(#2 Request by Sadaharu-sama)
Beast and Rain
Part: 01 -How Takasugi and I met-
That night was a stormy night with heavy rain.
I am Mina, and I am working here, right at this night bar, called 'Otose'.
"It's pouring! It's okay, I'll go."
It is almost midnight, and Gin-san tries to stop me from going out to buy some groceries in this heavy rain.
"It's fine, Gin-san. You just stay there and continue drinking."
I open my umbrella and step outside, while Gin-san still furrows his brows at me.
"But to let a girl walk alone at midnight is really..."
"I. AM. O. K. ! I'm going now!"
I shout over Gin-san's words and step out of the bar with a smile.
I don't want him to worry too much
Plus, it's raining t his much. There won't be many people out.
"...aaaand she left," Gintoki mumbles after seeing Mina leave rather quickly.
"Whaaat, you're worried-?"
The drunken Hasegawa-san smirks while probing Gintoki.
"Shuddup," Gintoki says before emptying his glass of sake.
Listening to the drumming rain against my umbrella, I run along the dark streets.
The puddles of water that splashes against my legs are cold.
"Heavy enough...?" I complain at the rain clouds.
The icy cold wind makes me shiver to the core.
Maybe I should've take Gin-san with me if it was going to be this badI think much later, and rush with the errand, wanting to go back as fast as possible.
...but at this time,
...if I hadn't gone...
...and if it was Gin-san who had gone instead...
I wonder what would have happened...?
I might have never met him...
...and I might have been able to enjoy a life with normal, peaceful days...
Nothing out of the ordinary...
I walk through a dark alley way where not much people knew of.
This path is a shortcut through to the convenience store, so I go through as usual.
As I do that... I find one guy sitting down beside the wall of a building that is part of the wall of the alley way.
Right in this heavy rain, they guy sits there without even an umbrella to shield himself and my feet haul to a stop.
"...um, are you okay?" I ask softly as I share the umbrella when I stand beside him.
But I get no response from the guy and only the sound of the rain patters loudly.
I kneel down and try again.
"Are you okay? If you're in a place like this..."
I put a hand upon his shoulder and stare into his face.
It is then that my breath is taken away.
The face is shockingly perfect in proportion,
An eye-patch on the left eye,
From the hair with slight purple shading drops beads of water...
I feel an aura that is telling me that this person is dangerous, and that I shouldn't touch him...
...but I can't leave alone a person who seems to have his energy drained out of his body.
I put my umbrella down and pull the guy's arm around my shoulder.
"First of all, let's find a shelter until this rain stops..."
I pull him and myself up to stand with a huff.
But where... where can we find a shelter...?
I look back down the alley way where I came from and think of a certain place.
If it's between buildings, there's a few roofs to shelter ourselves from the rain.
I pull the guy towards the closest buildings where there's a roof in between.
He might have a fever...
I make him sit, leaning against one of the walls, and then I place a palm against his forehead.
"He's burning..."
Just as I had predicted, the guy's forehead is burning up with fever.
And then, the guy's eyes twitch.
As I quickly remove my hand away, the eye slowly opens.
"Oh, you got your conscious back now?" I ask with a smile.
But what I receive is a piercing glare.
If I were to compare it to something... it would be a beast.
"...Who are you?"
My body immobilizes and my throat clogs up from the glare.
But surprisingly, I can't force myself to look away.
Staring into the eyes as if I'm being swallowed by it, I open my mouth to speak.
"I'm Mina... and you?"
When I say this, the guy then stands up and without answering me, he starts walking.
"Ah! wait! You seem to have a fever! Please, take the umbrella...!"
I grab my umbrella in a rush and stand up, but without responding to that either, he tries to walk away, out of the alley way.
Right then, I hear splashing of water, and someone running this way.
"Shinsuke-sama～!"
...it's a girl's voice.
Fluttering her golden hair against the wind, the girl runs towards the guy, holding an umbrella.
"I was looking all over for you!" she says and hands the umbrella before striding off before him.
I just only dazedly stare at her back.
"...Shinsuke..." I whisper as I remember the guy's face in my mind.
And after that, from to the convenience store all the way back to the bar, the guy named Shinsuke doesn't leave my mind.
It is early morning and a sigh escapes my lips as I clean the bar.
Somehow, the image of the guy's face had never left my mind since yesterday,
...and the girl who had come to find him.
"...I wonder if she was his girlfriend..." I mumble quietly to myself as my shoulders slump.
...huh! Wait, what!
That sounds as if I'm in love with that guy!
I realise this and start shaking my head vigorously.
For some reason, my cheeks had started burning up, so I slap them with both hands.
"What the hell are you doing?" I suddenly hear Gin-san asking from behind as he comes out of nowhere.
"W-waah! For how long had you been there! You're up so early today," I exclaim.
And to that, Gin-san scratches the back of his head and dully reply, "yeah, I guess."
"You came back late last night so I was worried that you might've caught a cold."
He then pats my head, and to that Gin-san, I stare hard, pondering.
To Gin-san, I can probably share anything.
Should I ask him for advice...?
"W-what're you staring at?" Gin-san asks as he averts his gaze away from me.
Okay, here goes!I say inwardly, and then ask him a question.
"Hey, do you think there is such thing as love at first sight?"
...oh my god. What the hell am I asking!
But on the honest side, it was what I really wanted to know.
I couldn't sleep a wink because of that guy had never left my mind.
To that, Gin-san stares at me, totally utterly frozen on spot.
He then crookedly puts his head to one side in a funny posture.
"No way! Neverneverever! Impossible!" He says in a loud voice before he stomps his way out of the bar.
