Written in early 2015 for shimagunidoumei on tumblr (sadly, they've changed URLs/deleted their blog and I'm not aware of how to contact them). The used prompt was "both of them spending time together on a rainy day".
-.-.-.-
Arthur knew for a fact that Tokyo was indeed supposed to be rainy this time of the year.
While rain was nothing new for the blonde (when had he realized people in the street were giving him weird looks again?), he couldn't help feeling a bit upset.
Thousands of miles away from home for… More rain.
Okay, he was aware that he was there for work, not to do tourism, but it still felt a bit… Depressing.
Also, the fact that he had forgot to bring an umbrella that day didn't quite help lifting his spirits. Buying another was just a no-go, for he already had…. 5 or 6 identical black ones at home?… All of them bought in rainy days when he had forgotten the (not so) useful item.
Well, he could only hope this whole complicated job would be finished as soon as possible so he could go back home.
-.-.-.-
The rain got too heavy for him to try to go home.
Turns out he had to run to a small library, the first building he managed to find.
Since he was drenched, the man judged it'd be best if he just waited near the entrance, or he'd most likely damage the books, all of them with yellowed pages and a distinct smell of… Dust.
Another man, seemingly a local, had had the same idea.
-.-.-.-
Arthur had to resort to escaping the rain by staying there a couple more times during that week. After that day, he had given up on carrying an umbrella altogether, for his bags were already way too heavy without an item that would only barely protect his head.
Funnily, Kiku was also there every single time.
-.-.-.-
Arthur happened to pass by the library on a sunny day, on his way from work.
Well, not exactly sunny. The exact definition would have been "cloudy".
There was nobody there besides the librarian.
-.-.-.-
During the following week, it rained every. Single. Day.
Arthur found himself almost memorizing the librarians' names, despite not having ever talked to any of them.
Kiku was also there, every day.
As soon as the rain would get a little less ruthless, he'd leave without a word, even though the same couldn't be said about his gazes.
He'd never stop gazing at Arthur.
-.-.-.-
"Come here a lot?"
"Y-Yes, actually. It never gets crowded, so it is good for escaping the rain without getting myself into insanely crowded places."
"Makes a lot of sense."
"…"
Hurried steps could be heard, but only if one paid close attention to their surroundings. Even then it'd be a bit hard, though, since the heavy rain made everything else sound a lot softer.
-.-.-.-
The next three rainy days, Arthur had to wait by himself, as he thought it'd be better to let the librarian be.
-.-.-.-
"Do you like tea?"
"A lot."
"Interesting. Me too. However, I must say I'm still not used to the tea usually served here. Despite technically being the same kinds of tea, the ones from my country are so different!"
"Where are you from?"
"The UK."
-.-.-.-
"Hey, were you born and raised here in Tokyo or its surroundings?"
"Actually no, I was born and raised in the far north. Do you know Sapporo?"
"Never been there, and probably won't have time to visit so soon."
"It is a pity, then. The city is very beautiful, especially during White Illumination."
"Sounds indeed very interesting."
-.-.-.-
The rainy season was soon over.
Arthur never saw Kiku again, as even when he'd go to the library, there'd be no visitors.
-.-.-.-
It was silly. It was stupid.
What had Arthur been thinking when he decided to spend New Year's holiday in Sapporo?
Anyway, White Illumination was indeed beautiful.
Arthur couldn't help feeling like someone was stalking him or something, though.
-.-.-.-
He was finally almost finished with his job!
Just a bit more and he'd finally be able to go back home.
Probably he'd complain nonstop about his city and family the moment he got there, but he knew very well that deep down, he missed everything terribly. Tokyo was good, but didn't feel like home.
He started packing up, even, piling up the boxes at the corner of the main room.
That was when a terribly heavy rain started.
-.-.-.-
Arthur hurried towards the windows to close them.
While he did manage to keep the rain from getting in the small flat, the same couldn't be said about himself.
As soon as he saw a certain figure struggling with the rain, he was running and trying to catch up with the necktied, but messy-haired (probably due to the rain) man.
The offered shelter was not as easily accepted as he'd expect, despite Kiku being completely drenched.
-.-.-.-
The rain got so strong that people were oriented to under no circumstances leave wherever they were at the moment.
Not that the man would have been able to leave anyway. By the time Arthur managed to catch him, he already had caught quite the cold.
After handing him a dry towel and clothes, none of them accepted without refusal at first, Arthur finally managed to take a closer look at the rain.
