Watching water rise above the threshold of your home is a task I would never recommend, even if you have homeowner's insurance. It is truly a horrifying thought to know one's home is vulnerable to such colossal damage.

But what makes this situation even direr is when you're stuck with an insufferable being, namely my nemesis, Takumi. Takumi is a long haired, angry young man with a chip on his shoulder the size of the apocalypse and a temper to match. I never much cared for his family either, and neither did mine, rivals in many areas, and to see that he's stuck in my house with rising flood waters, and no one else is here, gives me a migraine of a frightful sort. We escape for higher ground, I think of pushing him but decide against it, and we sit together, in my attic, wondering if this is how we will die.

"Takumi, in case we die, I want you to know I hate you."

"You disgust me," is his response. Typical.

"I abhor you."

"Your presence makes me want to kill myself."

"Then jump in the lake that's filling my house."

"Ha ha, funny. You're gonna die with me, pal."

"I will drown you myself and use your body as a raft, I'll have you know."

"Good. Death is better than dealing with you."

I roll my eyes. "That's exactly what an idiot would say."

He doesn't say anything in response, and we two sit in silence, hearing the water crash through more of the house, cracking windows, wiping away the expensive tiling along the bathroom walls, bursting pipes, soaking carpet, and still ever rising. I do start to feel some fear, as I realize the water still rises. My home may become Atlantis, and I may become a permanent resident.

As will my most hated foe.

What started this rivalry? I wonder. It seemed lifelong, since my first day of school. He called me grouchy pants after our afternoon nap and I snapped at the teacher, and the slight against me was never forgiven, as it isn't in my nature. We were enemies ever since.

In academic ways, I won. I was always head of the class. In athletic ways, he excelled, I am loathe to admit. Neither one of us was popular with girls, or in general really, but it seemed we both had our families, who tried to coax us to be kinder. Not to each other, mind you, but in general.

So how did this abomination end up in my house? Well, per the cliché, some teachers enjoy playing God and will assign projects for students to complete in a group. The teacher didn't assign partners though; she didn't want to intrude on our autonomy. However, because of our unpleasant dispositions, he and I were the last to choose partners since everyone else jumped at the chance to choose everyone but us. And so… We were stuck together.

The project? It is for history, in which we choose two instances in history where there are opposing sides (not hard to do in this world) and debate. Interesting, and certainly something that piques my interest, but with Takumi? No thank you.

Of course, I invited him to my house to work together on the weekend. I wanted this done as soon as possible. I am not about to go to his place. He reluctantly agreed and came this morning. We were studying and discussing things, peacefully to my surprise, when the rain hit. Takumi grumbled about not being able to go home until the rain stopped, as he lived on the other side of town, but when I heard a creak and saw water flow through the cracks underneath the doors, I knew there was trouble.

When the water started filling the living room, we escaped upstairs. No vehicle was at the house. Xander was in university, Camilla was off with Elise somewhere, and I never knew where father went with Corrin. I called my siblings, and Camilla said she'd rush over, but too long a time had passed, and so, Takumi and I were stuck in the attic.

I beat the back of my head against the window sill. How could this happen to me? A ringing comes out of my pocket, and I see on the screen that it was Camilla.

"Camilla, you're too late…"

"I know!" She cuts me off, distressed. "Elise and I are stranded at the mall." Of course she's shopping. "The water is already flooding the first floor."

"Takumi and I are stuck in the attic. The second floor is already filling."

"WHAT?!" She screeches. "You better call for help right now! I saw an emergency number somewhere…" She starts speaking to Elise rapidly, who manages to pull up a number and Camilla repeats it to me. I write it down in my notebook, and pray under my breath assistance would come once I dial the number.

"Please take care, little brother, and tell that nasty Hoshido boy to play nice or he'll have to answer to me." Camilla will forever be my overprotective big sister.

"I will, Sister."

"Good. Take care. If you need anything, please call me." Camilla will also always be my mother too apparently.

"I shall."

She hangs up and all I can do is stare at my phone. This was happening. This is happening.

And I'm stuck here with my nemesis.

I look to Takumi, who is listening to the rising water intently. He looks outside and gasps.

"Leo… The water is starting to pass the second floor…" He glares at me. "It's just like you to have me die here."

