It was a calm, August Saturday evening. There were some dark clouds in the sky, but other than that, there was just the blood-red sun setting in the west. You were walking home from work with Shin and Toma, who were walking ahead of you and talking. You had fallen behind them, reminiscing about when you would do this all the time as kids. It was a nice thought, and left a goofy smile on your face.

"Hey, why do you have that look?" Toma asked as he turned around.

You hastily wiped the look off your face and told him, "It was nothing."

But Toma wouldn't take no as an answer. He slowed down to your speed and said, "Come on. You can tell us. We probably won't laugh."

"No! It's nothing I said," you stated as you picked up speed. As you sped walked, you accidentally bumped into Shin.

"Hey! Could you guys stop this? It's already annoying walking with you guys, I don't need any more of that," Shin said.

Toma replied, "Aw, come on Shin! Don't you want to know too?"

"Not really. Besides, I need to get home. I heard there's a storm coming and I don't want to be caught in the middle of it," Shin said. So, you and the boys you loved like brothers all walked home together.

You were writing in your journal after you got home. Just jotting down thoughts and feelings. Over the past few weeks, you had been talking to Ikki about a love interest you had. You couldn't think of anyone else to talk to about it. Ikki was surprised when you had asked him for love advice, but he gladly took the chance, after attempting to get out of you who it was. You had never told anyone about you liking this person before, so you wanted to keep it a secret from everyone. He had given you some sound tips and thoughts, and now you were trying to figure out how to tell the person that you liked them.

A few hours after Toma and Shin dropped you off, you had finally fallen asleep. The storm Shin mentioned earlier had actually come, and it was massive. Heavy drops of rain pounded against the window, with loud booms of thunder that shook the room. Lightning flashes were constant, and it illuminated the dark room. Hail tapped against the roof.

It was difficult for you to fall asleep because you weren't exactly a fan of storms. But you had managed to fall asleep in the middle of the gale when you heard a loud pop above you. You woke up with a jump and something sliced into your arm. One of your ceiling lights had broken and the glass from the bulb shattered all over the floor. And one of the pieces had lodged itself into your upper right arm.

You hurriedly ran to the kitchen and grabbed a hand towel from a cabinet. You turned on the water and placed the cloth under it. You tried to turn on the light, but it was no use. The power had gone out.

You ditched the lights and returned to the sink. You grabbed the towel, turned off the water, and began to tug at the glass. It wasn't a big piece, but it was stuck good. Every time you pulled, it just added to the level of pain.

You attempted to free the shard from your arm for ten minutes, but no such luck. You were taking a break when you heard a cheerful ringing coming from your room. It was your cell phone. You ran over to it and picked it up. Hastily, you answered it. "Hello?" you asked shakily.

"Hey. Where are you?" a familiar voice asked, concern intruding in on the question.

"I'm at home. Where are you?" you inquired. You winced as you moved your arm to talk.

"Are you hurt?" the voice asked, forgetting your question.

"I…. got some glass in my arm on accident." you said.

There was a pause. You didn't hear anything on the other line until he said, "Okay, I'm coming over. Don't go anywhere!"

You waited for what felt like an eternity. He'll be here soon you kept telling yourself. At last there was a knock on the door. You rushed to it and opened it up like it was your savior.

There standing on the threshold was the person you had been waiting for. His jacket was drenched in water, his boots were all muddy, and his green hair was strewn everywhere.

Ukyo walked into the apartment. In his left hand he held his checkered hat, in his right was a small first-aid kit. He was breathing heavily as though he ran all the way here. Immediately after you opened the door, he ran over to you to inspect the wound in your arm. He didn't even bother to take his shoes off, but you didn't mind. He was here. That was all that mattered.

He looked up at you. "Could you go sit on the bed please?" Ukyo asked you. You obeyed and sat on the edge of the bed. He grabbed the wash cloth you were using earlier from the kitchen and walked over to you. He said, "I may not be a doctor, but I will do the best I can."

And he began to work. He pulled a pair of tweezers and some gauze out of the kit, and began to pull. You winced in pain as he tugged at it.

Finally, the glass became free. Ukyo placed it on the ground and looked where the shard had been. "Well, the good news is it wasn't that deep. You did bleed more than I had anticipated, though." It was true. There was quite a bit of blood on your arm. You didn't notice it though. You were so concerned about Ukyo getting here safe that you weren't thinking about the glass at all.

"Thank you, Ukyo," you said meekly.

He was surprised at first, but then he smiled. "It's no problem. After I heard the lights had gone out over here, you were the first thing I thought of. I knew you didn't like storms, so I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Again, thanks."

Then you and Ukyo sat in silence. But it was a comfortable silence. The storm outside was raging on, with heavy thunder and crashing lightning.

Three days had passed by. Ukyo wasn't able to leave because of the storm conditions. You offered your bed for him to sleep in, but he insisted that you keep your bed, while he made a makeshift one on the floor, consisting of blankets and sheets and pillows. It looked comfy, but you could tell he was anything but comfy on that thing.

You didn't mind him staying over. As long as you weren't alone here in the dark with the chaotic storm out there, Ukyo was very welcome.

With the power out, there was a limited amount of things to do. Sure you had books, but they were just some textbooks from school. You didn't have many board games, and the only card deck you had was missing quite a few cards. So most of the time you and Ukyo would just sit around and talk.

On the third evening, you and Ukyo decided to play a game of Truth or Dare. He let you go first in asking him.

"Okay, truth or dare?"

"Dare," he answered.

"I dare you to…" you had to think for a moment. What could he do that wasn't dangerous or gross, but still funny enough he would accept it.

"Go outside in the rain for five seconds."

"Do I have to go downstairs?"