It was nothing like he had been expecting. Judging from the sound, he believed the rain would be accompanied by wind, creating a white foggish scenery. What had actually unfolded, however, was a seemingly gentle rain, that would fall gracefully, until the drops would hit the ground, then losing their gentleness and showing ruthless strength, in thick droplets flying to every imaginable direction. Taking those raindrops would certainly be painful, perhaps even harmful depending on the part of the body.
From the smaller figure behind him, he could hear a comment:
"Beautiful, is not it? Rain like that is rare, you are a lucky one to see it. It is as strong as those storms, but much more of a spectacle. However, I must say every rain is a show on its own."
Arthur found himself answering without even thinking:
"Your take on rain sounds a lot interesting. Hadn't looked from this side."
The whole reminiscence was cut short by a sneeze, taking his full attention to his somewhat (yet not quite) forced companion.
He had a fever.
-.-.-.-
While the rain lasted not much more than 7 hours, Kiku stayed a bit more than three days. Arthur had already guessed from their countless conversations that he most likely had no family, which meant no one would be there to care for him.
Even though it slowed his packing up considerably (for some reason, he didn't want to pack up in front of Kiku), Arthur actually didn't find it a nuisance. His companion was easy to please, never too prying and had interesting views about pretty much everything, just like he had already known from previous times.
Kiku slowly but steadily got better, and always tried to convince Arthur that he was okay to leave, to no avail. In the jet-black-haired's sleep, Arthur realized his companion actually had a lot more grey and white hair than he first had thought so – maybe genetics, maybe stress, maybe… Both?
Come to think of it, despite feeling like he knew a lot about the man, he also didn't know a lot of things about…
About Mr…
What was his name again?
Then it clicked.
Arthur had never asked that man's name.
Even worse, he had never told his own name.
-.-.-.-
But how was he supposed to fix it?
It would be way too awkward to ask his name by that time. The other would most likely believe he had already been told his name and had simply forgotten it, there was no way it would work. He'd end up offending his visitor.
He'd have to be stealthy. While he knew very well how to be subtle, it worried him a bit that it'd be harder than one would imagine.
-.-.-.-
He considered shuffling through the man's belongings while he slept in search for a document or credit card, but the idea was quickly discarded.
He had quite a light sleep, and even worse, sometimes seemed to be asleep when he actually wasn't. Being caught mid-action was probable and not a desirable situation at all.
Asking discreetly and indirectly? No, he would probably see through his façade with ease, for the Asian always seemed to go at a different speed than him.
It was actually getting to his nerves! Why was he being so overdramatic over such supposedly easily obtainable information?
-.-.-.-
That was most likely the last night the man would spend at his house, and it was past midnight.
Arthur was getting more and more nerve-wrecked as time would pass and no ideas would come.
His increase in nervousness didn't go unnoticed.
"Are you doing well?"
"Yeah, I'm just a bit tired."
"I am terribly sorry for being such a nuisance. I will leave as soon as I can, so you can have your space and time for yourself."
"No problem, it's not like you came here and ordered me around to give you shelter."
An awkward silence followed. Arthur then took one of his most reckless and impulsive actions, probably desperate for the small piece of information he oh-so-much needed.
"I know it's probably not the best time to ask, but… What's your name?"
The other man seemed to be ready to answer, but as he saw something at the corner of the room, he gave up and pretended to fall asleep, taking advantage of the late time.
Arthur sighed.
-.-.-.-
The next day, when Arthur woke up, he was alone.
There was a small message, thanking him profusely for the help and apologizing for the nuisance, along with a considerably large amount of money and sweets.
Arthur would have preferred a lot of other things over that, though.
The message was signed only as "a visitor".
-.-.-.-
When Arthur arrived at Narita Airport, it was raining heavily. As far as he knew, it was raining on a 100-mile radius, an atypically widespread rain.
Well, his flight would most likely end up delayed.
And someone would be running from getting wet in a small library somewhere.
Someone born and raised in Sapporo, who liked tea, was easy to please, had extremely quick wits, a lot more grey and white hair than it seemed from the distance, found rain amusing, along with many other things he knew about him.
He just wished he could call him anything other than "someone".
-.-.-.-
Owning an apartment at a privileged location was good, especially as a way to get money.
The downside was the cleaning he had to do every time someone new would rent it.
Funnily enough, the last person probably was a neat freak, for the room was quite well organized and cleaned.
That was why a card with "Honda Kiku" and a telephone number under the sofa sounded so off.
-.-.-.-
Special thanks to chesmadsmile and uselessbroodygaycarmilla on tumblr.