bring an umbrella with her, got caught in the rain and drenched herself. Then a high school boy, seeing her dilemma, tries to help her out with his own umbrella. Heh, romantic, isn't it? Feels like I'm in some kind of anime or drama series, and the Japanese people like to associate umbrella sharing with romance, as I tend to notice those umbrella graffiti, with each miniature umbrella having two names under it. Well, just another part of their unique culture, I guess.
On the other hand, even though he really did not attend my recent sessions, I've never expected to have an exchange with him this soon. In this pathetic state, too. I can't have but wonder whether he's pitying me. It's hard to tell from that soft voice of his, especially in this torrential rain. I don't need anyone's pity, but... why do I feel a little bit relieved when I heard his voice? Do I really... yearn for him? No way. I'm not a princess trapped in an evil overlord's castle, waiting for a knight in shining armor to save her. I'm definitely not like that.
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Rain
Jan 2, 2012 3:39:52 GMT -6
Post by Mizukami Ayumu on Jan 2, 2012 3:39:52 GMT -6
under an umbrella. all literal. really. "Um..."
He stopped himself from saying 'I guess', even if it was almost the truth. He had to come up with something else to say...
He felt... helpless. Sure, Fuukami-san was a new acquaintance, and she had stricken him somewhat, too, but like most people, he did sympathize with a showing of despair, even if more subtle forms flew over his head. He conjectured that if he had been a stranger to the pink-haired girl, he would have merely passed her by, as it would be interfering in another's problems, and that knowing her meant he had an obligation to attempt to cheer her up, even if he was already sure he would make a clumsy mess of it. He hoped he would not worsen her pain.
"Uh... I was passing by." he answered, gripping at the question handed out to him just to break the tenuous silence.
It unsettled him seeing her like this, so unlike his impression of her, forcefully burned unto his brain. He wondered what could make her like this, her presence as small as her stature. He wondered if it would be dreadfully offensive to ask.
She should be... playfully forward, like a freight train off its tracks, and then he would be comfortable with worrying where being with her would take him, when he would inevitably see her and he would get dragged off with a choo-choo. He did not expect to meet her, like this. He did not know how to handle her, like this. (Not that he really knew how to handle her in her usual state.)
"I... saw you, and you didn't look okay."
He hoped fate and the inspiration that so fueled his writings would give him words to ease her spirits.
"You might catch a cold."
It looked like the words weren't coming, yet.
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Rain
Jan 2, 2012 17:00:19 GMT -6
Post by Fuukami I. Iryna on Jan 2, 2012 17:00:19 GMT -6
"Oh, do I really look unwell to you?" I give a rather curt reply, without turning my head back, with my hands still clutching on the shopping bags. Now I can feel the plastic straps grinding against my palms. "I'm small, but I'm not weak. The coldness of ice... is my companion. You really care about me, don't you?" Somehow I can't help but throw a comeback at him.
"Ha hah, doesn't really matter though. Even if you don't care, it is still your duty as a sidekick to be concerned about me." My thought process is probably a train wreck now.
"Furthermore, are you even sure that I really need your help, though? I could have called a cab, you know?" My strangely low-pitched voice keeps coming out without much control from my brain. "Or do you have something else in mind? Like... trying to escort me again? Seems like you're more into that kind of stuff than I thought." Like a broken dam under a flood, taunts and patronizing remarks just keep coming out without restraint. Has my nervous system gone haywire? Now come to think of it, my vision has become blurry since that phone call.
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Rain
Jan 6, 2012 23:55:31 GMT -6
Post by Mizukami Ayumu on Jan 6, 2012 23:55:31 GMT -6
He smirked in spite of himself. She was showing some spunk, although it was clearly halfhearted. She was clearly distressed, that much Mizukami could tell.
Still, some was better than none at all; at least he was not working with a situation where all the variables were unknowns. Just most. It could not be helped... he was just a new acquaintance of hers... although he did not show it, he doubted just what he was doing here.
He thought of pointing out how she had been standing there listlessly when he chanced upon her; how there was a strain in the sound of her supposedly demanding voice; how she averted her eyes from him, how she gently shook. She enumerated things she could have done; the fact was, she did not do them, and she was not doing them. Even if one liked the cold, a human being will always be warmblooded, metaphorical or otherwise. There was something wrong.
The smirk receded. The frown returned.
He could not tell just how grievous her problem was, and if his presence worsened it. "If you really are fine..." he began, after her little monologue, which he took in stride, not fully heeding after the first few sentences of vitriol, "...and I am merely being meddlesome, then I can always take my leave. After all, I am... a mere sidekick, as you say."
He wondered what he should offer her; carry the bags she had in her hands? Should he just keep talking? What would she do if he really went off?
"But you really don't look well, Fuukami-san." he insisted.
