New fandom. New fic. New point of view for story telling.
A little fun fact, I was actually inspired by the song 'Helpless' from Hamilton. That's not to say this will go along the lines of 'Helpless.' I just really liked how warm the song made me feel. Hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Miyamura Haruka stole a glance at the clean, white face of her wristwatch to check the time, a small frown pulling on her features when she realized just how late it was already. She always left school late, thanks to club activities, but with how terrible the weather had suddenly gotten, getting home was a task easier said than done. She was thankful she had decided at the last minute to take her umbrella with her before heading to school, but even with the bright yellow umbrella shielding her from the rain, she still couldn't avoid her shoes and the hems of her pants and sleeves from getting wet.
'At least I don't have to wait out this rain but…'
Haruka fished out her phone from the pocket of her tracksuit and slowed down her pace a bit so she could search through her contacts for a specific name. She didn't need to look that long though, since the name she was looking for was set to appear somewhere at the top of the list. Haru sped up again when she called the number and pressed the phone against her ear.
One ring. Two rings. Three.
On the fourth, someone picked up.
"Nee-san?"
"Yuuichi, are you home already?" the girl asked, raising her voice to make sure her brother could hear her over the rain. "I'm gonna be a little late, so can you start dinner? Promise I'll make it up to you."
"Sorry, Nee-san. I'm kinda on the way home too..."
Haruka's frown deepened. "Really…? Damn. Alright," she sighed. "I'll just hurry up then."
"But gramps is there, Nee-san. He's not gonna let those two go hungry, you know. So don't go running like a crazy woman, you hear?"
At that, Haruka couldn't help but laugh and nod. "Yeah, yeah," she replied as she came to a stop at an intersection. The signal was still red and a few cars were passing by, splashing rain water about and forcing the girl to take a step back from the gutter. She wasn't too far from home now, just maybe four or five blocks more, recognizing the bakery across the street with the dark green awning. It was already closed, given the hour, but seeing it meant that she was almost home. "Anyway, where are you?"
"Just got off at the bus stop."
Haruka's shoulders relaxed a bit, breathing a little easier upon knowing that her brother was somewhere close behind her. She didn't want him to be out in the rain this late. For a moment, she considered if she should wait for him somewhere so they could go home together, but she decided against it, reminding herself that her grandfather was taking care of the twins alone. "I see," she hummed. "I'll see you at home then. Take care."
"You too. See ya."
The call then ended just before the signal light turned green, and Haruka slipped her phone back into her pocket as she crossed the street. All she needed to do was to cross a few more streets then make some turns, and then she'll be safe at home. It should have been easy enough, but then she noticed someone standing under the awning of the store, arms wrapped tightly around them. They were wearing an all black tracksuit and had gray hair, and Haruka was surprised that she hadn't noticed them earlier from across the street. Then again, it was dark.
'And that is exactly why I'm going to walk a little faster and-'
Achoo!
It was barely audible, but Haruka heard the sneeze that the rain almost drowned out and she stopped before she could pass by the shop. It was cold, after all, even without the rain. It was the middle of spring, but the mornings and evenings were still quite cold. Add to that the heavy downpour…
'This is just the recipe for catching a cold.'
And Haruka wasn't one to ignore a person in need. So mustering up her courage and offering a polite smile, she stepped under the shade of the awning and closed her umbrella.
"Hey there," she chirped. "Are you alright?"
Hazel eyes glanced up to meet her gaze, though Haruka doubted if 'up' was the most appropriate word to use. Because with the ridiculous height difference between her and the stranger, apparently a boy around her age, he might as well have been looking down at her.
Haruka felt her eye twitch.
'Tall…'
To her surprise, the stranger managed a smile of his own, albeit an awkward one, and somehow, the gesture pulled Haruka out of her train of thought and helped her feel a little more at ease. It also got her to notice the beauty mark sitting just below his left eye, the wet clothes he was wearing and his mess of damp gray hair.
'He looks like a nice guy.'
"Ah, I'm alright," he said, trying to come off as casual despite being suddenly approached by a girl. "Thanks for asking... I'm just waiting for the rain to let up."
The girl tilted her head to one side and her expression softened. "You forgot your umbrella?"
A chuckle escaped the tall boy as he nodded. "Yeah," he timidly answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Of all the days to leave it at home, right?"
Haruka shrugged. "Can't blame you," she hummed. "It was pretty sunny this morning."
"Yeah…" he sighed, his shoulders sagging.
From how heavy the rain was, Haruka was certain the downpour could well go on until tomorrow, and that meant the poor guy was going to have to run through the rain. At this rate, she knew he was going to come down with at least a cold.
