NXYZ 001 Fic Exchange
Title: The Reality after the Rain
Written for: doroniasobi
Special Message: I am no university student, so I have no idea how to goes down there. I'm sorry. They're just guesses, I guess. I hope this is okay, doroniasobi… T_T; I have no faith in myself. I'm sorry that toward the end it was really brief… and I hope it's worked. I have to admit it; I must have rushed the end. I still hope its okay. T_T;; I really can't write Niou well, I almost through his characterization in the bin. But this is the longest one-shot I've ever wrote. Ever.
Pairings/Genres/Rating: Yagyuu/Niou, Niou/OC, Romance/Angst, T for language.
Beta: CarnettRose
A/N: Hope you'll enjoy this. Pop me a message, that'll make my day! Em… yeah. I seriously don't have anything to say.
Summary: He was in despair when he left, and he could no longer find a reason to keep his pulse going. He wasted his life, until he accidentally met her, and then he soon realised everything happened for a reason, and ultimately, he was glad, in a way, that he left. It made him realise something.
After his junior high, his high school, his college life, he got bored. He made his life into a game, a game where he was the winner. The King. He had everything by the end of his college life. Money. Looks. Women.
But what he lost in the end was friendship. Of course, he wasn't a believer of things like 'friends forever', well that was just pathetic. Pathetic wishing for useless people. Although, his Yagyuu was different.
Yagyuu lived with him, stayed with him, kept him company for most of his life. He was the one who knew him best; no one else could compare. No, you wouldn't even bother.
They were best friends. So when Yagyuu left him, he broke down.
He had left him just after college, saying something along the lines of 'I've had enough of your selfishness, Haru' and went to move in with his long term girlfriend in a smart house not far from the train station.
So of course, being the person Niou was, he began to blame Yagyuu's girlfriend, Ayama Yuna for the loss of his best friend and former lover. Well, the woman was the one who lived with him right?
And because Niou knew he couldn't touch her, it fuelled his frustration and for the fact that he didn't want to hurt Yagyuu even though he left him. They shared fond memories of the years they were together and yes, Niou has been through a lot but he wasn't about to do the scariest thing of all – to hurt Yagyuu. He accidentally did it before and Yagyuu gave him such a stare which made him want to commit suiside, something he decided to never do for anybody else.
And even though he seemed heartless, it wasn't true. He knew deep down doing anything to hurt Yagyuu was against his logics, his morals. Mind you, he didn't have many.
But his heartbreak was something serious. Even he himself didn't expect this. He couldn't stand going back to 'their' two bedroom apartment that 'they' shared and everything, utterly everything reminded him of Yagyuu. Every little detail. But he couldn't leave it either, he couldn't turn his back away from it – this place was the only reminder left of Yagyuu Hiroshi ever being in his life.
This was just sad, he thought once.
He couldn't even think any more without thinking of him. So he ended up drowning himself down with tears, locking himself in the apartment and when he couldn't take the smell of everything anymore, he went outside to get himself wasted.
So, in conclusion, he ended up missing the first day of university, ignored many letters from the university about that and him missing lectures and they almost expelled him but they didn't in account of how one of a kind he was, as they found out on his entrance papers. Niou Masaharu was brilliant, after all. If he set his mind onto it, it would do just about anything.
He ignored calls and the doorbell, after the incident where Marui, Akaya and Yukimura slipped in when he opened the door, thinking it was the pizza delivery guy. They talked (mainly Yukimura, the others shouted at him) about his actions and gave him an hour long lecture. Niou would have ignored it if it wasn't the knowing eyes of Yukimura. As expected from his past captain. He guessed what he heard from Marui was true – the idiot Genichirou left him.
Basically, was there any point? When people you care for leave your life for good, the feelings it can cause in your heart is so bad you can't bear to do anything anymore. Many call this heartbreak. Perhaps this was. But it was worse as he had ever felt it.
When another letter came through one day, he read it, for once. Again, as he expected, it was from the university. In the letter it basically mentioned that if he missed another lecture that he would be expelled. They also wrote something about the reluctance of him to leave the school being the reason why he was allowed so much time off.
Niou sighed. He knew it wasn't good for him to stay like this and he couldn't possibly get expelled as he worked his arse off studying for the entrance exam. It was one of the best universities of the country and he was lucky to be let off for so long.