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Rain
Jan 7, 2012 19:06:17 GMT -6
Post by Fuukami I. Iryna on Jan 7, 2012 19:06:17 GMT -6
Well, looks like... I'm not feeling well after all. Yes, I'm not. I just can't. That phone call is like a mountain falling from the sky and trying to crush me underneath. I had been looking forward to this day, to have a nice cozy family dinner with Mama and Papa, just like an average schoolgirl. Is it too much to ask? Is this... one of the things required to be sacrificed... to live in a luxurious life? I know Papa always have me and Mama in his heart, but... this is... just... not... fair...
My body can't stop shaking violently, not just because of the chilly rain. I can't say any word, and hiccups keep coming out of my throat instead. If I wasn't holding my shopping bags, I would hug myself and curl up.
Suddenly, my instinct is vocalized:
"Could you... stay still for a little bit?"
Then, I turn around, run into him, put my arms round his back while still holding onto the groceries, bury my face in his not-so-broad shoulder, and let out a wail.
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Rain
Jan 9, 2012 8:38:05 GMT -6
Post by Mizukami Ayumu on Jan 9, 2012 8:38:05 GMT -6
"O-oi..." the boy uttered, the volume of his voice halved.
He was, for one of many terms, stunned. Very, very stunned. He almost dropped the canopy over the two of them, regaining his grip in the last moment. His normally lax posture struggled to straighten; it was a bit overdone, that it was more like he stiffened. He was still, at least as much as he could muster; he had obeyed the girl's request, physically, but as the case with the Mizukami, his mind was nowhere still.
He was small, but she was smaller. There was the warmth of her body... he was not sure if the temperature meant that she was getting a fever... but it gave him fidgets he sought to slay, for it was another's warmth, a girl's warmth. He stayed, awkwardly, in the pseudo-embrace; it was like he was a not-so-hard wall, upon which the lass had leaned her head on. He could not even remember when he had been this close to somebody, even to a family member. A light flush, inadvertently, stained his cheeks.
He wondered if Rain's pattering was a melodious laughter in this uncanny situation he found himself.
He wondered if everything about Fuukami-san would be something similar to developments in fiction.
He wondered if there was something else he was supposed to do.
Had he gone too far? Did he say something wrong?
He wondered if what he was doing was helping.
He wondered what the hell he was doing.
He knew there was something wrong, but Ayumu could only guess how wrong. There was an empathy denied him, a curse and an insight, that of a fellow sufferer. He could not fathom her pain; she had mentioned something about her father in their momentous first meeting... he had lost his mother, that was true, but it was nothing tragic...
Was he really being presumptuous with thinking about comforting her?
It was with these thoughts going round and round that Ayumu found himself with nothing appropriate to say, and for a rare occasion, his silence was wise, not merely cautious.
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Rain
Jan 9, 2012 14:34:00 GMT -6
Post by Fuukami I. Iryna on Jan 9, 2012 14:34:00 GMT -6
I... did it. I can't believe I did it. I've left myself totally exposed emotionally in public. I've hugged a boy who, until a couple of days ago, was still a stranger to me. I cried, like I've never cried before. It's like a busted dam. The flood gets through, carry away anything in its path. A powerful torrent. My mouth can't stop screaming as loudly as possible, my eyes shut tight, and the endless streams of tears keep coming out like the falling water around us. I've only done this kind of thing to my mother before, and that was ages ago. I can't... show my weakness like this, not in the middle of the street, where many people come by. I can't let everyone see the proud ojou broken down like this. And yet... I just couldn't stop. Is it a woman's instinct to cry on a man's shoulder when distressed? Is it a fact that a woman will sooner or later need a man to rely on?
Under the small impromptu shelter, seems like time has stopped and we are in our own little world. At least that idea can calm me down a bit.
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Rain
Jan 11, 2012 0:15:58 GMT -6
Post by Mizukami Ayumu on Jan 11, 2012 0:15:58 GMT -6
He let her do as she wished.
Some passersby looked at the strange pair they made, some lingered longer, but they all went off their way after a while, and Ayumu saw no reason to pay them heed. His attention was to the sobbing pink-haired girl who had nestled so closely, so intimately on to him. Even as he did not fully understand, he let her weep on, in the hope that having someone to weep on could help, even just a little. She sniffed an awful lot.
It seemed he had gotten involved with her a little more deeply than he would have liked. But right now that was the least of his worries. Perhaps this was a little past his comfort zone, ironically started by a meager attempt to comfort somebody.
The girl had never really answered her before... why she had picked him to be... a friend, a certain sort of friend under special circumstances. He wondered if this constituted a sort of answer, although he was rather confused by it.
He kept quiet for a little while more, waiting patiently for her tears to stop, or at least decelerate. He lamented the fact that he had no handkerchief ready. He tried to keep his mind from wandering, in respect of the sorrowful. He hoped the pattering of the rain could be pleasant to her as it was to him, so that it would dampen her pain, although perhaps now was not the time for such poetic sentiments. Simpler ones... were needed.
Finally, when she seemed a little calmer, he got the courage to speak up, and possibly snark a little, again.
"Anou, Fuukami-san... maybe I could carry those bags." he interjected, which might have broken the moment, but it did irk him a bit, the way she was leaning on him while still holding on to those burdens.
