Dan was sitting at one of the benches in the park, his chin propped on his fisted hands. He was waiting on Runo, who he had asked to meet him here late at night. He hadn't brought Drago with him, because what he was about to do was going to be bad enough without an audience. His gut twisted uncomfortably with anticipation and guilt.
Where was Runo, anyway? It was supposed to rain soon. She should've been here by now.
Just then, he saw her walking towards him. Dan sat up straight, steeling himself for what he was about to do.
Runo smiled at him as she sat down next to him. "Hey Dan." she said.
"Hey," he replied, tense. "Look, Runo there's something I need to-"
"It's so pretty out here at night, isn't it?" she said, cutting him off.
"Yeah," he said, irritated. "but seriously, I-"
"Why don't we come out here more often?" Runo interrupted him again. "It's quiet and peaceful, plus you can see the stars-"
"Runo, I can't be with you anymore." Dan said quietly.
She stared at him. "Wh-what?" she gasped.
The pitter-patter of rain droplets around them and on them; it had started to rain. Dan stared at the ground instead of looking at her. "I don't we think we should be together anymore, okay?"
"Why?!" she exploded, her eyes starting to water, and not from the rain.
For a second, he almost told her. But then it would ruin the effect, and she wouldn't let go. He had to make her let go. He took a deep breath to steady himself. "This isn't good for either of us anymore. Especially me. I think it would be best if we were just friends."
Runo stood up, tears mixing with the rain on her face.
"So that's it then?" she shouted at him. "After all this time, and you just end it like this? First, you run off to New Vestroya and leave me behind, and then I came after you, looking for you, and as soon as I get back, I get snatched up by that feathered freak, and now you're breaking up with me?!"
"Runo, I'm sor-"
"No, don't you dare apologize to me Daniel Kuso! If you want to end this, fine, but you you even dare think about pitying me!" She turned around and stormed off.
Dan stayed where he was and put his face in his hands. After a minute he slowly got up and wiped the water out of his eyes, and started to walk home, the rain coming down even heavier now, and tried to ignore the heavy weight that seemed to be squeezing his chest.
When he got home, he went straight to the bathroom and peeled off his soaked clothes and got into the shower, cranking the water up to as hot as he could get it, shuddering as the scalding stream made contact with his chilled skin. He stayed in there until the hot water started to run out, then dried himself off and went to his room, where he threw on some boxers and an old T-shirt before crawling under the cover of his bed. A small noise came from his nightstand, and a second later, Drago popped out of his ball form.
"So, how'd it go?" Drago asked, concern in his voice.
"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Dan said, irritated, and rolled over so his back was to Drago.
"Dan..." Drago trailed off.
"I was just trying to protect her." Dan whispered after awhile.
Drago sighed. "I know."