AN (feel free to ignore): Hello people. So it's been a while since I published any fanfictions at all. I debated for a long time whether or not to actually publish this, and I'm still not sure if I should have, but here we are, so I guess it's too late for that, huh?
Any kind of feedback you want to leave would be appreciated. Please let me know if this fic is garbage, and suggest improvements if you like, that way I can make sure to not suck so bad next time. Or if you like this fic, let me know so that I can have happy fuzzy feelings for the rest of the day.
It was raining. Of course it was raining. Only, it hadn't been when she'd left for school that morning. It only now just started to drizzle, and the looming dark clouds overhead weren't a good sign of the weather getting any nicer soon. In fact, there was a pretty good chance that it would only rain harder soon.
"Hey, Misato!" She heard Weboshi call from a few yards away. "Do you wanna tag along with us? We've got an umbrella!" The green-haired girl and fe-chan were both crowding themselves underneath a small looking umbrella.
"Thanks, but I think I'll just make a run for it." Misato replied after struggling to imagine any possible way to fit three people under an umbrella clearly designed for only one person. After all, it wasn't raining that bad yet. She might be able to make it home before it started raining too hard. It seemed like her chances of getting home dry were better that way.
"Suit yourself, more room for me." Weboshi replied in a bit of a joking tone. She would have been happy to share what little room there was under the umbrella, with both her friends.
"Don't get soaked, okay?" Fe-chan called out as they headed further away in the direction of their own homes. Soon they were both out of sight.
Knowing that she'd have to hurry to beat the rain, Misato didn't want to slow down her friends by going home with them. It seemed a lot more reasonable when she thought it, but once she headed out alone into the rain, she started having second thoughts about running home from school without an umbrella.
She might have gone inside to scrounge around for a spare school umbrella, but by now they'd likely all been taken. By the time she would have given up looking, the rain would have only started to come down even harder.
She was half-way there when she saw something dreadful off in the distance. The whole street was surrounded by huge trucks hauling concrete, and construction workers. A sign had recently been put up depicting a stick-figure shoveling something against an orange background.
"Oh no…" She sighed, exhaling all her hopes of getting home dry. She desperately glanced around the construction site in search of some way through, rather than around. Nothing. The entire street was completely blocked off.
Just as she was coming to the realization that she'd have to take the long way around to get home, the rain started coming down harder. She didn't have enough time to complain, or even let out an exasperated sigh. She needed to get out of the rain, and fast.
Today just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? She thought as she rushed back the way she came. She brought up a mental map of the town, and tried to imagine which way she would need to go in order to make it back home as soon as possible. There was one way that she knew, but she hardly ever used that way to get home. It was almost in the complete opposite direction, but there was a path through there that could lead her home. With the rain coming down hard she needed to make it home soon and get dried off, there wasn't much time to look around for other options.
She put her arms up over her head as she ran to try to shield a bit of herself from the rain, but it really didn't help much. About now she was really starting to wish she'd taken Weboshi and Fe-chan up on their offer and headed home with them. Their tiny umbrella probably wouldn't have been very helpful, but hey, at least she would have been with her friends, instead of alone in an unfamiliar part of town.
After rounding a corner she saw what looked like a bus stop in the distance. She could only think about how much more dry she'd be if she waited under its roof at least until the rain calmed down a little bit.
She was so focused on the bus stop itself that she didn't concentrate on the uneven ground as much as she should have. She lost her footing, and couldn't outstretch her arms fast enough to catch her fall before she landed right in the biggest rain puddle on the street. The liquid soaked through her uniform in an instant. She felt the chill of the rainwater through her clothes, and shivered at the sudden intense cold.
Cursing lightly as she pulled herself up, she wondered briefly if her day could get much worse. She didn't dwell on the thought for very long, perhaps for fear of tempting the ridiculous universe she lived in, or perhaps just because she wanted to get out of the rain even more than she wanted to complain. Once she stood upright, she continued walking (this time more carefully) to the shelter of the bus stop.
Once she had a roof over her head, she started wringing the water out of the corners of her uniform. There might have been enough water soaked into her clothes to fill a small pool, but since the droplets were now soaking into the ground, no one would ever know for certain. After spending a few minutes getting all the water she could out of her clothes, she looked out at the sky and saw that it was still raining, perhaps even a little bit harder than before.
Soaked down to the bone, freezing, and feeling very alone, she almost felt like crying. But when she felt a few tears sliding down her cheek, she quickly wiped them away with her damp sleeve. Even though no one was around to see her crying anyway, something subconscious attempted to hide any sign of weakness or helplessness.
Geez… I must be a little kid. Crying because I fell in a puddle, how pathetic is that? She thought. It really was pathetic. She was the oldest sibling, right? Wasn't she supposed to be the strong one? She had been looking after her younger sister for years, and yet right now she couldn't handle falling into a little rain water.