Drat. It seems I must call the number, or our lives will end in a matter of minutes.

I do so, Takumi visibly shaken, though he tries to hide it by glaring at me still. A part of me wants to comfort him, the other wants to shake him, and the last part wants to ignore this situation and drown myself to rid me of his presence.

Why does he frustrate me so?

All I ever focus on are our differences, how he's more athletically inclined, he's louder than I am, though just as outspoken, but I see now how little differences we actually have, and I think, that of all things, is what frustrates me most.

It's enough to make me actually like him, which furthers my distaste.

Help answers, and I tell them as much information as I can. They seem to understand, and assure me that a rescue boat was being dispatched our way. I certainly hope so. Takumi seems relieved at hearing this news.

"I never knew you were such a coward, Takumi," I observe, watching how his legs were shaking.

"I am not a coward, Leo." His legs shake less, but the nervous tone is still there.

I drop it. This is no time to be teasing each other.

I now hear the water seeping and swirling beneath the wooden planks. It's time to climb to the roof.

We grab our school bags (I am not about to fail this assignment because the gods can't control their abusive weather) and we shimmy out of the attic window and I haul myself to the roof. Though it would give me immense pleasure to watch Takumi plummet, I take his hand and heave him up.

We're on the roof, and I look about. In a way, the destruction is beautiful. There are trees swaying dangerously, the water overtaking the branches. There is a car, lights still on, spinning in a wide circle. Some of my neighbors' houses are no longer visible. There is a torrential downpour of rain, soaking me and Takumi through to the bone, his sleeveless hooded blue sweatshirt sticking to his skin, and my flannel feels like it's weighing me down. It is like watching the beginning of a merpeople world, being created through sheer force of nature.

And Takumi and I would be the mermen, serving as the first residents of the Atlantis world I created in my head.

I stay silent, observing the chaos around me. I find a certain peace here. But then I hear sniffling and realize Takumi is crying.

"Don't cry, Takumi. Help will come." There's a small hint of malice in my voice, but mostly pity. I, too, was nervous. But I don't showcase my feelings quite as easily.

"Shut up, Leo!" Tears rain down his face. "I have my whole life ahead of me, and it's going to end with my arch-nemesis."

"Takumi," I say, "our lives aren't ending."

Takumi sits, rather hard, onto my roof. The grimace on his face indicates he hurt his tailbone. He says nothing of it, just continues to cry. Against my better judgement, I sit next to him, patting his shoulder awkwardly.

"It's…going to be okay." I can't believe I'm comforting him. "You'll see your family again. We'll be able to work on this godforsaken project, and life will go on without us worrying about this again."

"You lost your home though, Leo," he says plainly. I hear the regret, the pity.

"We have insurance. It's not so bad." In a crisis, it seems, even most hated foes can learn to be tolerant.

"It's still sad." He isn't wrong.

"Sure, but I'll get over it." I mourn the books I've lost in my head. "Things can be replaced." Not the first edition of The Hobbit but no one needs to know that.

We see the water rise higher, and no help is in sight. Maybe we will actually die.

"Leo," Takumi says, a weird look in his eye. "I need to tell you something."

"It looks like we might actually die, so go ahead. Tell me your thing." I think of all the clichéd things he could say, his undying love one of them. How droll.

"I've always admired you and your intelligence. Truth is, I'm jealous, ever since I was a kid and called you grouchy pants."

Well, I wasn't too far off base.

"Somehow, I knew you would say something like that." I should probably mention my jealousy of him. "I too have something to say."

"You're gonna say you love me, aren't you?"

"No. I'm jealous too. You're athletic, can shoot a bow. You possess a kinesthetic intelligence I can only hope and dream to match, but alas, I am here, an all A student, a bookworm, and you the student athlete."

He blushes. "I guess I should be flattered."

"Consider us…rivals now, and not so much as enemies." I shrug. "I suppose that's a step towards a kinship of sorts."

He looks away and sighs. "You know, I don't know much about you. What do you do in your spare time?"

"I like chess."

"Really? I like shogi. It's similar."

"I know of it. I'd like to play one day, if we survive."

Takumi nods, assuming I meant as an invitation. "You read a lot. I do too. I really like The Hobbit."