He stared at himself in the mirror. He hadn't seen himself in the mirror for almost a month now; he had just been living on Yagyuu's bed and pizzas and the bar opposite the apartment block. He wasn't surprised at his features though.
His next lecture was scheduled to start in 3 hours time and he needed to get ready and get the train to school. He sighed again. He couldn't waste time. He quickly washed his face and picked up a razor.
Niou had almost forgotten the feeling of school. The people walking by, the lockers, the rooms, (or lecture rooms now). Perhaps it was just the mere atmosphere of it all. He wasn't all that sure what it meant.
According to his timetable, he had two lectures scheduled. One was the one he was sitting in now and the other one was at five-twenty-five, dead on. He didn't know why they made these times were just so awkward. It's silly, really.
He was early, it turned out. When he walked into the room, there was only one other person in the room.
She had a strange shade of blue hair – lighter than light blue; it was like a bluey silvery colour. Niou, surprisingly, wasn't put off by the colour. Perhaps it was because his own hair used to be a similar shade. He wasn't all that sure.
Her eyes – yes, he could tell the colour even though she was sitting quite far back and he was standing on the fifth step on the stairs – were a kind of green. Again, similar to his own light blue with a hint of green eyes. She had fair skin – and it was flawless. Sure, to be honest, that was nothing special; anything could be achieved with the right make-up these days but something told him this girl wasn't the kind to bother with make-up. The natural kind, he called them. The quiet and witty type, she was, he calculated in that instant. He could try hitting on her for fun's sake – he used to do it all the time back in junior high and all through high school, for it was the second most enjoyable thing to him besides tricking people with his skills.
He chuckled to himself for that moment and he didn't realise he was already on the fortieth stair, right beside the row she was sitting on and of course, she just had to notice him.
"Em, excuse me, did you find something funny?"
"No, 'course not. What makes you think so?" He was actually starting to laugh now and he was finding hard to stop – it was her expression, see.
The girl narrowed her eyes. However, Niou didn't expect what came later.
"…So, have I seen you before? You sure you're in this lecture?"
So she was actually trying to change the subject to hide her embarrassment. How cute. He played along with it though, thinking it would be a bad idea if he upset her.
"Uh, yeah. It says on my timetable." He practically threw the piece of paper at her, and luckily, she had good hand eye coordination and managed to catch the sheet of paper before it drifted onto the empty seats next to her.
She opened it and not soon after, her eyes widened in horror. Niou had an idea why though. He smirked.
"…You're Niou Masaharu? The guy who skipped lectures for a whole month and didn't get expelled?!"
Niou laughed, "Am I that famous?"
"Heck yeah!" Her eyes shone, for some reason. "Everyone's been talking about you! Even someone misses a mere week of lectures they get expelled immediately! What on earth did you do?"
Niou shuck his shoulders innocently. "Nothin' in particular."
The girl glared at him. "Don't lie to me! Spill! Now!"
Niou raised his eyebrow. He was going to enjoy watching this. "How about… no?"
The girl folded her arms. "I don't take no for an answer, you rude –"
Niou snorted, "Rude? You're calling me rude after you find out my name and I don't get to hear yours. What happened to a good family background?"
The girl went pink. "Fine. I take it back. The name's Ayama Natsumi. I want you to take back that comment!"
Niou was trying to come up with a good comeback when the name ticked in his head. He smirked.
Natsumi raised an eyebrow. "What are you plotting at now?"
"Are you in any case, related to an Ayama Yuna?"
Natsumi widened her eyes in what appeared to be, pure shock. Bingo.
"….Yeah, she's my older sister. Why do you know her…?"
Niou was so happy previous thoughts of depression didn't cross his mind once. "Oh, it doesn't really matter. She was a distant friend of mine and she often talked about her darling little sister."
Natsumi blushed. She tried to hide her face. "Uh-uh… really?"
"'Course," Niou inwardly smirked. He couldn't lose his act now or he was sure she was suspect something was up. Now, all he had to do was to make her fall for him, which seemed easy.
His plan was simple – the simpler the more effective, as one must say. Once he makes her fall for him, he'll confess to her, or perhaps she'll do it first, date her and treat her good for a bit and break off with her the cruellest way possible. Knowing her personality, she'd probably go crying to her older sister and then upon hearing his name damage will be done. Simple yet effective. That's the way.