"Are you alright?" Someone asked. Their voice sounded so gentle and smooth, despite the depth of their tone. It was… comforting to hear them speak. In fact, it sounded… familiar. As her head swung around to see who was talking, she could only think, 'Please don't be who I think it is…' Of course it was though.
Naturally, he had an umbrella. Barely a drop of rain had dampened his clothes. His short, black hair looked as soft and clean as it always did. Not a single drop of water adorned his black uniform. His useless glasses weren't even fogged up at all. His perfect state of cleanliness in the awful weather stood in striking contrast to her current condition. There was something very annoying about just how perfect he looked in that moment. She was so annoyed that she didn't even want to answer him, leaving them both just to stand silently in the cold for a while.
After a few seconds of silence Sasahara finally gave up on waiting for a response, and after shaking the raindrops off his umbrella, he stepped in under the shelter of the bus stop on the side opposite Misato.
Don't say anything. She told herself as the seconds ticked by and the awkward silence began to drill holes in her head. Don't say anything, and maybe he'll go away. She deliberately stood very still and didn't dare even turn her head in his direction. Why was it so difficult to be around him? She used to be able to be in the same room as him without freaking out, or feeling unbelievably awkward, so why couldn't she act normally around him now?
Over the past few months they'd been in class with each other, it seemed their relationship had reached some strange point where she could only act like a stranger around him. But they were friends, weren't they? They'd known each other since middle school, so why was it so hard to act naturally around him all of a sudden?
Of course, she knew the reason. Although she could hardly bring herself to think it, the idea nagged at the back of her brain, slowly eating away at her mind, refusing to be ignored for much longer.
She wondered for a moment if he could read her as easily as her friends always could. Could he tell what she was thinking just by looking at her face, examining her posture, or even by hearing the tone in her voice? If so, she should probably stop thinking about him so much.
Despite her resolution to avoid his gaze, he must have looked over at her at some point because suddenly he handed her something warm and dry. She was surprised to have something suddenly shoved at her, but upon closer inspection realized it was the jacket of his uniform. Confused, she forgot her resolve to ignore him and looked up at him for some kind of explanation.
"Take it. If you don't bundle up, you'll get sick."Sasahara said, without looking directly at her. Just like always, his kindness made her face warm right up. If he just kept talking to her like that, she might not even need his jacket to keep warm. This would have been just as well, because she really didn't want to take his jacket. What if somebody she knew walked by and saw her bundled up in his jacket? What if she got his jacket too wet and he got upset? Or worst of all, what if she ended up liking the smell of his jacket?
When she hesitated, he quickly wrapped her up in his jacket before she could protest. The close contact made her face turn redder. Normally, she would have gone for her guns after he did that, but his jacket really was warm, and it was nice to have something dry around her. She couldn't tell if she was more afraid of his sudden advance, or her own relatively calm reaction to it.
"Why were you crying?" He asked after another few moments of silence. Misato instinctively wiped her face of any wetness left over from before. How did he know?
"It's just the rain…" She mumbled, turning her face away. What would he think if he knew she'd cried? He'd probably laugh at her.
He seemed skeptical, but if he suspected she was lying, he didn't say anything about it. After a while, the awkward silence became too much for her to bear, and she finally gave in and tried striking up something of a conversation, if only to keep herself from thinking so much about the warm, nice-smelling jacket on her shoulders, or why she didn't seem to mind so much that it was there.
"I thought you would've already gone home by now." She said after spending a little while trying to think of something to say.
"I was speaking with one of the teachers for a little bit after school." He explained. He responded a bit quick, almost like he'd been waiting for her to say something this whole time.
"Really? What about?" She asked, this time a little more genuinely curious.
"Actually," He began in a tone that suggested he wasn't sure how to answer. "Well, it was actually about you." He finally answered.
"About… me?" She repeated as a question. Why on earth would he be talking with a teacher about her? Wouldn't a teacher go directly to her if they wanted to say anything? Was she in trouble for something? She suddenly was worried that it was about something bad.
He nodded in response to her question, and then continued. "Specifically, I was talking with them about your use of illegal firearms on school property."
"Oh." She said. Was that all? Honestly sometimes she forgot that it was against the law. It seemed like such a trivial thing for the teachers to be worried about. Was it really an issue?
"Please don't misunderstand; I was speaking in your defense." He explained when he saw her expression. "It's just that many of the teachers and staff feel that the gunfire is dangerous."
"Oh…" Wait, he was 'speaking in her defense'? Why? After all, he was the subject of nearly all her shoot-outs. Why would he defend her in this? She suddenly felt a slight tinge of guilt wash over her, and she had to look down at the ground.
"I end up having to talk to them a lot, actually. But luckily before I spoke with them today I sent my butler home with Kojirou before it started raining."