He nitpicked... because he was really not so sure... if it would sound insincere if he tried to say something like... he sympathized with her... and the usual comforting stuff.
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Rain
Jan 11, 2012 17:23:57 GMT -6
Post by Fuukami I. Iryna on Jan 11, 2012 17:23:57 GMT -6
His statement took me aback. I totally forgot about those bags, and I'm still holding onto them while hugging him. Well, at least he's proving his usefulness. Now that's the way a sidekick needs to act.
"Er, alright, well... You can take one, I'll hold onto the other. You still have to carry that umbrella after all... unless you want to enjoy the rain, that is."
Why on Earth does the song "Rhythm of the Rain" comes to mind all of a sudden? Still, that song does have an impression for me, with a deceptively happy melody, and the lyrics are about some guy who just got dumped by his girlfriend.
After handing one shopping bag to him, suddenly I can't help but shudder and hug myself by reflex. Then a rather loud sneeze comes out. Thank God I managed to turn away from him just a split second before that.
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Rain
Jan 12, 2012 17:41:49 GMT -6
Post by Mizukami Ayumu on Jan 12, 2012 17:41:49 GMT -6
"Okay."
Gingerly he caught the bag that Fuukami had chosen to surrender to him. It was a fleeting instant, but his fingers touched hers, as he fumbled for the handles of the plastic satchel. Her hand felt... cold, even if the falling rain made the air chilly. For a moment he was embarrassed, and then he dismissed the emotion to the back of his brain. There were more important things at hand.
When he had firmly received the baggage, suddenly, Fuukami shivered, and even sneezed, with a quick turn-around. The Mizukami sighed; he really should have brought a handkerchief. His batchmate's emotions were stabilizing, but it seemed she was not fine in more ways than one. This was one of the unfortunate things of his favorite weather; careless people get sick. He frowned, ever so slightly. His concern remained.
"We'd better do something about that, before it gets worse."
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Rain
Jan 12, 2012 18:57:36 GMT -6
Post by Fuukami I. Iryna on Jan 12, 2012 18:57:36 GMT -6
Ah, this is definitely not good. Now I understand the plight of those soccer players (and any other athletes who have to do their job outdoors) when they have to play under a torrential rain. Once the water starts to evaporate, it cools your skin rapidly. I'm like a cat just barely escaped from a raging river.
And now my teeth starts to clatter like castanets. Looks like my senses are fully functional again, but this is definitely not pleasant.
But what should I do now? At least I need to find a place to dry myself up. But where?
"Um... Do you know any place where I can get myself dry? Or... is your place near here?"
Wait, what did I just say? His place? Am I asking to go to a boy's house??? I starts flailing my free arm uncontrollably:
"Waitwaitwait, I meant nothing by that, OK? It's only for convenience's sake, got it?!"
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Rain
Jan 13, 2012 23:09:04 GMT -6
Post by Mizukami Ayumu on Jan 13, 2012 23:09:04 GMT -6
"Place to dry... my place..."
Ayumu trailed off in his statement. He guessed he wasn't really good with these sort of emergency situations. He could not think of a location nearby where Fuukami could change her clothes and dry up without getting sick... or sicker. He was no physician, but Iryna looked like she was very uncomfortable with the chill. He decided to procrastinate on making sharp comments about thoughtlessly exposing oneself to the elements.
He was a little confused to how she had to clarify that it was only for convenience's sake that they might go to his house... of course everything they were doing right now was for that. He decided to merely take note of it, for now. His house... "Well, my house probably is just as far as your house, from here..." Their homes were just in different settlements...
"We could rent a cab..." However, it might not be a good idea to do that, just to get to either of those, not to mention he did not carry that much money on him. (Well, Fuukami-san could pay, so maybe it was still an eligible choice, even if he didn't like it that way. If they go to his house, maybe he could ask whoever was there for money to pay the driver.)
Still, it was better if the drying place was nearer... he sighed without realizing it. At least it seemed her spunk was back. That might hold on the chill for a little longer. "We can take shelter somewhere near... although I guess you don't have a change of clothes..." he frowned, the options he were seeking remaining hidden and vague.
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Rain
Jan 14, 2012 13:40:38 GMT -6
Post by Fuukami I. Iryna on Jan 14, 2012 13:40:38 GMT -6
Oh, I totally forgot. I don't bring any change of clothes. Looks like I cannot go anywhere but home, but walking is definitely out of the question. My legs are starting to go numb.
"Well, l-looks like I have no choice but to take a cab. There's a taxi stand in front of that department store over there. And... you are coming with me, just in case. I... well, I need you as a witness, and... I don't want to feel cold and alone at the same time... I will take care of the fee, so... just be a good sidekick and come along, ok?"
Somehow, I just want him to be by my side a little bit longer. As long as he is beside me, I feel... safe and secure. Even if it is just a little bit, that will be fine. And, to return his favor today, maybe I will let him visit the mansion. A commoner like him doesn't get much chance to actually what a house like mine looks like. To set foot in my modern castle, is enough for a thank-you gift, right?
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