He had a quick look around. People were starting to fill the room. He had some curious stares but he didn't care.
"Say, is the seat next to you empty?"
Natsumi actually raised her head again, and nodded. Actually, only three other people sat on the same row of 20 seats.
Niou sat himself down without another sound and smirked at the damage he'd done. He could read the girl like an open book and that just made his tasks easier. But there was something he couldn't put his finger on… He had to be careful. Not everyone acted as they seemed…
Oblivious to his analysis though, Natsumi was smirking herself.
He arrived home at around seven. During his free time period, he couldn't go and hang out with Natsumi since she had something going on. Now he thought about it carefully, she did act awfully strange. It was the way she was smiling when she felt – a confident smile, totally different from what her actions during the lecture showed him. It just proved that she was hiding something…
Perhaps the possibility of her trying to trick him was there. Was it Yagyuu? Perhaps, but why? Why would he want to get back at him? It didn't make sense to him. Perhaps her sister was the mastermind. Yeah, that made more sense but she wouldn't want to get back at him either, actually, it was the other way around. Niou wanted to get back at her.
Then… was she doing it at her own accord?
It was all maybe maybe maybe; they were ganging up at his brain. He decided not to think about it too much and sat himself down to watch TV. He flicked through the channels, trying to find something good to watch. He finally stopped at a romance drama that came on every weekday at about seven. He usually watched it with Yagyuu and made fun of the mere cheesiness of the whole thing. The acting was crap, the plotline was shit and the whole thing was cliché. It was the kind of thing that teenage girls liked to watch and because they were just so hopeless they would somehow see past all the clichéness and like it. Anyway, Niou was snorting at the whole thing.
"Why…why are you leaving me, Naru?"
"Didn't I just tell you, Sakura? You're annoying. I've had enough of your selfishness, too, Sakura –"
Niou's eyes widened. He knew at the back of his mind that it was stupid but he had to keep watching. He grabbed a cushion and leaned closer to the TV.
The actress reached for his hand but the actor shook it off and walked out of the door, with his suitcase in hand. Surprisingly, it was exactly how it happened to Niou. Well, almost.
After the actor left, the actress fell to the floor, super dramatically. She was pretending to sob and whimper. Then it showed the actor, who was driving away in his fancy Benz, looking emotionless. He stepped out when he arrived at a large house, when he opened the trunk to get his suitcase out and pressed the doorbell.
Niou knew what was going to happen next.
Another pretty actress appeared, with dramatic eyelashes and over-done makeup. She smirked at the sight of him and led him in the house.
It was a pretty classy house, which added to the effect. Damn it, that woman's house is big and stylish too!
The actor sat on the sofa, crossing his arms and frowning. "Have you got what you wanted, bitch?"
Then the commercials started, leaving Niou deep in thought. That couldn't possibly happen for real, right? Sure, he hated that bitch but he can't just say things that would be childish of him. But he was known to be an 'I don't give a shit' kind of person. Well, he is, but no one notices that he cares.
It was a Thursday afternoon when he met the woman named Natsumi again. Apparently, they only shared a lecture every Tuesday and it was just a coincidence that they met that afternoon. Niou was off to his Biology lecture and Natsumi was off to her English Literature lecture. They happened to walk past.
Niou asked for her mobile number and she didn't hesitate to give it to him. He however, didn't hand his over, since he was planning on something. She seemed to have caught onto it as well, as for a second she left her character.
Weeks pasted by and they became closer. Partly because Niou made that happen and Natsumi wanted it to happen too. At first they became friends and then slowly they became closer and closer, until Niou confessed his fake feelings for her, asking her out.
Of course, she'd said yes. They both wanted this, after all.
Their first date was to watch a film and have a coffee afterwards. Niou wanted to watch - A Day in the Life of … -, an American comedy about a guy who for some strange reason, woke up every day of the week as someone he knew. Finally, he woke up as a woman named Helen Jones, a close friend since High School. He realises her feelings and etc etc etc... It really doesn't matter much does it? Expect, Niou does like his Hollywood Comedies, only second to Hollywood Spy movies. Of course, sometimes he liked to watch Japanese movies – mainly comedy though. He hated watching romance movies more than anything though, even if he was watching them with Yagyuu. He found them fake, sloppy and disgusting.
