AUTHOR'S NOTE: Welcome to the sixth installment of my Rainy Day Man collection of drabbles and short fics. I really need to remind myself that Gokudera and Haru is my favorite ship, but the more I write about Yamamoto and Haru the more I adore them *laughs* It's a good thing I have my plots already taken care of for Future Revised and it's very important I keep it 5986.

For the 8086 fans out there, I assure you there's about 5 more short stories in this particular series of fics (though I have no real timeline for the updates) and, after I finish up at least the next two stories in my Future Revised arc there may just be an 8086 mafia fic somewhere in the future ^_^

KHR isn't mine, I just write in that world a lot.

Thank you for reading and reviewing (and, yes, I will be updating my other fics soon ^_^)

Sunlit Rain

Takeshi Yamamoto had a problem.

Today was May 3rd—his girlfriend's birthday and he didn't have a single thing for her.

It was Golden Week so practically everything was shut down and he hadn't had the foresight to think of something he could put together before everything was closed. He'd been up since just after dawn trying to figure out what he could do and finally gave up around ten o' clock. He exited his room and saw his father relaxing in the living room. "Hey Pops?" he said diffidently.

Tsuyoshi Yamamoto glanced up and Yamamoto froze for a moment—what was he thinking asking his dad about something like this?

"Haru's birthday is today and I want to do something for her, but I didn't get anything before Golden Week started…" he mumbled. "Do you have any suggestions?"

It took a long moment and then Tsuyoshi burst out laughing and Yamamoto dropped his gaze to the floor. "Never mind…" he mumbled.

"Takeshi, wait…" the old man wheezed trying to get himself under control.

Yamamoto waited for his father to stop laughing and nearly gave up again before the older man finally calmed. "If you're looking to do something over the top and romantic, you missed out on your chance, so stick to something simple," Tsuyoshi advised.

"I already did an impromptu picnic for hanami even though that didn't work out exactly as planned," Yamamoto said.

"Nothing says you can't do it again. I'll put something together for you," Tsuyoshi said, "but you've got to figure out the other stuff while I do it. Do you have a set time to meet her?"

"Kyoko is taking her somewhere this morning for some girl time without Tsuna," Yamamoto said. "Not sure when she'll be back."

"Then you've got some time to get it all put together don't you?" Tsuyoshi smiled. "Get started boy."

Yamamoto trudged back up to his room and pulled out his phone scrolling through the names on his phone to figure out if he could talk to anyone about his problem. He scrolled past Reborn, Tsuna, Ryohei, and the highlight settled on Gokudera—he thought a long moment before he snapped his phone shut. Something told him that asking his friends might end up badly. He flopped down onto his bed his eyes going to the fish circling the fishbowl on his shelf and he watched it for a long time. The sunlight coming through his curtains reflected off of a jewelry chain dangling off a pin on his wall and he suddenly bounced to his feet, snatching the chain off the pin and heading downstairs. "Where is that box Mom left for me?" he asked.

He hated bringing his mom up, they'd lost her when he was twelve and his dad still kicked himself for not realizing that she was sicker than she'd let on.

Tsuyoshi barely glanced up from the fish he was cutting, "It's in her sewing room on top of chest of drawers that held all of the silks she used to make the kimonos."

"Thanks!"

Yamamoto went towards the one room in the apartment above the restaurant that always had the door shut and opened it. A glance around told him that Tsuyoshi had come in and did his usual six month clean up recently and Yamamoto moved towards the carved box on the drawers. His father had carved the jewelry box himself out of cherry wood while he was courting Amaya Sato and had given it to her on the day of their marriage. Gently he tugged open one of the drawers and looked over the items inside. His eyes finally settled on the simple pendant carved in the shape of a flower his father had given his mother on some occasion and picked it up and looked it over. The light danced off the polished shells from a tourist shop in Okinawa and he looked it over carefully for any damage and nodded to himself.

He slipped the pendant onto the simple necklace and glanced around the room and it occurred to him that Haru would probably love to see some of the things his mother created while she was alive. Maybe someday he'd show it to her.

He put everything back in place and shut the door behind him and found his father putting the finishing touches on the basket. "Did you find something?" Tsuyoshi asked.

Yamamoto nodded and displayed the flower pendant and his father smiled. "Amaya loved that one," he said.

