As The Rain Falls

Chapter 1

Poor, Poor Girl

The Kazehana neighborhood was a quaint, quiet, yet friendly community. The people who lived there were named the most kind, most hospitable people in Tokyo, giving off the era of warmth that people were either uncomfortable or shocked about. Everyone looked out for each other, called each other on a first-name basis, borrowed from each other, lent from each other. Teamwork as a community seemed to be the neighborhood's unconscious top priority, as if they were unintentionally part of a fantastical utopia, where everyone lived happily.

Unless times like this occurred.

Ichinomiya Asako, a neighbor within her early fifties, looked at yet another neighborhood patron, Suzumiya Machi, with eyes filled with unshed tears and dread. "What will become of her, Machi-chan?" Both women were standing on the Ichinomiya porch, getting away from the pouring rain as they were looking over at a girl with flowing brown hair and brown, horrified matching eyes to a scene where an ambulance was taking away a body of a woman, different from the others because she was a redhead by nature, of their age, her face pale and lifeless, even from how far the two women were watching. "She's such a wonderful girl…she didn't really deserve this."

"Neither did her mother," whispered Machi. "She's of age now. She's eighteen, fresh out of high school. I'm sure she'll be alright…financially speaking, anyway."

Asako nodded. "This is crushing her, Machi-chan; I can feel it, even from here, even in this dense fog and rain. Two years of a dreadful fight with cancer, and then she gets shot by some crook coming to rob her in this godforsaken fog." She began to clench her fists, rage coming from her grief for her dear friend. "She didn't deserve it. What is it with this world, so cruel and unjust?"

"I suppose, Asako-chan, that that's just the way it is, as much as I'd hate to admit it. It will be lonely without Naoko around."

The woman with brown hair and unsettling blue eyes, Asako, looked at her sharply, but with pain in her slightly angry eyes. "The woman's at peace and the cancer won't bother her anymore. All I'm concerned about is Haru."

Machi's own brown eyes softened with sadness, and she pushed a trace of her graying black hair out of her face. "You're right. But no matter how concerned we are, I don't think that with a blow to her heart this big, none of our comments of comfort would help. She needs to heal on her own."

Asako sighed. "I guess you're right. Oh, poor Haru…"

She wished she could have done something to save Haru from this pain. After all, she'd been the only witness as to what happened. She'd seen a man dressed in casual clothing (to not cause suspicion, she was sure) break into the house, put a mask on so as to not be properly recognized, and she'd heard the screams. And what had she done? Nothing but stare in horror as she watched her friend get shot after trying to fight the assailant off, too afraid of losing her own life – unlike Naoko, she already had grandbabies to live for – to help her out. And it killed her, to only rush back into the house as he was still attacking Yoshioka Naoko and call 911, but when she heard the shot, she'd hung up abruptly after she spoke the address, and called Haru on her cell phone, as she knew that she'd gone out to work and then have lunch with some friends.

She'd been entrusted with Naoko's safety, and she had just stood there like an idiot and watched her die.

And now Haru was going to feel more pain than Naoko probably did as she hit the floor, dead before doing so.

I'm so sorry…that poor, poor girl…

She was screaming as she ran towards the ambulance as the workers carried her mother's body on a stretcher, her chocolate eyes wild as she realized the situation. Her mother, the only family she had…

"MOM! NOOO!" she was shrieking as she ran over there, trying to take a look at her mother's lifeless form, to catch one glimpse of her before they took her away, but then the paramedics grabbed her, pulling her away.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to stay back –"

"NO!" she screeched, as she had a good set of strong lungs, ready to unleash their fury on the ones keeping her away from her mother. "That's my mother! I want to see my mother!" they were grabbing her arms, but she thrashed and swung and kicked, hoping to fight them off in any way possible. Finally, she swung at one of the medics so hard that he doubled over into another, blood trailing from his nose as they both fell on their backs. "KEEP AWAY FROM ME! LET ME SEE MY MOTHER!" Tears were swinging wildly from her normally tranquil, pretty, pale face as she was shocking the doctors with her brute strength, especially while having such a slim frame.

