"Erm, Haru, maybe we should go home soon..." Haru looked up from his book, when he heard his Buddy Gatchmon, who was sitting right next to him, saying that. A quick look around told him, that he was the only person left in the bookstore, everybody else was already gone and it was pretty quiet right now. Another quick look on the clock, that was hanging on the wall also told him, why. The evening was drawing very close. He started reading this book at around noon nonstop. Haru was so invested in reading and learning about AI and what it does now and what it can do for humanity in the future, that he completely forgot the time...again. He closed the book, and rubbed the back of his head, while he looked embarassed at Gatchmon. "Sorry Gatchmon...I was just really invested in this book..." Haru admitted with a red, embarassed face, as he stood up ready to go back home with a smile.
But that smile faded just as quickly, as soon as he and Gatchmon said goodbye to Ai and her dad, and stepped outside of the bookstore. Even though it was the middle of summer, there was no sign of that right now. Where everything was bright and hot a few hours ago, everything now was very dark, and a strong rain was pouring down, showing not even sign of stopping. Haru quickly glanced at Gatchmon, who was floating in his CHIP-Form right besides him. "There was nothing about this rain in any of the weather reports, right?" Gatchmon, who was already searching the entire web for information about that storm, was shaking his head. "No...every report on the web said, that today will be a completely sunny day." Haru let out a small, but very frustrated sigh. He didn't had any jacket, or umbrella with him, because of the weather reports. It was becoming much worse too, as the cold wind started to pick up, making Harus entire body shiver.
He thought about going back inside the bookstore, and maybe waiting for now in their hideout, until the storm calms down a bit. "Hey Gatchmon. I think we should..." But he didn't finish his sentence, because suddenly, a hand appeared right in front of him. This hand was holding a black jacket and it seems, like it was giving it to Haru. A cold, but also very familiar voice then said: "Here...put this on..." Haru looked, and was suprised. "Rei?" The hacker was standing there, completely wet from the rain. With another cold expression, he moved his hand, that was holding the black jacket closer to Haru. "Put this on..." Haru nodded, putting the jacket on, and immediatly his body started to feel a lot more warm and comfortable, than it did before. One quick look at the hacker revealed, where he got it so quickly. "But Rei, now you're not wearing..." Rei just looked away. "I don't really care..." He glanced at Haru. "We are going to my place. It's much closer than yours. So come on..." And without even waiting for him, Rei started to quickly walk right back into the rain. Both Haru and Gatchmon looked at each other for a few seconds, and then immediatly followed him.
While they were walking back to his home, Rei glanced every few seconds at Haru, to make sure, that the other boy was still close. He wasn't worried or anything, he just wanted to make sure, that Haru wouldn't get suddenly lost. He also tried not to shiver in this cold wind and just ignore it. Since this rain started, Rei had a feeling, that Haru would still be in the bookstore, studying AI, instead of going home. And as the rain got worse and worse, he just wanted to see, if Haru finally noticed it and went back home. This was, when he saw, how the other boy just left the store, without anything, to protect him from this stormy weather. He didn't notice, that the hacker was watching him, so Rei could've been just going back, ignoring Haru completely. He probably would've found his way back home. But Rei couldn't do that, because it didn't felt right. After all the kindness, that Haru always showed him, the least Rei could do, is to give him his jacket, and let him stay at his place for a while. There was nothing more to it...or was there?
Haru was sitting on a sofa in Reis appartement and listening to the the rain drops, that were all landing on the window and running down from it. Gatchmon, after coming here, was now sleeping in Harus pocket and Reis little brother Hajime currently was at a friends house. So it was only him and Rei, who dried himself up after coming back, who were now in the room. The hacker was sitting right next to him, not knowing, what to say, or what to do right now. There was an awkward silence in the air for a few minutes, that Haru broke, as he smiled at Rei. "Thank you very much for bringing me here, Rei." Rei, after hearing that from Haru, suddenly felt how his cheeks became much warmer. "No...no problem. It was just a coincidence though..." Rei tried to lie to him, but Haru knew, that this wasn't true. So, with a bigger smile, he came closer to Rei. "Rei, I know, that this isn't true...I know, that you really care for other people..." But then, Rei looked Haru directly in the eyes. "Just you..." He suddenly said, confusing Haru at first. "The only people, I really care about, are Hajime...and you." He admitted that to Haru, making the other boy suddenly blush in a very deep red.
"What?" Haru didn't know, how he should respond, as Rei continued. "You...you were the first one, who believed in me and who showed me kindness, despite how I wanted to..." He stopped, as he rather wanted to skipp that part. "And afterwards...you...you always wanted to be my friend..." Rei remembered, how despite him acting cold towards anyone, Haru never once stopped being kind to him or trying to be his friend. Meanwhile, both boys could feel, how their hearts began to race and how their cheeks warmed up. Rei, to calm himself down, glanced somewhere in the room. "So...that's why I care for you..." Haru, after hearing all of that from him, began to smile, and he began to take the other boys warm hands into his own. "Rei...thank you for saying all of that." With a smile, he looked out the window. "Seems like the storm won't stop for now...so I guess I have to stay a bit longer." Now it was Reis turn, to smile back at Haru and to come even closer to him. "That would be great."