Whispers of the Rain
By Michiyo Ichimaru
Disclaimer: DO NOT OWN. w This is my first KHR one-shot, for my favorite pairing so far, by far: YamaGoku or 8059. Please review! Thank you and enjoy.
"Damn." He was cursing before he realized it. There hadn't been a call for rain, and yet, here it was: the unexpected; unwelcome visitor. Gokudera didn't have time for this. In the first place, he didn't want to be out this late at night at all, more or less in the complete darkness and in the rain, looking for something that his stupid sister had lost in one of her stupid "love" dazes aimed at poor Reborn. As tempting as it was to call off the search, he really didn't want to face his sister again, if he was coming back empty handed. And she would glare at him with that same look that had convinced him he had to go out looking in the first place. It was surprisingly scary despite the cute mask she had to wear to avoid sending his stomach into convulsions.
To make things horribly worse, her description of the item had been incredibly vague. In fact, it didn't sound like anything he had ever seen or even heard of before. He certainly didn't remember ever having seen her carrying something like that around before, that was for sure. So how come she made it sound like the damned thing was so important to her that he had to risk his health in the freezing rain to find it before the weekend even started? If it was something that important, he should have seen it before. Or at least she shouldn't have lost it without noticing before now. Each time he considered the scenario it got worse and it made him feel even more furious. Part of him wanted to even bet that she had something to do with the freak storm that appeared out of nowhere, even though it was impossible.
"Yo, Gokudera!" He did not jump at the sound. And he certainly did not scream when he suddenly felt a hand strongly grip his shoulder to stop him. Or at least those facts would not ever see the light of day. It wasn't his fault that he hadn't been paying attention enough to recognize the familiar voice and that it had been dark enough to obscure his vision of said person's familiar face. "What are you doing out in the rain at this time of night?" That was not concern he saw, and he did not need to explain himself to a baseball obsessed moron of all people. But he did know that Yamamoto was soft, and that having help would make this disgusting task go faster than if he tackled it on his own.
And the feeling of his hair being smoothed down by the heavy drops and clinging to his face uncomfortably was starting to annoy him. "It's that idiotic sister of mine! She stupidly lost something out here and then threatened me so that I would go get it for her!" It sounded weak, but he also wouldn't give up just because of a little rain. Technically he knew it wasn't just a little rain, but to go home and give up because of rain just sounded ridiculous. Even if he got a cold, it couldn't be that bad of one, right?
'Riiiight.' He grumbled. Bianchi would pay for this later.
To make things even worse, Yamamoto started laughing. "You'll never find it in this downpour. You should just come back and look for it later." Why did he know that the baseball nut would say something like that? Maybe he was more predictable than Gokudera had originally thought. After all, he could only be fooled by this "game" charade for so long. The fact that he continued to believe it now turned out to be the thing that made him seem so unpredictable in the first place.
"Idiot! Do you really think my sister would accept that kind of an answer?!" His stomach lurched a little, as if it was answering the question for him subconsciously.
Yamamoto continued to laugh. "Yeah, that sister of yours is something. I don't think she likes me very much." he said, although it was unnerving, because he didn't seem upset. His smile never faltered. "Well, if that's the case then, as long as you don't show your face to her tonight you can wait until the rain stop, right?" Gokudera raised an eyebrow at this suspiciously, but nodded all the same. It's true. If he could really avoid his sister, which truly seemed impossible, it would be okay. But if she didn't hear from him soon she would probably come looking for him. But if she didn't... well, it would nice to be out of the rain. "Well then that settles it!" Yamamoto said, smiling confidently. "I'm kidnapping you, Gokudera."
"Y-you're WHAT?!" The silver haired teen almost fell over. Forget whatever he had said about Yamamoto being predictable. This... where did this come from?
Left arm over Gokudera's shoulder, Yamamoto started leading him towards his house. "This way, you can tell Bianchi you didn't have a choice. And she already dislikes me so it won't be a problem. I doubt she can think any less of me, the way she looks at me now." he chuckled. 'Won't be a problem?!' Gokudera thought sullenly. 'She'll probably kill you!'
But then there was the thought of a nice warm place to stay, out of the rain, where he could dry his hair and, for a short while, not worry about that strange thing Bianchi had him looking for... "Whatever. If you're doing the kidnapping, it's your responsibility from now on. Don't ask me to save you when my sister goes all homicidal on you, baseball idiot." Gokudera grinned, now thoroughly looking forward to feeling the warmth again. When they reached the house, Yamamoto shoved him in first and told him to wait there while he went to get him a towel for his hair.
When he came back, Gokudera decided that it was time to ask the question that had been bothering him for some time now. "Hey, baseball idiot. Why were you out in the rain so late at night?"