Yamamoto hesitated for a moment. "Is it…" he trailed off.

Tsuyoshi smiled. "She left the things in that box for you to do what you wanted with them," he said. "There are only certain gifts that I'd object to you giving casually."

Yamamoto nodded, he knew exactly which ones they were; including the abalone earrings his mother hadn't taken off more than twice in his memory before her final admission into the hospital.

Yamamoto carefully wrapped the necklace and pulled out his phone and texted Haru to inquire whether or not she was at home. He received a text back less than two minutes later informing him she'd be home soon. He tucked the gift into the basket with the food that his father had fixed for them and smiled. "Thanks Pops!"

"Have fun," Tsuyoshi said indulgently.

Yamamoto left the house and grabbed his bike and rode it to Haru's house and found the brunette waiting for him at her gate with a smile for him. "You've got good timing, Kyoko just left," she said.

"Are you too full for a picnic?" Yamamoto inquired.

Haru shook her head. "Let me go in and get Shiroame?"

Yamamoto nodded.

The girl beamed at him and she skipped inside and returned a few minutes later with a leashed white pup. Yamamoto had gotten off his bike and laughed as Shiroame greeted him enthusiastically. He scratched the dog's ears and roughhoused with him just a little before standing up and dusting his jeans off. "I have a perfect place for a picnic in mind."

She took the food basket from him while he walked the bike in the direction of the river and a sad smile flickered over Haru's face. "Should we go somewhere else?" Yamamoto asked worriedly.

Haru shook her head. "No, I was just remembering when I nearly drowned and Tsuna-san saved me and I foolishly handed my heart to him. I'd like to make some new memories with someone who maybe won't be so careless with my heart."

Yamamoto touched her hair lightly, but didn't say anything else and they made their way to a spot under the bridge out of sight of the rest of Namimori and Yamamoto spread the blanket out and he and Haru settled on it. Yamamoto played fetch with Shiroame while Haru giggled and when the dog was exhausted and flopped down on the blanket, Yamamoto pulled out the food his father packed. "Pops made it all because he doesn't let me go into the kitchen," Yamamoto admitted.

"Why not?" Haru asked.

"I almost set it on fire when I tried to make him breakfast once morning," Yamamoto admitted a slight flush tinting his cheeks.

Haru started to laugh then stopped and regarded him in shock. "You're serious?" she asked.

"Yeah, you can still see some of the scorch marks if you look really close to the stove…" Yamamoto said.

"Oh dear…" Haru said and then began to giggle helplessly.

Yamamoto chuckled and handed Haru a plate to fill. He waited until she took everything she wanted then filled his own plate with most of what was left. The jewelry box and a small cake were still hidden inside the basket. They ate and chatted quietly and Haru's gaze drifted west where the sun was just starting to go down in a blaze of golds and oranges. "Such a beautiful sunset," she said and shifted to lean against him. "This has been the best birthday in a while."

Yamamoto wrapped his arm around her shoulders and smiled. "I'm glad."

They watched the sun drift further below the horizon and Yamamoto used his free arm to tug the basket over to him and dipped his fingers inside. He found the box he'd put the necklace in and extracted it. "I didn't get a chance to buy you a present for your birthday," he admitted quietly.

Haru turned to look at him and shook her head. "Don't worry about it, this is enough," she said warmly.

"Well…" Yamamoto cleared his throat as his voice cracked on the syllable. "I did find something you might like though if you don't mind heirlooms…"

Haru blinked and got up on her knees to turn and face him. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Yamamoto offered the box to Haru and she used her finger nail to slit through the tape and paper revealing the box underneath. She tugged the lid up and pulled out the necklace and her eyes went wide. "It's beautiful," she breathed. "What kind of flower is it, I don't recognize it off hand."

"It's a moonflower, Mom said they only opened on nights when the moon was full," Yamamoto said.

Haru's eyes widened. "I can't…" she began.

"Please?" Yamamoto asked. "I think my mom would have liked you."

Haru's eyes sheened with tears and Yamamoto reached out. "I didn't mean to make you cry…" he said.

Haru shook her head. "They're good tears," she assured him and handed him the necklace and presented her back. "Will you put it on for me?"

Yamamoto smiled in relief and did as he was bid. Haru turned back to him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you very much," she said.

"You're welcome."

His cheek burned where her lips had touched it.