That crying voice meant to persuade myself is so unbearably stupid...

And of course, those tears just make my face look even more disheveled.

After some mechanical reptition, I finally calmed down and it became very quiet.

All I can hear are those disgustingly noisy higurashi.

Even so it still seems like I can hear her.

But there's no I could be hearing her.

Because she quit speaking long ago.

The person crying was me alone.

She wasn't crying at all.

Even when she was repeating those words before, she showed no expression, no emotion at all.

If she couldn't shed a single tear for me, then I-

Then I can't be expected to shed any tears for them.

In spite of that it hurts, my eyes have misted over...why?

I still haven't torn it up, because I want to believe.

Who is it that's speaking? This is the second time I've heard that voice, that voice which is weak and distant yet is somehow close to somewhere in my heart. Who are you? What have you done? Who is this 'she' that you say cried no tears for you? Why is she no longer speaking? What haven't you still torn up?

You want to still believe because you still hold on to that hope; that hope that you can, one day, hear 'her' voice again. 'Her' voice is that hope, that hope that tells you that it's not too late to be forgiven for your sins. You still hear 'her' because you don't want to let go. That 'her' that no longer exists, how important is 'she' to you?

Did 'she' brighten your days on earth, just by being there with you? Did 'she' bring a smile to your face, even when your heart was heavy? Did 'she' open her arms up to you and say that you were forgiven, even when you saw nothing but your own sin? Even when you saw nothing but your own sin, did you hear 'her' calling out to you? Does missing 'her' still bring tears to your eyes?

Don't cry. 'She' never shed a tear for you, so that you couldn't cry. 'She' wanted you to know that you are forgiven, so that you can be happy. With 'her'. So, what did you do to make 'her' want to reach out to you with loving hands? Is that what you want again? To be accepted by someone who loves you, as 'she' accepted you? To love someone dearly and that someone love you back, as 'she' loved you? To be held by someone who cares for you with warmth and affection, as 'she' did?

Then come. Take my hand. Don't carry that burden anymore. Release it off of your shoulders. Don't carry that burden anymore. It only makes you weaker. As 'she' did once long ago, I will reach out to you with open arms, and I will tell you that you are forgiven. I will wait, as 'she' did, for as long as it takes, my arms never closing. And I will forgive you. Doubt yourself. Doubt me. Doubt 'her'. But do not doubt that you can be forgiven. 'She' wished it. All 'she' wanted was for you to live happily and without a weight on your heart.

Don't you want 'her' to be happy to know that you have accepted 'her' and her forgiveness? Because even though I don't know 'her', I feel that that is all 'she' wanted for you. So don't cry. Come and take my hand. We will go on to the next life together. I will love you as 'she' did. I will accept you as 'she' did. I will hold you and comfort you as 'she' did. Do not be mistaken; I do not think that 'she' will ever come again. Whoever 'she' is, 'she' still lingers in your heart.

That is why, even though you hear those disgustingly noisy higurashi, you still hear 'her'.

The Watanagashi Festival; the day it finally arrived couldn't have come soon enough. Keiichi didn't want to have to wait for his and Rena's date any longer. Ever since she had embraced him a couple of days ago, he'd been having this funny feeling deep in his gut. It kept him up at night and didn't calm down until the morning when he finally saw her again. He began to have this constant need to see her and to be with her; to find some way to make her blush or laugh; to be able to hold her and run his fingers through her hair. It was becoming unbearable, and it left him utterly confused.

"Why...Why do I always have this desire to see her?" He kept asking himself when he was sure nobody else, not even her, was around. He had never really felt this way before, except once, when he went back to the city to go to a relative's funeral. But that was natural, wasn't it? Wasn't it natural to want to see your friends when you're away? But, this was just her. Just Rena. And he always knew he would see her again the next day, so why did he suddenly become so damn impatient?

Could it...be love?

"Keiichi-kun~" a voice cooed for him in his sleep. Keiichi's eyes fluttered open drowsily, finding himself staring up at his bedroom's ceiling. Was that...Rena's voice?

"Keiichi! Get up!" No. It was his mom's. Damn, he was only dreaming. Let's see...what was today? He stayed lying down as he tried to remember what day it was. Damn morning amnesia. His body sudden sprang up and onto its feet as he remembered. "Crap! It's Sunday! The Watanagashi festival!" He scrambled over to his drawers and quickly changed out of his pajamas into his black tanktop, army-green shorts and red vest, shoving his feet into two socks and rushing to the bathroom to get cleaned up: brush his teeth, use the bathroom, wash his face, etc etc. He rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen, scarfing down a quick breakfast and grabbing his wallet. He had to bring some money, just in case.

"Have fun, Keiichi, and take care of yourself!" his mother called as he ran outside with his shoes on.

"Don't worry, Mom! I will!" he called after her before the door slammed shut. She doesn't need to worry. I'll be fine, because Rena will be there with me... He hurried over to their usual meeting spot, not wanting to make her wait like he usually did. However, to his surprise, she was nowhere to be found.