He seemed a little angry...was it something I shouldn't have asked...?
"S-see you later~" I call after Gin-san's back as I see him off.
So... there's no such thing as love at first sight, huh?
"Well I thought so too..."
Nothing will come out even if I beat around the bushes.
Let's just put the garbage out, shall we? I think as I carry a huge plastic bag full of garbage and walk out of the bar.
The sky is still cloudy and still continuously spits rain.
"I wonder if Gin-san will be okay. He walked out without an umbrella," I mumble in a slight worry as I open up my own umbrella.
After throwing the garbage away, I feel like walking down town since there is still time before the bar opens.
Before I realise where I am going, I find myself back at the alley way.
And I realise that naturally I am unconsciously trying to find that guy.
"What the hell am I doing..."
My shoulders slump as I hear the sound of the rain drops hitting my umbrella.
Feeling pitying myself, I start to walk back home, when...
...I hear a splash of a footstep from behind me.
"Found you. You're the chick from yesterday!"
As I turn around, I find myself looking at the girl from yesterday.
"Eh? W-well yes, I am..." I stutter in shock, and then a gun is aimed at my forehead.
"Come with me"
And where I am taken to by this girl, is inside a huge ship.
It is eerie quiet and I gulp nervously.
If she knows that guy, does that mean that guy might be somewhere here too?
I try to calm my racing heart as I keep following the girl.
"Coming in," she says as we stand in front of a Japanese-style room.
When the girl opens the fusuma door, the person who comes into view... is that guy from last night.
"Y-you're from last night's...!" I exclaim aloud, and by that time, the girl beside me had already disappeared.
We were able to meet again...
The guy blows off his long pipe as he leans against the window sill.
"Why... am I brought here?" I ask as I furrow my brows, not understanding the reason for me to be called out here.
The guy then puts his long pipe down and looks this way.
He drops down from the window sill and starts walking his way towards me and I feel myself taking a step back.
He sees my action and starts chuckling.
"Afraid?"
Like I thought...
Gin-san, I really think there really is such a thing as love at first sight. I think to myself as I stare at this guy.
I can't look away from this person.
The more he comes closer, the faster my heart beats.
He keeps coming forward until I realise that he is no more than an arm away from me.
I stand rooted to the ground as he lifts my chin up.
My heart starts beating wildly.
I open my mouth to start questioning him to distract him from noticing my wildly thumping heart beat.
"Who, who are you...?"
In return, the guy opens his mouth to reply.
"...Takasugi."
In my mind, the two names make a connection.
Takasugi Shinsuke
Foreigner-antagonizing Extremists
No way... I can't believe that he's the guy...
I stare at him in shock.
My mind screams "danger" in alert.
This is bad... I have to get out of here!
But by the time I'm thinking that, I find that it's too late.
The hand that had been lifting my chin suddenly falls round to the back of my head, forcefully pushing me forward onto the other's lips, roughly.
Like an embrace, his arms wraps around my waist.
"...nnm..."
A kiss so deep that nearly blows my mind away.
My body starts heating up and my heart starts thumping loudly.
My knees start losing energy to support my body and I grab onto the others' clothes tightly.
...somehow, I can't force myself to pull away from him,
...and even thinking to such an extent of not wanting to part from him.
But just when I start feeling breathless, our lips slowly drift apart.
I feel the soft, exotic stare with our faces only with such distance that out nose barely touched.
"Your name... Mina, was it?"
His low baritone voice vibrates right into the centre of my heart that beats a few seconds faster, reacting to that voice.
"For yesterday's gratitude. What do you want me to do?"
He slowly slids his thumb down my cheeks, never letting his eyes go of me.
"What do you want me to do?" ...you already did something just now...
The very loud heartbeat drums against my ears.
I keep staring at Takasugi regardless of feeling highly dizzy.
"Then... can I... come here to visit you again?"
Ah... I must be out of my mind.
To want to see such a dangerous person again.
But my mouth had moved on its own...
And couldn't lie to the emotions I'm feeling.
I am in love with this person...
...a fact that I can't hide from myself.
To my answer, Takasugi chuckles again, and gives me another kiss...
...a long-lasting kiss while he changes angles again and again, making me breathless.
Not able to last any longer, I feel myself sink to the floor.
"Haah, uh, um... w-why...are you... doing this...?" I ask as I pant and gaze up at Takasugi from where I sit.
"You want to know?" he asks with a confident look printed upon his face, " then come visit me again."
And with that, he leaves the room.
I just blankly stare at his figure disappearing.
"Huh? Wha-?... Wait!" I cry out at him, but he's already no where to be seen.
My body still feels hot.
That means... I can come here again...right?
Listening to my fast beating of my heart, I hold myself that still remembers his sweet touch, still lingering upon my body.
I get a feeling that predicts that this is going to be one dangerouslove.
What the hell is this～～～!
I'm so sorry Sadaharu-sama!
This doesn't sound like the request you sent at all 。・ﾟﾟ･(≧д≦)･ﾟﾟ･｡！！！
So... Regardless of having a fever, Takasugi had went out for a walk, and then fainted...
The request was: To start the story from where the girl saves him then and there...
So Takasugi is saved by her.
But... I made the story sort of dark and gloomy! I'm so sorry～～～（/TДT)/
And just for my selfish reasons, I made the setting where Gin-san likes Mina-chan ( ´艸｀)
Were you able to guess that from Gin-san's actions? lol.
Anyways, I'm so sorry that this sucks *cries*
But to the readers who still read it to the end, thank you very much!
Need to gain more diligence...*cries* ~Hirari