"No, just out on the terrace is fine."

Reluctantly, Ukyo trudged off to the balcony and opened the door. The rain blew into the small apartment. The wind tore through your clothes as if tiny daggers were stabbing into your skin.

You counted five seconds, then motioned and shouted for Ukyo to come inside. When he saw you, he quickly ran in, shivering from head to toe.

"T-t-t-that wasn't n-n-nice of you t-t-to do," he said shakily.

You quickly got him a towel and wrapped it around him. He asked for another towel and a blanket so he could warm up. You went and grabbed another towel and a big comforter from a closet and ran back to the living room. After he had recovered, he said, "okay, truth or dare?" You could see him whispering under his breath that you would choose dare, but you weren't going to let him have that luxury.

"Truth," you stated. He looked defeated from what you could see with the lightning pulsing into the room. You could also see the gears turning in his head, thinking of what he could ask you.

Finally, he asked, "Do you like someone?"

You were taken aback by his question. He could have asked what your favorite TV show was, or if you wanted a pet, but he had to go for your most personal possession. And the thing was, you did.

"Well?" he asked a little impatiently. "The fact that you hesitated answers my question, but I want to hear it come from your lips."

He edged closer to you. You told yourself to move, but your muscles ignored you. He just kept getting closer and closer to you, and you kept shouting at yourself to move, but you stayed put. Your heart kept getting faster the closer he got to you. Almost too soon, he was right next to you on all fours, staring straight into your eyes, and you were staring straight into his. They were a gorgeous turquoise color with a splash of tan around the pupil. His eyes reminded you of the beach, with the waves crashing onto the shore, the beautiful sand stretching as far as the eye could see. You felt like they were a portal that led straight to the ocean.

"Yes." You whispered to him. "I do like someone." He stopped coming. It was like your words had brought him back to reality, and he had crash landed. "Okay," he said with a voice that wreaked of devastation. He backed away and sat back down. "Your turn," he stated half-heartedly and hung his head. Was there something wrong? you thought. "I don't want to play anymore," you said. He looked up at you and asked, "Why?"

"Because I hurt you. Because of what I said, I hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me," he said with a fake smile that was illuminated by the flashes of lightning.

"Yes, I did. So tell me, how can I fix it?" you pleaded.

He said sadly, "There isn't anything you could do to help me now." And with that he went over to his "bed" and curled up under the comforter you gave him earlier. You started to say something, but then abandoned the thought and went to your bed and faced the wall.

You both lay in silence. This time it was a strained silence, with the tension of the game you had played earlier still lingering around. Finally, Ukyo broke the quietness with a question.

"Who is it?"

You were alarmed by his question, remembering the promise you made to yourself to not tell anyone about who it was until you were ready.

"Please tell me. If you don't…" his voice trailed off.

Of all the people who could have asked you who you liked, why did it have to be Ukyo?

You heard a rustling of sheets and blankets from across the room and the light sound that walking made on carpet. Suddenly, the bed was weighed down on the other side and Ukyo wrapped his arms around you. He didn't try to do anything, other than hugging you.

"Tell me please," he whispered to you. His breath tickled your ear.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" you said louder than you meant to. Ukyo was slightly shocked at the tone you accidently slipped into your words, and started to retract his arms from you. You quickly grabbed them as he tried to roll off the bed, causing him to gasp. He turned to look at you and asked one simple word.

"Who?"

You couldn't hold it in any longer. This person was so special and so near to you, you just couldn't keep it a secret any more.

"Well, I will say this: you know him quite well."

If Ukyo wanted to know so badly, you were going to have some fun and make him guess. "Someone I know?" he repeated. He sat back on the bed and thought for a minute. "Is it…. Shin or Toma?"

"Nope," you said with glee. "Guess again."

"Kent? Or maybe Ikki?" he guessed.

"Wrong again, Ukyo. I will give you two more tries," you replied. He was so close to the answer since you didn't know that many guys, or people for that matter.

"It isn't your boss, Waka, is it?"

You cringed. "Definitely not him. One more try. Come on, you are so close to it."

He thought and thought and thought. It's so easy! Why can't you just put the pieces together? you thought to yourself.

"I give up." he said finally. "Will you tell me who this guy is?"

"Well, you guessed Shin and Toma, Ikki and Kent, and Waka for some reason. What other guy friends do I have?"

Ukyo's face was scrunched up while he was concentrating, thinking back to all of your friends. There was only one other person you could like…

Then his face went back to normal as he came to his realization. "Is it…. me?" he finally asked, pointing to himself and holding his breath.

You crawled over to him and threw your arms around him. You whispered in his ear, "You guessed it."

His face lit up and he enveloped you in his arms. You both looked at each other and he did something you had been longing for ever since you started liking Ukyo.

He kissed you.

He was very tender about kissing you, as if he had practiced it a hundred times before (which you were hoping it wasn't with other girls.)

When his lips parted yours, it was like he was taking all of your hopes and dreams with him. The kiss was amazing. You both were sitting on the bed, just looking at each other. This had been one of the best nights of your life.

Ukyo started to speak. "I love you," he said. "I don't want to ever let you go. If anything ever happened to you, I would do anything to get you back. I would even jump through parallel worlds to have you safe with me."

"I love you too, Ukyo," you said simply. You couldn't express how you felt about him with words.

After that, you both just started talking. You talked about life, about work, and what you both should do for a first date.

You started to yawn. "What time is it anyway?" you wondered. Ukyo just shrugged. "Are you tired?" he asked. "A little," you replied.

"Then lay down. I won't leave you," Ukyo said. So you lied down on the bed. He climbed up beside you and snuggled with you.

"Goodnight," Ukyo whispered.

"Goodnight, Ukyo."