"Huh? Where's Rena?" he asked. That urge inside of him grew stronger, his heart a little disappointed and his hopes crushed. She was always here waiting for him. Even if she had to wait for days, she would be waiting for him. So, where was she today? He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even hear the light footsteps from behind him, and he was only snapped out of his thoughts when two hands covered his eyes and the familiar, cheerful voice rang in his ears.

"Surprise, Keiichi-kun~" she cooed happily. Her hands were so warm and so soft. He thought he could feel his heart skip a beat when he heard his name in that beautiful voice of hers. He chuckled a little, before spinning around and grinned a big, toothy grin, her hands falling off of his face and back to her sides. The first thing that caught his eyes was what she was wearing. She had on her white dress with ribbons on her collar and her back, which, now that he thought he knew his feelings, looked so adorable on her; it really did suit her, and being able to see her like that brought an even bigger grin to his face. He was obviously happy, though Rena didn't know why. His hand reached up to tossle her hair as usual, but he stopped mid-way. She had a beret already on her head. It was blocking his hand's pathway to her hair, which displeased him slightly. Sensing his displeasure, she frowned slightly in worry.

"What's wrong, Keiichi-kun?" she asked. Her blue eyes looked at him in concern, hoping she didn't do anything to upset him. He laughed a little at her face, kind of happy that she was worried about him. "Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to pat your head but your hat was in the way." he answered. She blushed a little, before her hands moved up to her head. Her fingers gripped onto her beret, before she brought it down and held it close against her chest.

"Is this better?" she asked, hoping it would cheer him up. He was a bit surprised that she would do that, not that he wasn't glad she did. He chuckled once, his right hand moving and placing itself on the top of her head. "Yeah. Much better." he said, tossling her hair gently, his fingers caught in her hair. "H-Hauu..." she blushed a little more, obviously content with being petted on the head like this. His grin calmed down to a warm smile, so happy that he was with her. Finally, that gut feeling of his could calm down.

Or so he thought.

"Come on, Rika! Give it your best!" Satoko cheered her friend on. Rika was currently participating in a fishing contest. Well, sort of fishing. She had a small pole with a string and a hook on the end. She would throw it over a board and someone who was on the other side of the board would hook a prize to it. Rika was trying to snag a good prize, while Mion was scoping out the area.

"Damn it...where the heck are those two?" she muttered to herself. Keiichi and Rena were nowhere to be seen, especially not in this crowd. She hadn't seen them since yesterday after school, and now the two of them had ditched their club activities today? Something was definitely up...

"You can do it, Keiichi-kun!" cheered a voice which stood out from everyone else's voice in the crowd. Mion sharply turned her head to the direction of that voice, and was a bit pissed at what she saw. Rena was cheering Keiichi on as he shot cork bullets at a large teddy bear. It came crashing down, and the people surrounding them cheered.

"Yay!! Keiichi-kun did it!!" she cheered, her arms wrapping around him in a congratulatory manner. The manager of the stand brought the teddy bear on steroids out and handed it over the stand to its new owner. Grateful and so full of pride, he thanked the manager with a wide grin before turning to Rena.

"Rena, I think you deserve this more than I do." That was responded with a blush and a surprised "Ehh?". He handed her the teddy bear. "I'm serious. You've been taking such good care of me ever since I moved her. Even when I was a stranger, you never stopped showing me kindness. I know how much you love cute things, so giving this to you is the very least I can do." he said, placing the bear into her arms. "Please accept it." "K-Keiichi-kun..."

"Kei-chan!!!" an angry yell broke through the crowd. The two turned their heads to see a very, very angry Mion rushing through the crowd at them. Although there were a lot of people, Mion was making extreme progress getting to them. She seemed to be upset. Well, yes. Who wouldn't be upset if your two best friends ditched you for eachother?

"Oh, crap! Mion's pissed! Here, come on, Rena!" Keiichi grinned almost evilly. He took this as a challenge; if they get caught then they lose! He grabbed Rena's hand and pulled her through the crowd away from Mion. Mion, witnessing this, quickened her speed. However, she quickly lost them. There were just too many people between her and them.

Damn it....

Keiichi and Rena laughed as they managed to break away from the crowd and into the woods. Rena was still hugging the bear, never loosening her grip on it. After they were a safe distance, Keiichi let go of her hand. After doing so, he could've sworn that he heard a faint whimper coming from behind him; from her. Did she not want to let go of his hand? He turned to look behind him, and found her nuzzling her face into the bear's head.

"Hauu~...He's so cute~" she cooed softly. That brought a smile to his face, seeing her happy like that. "I'll name him Mr. Bear. And I'll sleep with him every night, because Keiichi-kun gave him to me." she said, more so to herself over anyone else. He stepped towards her, removed her beret from atop her head, and patted her.