When they arrived at the movies, it appeared that Natsumi didn't think much about romance films either, looking at the expression she had looking at the latest sloppy shit's poster. Niou was inwardly overjoyed at this but didn't show it and pretended to not know anything. Natsumi didn't realise her character was slipping either.
"Hay." Niou nudged her gently, so she snapped out of it. She was probably recalling some odd memory.
"Uh, what's up, Masaharu?" Natsumi turned a little pink and Niou had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing. She was really something. She was about the best actress he knew in person.
She caught his expression.
Natsumi raised an eyebrow at him, pretending to be annoyed.
"What's so funny, Masa?"
"Nothing, dear." He was waving his hands around stupidly. "So." He got himself back together again, "What do you want to watch?"
Her hand brushed past her above knee cream dress and took hold of Niou's hand. It was Niou's turn to raise his eyebrow but he didn't say anything and willingly let her drag him over to another poster.
"That one." She said, simply, almost childish, as she pointed over at the promotional poster for - A Day in the Life of… - . Niou grinned, hardly believing his luck. Niou hugged her out of gratitude and she looked on, confused.
"Come on," he said, this time his hand dragging hers to the ticket office. He muttered thanks, not really expecting Natsumi to catch it but she did, blushing. And it wasn't fake.
Niou enjoyed the film so much he didn't even bother faking anything to her. He laughed when no one else did but he didn't care about the stares. He almost forgot about her presence until her head hit his shoulder and he turned to look at her.
She was sleeping. She did mention once that she was a narcoleptic, not in a serious case though, she once said. She would sleep when she would least expect it but especially when something was not to interest to her.
Ah well. She couldn't help it. He carried on watching, but he found he was slightly distracted. Her hair looked so soft and when he reached to feel it in his fingers, it felt right. Her face was peaceful, unlike the many times he saw her in a foul mood.
Something stirred inside him.
He put the jacket he was wearing over her shoulders – she was wearing a short sleeved dress – and continued to watch.
He didn't even notice that she woke twenty minutes after, surprised that she had his jacket around her and then she smiled. She herself knew it wasn't fake and half hated the guy who caused it. She looked up at him, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that he was concentrating on the film. She sat up straight and started watching the film as well.
It was late afternoon, almost early hours of the evening when they arrived at the coffee shop. They sat outside even though it was quite chilly – no one else was – and Niou did the gentleman thing and handed her his jacket. Natsumi refused at first but the look on his face, take it or suffer, told her otherwise. Niou didn't mind though; he liked the cold.
When their drinks arrived, Niou started talking.
"Did you enjoy today?" he pondered, dropping sugar cubes in his cappuccino.
"It- It was fine." Character, character. She had to remember to stay in character. Her sister's boyfriend did mention that Niou was a hard guy to fool. Hell he was.
"I'm glad. Did you like the film?"
Now he was doing it on purpose. She realised that he was toying with her. Damn that bastard.
Niou smirked at the utter silence. He wasn't sure if the embarrassment she showed when she gave his jacket back after the film was real or not though. But he was pretty sure it didn't really make much difference.
She silently stirred her mug of espresso. She was angry, really angry at him.
Niou only smirked. He knew she wasn't going to bore him.
Marui called one night. He was asking something along the lines of a reunion of the tennis team. Niou asked him who was coming and he replied, "Everyone but Yagyuu. Yagyuu said he was going to be abroad on that day and we can't do another date."
"Oh," he replied, without hesitating. "Then I'm not going either."
"Niou, wait –"
Niou didn't even feel a pang of guilt when he put the phone down and joined Natsumi on the sofa, who was watching a western thriller.
It was already a month since they started dating. Maybe it was the right time, he thought. Now, all he had to do was to break up with her in the cruellest way possible.
He thought about it, for a moment. He could go to the bar and flirt with other women, get drunk and wake up with a couple next to him and drag her to the same bar. Or, he could stop going to see her for long periods of time, sit at a different seat in the lecture they share, start pretending they don't know each other, ignore her phone calls, texts, etc. Yeah, he could do that. But there just had to be a better way of doing it.
Oh well. He could just do what he usually did to girls when he wasn't interested any more. He had plenty of practice during junior high and high school, since he did play around with the girls in his fan club.
It didn't really matter to him much, since women, in his eyes, were just for fun and company. They were useless most of the time and were there to be mistreated.
Natsumi was prepared, however. She was also determined to break his heart.