Yamamoto's face lit up and he smiled with his eyes closed. "I ran into the cute little guy earlier and he told me that if I went out tonight I might be able to find a cute drowned rat." So THAT was it! Gokudera promised that as soon as he saw Reborn-san and Bianchi again, he was definitely going to give them a piece of his mind for this stupid trick. "But I think," Yamamoto said, plopping the towel on Gokudera's head, "that I found something even better." he laughed, beginning to lightly rub the towel on his head, drying it for him and refusing to let Gokudera do it for himself; swatting away the other's hand when he tried to take over.
'Don't tell me he was really looking for a drowned rat!!' Gokudera sighed.
"But he was right about the cute part." Yamamoto laughed, leaning over to look at the rain-drenched Gokudera. His face was light pink and his hair was still so wet that it hung limply at the sides of his face, but he still had those same bright, defiant eyes. He finally let go of the towel and moved towards the kitchen. "Would you like something to eat? Or maybe something hot to drink. I think we have some especially good tea around here somewhere..." Yamamoto began absentmindedly searching the kitchen while Gokudera was still trying to comprehend what just happened. 'Don't just say things like that and walk away!' He wanted to scream that. He wanted to punch the idiot. He...
Found himself following him into the kitchen silently, without complaint. His face felt especially warm, but he still wanted that hot tea. Yamamoto was making the tea already. When he saw that Gokudera followed him he smiled. "You can go upstairs into my room. I'll bring the tea up. You should finish drying your hair. I'll try and find you some clothes as soon as I'm done."
This had been some hell of a joke, Gokudera chuckled, waving over his shoulder at Yamamoto carelessly. "Yeah, yeah." He said in a fake bored manner. "Just so you know, you suck at being anything like a kidnapper." Yamamoto laughed and caught his wrist, pulling him back so that his body was leaning back against Yamamoto's.
"Did you want me to try harder?"
Gokudera laughed and shook his head. "Like you could, baseball idiot!" he said, laughing at him. "It's fine. Just kinda funny that you're a natural assassin, but you lack the desire to really hurt anyone."
"I guess so." Yamamoto chuckled. "Changed my mind. On the couch, now! That blanket should be fine. Use it. I'll make sure it gets dried in the morning." he said, letting go of Gokudera and returning to check on the tea. Shivering at the realization of how much warmth he just lost when Yamamoto walked away, he quickly made for the couch, and more specifically the blanket; sitting with his knees bent and his legs curling in, trying to recreate the warmth of human body heat and failing. But the tea would help, he told himself, anxiously waiting to hear the signs of Yamamoto's return.
He can in about three minutes later with two large cups of steaming hot tea. Sitting them down on the table, he noticed the small spots on the blanket from the drops still falling from Gokudera's hair, which he had completely forgotten to finish drying. Yamamoto sighed and sat down sideways on the couch and pulling Gokudera until he did the same. "Since you won't do it, I will." he said, taking the towel off of Gokudera's head and running his fingers through the silvery locks to see how wet they still were. It wasn't too bad in the center, but the ends were still soaked. It was a pain to reach so far to work with his hair, so, without so much as a warning, Yamamoto grabbed him around the waist and started pulling him back into his lap. "There! Much better." he said cheerfully with a bright smile as he began drying with the towel again, this time focusing on the ends.
Gokudera blushed. Didn't this guy have any respect for people and their personal space? It didn't matter, though, although Gokudera was happy that Yamamoto couldn't see his face now. How embarrassing to get worked up over something so insignificant. The best thing to do would be to pick up his tea and enjoy it now; just ignoring the baseball freak. Although, he had to admit that it was nice, the way he gently rubbed dry each clump of hanging hair. He could almost feel his hair starting to get it's natural shape back now that it wasn't being held down by the weight of water.
"You stopped shaking." Yamamoto announced, like he was pleased with himself or something.
"I was not shaking! It wasn't even that cold..." Gokudera lied through his teeth.
"Oh but you were... I hope you aren't going numb..." he said softly, almost worried, believing Gokudera when he said he didn't feel cold. This guy was astounding, Gokudera sighed, shaking his head in defeat. It was really warm now and he felt like sleeping. He could tell Yamamoto was almost finished with his hair, judging by the way he steadily moved from left to right through his hair, and he was almost at the end of the right side.
If Yamamoto moved again, he really would be cold. "You're warm, don't move." he said, trying to sound as commanding as possible, so as to not leave room for argument.
"Okay then." Yamamoto said. "And I'm done." he said laying the towel back on the table. "Well, we can't sleep like this." he chuckled. Swiftly he wrapped an arm around Gokudera's waist and pulled and turned them at the same time. Luckily, the couch was large enough for this. And this way, Gokudera would be stuck between the warmth of the couch and Yamamoto's body heat. He would by dry and warm in no time.
Yamamoto didn't even mind the feel of Gokudera's wet clothes as he stole part of the blanket so he could wrap himself in it as well. It felt nice and warm anyway.
"Goodnight Godudera." Yamamoto said softly, with his face next to the boy's ear.
"Just go to sleep." Gokudera said, blushing.