AN: Yo!!! It's a gorgeous rainy day out, I'm in love. And stuck in bed with a fever. But besides that, I had a dream. In this dream, books and trees got along and accepted each other, as Jews killed Nazis in the background…. Yeahh, I'm pretty delirious right now. Sowwy. XD

So this is just a lil one shot, duh. Because its raining outside. (Where'd all the SNOW go people?)

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Mikan watched the window silently, her head propped up on her hand, emitting waves of boredom and depression. Sure she loved the rain, it was good for the plants, but it still didn't change the fact that it had canceled her date to go on a picnic with Hotaru.

She dropped her head onto the desk, sighing as her hair splayed across her face. Spitting out some strands that had wandered into her mouth, she stayed in her position, gloomily thinking of other wearisome activities that she could do in its stead.

Mikan swore she heard laughing as the raindrops splattered on the pavement, each working in turn to soak the crusty soil and dirt away from the bricks, and to carry away loose gravel and leaves down hill.

The drainage at the Academy was bad. There were puddles everywhere, and no drainage sewer in sight.

Mikan's thoughts flashed back to her village, where they would pray and thank their local god for the blessing of a rainy day, a day that children had free from school to help attend the plants and crops that supported the village.

Hotaru never worked though. She would sit in a high chair with a large umbrella overhead and direct Mikan below, giving her guidance so that the crops would be at the best advantage. She was commanding like that, but under her guidance the crops grew very large.

Mikan wondered at such dedication to the crops. When Mikan had asked her why she helped when it came to helping the crops in the village, she got a handful of mud in her face.

"Idiot. Don't ask such stupid questions. If the town's economy goes downhill because of a loss in income, then my profits from the students in this town would decrease drastically. And, the likelihood of my parents moving to another town would double."

Mikan didn't understand half of what she said, but had an inkling that basically Hotaru was willing to work hard for the village too.

A hand on her shoulder jolted Mikan through the faded memories of time and back to the present. The green bushes and plants outside were rustling under the pressure of the drops of rain.

"-chan? kan-chan? Mikan-chan?" The worried voice penetrated her think skull at last. Mikan looked up to see the familiar faces of her friends: Iinchou, Ruka, Anna and Nonoko. Mikan gave a smile to tell them their efforts of communication had worked.

"What's up?" She asked, picking her head up, pigtails as perky as ever. Mikan sometimes wondered why her hair didn't just grow like that, it would be much easier for her.

"We were just headed out to go to Hotaru's room for some studying. Do you want to come with us?" Anna asked, worried immensely at Mikan's spacing out.

Mikan considered her options. She could go with them, but the chances of her visit having any affect on Hotaru what-so-ever were so slim, she doubted anything but a headache would come from it. Of course, she could not go, she might actually get some real studying done. But that would be lonely…

Mikan sat and thought for a bit, and Nonoko worried that she was zoning out again. "Mikan-chan?" She called out.

Mikan looked up at them. "Sorry, I'd rather not go. I'm not up to it right now." She smiled weakly and stood up, taking her school bag with her. Slinging it across her shoulders, the girl walked out. She didn't like turning down her friends.

She sighed and plodded slowly through the halls to the entrance. There was a stretch of uncovered pavement to the dorm, and Mikan had forgotten her umbrella. Sighing at how wet she would get, she gently removed her bag from her shoulders and held it up over her head, preparing to dash through the rain.

Just when she was ready to sprint to the dorm, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Surprised, she yelped and jumped.

"Tch you idiot. You don't have to act that surprised to see me." The voice was familiar, and Mikan turned to confirm what her ears could not.

"Natsume!" She exclaimed, rather shocked to see him there.

"Hn." He grunted. He stood there, holding an umbrella up, a manga tucked under his arm. How much money did he have anyways?

"What's up?"

"You're going to get soaked with just that bag."

"I suppose so, but I forgot to bring my umbrella. Silly me." She grinned as she punched her head lightly.

"Moron." He sighed. "Alright, I'll share my umbrella with you."

"Eh? That's ok, I don't mind getting wet…"

"But then you'll probably get sick, and then I'll have to carry you to the hospital, and that means more work for me in the end. So…" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her under the umbrella with him.