On a certain afternoon he was sitting under the sun in a park, slowing forgetting his surroundings. It was one of the more quiet areas, away from the constant screaming of young children and teenagers messing around.
He used to come here, as he remembers, with Yagyuu at times. They used to talk here, share a couple of smiles and strange looks. They'd only come here for some sun and fresh air, rather than cooping in their apartment.
He wondered what he was thinking now. Yagyuu left him more than three months now and the pain never did really go away. It just showed him how much he actually meant to him.
He drank about half his iced-tea and sighed. It wasn't really like him to be lost in his thoughts. The Niou Masaharu he knew, as himself, was one to make rash decisions and occasionally do the right thing (in his eyes, anyway). Now he was so different he felt like Yanagi.
It sucks, he admited to himself, that afternoon.
But it wasn't as if he actually had a choice. Perhaps his mind was going, from all the personalities that he stored in his head. To use them occasionally was one thing but to use them all the time, well, it wasn't going to be pretty, the consequences.
He thought he was gay, a couple of years ago, now he wasn't too sure. At first he hated being around her but the thought of wanting to crack her act and revenge were the only things that motivated him to keep going. But as time passed by, he didn't mind being around her. How strange.
He wondered what she thought of him too. Later on that day he called her out and gave her a set of keys to his apartment.
Perhaps he really was moving on.
On the 28th of November, he got a fancy envelope.
You are invited to come to Yagyuu Hiroshi and Ayama Yuna's wedding on the 1st of December –
Niou almost tore the invitation in two if Natsumi didn't happen to walk out of their bedroom, see what he was holding and stop him. She, of all people, didn't say anything, pocketed the invite, and left.
Niou fell on his knees, defeated.
He wasn't even sure why he turned up. Apparently he was supposed to be a best man along with Yukimura, Sanada and Yanagi, but he refused. Yukimura glared at him, but he didn't give a damn. He hated the man, he hated the man and he knew it. The man made him cry for an entire month and Niou never cried. It was a pride thing.
He probably went because Natsumi was a bridesmaid alongside Yagyuu's younger sister Haruko, and Ayama's close best-friends, Shouko and Rukia. Niou snorted at the sight of them – they were the gossipy types. He wondered again what Yagyuu saw in Ayama Yuna.
Perhaps he came for a proper farewell to his best friend. Even if he left him, he was still his best friend. Yagyuu was Yagyuu; no one in his lifetime could ever replace him, however much he hated him.
They had a typical church wedding with the full works. Apparently Ayama was a Christian, so she was to blame for all the hymns, the prayers, all that whatnot.
Niou sat next to Akaya and Jackal. Marui was glad to stand in for Niou but he did, as a friend, give him a meaningful look before joining the other best men to go over what he had to do.
Jackal gave him worried looks all the way through the service. The whole team knew how important Yagyuu was to Niou and they all didn't quite believe it when Niou said that he'd moved on. They've all saw how Niou looked at Yagyuu – who was smiling with pride. Niou felt a tear running down his cheek. He wiped it before any one could see it though.
Natsumi saw it though. It broke her heart.
When it was time for the photos, the old tennis team plus his family and other friends crowded around Yagyuu, Congratulating him, telling how lovely his new wife was, how jealous they were ect.
Niou stood afar, watching. He was waiting to speak to Yagyuu. But if Yagyuu wasn't willing, then he'd have nothing else to say.
Yagyuu didn't walk up to him, in the end. Their eyes met, but he looked away. Niou was pissed. Ayama glared at him as if he was a love rival. Yeah, as if.
Niou had a reputation to keep, so he stormed off, cursing him and hoping that Ayama would get hypothermia and die.
It started snowing. Niou held a flake in his hand and licked it in the courtyard. The sight of snow calmed him down and he went to find Natsumi and drive them home. The after party was only in a couple of hours, after all.
Niou was eating with a murderous expression on his face. Since he was a 'close friend' and all, he was lucky enough to be placed on the same table as Yagyuu and Ayama. Yeah, lucky. But at least he had Natsumi to sit with but even she was getting uncomfortable with Niou's murder glare. She stole a glance at Yagyuu, who was eating as normal, chatting to his new parents-in-law like there was nothing in the world that was bothering him.
Natsumi secretly admired her new brother-in-law but this amount of control was amazing. Even her parents were beginning to look unnerved, even though it was nothing to do with them. Ayama looked slightly afraid, but then again, she wasn't one that could hide emotions well.