An idea coming into mind, Haruka pulled out her phone again and dialed Yuuichi's number. "Give me a minute," she told the taller boy, causing him to blink, but nevertheless stay put.
Not that he could go anywhere else without getting drenched.
"Nee-san, what is it this time?" came her brother's response upon picking up. Haruka could hear the sound of the rain even through the earpiece, her sibling probably still walking the way home.
"Yuuichi, are you near the bakery?" Haruka asked as she turned to look at the crosswalk she had come from, knowing that her brother had gotten off the same bus stop as she had and should be taking the same rout home as she had.
"Uh, yeah… Why?"
"Well, I ran into a friend on my way home-" The girl didn't notice it, but the companion she had raised his eyebrows at the mention of 'friend.' "-and he doesn't have an umbrella."
A grin pulled on her lips when she heard the person on the other end of the line heave an exasperated sigh. "You want to lend him yours so he could go home, right?" Haruka opened her mouth to confirm his speculation, but he continued on talking. "Alright. I'm coming up at the crosswalk. I'll pick you up."
"Thanks, Yuu," she giggled. "You're the best. Love ya."
"Whatever, idiot," Yuuichi huffed before ending the call.
Satisfied with her handiwork, Haruka nodded to herself and turned back to the person she shared the awning with. "Alright, that's settled," she chirped. "You're taking my umbrella."
The boy blinked. "Huh?"
Haruka lifted up her umbrella, offering it up to him, and smiled. "It's late, and I'm pretty sure your family's gonna be worried if you're gonna have to wait this weather out."
"That's-"
"You want to go home as soon as possible, right?"
"That's true but-"
"I insist," Haruka stated. When he didn't make a move to take the umbrella, she grabbed one of his hands and slipped the strap onto his wrist.
"Nee-san!"
"And that's my cue," Haruka announced, looking over her shoulder. Her brother, a rather tall boy for someone in his last year of junior high, was already crossing the street, his red umbrella held over his head. "Get home safe. It was nice to meet you!" she sang before crossing her arms over her head to act as some sort of shield. She then dove into the rain and met Yuuichi halfway, dragging him along to head home.
"Nee-san, what's the point of me coming to get you if you're just gonna go ahead and run through the rain like a lunatic?" Yuuichi scolded his sister, his blue-gray eyes pointedly turned at the shorter, yet older girl.
Haruka, on the other hand, simply shrugged, slowing down from the previous jog she had forced her brother into by dragging him. "I didn't get that wet," she told him before pulling on the hems of her white tracksuit. "Besides, I've got my jacket on."
A sigh escaped Yuuichi's lips as he rolled his eyes. "Anyway, who did you run into? I didn't get to see them." The older of the two siblings suddenly stopped walking, prompting Yuuichi to stop as well unless he wanted to get his sister wet.
"Huh. I don't know…"
=oOo=
Sugawara Koushi stood dumfounded underneath the cover of a closed bakeshop's awning, with a stranger's bright yellow umbrella hanging from his left hand. She hadn't exactly appeared out of the blue. It had been difficult for Suga to ignore her umbrella while she had been crossing the street, but it was still a surprise when she began talking to him. The stranger was a short girl, her full height just barely reaching his shoulders, with black hair that had been pulled back in a braid, slate gray eyes and dressed in a white tracksuit. He would've been confident to say that she was, at most, a junior high student, but there was an air of maturity that hung around her that made Suga unsure.
She was nice though, that much, Sugawara could tell, though maybe a bit reckless.
'Who would just lend their umbrella in this weather?'
With a sigh, Suga let that particular question go unanswered and resigned himself to his fate. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful. He was actually very grateful for the umbrella, since it meant he'd be able to go home without having to run through the rain and risk getting sick. It was just the first week of classes and he really didn't want to have to skip on lessons and practice this early in the term. The only problem was…
'How am I supposed to give her umbrella back? Or even thank her? I don't even know anything about her…'
Everything had happened all so fast and she didn't really leave much room for him to complain, or to say anything, for that matter.
Another sigh escaped Suga's lips before he pushed the umbrella open, only to be surprised by just how bright the color was. He found himself staring at the yellow circle it became and eventually, a small smile began to pull on his lips. With how gloomy everything had become thanks to the weather, the striking yellow was a refreshing sight.
Suga's smile widened, a chuckle even escaping him despite the lack of anything remotely funny, as he pulled the umbrella over his head. It was like he had his own personal sun now. But before he stepped back into the downpour, he noticed something else attached to the umbrella's handle aside from the strap. It was a laminated tag. Suga pulled the tag closer to his face and after reading the writing on it, he raised his eyebrows. The tag had her name and contact details.
If found, please return to Miyamura Haruka
XXX-XXXX-XXXX
Apparently, the stranger he met was very fond of her belongings.