-Aoba's P.O.V-

I had grown used to the rain. It had become such a familiar feeling, I never cared to ignore it. In my world, it was always welcomed, rather than shunned. I would always end up completely soaked by the time I got home, and I put up with it because it numbed my pain. The sharp sting of the cold drops froze my heart, but only for a moment.

I used to be afraid of the rain, but ever since I saw him fall apart in front of me, all my fears and insecurities fell away and no longer existed, just like him. I found the rain to be the safest way to numb my pain.

I always found it soothing...

Like his voice...

The way it used to sing to me, the way it called me by my name...

Clear...

Why?

I know it wasn't your fault...

I miss you...

Come back...

I need you...

I love you...

He was all I ever thought of. I thought of his innocence, his enthusiasm, his insecurity, his inspiration...

I wanted him back. I don't care if I lost everything else, I just want him...

I wonder if they dream...

Aoba-san...

His last words to me were my name. The way be had said it caused shivers to roll down my spine and tears to spill from my eyes.

Aoba-san...

Goodnight...

These days it's been getting harder. Even my Allmate Ren has caught on to how I've been feeling and he's even tried to cheer me up by nuzzling into my hand and giving it a gentle lick like how he always used to. That normally always cheered me up a bit and brought a weak smile to my lips, but today it didn't work, even as I stood on my balcony and stared up at the darkened sky, knowing it was going to rain. I closed my eyes as I felt the first drop fall, gripping the railing as more began to plummet down. In a matter of minutes, my face, shoulders and hair were completely soaked.

It began to get chilly since I did not have my jacket, but I didn't care. I went back into my room, and Ren was at the end of my bed to greet me.

"Aoba... You should put on your coat or you'll get sick."

I look over to him as I grab my jacket, but not before running my fingers along the brain logo on each sleeve. For some reason, they always reminded me of him...

I shook my head and picked it off the hook, slipping it on and heading from my room without saying a word, or even giving another glance to Ren.

I made my way out of the house, sighing and looking up when I felt the rain, shaking my head to get the water from my hair. I started walking, my shoulders slouched and my hair hanging down my face in ragged pieces.

I had gotten to the place I worked at, the place I haven't been to in forever. I turned the corner into the alley and heard a song, a song that sounded familiar.

"Yura yura yurameku nami no ma ni..."

I knew these lyrics; I knew them by heart and at first I thought I had started subconsciously singing, but when the voice got louder when the next line came...

"Kira kira kagayaku, koe wa tada yure kanata e to..."

... I knew it wasn't me. It was...

I shook my head and dashed from the alley. I heard the song follow me, and that made me once again think it was me singing, though as I thought this, the rain suddenly stopped.

I looked up from my sopping shoes and saw it was still raining, yet not around me. My gaze traveled up, and I gasped as I saw an umbrella. Not just a regular one, but a clear one... This belonged to...

No...

At this point, I heard the third line of the song.

"Yume miru kurage wa, uta utau yo..."

The voice was unmistakable, and louder than ever, then it stopped suddenly after the fourth line.

"Yasashii umibe de nemu ru..."

The next thing I heard broke heart.

"Aoba-san."

I slowly turned around, trying not to get too excited. I turned fully around and looked at my shoes, not wanting to see what I might if I looked up. I gasped a bit as I stared down. I saw another pair of shoes that weren't mine. They were white with black laces.

As I saw that, I slowly looked up, my eyes spotting a pair of blue pants going into the boots, a white shirt that was a bit short and showed the other person's bellybutton. The last thing I saw before the voice spoke again was a dangling yellow scarf.

"You'll catch a cold if you don't have an umbrella, Aoba-san," the voice said cheerfully, yet still worried somewhat.

I had stopped to stare at the scarf before I looked up, a pair of lilac eyes greeting me. The eyes closed in a wide smile, and I noticed the chin-length white hair that was ragged and sticking out in places due to the rain. I blinked, wiping rain from my eyes, thinking it was an illusion before I heard him speak again.

"Aoba-san?" he questioned, tilting his head and sounding concerned.

That one word was all I needed before I started to cry. I slung my arms hard around his neck, tackling him to the wet concrete, not caring that the umbrella was knocked from his hand. I hugged his shoulders, pushing my face into his damp white hair. I still believed it to be an illusion, so I sounded hesitant when I spoke.

"C-Clear... Are you..." I was unable to finish before I got choked off by my tears. I started to sob into his hair, my nose filling with the dank smell of it.

He put his arms around me, placing his head in the crook of my neck. He sniffed my hair, letting out a breath. "Yes, Aoba-san. I'm real, I'm actually here."

I gripped his shoulders tightly, my sobs no longer coming. I couldn't speak, and I couldn't make any sound as my tears hit his coat, the coat that had always been in my mind one-step behind those lilac eyes.

