In the Rain of Grey Fate
When she'd woken, her clouded eyes found the window near her bed, droplets of water cascading down its transparent surface. Immediately her groggy eyes widened a fraction as she looked on the colorless utopia just beyond the glass. Never had she seen the city of Tokyo look so drab and lifeless, never had she known its usual hustle and bustle to be drown out by the likes of nature.
When she'd pulled her eyes away from the window, she noticed her apartment was also covered in grey, then a prickle traveled up her spine and a thought occurred, perhaps the world had suddenly turned black and white for a reason, maybe she was supposed to search for that reason, or maybe the newly colorless world was fates way of pushing her toward something.
She grabbed a jacket and pulled it over her tank top, she had hurried to her apartments genkan and pulled on a nearby pair of boots, stuffing her pajama pants into them carelessly. She stood and reached for the umbrella stand only to stop suddenly, color, she saw color for the first time since she'd woken that morning.
She walked along calmly then, safe from the rain under a ruby red umbrella. As she traveled along silently she noticed that the rain hadn't stopped the citizens of Tokyo to from wondering about, the walkways were as crowded as they'd ever been and traffic was backed up for blocks, and yet, never did she hear a sound from the people surrounding her, or the impatient cars sitting idle on the road. The only noise reaching her near deaf ears was the constant out of rhythm rain drops beating on the plastic canopy of her umbrella, and the only color her eyes witnessed was the vibrant ruby protecting her from the rain.
She thought on it for a long moment as she wondered if the ruby coloring was meant to assist her, yes that had to be it, whatever it was she was meant to seek out it would likely be dyed in ruby or some variation of the hue.
All over the city she walked, the downpour only growing heavier as she went, gusts of wind had begun to whip rain at her from behind, pushing her to continue forward as the droplets dampened her clothes and messy hair.
Wondering where it was she'd wondered to then, her eyes found a tall building just on the other side of a large concrete wall, a hospital.
She was beginning to consider the idea of giving up on her search, began toying with the notion of ignoring the prickling on the back of her neck and the newly black and white world. But then she wondered: if she didn't continue her search, didn't locate whatever she felt the need to find, would she ever see color again?
She would pass by the entrance of the hospital easily, pass by its concrete awning as if no one inhabited the area. She glanced, out of the corner of her eye, at the area of the shelters edge and she stopped immediately. She turned slowly as her gaze found color in something other than her umbrella.
It was subtle, but noticeable to her in a world of grey. She stared for a long moment as she realized what she'd meant to search for wasn't an object, but a boy.
He sat in a wheel chair, watching the grey sky with detached ruby eyes, his skin accented with ruby stitches, his face, his neck, his arm, his hand, her eyes stopped at his hand as she noticed it was resting on his leg, or rather the stump of the newly amputated limb.
She approached him, unbeknownst to herself, and stopped just a few feet beside him. She wondered if that was the person she'd been meant to search for, if that was the one fate felt inclined to make her find, if he was how would she know?
"Good afternoon!" His chipper tone caught her off guard and she realized she'd been staring at him as she was lost in her thoughts.
"O-oh, uh, hello." She greeted in near bewilderment, "excuse me, I hope you don't mind my asking but, what's your name?" As the question rolled off her tongue the boy's grin grew.
"Juuzou Suzuya." When he answered it all faded, color came rushing back in a smooth transition centered around him, she watched as vibrant hues traveled over herself and past her to the rest of the city, taking the cities silence along with it; she sighed as the usual busy sounds of the metropolis rang in her ears once more.
She looked from the, once again, saturated city as she turned back to Juuzou, who tilted his head to one side as he looked up at her. So that was her sign then, that boy was who she was meant to find, was someone whom she was likely meant to make a difference in the life of, or perhaps he was meant to do so for her.
"Well then?" His voice shook her from her thoughts again and she gave him an apologetic smile as she requested he repeat the question, Juuzou only giggled before doing so cheerily. "What's your name?"
Their lives were going to change as soon as she answered, as soon as the word left her lips she would be integrated into Juuzou's life and things would change, for the better? For the worse? She didn't know, but that didn't stop her from taking a breath before responding.
"My name is…"