After giving another paramedic a fistful in the mouth, she was finally granted access into the ambulance, to see her mother off to the hospital, to hold her lifeless hand as she felt no pulse, and to kiss her cold face one last time. It was hopeless, this trip to the hospital, because as much as she hated to admit it, her precious mother, after fighting a battle with cancer and then a battle with a dirty burglar, was dead.

As she was crying over her mother, still screaming hysterically as if they were still holding her back, while they were instead looking at her with sympathy now, she let her mind wander to the events prior to this tragedy. Today had started out so wonderful, too…

Four hours ago, 3:00 PM

She stretched her arms wide open, feeling oddly refreshed despite having worked all day at the café in the Crossroads. Perhaps it was because she was finally going to be able to revisit some special friends, friends that had helped her through quite a difficult situation in her life. Not the current one she was in now, with her mother's – she hated calling it anything else – ailment, but one from before all the bad things started happening. Wanting to come in with a brighter spirit than she would be if she focused on these thoughts, Yoshioka Haru shook her head, getting rid of anything negative. Brushing off her sky blue shirt and loose white pants and making sure her hair – she had let it grow quite long after she'd cropped it, since now even the longest of her diagonally-length bangs reached past her chin – was unknotted under her newsboy black cap, she marched away from the café.

Everything seemed fine, so she got her bag and headed out into the foggy afternoon. It wasn't unheard of, fog in the summer, but it wasn't completely an everyday thing either. She just supposed it was one of those days.

"Okay, Muta, ready to – " she cut off her sentence as her caramel eyes saw the empty seat where her obese white cat usually napped. "Go…?"

Haru shrugged. Looks like I'm goin' it alone. With a content smile, she quickly rushed into the alleyways that lead to her destination, hopping on the rooftops and climbing down stairs like nothing at all. After two years since her feline-oriented adventure, she had joined the track team and became very agile, although her dancing skills were still the same…unless she was with him. She remembered this path better than her own neighborhood park's. Without noticing that a few minutes had gone by, she was soon down the last, thin alleyway, but thanks to having a slimmer figure than she had before, she was easily able to crawl through it.

Her eyes then witnessed the quaint beauty of her favorite place in the world besides home – the Cat Bureau. She breathed a dreamy sigh, loving the fresher air this place seemed to provide. Too bad that it was so small for her, because she'd always figured it would be more enjoyable had she been the same size as her gentlemanly companion. "Hello, Toto," she murmured to the crow statue on the pedestal that was about her height.

Before her very eyes, a light seemed to engulf the crow as he soon morphed from stone to a midnight black crow, stretching his beloved wings as if ready for flight. "Afternoon, Haru. How are you today?"

She had never revealed the fact that her mother had her ailment to her friends, because she was sure she'd get their pity. The last people in the world she wanted pity from were them. So she always acted like nothing interesting ever happened. "Pretty good. Had breakfast with Mom and Hiromi, worked with some new employees, and I got the usual mulberry muffin for you." She extended her hand into her messenger bag, pulling out a plastic case with a muffin inside and opening it to hold out the beloved pastry to the crow. "You like?"

"I love," he said, eyes sparkling with delight at it before he took the whole thing in his mouth, flew down to the ground, and began eating it. "Thank you, Haru!"

A giggle escaped said brunette's lips. "Oh, it's no problem. Say, where's Muta and Baron?"

"Well, the fatso's off to run an errand of his – says he wanted to get the paper. And I dunno about Baron, because since there's no sun today, I don't see why he would want to do the lightshow. Perhaps then the marshmallow won't be as irritable."

A full on laugh came, as she knew how much the crow and her fat friend loved to argue. It still worried her, though, that they'd get hurt someday, but she just stuck to Baron's approach and let them fight. Speaking of whom, she heard a click of a door sound. Haru's face visibly brightened as she saw her favorite ginger orange cat figurine enter the Bureau in his crisp, light gray suit and top hat. "Good afternoon, Haru." Baron Humbert von Gikkingen smiled as he looked her over. "You look rather more fetching than usual today."

Instantly, she blushed. She'd hoped she get that response from him. "Um, thank you, Baron…" she muttered as she hid under her cap, not wanting to make the tint of her cheeks visible. "You…you look cooler than usual too, today…" In all actuality, he looked cooler every day.

