Tears in the Rain
By: bakayaro onna
Summary: One-shot. After Shuichi storms out of the room, someone ponders the differences between tears and rain. My attempt for Aja's Rain and Tears challenge: can a story with tears and rain in it be written and the story not be an angstfest?
Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation; Maki Murakami, Sony, TokyoPop and The RightStuf do. Too bad about the latter two - their translations are inaccurate, sanitized and full of Americanisms.
A/N: My attempt for Aja's Rain and Tears challenge. See the actual challenge after the story.
This idea came to me one morning and by that evening it was done. Detail has purposely been left out to fight the dreaded Detailzilla beast. Also, it's another attempt to keep the word count down to a minimum. Of course, I was in the middle of working on the final fourth of another piece when this one came slamming through.
Started: 11/7/2005
Completed: 11/10/2005
Acknowledgements:
A big THANK YOU to my wonderful betareaders, who are ALL invaluable to me:
-Joules, who always knows how to tighten up my writing into something more succinct, and who keeps me on my toes in the grammar department. You are a godsend!
-Lutra, who helps me by seeing the subtle things. Your unique perspective is incredibly helpful!
-Aja, who shares brain cells with me. You ask for clarifications, just like I do with your work, and they help the visuals!
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The door to the conference room slammed resoundingly, rattling the doorframe, causing the two band members still in the room to wince from the clamor. A few seconds passed before one sighed, rose from his chair and moved toward the exit.
He looked back at the remaining occupant of the room as he opened the door. "Time for the 'search, calm, bring back here' rescue," said Hiro. He quietly closed the door behind him.
Suguru slouched in his conference chair and inwardly grumbled. In a nutshell, the title for the new song sucked, along with some of the words in the chorus. A song with the insipid title, "Tears in the Rain" was ridiculously clichéd and Suguru did not want his carefully crafted and exciting new arrangement associated with crappy lyrics. Well, he had to admit some of the lines did have merit and meter but that over-used phrase was revolting. Suguru had finally put his foot down during their brainstorming session. As a result, Shuichi had performed one of his petty "I am right and you are wrong, you little shit!" dramatic fits and had left in a huff.
Suguru groaned as he rubbed his throbbing temple. He only protested the use of the tired words to express the emotion in the song, not the actual sentiment within the verse. The lyrics contained some very thoughtful and complex ideas. If only Shuichi replaced the predictable and trite expressions with something more unique, Suguru knew he would readily accept the rest of the verses.
Sure, Japanese culture was known for its 'wetness'. Waterfall tears sprang from anime characters with impossibly large eyes. Pornographic manga openly displayed characters dripping with juices from every orifice and even places unknown. The stoic Samurai in the live action films might express intense emotion with a glistening eye during their close-ups. These clichés helped perpetuate the idea of tears falling like rain.
Suguru's brain began calling up assorted images. Tears did not fall like rain from one's face. Tears flowed over the swells and valleys of a person's facial contours and sometimes dripped off a nose or chin. Tears were more like a river or stream of water, not rain.
Rain's faces were legion. Thunderstorms pounded windows with forceful water sheets. Translucent mist dusted the plants with tiny droplets. A soft shower coated the sidewalks with a dark sheen. These unfeeling actions were not what tears did. Rain had no soul but tears came from pain, from joy, from pleasure, from strong emotions and physical stimuli. Tears could be like a thunderstorm, angry and strong. Tears could be like a misty morning, shrouding mysteries in the damp swirls. Tears just did not fall like heartless rain.
Suguru glanced down at the score before him on the table and noticed he had unconsciously scribbled some of his reflections along the margins. Looking at his watch, he determined Shuichi should be calmer now, so he picked up the score with his notes, got up from his chair and prepared to hunt down his band mates.
As he left the room, Suguru felt confident the lyrics could be adjusted so the words would be novel and exhilarating yet the song would still retain the heart and the emotion of the cliché. Originality along with sentiment would guarantee Bad Luck another hit.
Next stop – pulling Shuichi out of the middle stall in the Men's Room.
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Here is Aja's challenge from the Gravitation Muse Meet community at livejournalDOTcom:
Tears in the Rain
We've all seen the cliche-- it happens in fiction, in songs, in movies, etc. If there are 'tears' in the title we expect an angst-fest and tears always go better with rain, right?
I hearby issue a trend-denting challenge to both fic writers and artists!
1. Create a story or piece of art about rain with a non-depressing atmosphere.
2. If you use 'tears' in the title, make the story something other than a "woe is me, Yuki kicked me out again!" fic. The story could be gasp! positive instead of weepy! Tears in art could be joyous!
Here's a fact, folks: Japan has a rainy season. That's right, a whole SEASON of rain. Do you think the Japanese are perpetually depressed during the month of June when Tokyo sees an average of 7.3 inches of rain? I, for one, doubt it. Let's break the mold a little!