Seasons. Miriko loved them all. Some more than others. Spring would have to be her favorite season. She loved the weather and the rain. She would stand out in the light rainfalls until her older brother Raphael would drag her in. The only downside to spring were the thunderstorms. Thunder being one of her top phobias, she would curl up on her bed with her pillow over her head until it was over. Which is what she was doing now.

Miriko barely heard the doorbell ring. She couldn't tell who was at the door and she really didn't care at the moment.

Downstairs

Raphael let Gin Ichimaru, their teacher, into the house. He handed him a towel to have him dry off. "What are you doing out in the rain Mr. Ichimaru?" Raphael asked, curious as to why their teacher would be out in the rain without an umbrella.

Gin looked at Raphael as he dried his silver-ish white hair, his normal grin never fading and his eyes never opening. Raphael always wondered why such a young teacher had almost white hair and why he always kept up that creepy smile. "Oh, well I was at the school an' when I realized it was 'bout to rain I started walkin' home. It started rainin' on me though an' I remembered that I left my keys in my classroom. Since you're my neighbor I thought you would let me in. An' you did." Gin answered Raphael and handed him the towel. Raphael took the towel and led Gin to the living room, putting the towel in a hamper on the way.

Raphael sat in a recliner and Gin sat on the arm of the couch so he wouldn't get the cushions wet. He glanced around the room. "Where're the girls?" Just then Hotaru, a girl who looked around 15 with long black hair with silver tips, walked into the room. She stared at Gin and looked over her shoulder. "Hinako! Come here!" She heard a groan and soon a girl with pure red hair with black tips and looked the same age as Hotaru appeared next to her. "What is it?" Hotaru pointed to Gin. Hinako looked over to Gin. "Oh…hi Mr. Ichimaru." Gin simply waved at the two girls. Hotaru looked at Raphael. "Why is Mr. Ichimaru here?" Raphael pointed a thumb towards one of the windows. "It's raining and he forgot his house keys." Both girls replied with an 'oh' and sat down on the couch. "Where's Miriko-chan?" Gin asked them, glancing around. He'd been in the house before and Miriko was usually downstairs. Hinako sighed and looked towards the stairs. "Thunderstorm, which means she locked herself in her room. I didn't bother to pick lock her door this time 'cause she always refuses to come out from under her blankets." Gin couldn't hold back a small laugh and stood up. "How 'bout you take me up to her room? Maybe I can get her to come out." Hinako rolled her eyes but stood up. "Alright but don't say I didn't tell you that she's stubborn." She led Gin up the stairs as Raphael and Hotaru watched. Raphael growled and slouched in the recliner. Hotaru smiled nervously. He still didn't like Gin being around Miriko.

Hinako pick locked Miriko's door in about 10 seconds and stood up. "Alright, it's open. Good luck in getting her to calm down." She pushed up her perfectly round red sunglasses as she walked away and down the stairs.

Gin waved as Hinako walked away and quietly opened the door. He looked at the bed and easily saw Miriko's form under the blankets and one hand holding down the pillow. He shut the door behind him and walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge. He stared at her for a moment, hoping she would say something. When he got no response he spoke up. "Miriko-chan, come out from under there." He heard a muffled 'uh-uh' and sighed. He tugged lightly at the blankets but Miriko had a tight grip on them with the hand that wasn't gripping the pillow. He tugged harder and saw that she tightened her human ball. He let go of the blankets and thought. He sighed loudly and said "Mother…" Immediately Miriko moved the pillow off of her head and glared at the teacher. "Don't. Call. Me. Mother." She said in an angry tone though her voice was cracky. Gin's smile widened when he saw her face. "Sorry but that's the only way I could think of getting you to look at me. Now how 'bout you come out from under there?" Just then there was a flash of light and followed soon after was a loud crash of thunder. The pillow was back over Miriko's head in a flash. Without hesitating, Gin picked Miriko up, the blankets falling off her, and setting her next to him. Miriko yelped and glared up at him, still clutching to the pillow. "Why? Why do you always do this?" Gin tilted his head to the side. "Do what?" He asked innocently. "Always bother me when I want to be alone." Miriko answered, still glaring. Gin looked up at the ceiling. "'Cause you shouldn't have to be alone. You should always want someone with you." Miriko gave him a blank stare. "You sound like you're talking about a life partner or something." Gin looked back to her. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." Miriko groaned and flopped onto her side. "I hate your little riddles." Gin chuckled and patted her head. "It's fun to toy with you." "I can tell…" Miriko said, staring across the room.

There was silence for a few minutes, both thinking that the thunderstorm was over. Yet again though, there was another crash of thunder. Gin grabbed Miriko so that she wouldn't crawl back under the blankets. "Ichimaruuuu, let me go under the blankets." Miriko whined to him. Gin shook his head. "No. Don't you know that it's not the thunder that hurts you? It's the pretty flash of light that hurts you." Miriko nodded. "Yes, I know. But the thunder is scarier. And I thought you were a Biology teacher, not an Earth Science teacher." Gin raised an eyebrow at her. "That's common knowledge my dear." Miriko went silent, realizing this. Another crash of thunder hit and Miriko tensed, gripping the pillow tighter. Gin just kept up his smile and pulled Miriko over to him, keeping the arm about her shoulders. "Jus' ignore it Miriko-chan. Block it out." Miriko took in a deep breath and let it out, trying to calm herself. She rested her head on Gin's shoulder and stayed like that until the thunderstorm was gone.

When the sun was back out Gin looked out the window right next to Miriko's bed. "Hey Miriko-chan, look outside." Miriko lifted her head up off his shoulder and looked out the window. Outside the window was a double rainbow. "Pretty!" She yelled and Gin took his arm off of her. "See? This can be the result of thunderstorms." Miriko nodded and kept looking out the window. A pure white cat with blue eyes walked into the room and jumped onto the bed. It walked over to Miriko and sat in her lap. Miriko looked down at the cat and started to pet it. "Hi Gin! Look at the pretty rainbow." The cat looked out the window and purred. Gin couldn't help but laugh at the cat. Miriko had no idea what his first name was when she had named the cat. He ruffled Miriko's long brown hair. "I think I'll stay for dinner." Miriko laughed. "You didn't even get permission!" Gin just looked at her innocently. "Do I really need it?" Miriko smiled and shrugged. "Ok, but Hinako's cooking tonight." Gin paled slightly. "I think I'll go home to eat." "That's what I thought."


Ok, this was my first fluff story between my OC charie Miriko and Gin so I hope I did well on it. Sorry if Gin was a little ooc but I love how this story turned out. Please review so I know how I did and light criticism would be appreciated.