He smiled, and invited her in for tea after Toto finished his beloved mulberry muffin. She was just about to go down on her knees to enter the little house, but Baron shook his head. "You won't need to worry about that anymore, Haru."

She straightened and tilted her head to him, obviously confused. "Hm? What's that mean?"

Her beloved cat figurine friend chuckled. "Wait just one moment." He quickly searched the inside of his gray jacket, breathing an "Ah-ha" as he pulled a solid light blue drink out, uncorked it, holding it to the brunette. "I don't think you should ever worry yourself over the entry anymore," he said enigmatically, smiling as though he himself was excited.

Haru cocked an eyebrow, but shrugged before she took the vial – probably about the size of her thumbnail – between her fingers and tipped it to her lips, feeling an icy-mint taste pull down her throat. "Tastes like mouthwash…" she giggled after she swallowed it. Not long after, she felt her body begin to crunch down, her bones shrinking, shifting so that they would fit into a new, compact body. Haru had closed her eyes, and opened them slowly as she felt the changes stop. They soon snapped open when she saw Baron's figure smiling at her – as if he were in the same height range as her. "What the –!"

Baron chuckled. "A potion from Lune; having heard of your inconvenience, he searched and searched for the right potion. Now, once you step through that last alleyway as you enter the Bureau, you will shrink to this size. I hope you like it."

"Like it!" Haru cried, grinning ecstatically as she suddenly ran up to her feline friend and wrapped her arms around his neck in a friendly hug. "Baron, this's the best!" She looked up at him, and realized what she was doing, holding him like this. A bright pink blush crossed her cheeks and she leapt away from him – was a that a tint of pink she'd seen on her friend's cheeks as well? Looking away to hide the deeper red blush, she stuttered out, "I-I-I'm sorry…I…uh…"

"Quite alright, Haru. I…I understand your happiness, sharing it myself." He said it so calmly, as if it hadn't fazed him at all. Haru didn't know whether she should be relieved or hurt. "Won't you venture inside for some tea, to celebrate?" He swiftly turned around, using his forever-present cane. "Toto, come along, before Muta decides to pick a fight, should he come here."

Cackling and the beating of wings could be heard behind the brunette. "Fine; such a shame, I was actually looking forward to picking the marshmallow's brains – whatever he has, anyway – out."

"WHAT WAS THAT, BIRDBRAIN!" the familiar, gruff voice sounded.

Haru sweat-dropped, while Baron sighed quietly under his breath; without even turning around, they knew that Muta must have barely walked in to hear Toto make that comment. "So soon…?" she heard a tired whisper from her orange friend.

"You heard me, you overstuffed pillow-case!" the crow quickly combated, and soon enough the familiar sounds of the eternal fight between cat and crow ensued, much to Haru's worry. Baron, as usual, assured her everything would be fine and assured her into the house.

"On a fine day like this, too," she heard him muttering as he settled his jacket and hat aside before going to the tiny kitchen. He sighed, as if to cleanse his mind of his bumbling companions. "How was your day, Haru?"

"Good, as usual…" her voice trailed off as she gazed at the house for the very first time in this form. "I can finally see every detail of this place…you really do have great taste, Baron." She sat on the couch, loving the silky feel and how she sunk into it, like she would her own bed after a long day. "Ah…"

"Glad to see you're enjoying yourself," he said, chuckling as he poured milk into the teacups.

Haru was still looking around the place in awe, having never gotten this good a view from her regular size. She then looked behind Baron's back, for the first time noticing the portrait of a beautiful white cat, who looked much like Baron, except she was female. Instantly, her curiosity was pricked. Such a beautiful lady…was she Baron's…? Having harbored the crush on him – and having let it grow – she didn't want to finish her thought. "…Baron…" she whispered.

Noticing the anxiety in her voice, her friend instantly turned his head to look at her with worry, setting down the tea tray. After realizing she wouldn't elaborate, he walked over and sat on the armchair across from her. "Yes, Haru? What's wrong?"

"Could I ask…who's that woman, in the portrait?" she asked quietly.