They began walking, Mikan smiling as she took in the pretty scenery around her. When the plants were covered in rain, they glittered, as if little specks of light were in each drop. Just like her village on a rainy day.

Mikan remembered that almost always after tending the crops in the fields, she would come down with a fever, and then the next few days were very hazy, as she drifted in and out of consciousness. However, she always remembered someone there with her, a calm and steady hand wiping away her sweat, putting cold washcloths on her head, and feeding her porridge.

Sometimes she would see a blurry image of her caretaker, whoever it was they were small and had dark short hair… But she could never remember her caretaker's face. Once a basket of oranges were left for her, and she heard her grandpa say downstairs "Thank you as always, Hotaru-san." But Mikan couldn't figure anything out.

Sometimes she swore she heard the voice say, in a low voice "You idiot, Mikan. Fight hard, or else I will charge you a large fee." And Mikan did, always recovering fully from her fever.

"Oi, Polka."

Natsume's voice jerked her back to the present. "Ah, sorry. I'm pretty spacey lately." She laughed awkwardly.

"Air-head." He let out a half smile and kept walking.

They continued to walk, until Mikan stopped Natsume with her hand. "Ah!!" She pointed at a strange looking flower that cupped a large amount of rain water in it. It was blue with pink bands.

"What? It's a flower." Natsume grumbled irritably.

"It's not just any flower! It's a fairy flower." Mikan pronounced happily, hands on her hips, nodding her head and agreeing with herself.

Natsume just looked at her. "Were you dropped on the head as a baby?"

Mikan glared. "No. It is! Watch, if you take some soil…" She scooped up a handful of dirt and walked over to the plant, dropping the clumps of sediment quickly into the flower's base. The rain collected inside the flower swirled as more water poured in, and the grains of dirt floated around in spirals. Suddenly, the water changed to a purple hue, causing Mikan to grin.

"See? It's a local flower from where I live. Grandpa explained to me why it changes color, something like pollen and chemical reactions and soil properties.. But I don't get all that complicated stuff. I call it a fairy flower!"

She grinned and looked up into the rain. Her hair was already drenched. "And you know, it can only change colors in real rain, watering them doesn't work. I wonder if its because you have to block out the sun??"

Mikan smiled and stood up, gently tipping the flower over so that the water poured out. It changed back to clear water as it fell.

"Its amazing how quickly it changes huh? If you try different things, like leaves or sand instead of dirt, you can make different colors too."

Mikan turned around and smiled at Natsume. "See? It is a fairy flower. Its magic!"

Natsume sighed. "Idiot, you're all soaked now."

Mikan looked down at her wet uniform. Then she looked up and laughed at the grey clouds.

"I guess. But I'm really happy now!" She turned and smiled. "Thank you, Natsume. You cheered me up. You and the magic flower here." She grinned and continued to walk down the path, out in the rain.

She felt something heavy on her head, and discovered it was Natsume's blazer. "This will probably keep you warm until we get to the dorms."

It was warm. Mikan hugged it around herself, burying herself in the jacket. It smelled of warm things, but Mikan couldn't place what. When they reached the dorms, Mikan smiled cheerfully at Natsume.

"I'll give you back the jacket after I've washed it ok? Its really wet now…"

He nodded. "Ok."

Mikan grinned. "Thank you."

"Hn."

Natsume gave a short wave before turning to the stairs. "Magic huh?" He grinned and continued walking. An image of a smiling Mikan filled his head. "Guess it is."

He shrugged as he entered his room, placing the wet umbrella outside to dry. Maybe he'd order some of those flowers and send them to Mikan for her birthday.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

AN: Meh. Not so bad I guess. Ugh, I've got Toradora on the brain. I just saw the last episode, it was great. GREAT I tell you. But its over, so I was sobbing, and when my mom came through, she looked at me like I was crazy.

She didn't even ask what was wrong, she shrugged and left, mumbling something like "Anime crazy."

XD Anyways, not so many moments, I know. I wanted something simpler. I was reading some fanfics, and man, they are DEEP! Its kinda crazy. I'm not going to try that. Simple, metaphorical, no deep meanings though.

Anyways, review, don't review. Comments are NOT going to make me any less sick, so I gain no benefit from them. That means, I will not grovel for comments, I have more dignity than that.

Savvy?

~Penguin-san