Niou was in his own little grumpy world when Yagyuu effectively dragged him out of it.
"How are you doing, Niou-kun?"
Niou glared daggers at him. "So now you want to speak to me, Mr. Important."
"What's wrong?" His voice was perfectly calm. Wow.
Niou started snarling. "You. That's what's wrong."
"Me?"
"Don't pretend you don't know. There's not even any point now. You're not the guy I used to know."
"I have changed."
"Yeah, for the worse."
Yagyuu didn't say anything. He knew from experience that when Niou lowered to that tone he was going to do something crazy.
Niou got up, grabbed Natsumi's hand and dragged her out the restaurant. Natsumi didn't look back.
Niou banged his head on the wall outside of the restaurant and angry tears streamed down his face. Natsumi didn't know what to do. She had never seen Niou cry before. He always kept himself composed. Perhaps they really were as close as she heard they were.
She knew it wouldn't help but did it anyway. "Do you still love him?"
Niou's voice, surprisingly, didn't tremble. "I don't know."
She still had a chance. She heard him out first, and in mid sentence, she through herself at him, embracing him from behind.
Niou felt her warmth in the snow and was grateful. Perhaps he really could get though heartbreak, after all.
After Niou's birthday, her true colours fully appeared and never went away. She wasn't the fan girl type anymore. It pleased him. He no longer had to put up with her acting.
"Masaharu, why can't I call you Haru?" They were having that petty argument again.
"Natsu, I'm pretty sure you know why."
"I don't know if you don't tell me!"
"Then I refuse to." Niou smirked at her before crashing onto the sofa and flicking the TV on.
"Hmft." She knew very well no bribe would work against him because there simply was nothing he cared for.
"However…"
Natsumi raised her eyebrow, wondering what her 'boyfriend' was going to say.
"You should 'a dropped your act earlier, Natsu."
Natsumi snorted. She did kind of expect a comment like that though. After she finished washing the dishes, her eyes stopped at the scene outside. It was snowing. She loved snow, the blankness of it all attracted her – the beauty was just an added bonus.
Niou noticed that she stopped and he knew what she was looking at. The snow. That was another good thing about being born in December – most of the time you'd get snow and Niou was fonder of the cold. Sure, he liked summer and the sun at times, but then it just got irritating. You know, the heat and stuff.
His gaze returned to the TV and a few minutes later, Niou heard the sound of her slippers and afterwards, her body next to him. She was warm and he couldn't help but put lean closer to her.
Natsumi, surprisingly, didn't really mind much.
Niou mistook this warmth for Yagyuu, again, and soon fell asleep. Natsumi noticed and ran her fingers through his hair. She went to kiss his forehead and smiled. Perhaps they were slowly beginning to warm up against each other now. She didn't know but neither did he.
She ended up falling asleep next to him, and the only thing that still could be heard was the TV's voices and laughter.
One winter, he was walking out in the cold, with her, hand in hand. She was smiling at him and he chuckled.
"What's so funny?" She asked, slightly tilting her head.
"Isn't it weird?"
Being on the same wavelength as him certainly helped to understand where he was coming from.
"'Suppose so."
"Y'know, I don't even remember how I fell for you. It might have been in the middle. Don't know, don't care. "
Natsumi laughed, her silver like hair shining in the winter sun. The sight was beautiful.
"It came as a shock. Y'know, I hated you at first."
"I hated your sister."
"Saw where you were comin' from. I liked Yagyuu-kun though."
"'Suppose so." Niou gave her a rare smile.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Haru, but I think it was a good thing he left."
"Now, I'm gonna take this the wrong way –"
"Okay okay!" She held her hands out as surrender. "I meant that it was a good thing he left MY SISTER okay?"
"That's better." Niou breathed a sigh of relief.
"She was a bitch though, turned out. Yagyuu-kun didn't even know what she was doing to Miaka-chan!"
Niou was left deep in thought. He really didn't think he'd actually fall in love with this crazy woman but great minds do think alike. It reminded him of the saying that he used to hear: The Rainbow after the Storm. Well, for him, the rain had finally dried up, and now, the reality shone though. Sure, it could always be bitter but it was to be faced and faced head on.
Her laughter rung in the air, into the deepest part of his heart.