Edited 25 June 2014

A/N: I rewrote the second part. Wasn't really...satisfied with it. I should probably work on a new chapter or something xD


Chapter 2: Rain

Outside the window, rain was pouring down heavily. Occassionally, bright flashes of lightning would light up the sky. Yuka Mochida sat quietly at her desk. Her blue eyes were staring distractedly out of the window, as the teacher rambled on about something that she couldn't bother to listen to in the front of the classroom.

She watched as rivulets of water run down the window, before falling to the ground below. She unconciously pressed a hand onto her heart. The rain brought back painful memories. It reminded her too much of that fateful day, and the horrifying memories that had came with it.

She winced as a particularly loud bolt of lightning rumbled through the sky. Her line of thought broken, Yuka's gaze left the window to look at the freshly distributed worksheet on her desk. She glanced through the passage, and her eyes landed on one line.

"You are such a scaredy-cat!"

She felt a smile form on her face as she recalled that one time where Satoshi hid in a closet and refused to come out. He'd opened the door and found himself face to face with a ghost.

"Noooo, I'm too young to die!" A twelve-year old boy ran from the door tearfully. He hastily stuffed himself in the nearest cabinet and shut the door behind him firmly.

"...Brother?" A nine-year old Yuka walked over to the cabinet and pulled it open. A trembling Satoshi met her gaze fearfully. "Y-Y-Yuka! There's a ghost at the door!" Yuka stared blankly at her older brother.

"Brother, it's Halloween."

Silence ensued as Satoshi slowly connected the dots in his head. "...Oh." He replied sheepishly. Red-faced, he crawled out of the cabinet and dragged himself to his room. He didn't come out til the next morning. As for Yuka, she was left rolling on the floor infront of the cabinet, laughing til her tummy hurt.

Those were the times...

Then her smile faded as she returned the present. Tears were beginning to gather in the corner of her eyes. Wordlessly, she picked up her pen. Perhaps the work would distract her.

.

.

.

.

Rain was an inconvenience. It meant having to carry an umbrella around, though the strong winds made carrying an umbrella almost pointless since you got wet anyway. Yuuya, on the way home from school, was quite thoroughly wet despite the umbrella in his hand. He quickened his pace. He wanted to be out of that torrent as soon as possible.

He was just passing by the park, when something made him stop. He backtracked a bit. Looking in, he recognised a familiar girl in the park. Yuka stood in the middle of it, hardly doing anything to shield herself from the rain.

He rushed over to the girl and sheltered her with her umbrella, though it would hardly make a difference as she was already thoroughly drenched. He crouched down to get to her eye-level, "Yuka, why are you standing in the middle of this downpour? You'll get sick!" He berated her.

She raised her head from the ground and looked at him. "Huh...Kizami-san? Why are you here?" Her voice was tinged with curiousity.

"I was on my way back home when I saw you here." He explained. "Why were you standing in the the rain?" When she offered no response, Yuuya got up to his feet. "Yuka, come to my house. It's nearby, and you'll need to warm up. You wouldn't want to catch a cold."

She simply nodded in response.

He could barely contain the sigh of relief when he reached the house to find nobody home. It'd be rather...troublesome. He ushered her in to the living room and told her to wait while he got something for her to dry herself with. She sat on the couch as she waited for him to return. He soon came back with some fluffy towels in hand and sat down on the couch beside her.

"Here," he said, handing one to her. She accepted it and started to dry herself, as he did too. Once dry enough, they put the towels aside.

"So..." Yuuya started, "Why were you standing in the middle of the rain, letting yourself get drenched like that?"

"I..uh...umm..." Yuka stumbled over her words. "It's complicated." She sighed. "Your brother?" She nods in reply. "...Yeah."

"You seem quite affected by your brother's disappearance." He couldn't help but say.

She flinched. "He was more than a brother to me." She replied. She knew the implications of that sentence. "...I see." It seems that he understood too. They fell into a momentary silence, then Yuka quipped up. "But it's fine. What's past is past right? And now I got you, my dad and mom, Ayumi-san and Yoshiki-san, and all my friends. So it's fine." She smiles.

"It's okay to cry, you know. You lost an important person afterall," he said, but she shook her head. "I'm... tired of crying." She said, and he understood immediately. There were rarely days where he didn't see her without her eyes red from crying. He stood up from his seat. "I'll walk you home." She got up too, and they walk to the door. "Thanks." She smiles up at him.

He knows she's not fine. He can see it, through the cracks in her smile. Though, perhaps one day, when time healed her wounds, she'd truly be fine.