Rain

by pure.innocence

Disclaimer: I don't own Hana Yori Dango or its characters. They are the works of Kamio Youko. I do not own the lyrics below. They come from the song "Waiting in Vain" by Annie Lennox.

-From the very first time I rest my eyes on you, boy

My heart said follow through-

Droplet 00: It Was Him

It was raining outside. Not a storm, not a sprinkling, but real rain. The sky was cloudy, but it was beautiful. The rain pitter-pattered like bullets onto the clear glass, and you could almost see the water nymphs dancing joyously among the water pearls. The sky was the most perfect shade of gray with tints of blue melted in. The green clover field across the street was swaying gently to the rhythm of the wind. The earth opened up and welcomed the droplets of rain. Everything felt so.. alive. It was the first time she saw him. He was walking down the street with such a carefree manner, as if he had no cares whatsoever, as if he didn't realize that he was dripping wet, and that his hair was covering his eyes. But he was beautiful. Suddenly, he glanced up through the blurred glass into her eyes. The depth of those blue-gray eyes imprinted a deep footstep into the sands of her heart. She thought she was in a dream. He was the perfect creature; no flaws were detected. Her thoughts shattered to pieces when her roommate yelled at her,

"Tsukushi! Come on! We're going to be late for work!"

She painfully tore her eyes away from the male specimen and answered her friend's call,

"Sorry, Yuki! I was... distracted."

With that Tsukushi hopped off the window sill and quickly ran to the front door where her friend Yuki awaited her. Yuki smiled kindly at her and gently said,

"It's alright, but you know how the boss is when we're late."

Tsukushi nodded, grabbed an umbrella, and the two ran their way out the door towards the bus stop. When the duo arrived, they were gasping for breath. Thankfully, they made it just as the bus halted to a stop.

"Whew! We made it just in time!" Yuki exclaimed cheerfully and flashed a grin at her still somewhat spacey friend. Hmm... Tsukushi seems so far away...

The girls reached a seat near the rear of the bus and sat down. Tsukushi turned her head to peer out the window at the rain once again. Who was he?

Slowly the bus came to a stop, and the two stepped off. Yuki trailed after a silent Tsukushi into the dango shop. As usual, Tsukushi took the mop while Yuki went behind her place at the counter. No matter how hard Tsukushi tried to concentrate on cleaning the floor, her thoughts always drifted back to a pair of blue-gray eyes hidden partially by tufts of wet brown hair. The eyes. They were hollow but searching desperately for something. What? Her thoughts were disturbed as she heard the bell ringing signaling the arrival of a customer. Tsukushi turned around to greet the client. Unfortunately, as she was doing this, she swung her mop around also. Hence the reason her mop greeted the customer before she did. Right on the shin.

"OH! I'M SO SORRY! Are you ok? Can I do anything to help? It's not anything serious is it? Should I bring you to the hospital?" Tsukushi enquired incessantly with her head bowed down, but to her surprise, he started laughing. Slowly, she lifted her head to take a peek.

There was no doubt about it. No two people could hold the same kind of mesmerizing blue-gray eyes.

The handsome stranger spoke, "Thanks... I haven't laughed in a long time..."

It was him.

~

Author's Notes: Now I realize this is really short. But note that it's 'Droplet 00,' so it's not necessarily a real chapter. Kind of like a prelude I guess. Tell me what you think. The reason I wrote this was to get some inspiration for Un Ciel Bleu. So hopefully, both stories will have a new chapter out soon! E-mail: yingerz@hotmail.com And also, sometimes italics denote thought. Hopefully you can tell. =)

Copyright Pure Innocence 2003