Ah, that would explain the absence of his butler and goat. Would it have been better or worse if they had come with him? She couldn't decide.
"Why didn't you just ride home through the rain, and use your umbrella to keep you and your goat from getting wet?"
"Simply because it's difficult to hold onto reigns and an umbrella at the same time." He explained.
"Of course it is…" She sighed. She couldn't decide if she considered the gesture selfish or kind. Perhaps selfish, because he'd chosen the more difficult option for the sake of the convenience of having a free hand. But then again, maybe it wasn't selfish at all, because in the end, he'd made certain that both his servant and his pet had gotten home safely and dry, while he stayed behind and personally made sure that the teachers didn't decide to crack down on her behavior, which didn't benefit him in any way at all.
She didn't ask him to talk to the teachers about letting her use guns at school, that was just something he did out of kindness. In fact, it was more of an inconvenience to him than anyone, considering who her usual target practice was. So really, he only did that for her benefit alone. He never even asked for a reward for being kind, he was just that sort of person. He was kind.
She pulled the jacket a little bit tighter around herself. She didn't feel cold at all anymore, even though her clothes were still wet. That thought nagging desperately at the back of her mind seemed a bit more noticeable now. She could barely keep from thinking it. Absentmindedly, she looked over up at Sasahara. He was looking out at the rain, and didn't seem to notice her staring.
She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something about the rain outside that made him look... really cool. She didn't even notice herself staring, but it was one of the first times in a while she'd managed to look right at him without needing to look away. She spent the short time that he didn't notice her staring by taking in all the features she could of the half of his face she could see. It didn't seem to take very long for him to notice her intent gaze, and turn to face her.
"What is it, Tachibana Misato?" He asked after noticing her staring.
"N-nothing!" She sputtered, turning her face away so as not to reveal the blush that covered her face. "I-I mean… thanks," She muttered in a low voice. "For… being nice, I mean."
He might have said something about how it was no trouble at all, or he might have teased her in some way for being polite enough to thank him. But he didn't do any of those things. All he did in response to her gratitude was smile back at her; and that was what did it.
She hardly thought about what she was about to do before she did it. In fact, she really didn't think about it at all. That thought in the back of her mind had been eating away at her, just like it usually did lately when he was around. It would be months, years, maybe even decades before she could ever work up the courage to say how she truly felt, so maybe she could at least show him.
The next thing she knew, she was standing up on her tip-toes, and leaning up against him to reach his cheek. She held tightly onto the fabric of his shirt for a little extra support as she stood up as tall as she could to reach his face. Before her senses could come back to her, she pushed her lips up against the softest part of his cheek she could find, and planted a soft kiss there.
As soon as she touched his skin, she could feel a sharp chill race down her spine as the awareness of what she'd just done suddenly hit her like an atom bomb. She tore off his jacket that she'd been using to keep warm in, and threw it at his face to distract him so that she could get away.
She ran faster than she'd ever run before, and never once dared to look back. If she wasn't so intent on getting as far from him as possible, she might have fired a missile or two in his general direction. She didn't even care about getting soaked in all the rain. All she wanted to do was get home, crawl into bed, and stay there forever and ever and never be seen again.
She could hardly feel the rain, or the force of her own feet hitting the cement as she raced as fast as she could back home. All she could feel was her own heart pounding loudly in her skull, and the lingering warmth of soft skin against her lips.
Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot! She thought very loudly. I'm such an idiot!
He slowly pulled the damp jacket off his face. She was already disappearing into the distance, out of sight, as if she'd never actually been there in the first place. Granted, he was beginning to believe that nothing that had taken place at all today had been real, least of all, her. Her behavior wasn't the sort he'd have expected that could have taken place while he was wakeful.
But if what just happened was real, then why? What made her suddenly decide to kiss him? It couldn't have been premeditated, not if she changed her mind and ran away so suddenly. So what made her decide to run away? Was she afraid of rejection, or reciprocation, or were both equally terrifying to her?
It was a pity she didn't stay long enough to see which it would be, now she would spend weeks, and weeks, and perhaps forever avoiding him even more than usual out of fear of whatever his reaction might be still. Maybe now he wouldn't ever get the chance to respond to her advance, simply because she'd continue to avoid it out of fear. That thought left him feeling bitter-sweet about the kiss that still left a slight tingling sensation on his cheek.
Then again, He thought hopefully. Tachibana Misato is a very unpredictable young woman. She might very well surprise me again.
However she would choose to act toward him now that she'd made her feelings clearer than ever, he would do what he'd always done; He would be patient with her, and he would make sure never to push too far past the emotional boundaries she set up.
If he tried to press her for her feelings now, he may only end up pushing her away. All he could do would be to wait for her, and hope she could be brave enough to come to him on her own.
Then, after she did that, maybe he would return her kiss. No, he definitely would. He smiled to himself just as the rain stopped, and continued on his journey home.