Baron's eyes widened slightly before he looked over his shoulder, his own emerald eyes meeting the painted ones. Haru couldn't tell if his eyes were of pain or happiness, as the emerald orbs softened. She wondered why she had let herself ask the stupid question in the first place. "That would be a close friend of mine, the Baroness."

Baroness! Haru's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets; her worst fears had been confirmed. "Oh…I didn't know…"

"We weren't married, if that's what you're thinking," he said, returning to the kitchen to get the tea tray and fetching it back quickly. He was silent as he was offering her tea and pouring the right amount of milk into it, just as she liked it. "We were engaged. She was a Baroness since we were born, however…she was taken away."

"Did you love her?" OH! Stupid question after stupid question! She must be causing him pain, inquiring so much of these things.

He chuckled. "As my best friend. We never really could find something that would make us romantically involved willingly, but our parents wished it, and we got along as though we were a couple. So I wouldn't have minded terribly to be married to her. I miss her…" a softer chuckle came from his lips. "Again, she was my best friend, although we behaved so differently. She was a bit…more defiant, I suppose. She even dared to smoke for a while, before her mother forced her to stop."

A sense of relief washed over Haru; so Baron had never been in love with her. And then she became intrigued at his last statement. "People smoked those days?"

"Mostly men, naturally. I never really cared for smoke, but she found it made her feel more alive." Baron smiled at her warmly, making Haru's heart melt slightly. "Quite different from you, actually, but I think you would have gotten along with her well; you have that ability, Haru, and I find that's what I like about you –" he stopped abruptly, blushing before he could go on. The human girl across from him had a significant amount of pink on her cheeks, as well.

"Baron…" she was just about to continue before a ringing sound was heard, and both of them turned to look at her bag. "Oh, I'd better answer that…" she picked up the phone, and a sense of panic soon came to her when she read the caller ID:

Ichinomiya Asako-san Calling

Something was wrong, but she didn't dare show Baron.

"Hello?" she answered in a shaky tone, making Baron quirk an eyebrow.

"HARU-CHAN! Your mother…get over here, Haru-chan! Please!"

"Asako-san, what happened?" Haru asked again, more panic begin to seep in.

"A man came into your house and broke in; I ran in to call 911, while your mom was fighting him off. But…Haru-chan, he shot your mother…she's gone, Haru-chan. I'm sorry! I should've just gone to help her! I'm so sorry!" she was getting hysterical, and Haru's response wasn't very calm either. As Asako had said her story, Haru's eyes had slowly begun to widen in absolute horror, her mouth going agape. Her mother… "Bye, Asako-san, I'll be right over…" she barely stuttered, and quickly stood up, hanging up the phone. Tears were threatening to come out, but she dared not show Baron.

"Haru…what's…?" Baron murmured, seeing his dear friend's distress.

"I have to go!" Haru nearly screamed, running out of the house, faster than he'd ever seen her run. Toto and Muta were right in front of the Bureau, and she nearly swung them five feet away, she was in such a hurry. "I'm sorry!" she finally called, but she unwittingly let out a few hidden sobs, indicating that something was indeed wrong.

"HARU!" she heard her three friends chorus as she turned that last alleyway, instantly returning to her normal size, and being able to outrun them more easily now. As soon as she was at the Crossroads, she let her tears run freely, horror cross her features more easily, and her legs carry her the fastest she'd ever gone yet. She didn't look back. Her mother…her mother…her mother was dead…

No, she wouldn't believe it! Not after this long battle with her cancer…she was taken down by a bullet! No, it was a lie. This wasn't happening…this couldn't be happening to her now!

What would she do without her mother?

A week later…

She stared at the marble stone blankly, a picture of the beloved one she lost encased in the center of it. She'd been standing outside since the funeral, which had been only a few hours ago. Tears freely roamed her face, and her lip quivered incredibly as the fact that Yoshioka Naoko was gone began to sink in. She was gone. Her mother was gone.

Haru's bloodshot eyes looked at the sky, not noticing the rain constantly pattering upon her face, and she let herself sob out, more than she had all week. All of the people visiting their beloveds' graves looked at her, almost about to chastise her for being so loud, but after realizing who exactly it was, their eyes became full of understanding and they kept quiet, letting the brunette cry as much as she wanted to.

