The clouds outside only served to make me even more nervous. The gray, billowing balls of fluff moved across the sky as if they were leading the parade of doom.

"Ah!" I felt a cool grip on my shoulder and lurched forward, directly into the window pane. I looked behind myself and saw that same face that I'd been unable to forget for years; the face of Rin Okumura. Those blue wells stared into mine, concern lingering in them. That was the only thing that gave away any trace of his worry.

"Damn it, Rin, you should announce when you're going to be sneaking around. You have those spy worthy demon reflexes, y'know. They make you quiet as a mouse-at least your movements." He spared a small smile for me, some of the clouds that had formed in his eyes now dispersed.

The raven-haired boy crawled into the window, seating himself across from me. "What's with you today? If I hadn't heard that usual outburst, I'd think you were sad or freaked or something." He prodded at me knee, poking harder each time until I sighed deeply and shook my head at him, putting on a smile.

"Can't a girl like isolation occasionally? I'm as cool as a cucumber." Rin's smile faded into a line and it was apparent he saw through my fa cade, prompting me to look down.

"Hikari, cut the shit, I can see that you aren't all right." His knees felt to his sides in a cross-legged position, is tail was quirking up from behind his right leg. "If there's just one damn thing I learned from you, it's that the passive-aggressive bullshit doesn't work. Neither of those do, just tell me already."

Rin's eyes looked at me with a loving sense of innocence, possessing still some sense of obliviousness, seemingly only to me. I chewed on my lip, unable to remove my gaze from his until I finally spoke up. "Rin, I'm worried about you. You and Yukio both, but especially you. What if those in charge try that fishy shit again?"

His expression changed and he looked at me intensely, his fists clenched even while they rested between his legs. "What, you don't think I can take care of myself? I can, damn straight I can better than Yukio I bet. I'm not new to this like him, so don't you go worrying about me." His gaze broke from mine and I could see he was shaking, no doubt in attempt to control the flames since he was worked up.

I groaned as I reached off the window seat to grab his shirt from behind, but that only resulted in my getting yanked to the floor. "Damn it, Okumura, you just don't get things until they're spelled out, do you? You don't take the time to process things. I'm not worried about you, I'm worried for you. And hell, probably more for me than for you, it's a selfish thought isn't it? Instead of worrying about how much it would hurt for you to feel the pain of dying, instead of worrying about those sad thoughts or angry ones drifting through your head if you were on a death bed-no I'm worried about what I would be like with you gone."

I looked back up at Rin with a ferocity now, an anger and determination. However, I wasn't expecting the softening of all of his features, or the faint color that rose to his cheeks as he knelt down to face me.

It had to be one of the longest silences I'd ever comfortably undergone. Our gazes were locked, I could practically hear the whirring of his mind trying to process what I had said. Hell, I hadn't even fully realized what it was I had confessed, but I didn't have the time to before Rin broke the silence.

"Hikari, I'm strong. So are you and so are all the other guys we know we have on our side. I have the faith in you alone that if push came to shove, you and me could handle all the got thrown at us. So don't waste your time being sad about something that won't happen." My eyes were wide and I could barely embrace him back as his arms went around me gently, two strong hands gently stroking my back.

"Even if everyone else abandoned us or got themselves killed, you and me got this damn it." It wasn't until later that I found out he had had tears in his eyes when he spoke to me, before I could respond back I felt the warm sensation of lips against my own. It could only be described as the ocean waves rolling to a stand still after a storm; it was peaceful. It was one of the most comfortable things I had ever felt and one of those things which I didn't possibly think I would receive from Rin Okumura, no matter how many times I had dreamed of it in private.

His forehead rested against my own as the movement of our lips subsided and we looked at one another, neither quite sure what to say or do. Not even sure what just happened. The look in his eyes was one of vulnerability, he appeared almost stunned even though he had taken the action. "Rin...I have your back. And I-"

"No, don't say something that you can't take back!" To anyone else on the planet, he would have seemed unreasonably angry, just trying to escape a commitment. I could see otherwise. I could hear the way his voice shook, see the glimmer in his eyes. I knew he was scared because for the first time in a long while that someone admitted that they cared. His lack of movement even after saying something that could have deterred anyone else from admitting feeling gave it all away that he felt just the same.

"I love you, Rin Okumura."