"…I do as well…" I think of that copy. "I have…had the first edition."

He looks at me, shocked. "That's incredible." Then a look of sorrow hits his face and he looks to his feet. "It's gone in the flood, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately, but I've read it a dozen times, so at least the words are in my heart. Your favorite food?" I can play at this game.

"I like miso soup." I don't know what "mee-so" soup is, but it sounds like one of my favorite foods. Oh gods, we have a lot more in common than I'd like to admit.

"I like beef stew."

He grimaces again. He doesn't look too happy with this situation. "Leo, we like a lot of the same things. Or at least similar things."

I hate it. I despise it. I am not meant to fraternize with my enemy, my rival I should say. But here I am, doing so, watching the water rise. It's at the eaves of the roof now, and still no help in sight.

I think of the things I've never done. I want to be an author, and have a short manuscript I work on time to time. So many books I haven't read. So many friends I never made. I wanted to be closer to my eldest brother. I…

I always wanted to kiss a boy.

Something I hide deep down, something I try to avoid thinking about, is the fact that I am very much not straight. I always liked the book The Outsiders, because of the close relationships between all the boys. I always fantasized that Ponyboy and Johnny had a relationship much closer than brothers-in-arms, if you will. But that is a thought that tickles me every now and again.

This caused a strain between my father and me, as I once said I found the red power ranger attractive. My words were "he's really cute, Daddy." I was five. My father wasn't fond of that, degraded me, and yelled at how terrible it was I said that, insulted me, and called me names. He made sure to beat it out of me, figuratively. I only received one… I'll say spanking, because I don't want any sort of social service involved, but it was…abuse. I never received another after that, as my siblings stood up for me.

But yes, I was gay. Am gay, I should say.

"Takumi, I want to share a secret, if you don't mind."

"Considering we're about to die, I don't blame you. Go ahead. I'll share one too."

"Please don't judge me." Why am I doing this? Why did it bother me now?

Because I want to embrace it at least once, and Takumi is very much available right now.

I want to kiss him, if only for the experience, if only for my lack of judgement in a life and death situation. I am about to die. I should act.

"I'm gay," I say bluntly.

"Oh. I always…thought so, but I wasn't sure. You don't seem the type to like girls."

There is a hint of something odd in his tone. "You almost sound… relieved." Did he actually like me?

"Well, my turn I guess." He takes a breath. "I'm gay too."

Well. This is a shock. And a relief.

"Takumi, there is so much… comradery in your statement. I feel most relieved. I feel… Like someone understands."

"Does your family not know?" He asks, genuinely concerned.

"My siblings suspect it. Camilla, my older sister, asked me, but I deferred from the question. Xander is never home enough to know, and Elise isn't aware at all."

"Huh. My family knows. They embrace it. They joked I had a crush on you once, which is so ridiculous, because I talk about how much I despise you." He has a funny look on his face. "Maybe they aren't so wrong in thinking that. I do talk about you a lot."

"Enough to indulge a favor?" Why did I say that? I instantly regret the words.

But two boys who are very much gay, who clearly haven't had a relationship ever, deserve to explore this just once, just to know before they die. The water is high, and we're doomed.

"Leo, I want to kiss you. Please tell me that's the favor."

"It is." We both look at each other, vulnerable.

He leans in. I let him. He places a short peck on my lips. "There."

"Unsatisfactory." I lean into him, holding his jaw, and kiss more fiercely. "Takumi, if we're doing this, we have to do it right."

And we do. Kissing soon becomes something else entirely, and suddenly I'm on top, between his legs, and I don't know what to do. I'm kissing someone I hate, in a desperate attempt to know something I never will again. I'm struggling to balance on the roof, trying to preserve my life and my foe beneath me. Are we really foes? It's against my father's knowing, it's against what morals I've been taught, but I don't care. I can't deny who I am. I'm a senior in high school, as is he, and if I don't explore this now, I never will in college. I never will in life. The time to act is now.

I hear a faint motor running. I pull myself off Takumi. He looks shyly at me, blushing. "Why'd you stop?" He asks, hurt.

"Because help is here." Old habits die hard. I go into hiding again.

However, this time, I won't be alone.