However, they weren't expecting the ungodly cry she soon unleashed, once again proving her impressive lung capacity.

"MOM!"

She didn't notice another woman in black look at her from the back, crying her head off. The woman's long blonde – almost white – curls seemed untouched by the rain as she stared at the girl with a look that was cross between indifference and sympathy in her emerald eyes. She slowly approached her, stopping at the grave closest to the right of the brunette.

Haru wasn't paying attention, too lost in her own misery to notice even the pouring rain. The woman beside her, however, had a hat and an umbrella. The blonde looked at the brunette before patting her shoulder with a black gloved hand. "Hey…"

The brunette looked up slowly, tears still running freely, and she was shocked at the beauty of this woman. She looked exotic, with her hair and eyes. She's gotta be a foreigner… she thought, for the first time her thoughts not about her mother. "Y-Y-Yes?" she muttered.

The woman smiled and tilted her umbrella. "Come under here; you're soaked." She had an accent that was just like Baron's, except in a feminine form. It was beautiful just to hear it.

She hesitated at first, since she didn't know who the heck this woman was, but she seemed safe enough. Within a few moments she slowly made her way under the umbrella. "Thank you…" she whispered.

"It's okay, Haru, I understand how you must feel right now," the blonde murmured. "Cry all you want."

"How…how do you know my name?"

The woman's eyes widened shortly for a second before she gave a quick response. "All of Kazehana knows your name, Haru, so why would it be a surprise if a newcomer like me didn't?" Her calm demeanor returned, and she smiled at her kindly with her eyes closed. "Go on, just let it all out; I'm separated from someone I really cared for because of death, too."

Haru looked uncertain. "But…it'd be an inconvenience…I-I'd better not cry when you've offered your umbrella to someone you hardly know…" In all honesty, she didn't know this woman at all, and was more or less a bit creeped out by how she was so willing to be so kind to her.

"Just trust me," the woman whispered.

Suddenly, right after she registered the meaning in those words, Haru could've sworn she saw Baron looking at her with that kind smile. Almost immediately, Haru hugged the woman, crying into her shoulder, realizing that this woman was a good head taller than her. No one, not even Asako, had ever offered a hug or a shoulder to cry on, most of them afraid to even look at her; she'd been so hysterical the day it happened. It felt relieving. "Thank you!" she cried, hugging onto her tighter. "Thank you…"

The woman merely smiled and brought an arm over the tinier brunette's slim shoulders. "No problem, Haru…"

"You really didn't have to do this," Haru said for the umpteenth time as the woman was leading her to her house, still holding her black umbrella. "You've been so kind to me…I…"

"You really shouldn't talk," the woman cut her off with a kind yet curt tone of voice. "There's no way I'm letting someone walk alone in this rain without an umbrella, especially not someone who's gone through an ordeal like yours."

Haru was silenced until they reached the front porch of her quaint two-story house. She bowed humbly to the woman. "Thank you so much. You've shown so much kindness towards me."

"No problem, Haru," the woman laughed, still keeping that kind smile that Haru couldn't help was so familiar. "If you ever need someone to talk to, just come to cemetery. I'm always there."

Haru smiled and nodded, blushing slightly at being so fondled over, and quickly headed up the porch, unlocking the door and opening it. Before entering, however, she looked at the retreating form of the woman. "Wait!" She stopped, but she didn't look back at Haru. "What's your name?"

This time, the woman only turned her head towards her, her eyes shielded by her large hat. "Louise Rosenthal," she called, before continuing towards the direction of the cemetery, not looking back at the wide-eyed brunette as she disappeared into the rain.

I hope you guys like it. Don't worry, for those who bother to read my Haru-less other fic, I won't be putting it down.

I don't know how I came up with this, but for some reason I imagined Haru crying over a grave, and suddenly Louise was right there, comforting her. It was weird, and so I built a whole story around it. Again, I hope you'll enjoy it, even though it's not like YarningChick's works. (I think we can all agree she's amazing. :3)

Okay, well, that's all, folks! Hope summer's been a blast! - Color-de-la-Musica