Him and I just sat there in an embrace before I felt two things, his embrace tighten and something wet and warm against my neck. The second thing was what surprised me most. It seemed to come from inside him. It was something I knew he wanted...

A heartbeat...

And it was steady and strong, and not mechanical and grinding like it had been.

Did he... finally get what he wanted?

To be human?

To have a real heart?

I heard another sound that had never come from him before. The choked sounds that said he was sobbing, and the steady flow of sniffles as he willed himself to stop crying.

The rain started to dwindle as his sobbing did, spraying drops down in various intervals before it finally stopped. I looked up, blinking the rain and tears from my eyes as I felt his head move against my neck as he looked to the sky too.

I saw the bright sun come out from behind a set of dark clouds, and I gave a small smile, this normal action in nature reminding me of my own life, of the darkness I experienced for nearly two years before he finally came back and brought his little light back with him.

I moved my head back to look at him, showing him my smile as I leaned forward and lightly planted my lips on the two little moles below his lip. "Let's... get home... Clear..." I squeezed my eyes closed to stop myself from crying again as I said his name out loud.

All I got back was a nod as we both stood together, not letting go of our tight embrace. He backed off and reached for his umbrella, picking it up and then reaching for my hand with one of his white gloved ones. I grabbed it without hesitation and interlaced my fingers with his, giving a slight squeeze to lock them together.

He looked down to me as he held up the umbrella over our heads. He gave me a small smile, and I gave a slight chuckle in reply.

"It's not raining anymore," I said, giving him a smile slightly larger than his own.

He shook his head, his smile still small. "I know, Aoba-san... It seemed like it would rain again."

I poked the moles under his lip as I giggled a bit. "You're silly. It's not gonna rain. The rain just ended."

He shook his head in understanding. "I know, but I want to be careful. There could be aftershowers..."

I gave another small smile and another laugh. I felt something again, I wasn't empty, I was finally awake again.

I was alive once more...

"Let us go home, Clear."

He gave a nod and started walking, looking up at the sky through his umbrella that he still held over our heads. I felt his grip tighten on our interlocked hands, and I looked down to them before looking at his tilted back head. When I did, I saw that his eyes were tightly closed and small tears hung on the corners.

I reached up with my free hand and tilted his head down. He opened his eyes, and the tears trembled, about to fall. I gave him a small smile and reached to wipe away the tears with my thumb.

He blinked those beautiful lilac eyes, and I smiled a bit bigger. "No need to cry, Clear..."

He gave me a smile back, and I closed my own eyes, leaning my head against his chest as I let a relieved expression roll over my face. We started to walk again, and I don't think either of us could see where we were going, but I just thought we both had an instinct.

We stayed close to each other, me holding him tightly as he held the umbrella above us. I had the feeling we both held smiles on our faces and with us so tightly against each other, we reached my house in what felt like a short amount of time.

I remembered that when I left earlier that day, Granny wasn't home, so I had a feeling she wouldn't be now. I had to let go of Clear to open the door, but I kept my hand with his as I pushed the handle, knowing I hadn't locked the door when I left, just like I usually did.

He followed me inside, where I closed the door behind us. Neither of us took off our shoes, and I ones that Granny would kill me for not doing so, but at the moment, I didn't care; I just wanted to get Clear to my room.

We got to the room, and I was glad to see Ren asleep on the pillow I usually had him on. Clear saw the open veranda door and he walked swiftly to it, letting go of my hand and instead gripping the railing of the veranda tightly, his head tilting back so he looked up at the bright sun. He closed his eyes, and the sunlight danced off the porcelain skin of his face, sparkling on the the bright tears that flowed from his closed eyes.

"Clear..." I whispered. I hoped he was okay, that nothing was wrong.

I thought this all before another thing came to my head.

He's crying...

Why?

I thought he couldn't...

I thought machines wouldn't be able to cry...

Wait...

He had a human-sounding heartbeat earlier...

Does this mean...?

Clear...

Are you finally human...?


/So that's the end of chapter two! I hoped you people enjoy it! And for chapter three, I'll take ideas any of you may have on how you want it to go. And it doesn't just have to be chapter three... It can be what you want to happen in the rest of the story!

Now, for those who don't know Japanese, I'll put the translation for Clear's "Jellyfish Song" that I used in this story.
= = =

Yura yura yurameku nami no ma ni = Sway, Sway, Swaying beneath the waves

Kira kira kagayaku, koe wa tada yure kanata e to = Shine, Shine, Shining, their voices drift far into the distance

Yume miru kurage wa, uta utau yo = The jellyfish sing songs as they dream

Yasashii umibe de nemu ru = They sleep by the gentle shore