"I'm glad you like him." he said, smiling warmly. She hid half of her face in the bear's fluff, trying to conceal her blush. He was about to place the beret back on her head, when she stopped him with her hand grabbing onto his wrist. "Uhm... can you pat my head again, please?" she asked shyly, her eyes looking up at him, pleading. He blushed a little. He had never seen Rena like this, so needy for affection. His hand raised and he patted her head once more, and she closed her eyes, content and with a small smile on her face. She liked it when he pet her head. It put her at such ease, and it made her feel...

....loved.

"Uhm....Keiichi-kun..." she murmured softly. He brought his face closer to hers, so he could hear her better, until they were only about three inches apart. "Yeah?" he asked in a similar tone. Her eyes opened, glancing up at him from an angle like a kitten. "...you've also been kind to me. Even though I was a complete stranger, you were still open about everything, and you tried to show us how nice you are and you did your best to make sure that we felt like we could trust you. So..." she smiled slightly as she paused. "...I want to show you something that I've never shown anyone else before." she finished, taking his hand into hers. He blinked with confusion, the smile leaving his face. Something...she's never shown anyone else before? What could it be?

"We're almost there, Keiichi-kun." she stated, smiling brightly, pulling Keiichi along with her down a dirt path. Rena was leading him somewhere to show him somthing she's never seen before. This path seemed familiar... she had taken him down here before...

"...you're taking me to the garbage dump?" he asked, a sort of confused tone in his voice. "Uh-huh!" she nodded cheerfully. What could be at the garbage dump? Maybe a buried treasure. Maybe an underground tunnel that led to a new dimension.

Or maybe a dead body.

"Be careful and watch your step, okay, Keiichi-kun?" her voice took him out of his thoughts. "H-Huh?" he asked, before realizing that they were there. Her hand was still entertwined with his. It still felt so warm and soft, like this morning.

"There's still some light out, but it's going to get darker soon. I'll lead the way, okay?" she asked. He nodded, giving her permission to take the lead. She took a huge, cautious first step into the garbage dump that used to be a construction site for dam (which was abandoned about 5 years ago) and onto a large couch that happened to be at the top. She led him down, her grip on his hand tightening to make sure he followed her every step. They climbed over chairs, shelves, just about anything one could imagine being tossed out because of its no-longer existing use. A lot of this stuff seemed to still be in good shape, though. What a waste. Soon they made it almost the bottom. Keiichi looked up and saw where it was Rena was leading him.

There was an old hippy van that laid securely among the piles of garbage. The back of it was sticking out like a sore thumb. As they approached it, Rena let go of his hand, much to his dismay. She lept gracefully down to it until it was within arm's reach, and she opened the back window, before turning back to face him.

"This is my secret hide-out. I've never shown anyone else before. It's all mine." she explained, before throwing Mr. Bear into the van and climbing in after him. She stuck out the top half of her body back out the window and stretched her hand out to him, a smile on her face.

"Come on. I'll show you inside." she said. He took her hand, and managed to climb in with her help. After he was in, she closed the window and crawled towards a little lamp. With a flick of the switch, the lamp turned on and revealed what was inside. It was mainly just dolls and other cute things she collected that were small enough to fit, but there other things too, like a pillow, blanket, even a tiny refridgerator for obvious use.

"Wow, Rena. This really is like a hide-out." he said, looking around, before turning his gaze onto her and grinned. "I'm really glad you showed me this. It's nice and quiet." Hearing that compliment made her smile.

"I know. I like it, because it's quiet..." she said, then started to crawl towards him. "...and private..." she inched closer. "...and I get to be alone." she finished, before crawling into his lap. Her arms went around his neck and her side pressed against his chest and stomach. "And now you can, too. Keiichi-kun and I can come here whenever we want, so we can be away from everyone else..." her voice trailed off as she nuzzled the top of her head into the bottom of his jaw. One arm went around her.

"...yeah. I like it here, too. Nobody can hear or see what goes on..." he paused, the other hand going up to run his fingers through her hair. He rested his cheek on the top of her head. "Rena...when I asked if you liked me a couple days ago...I didn't mean in a friendly way." he stated. She gasped silently, her eyes widening slightly and a light blush coming to her face. "I meant in a loving way. A way that only two people can feel towards another..." he paused again, hearing a soft "Keiichi-kun..." coming from the one in his arms. How long had he felt this way? It could've been since a few days ago, it could've been since he moved but never realized it until now. But now he did realize it, and he was going to be open about it to her.

"Keiichi-kun....likes Rena?" "Yes." "....in a more-than-just-friends way?" "Yes." "....." Hearing that silence made his heart sink a little. "....as I said before, Rena likes Keiichi-kun. Just like how..." she paused, moving to look up at him. "...like how Keiichi-kun likes Rena." she said, staring up at him into his eyes. That was it. He couldn't take it anymore. His soul melted under that gaze, and he gave in. He leaned in and his lips met hers at an angle, his eyes closed. She blinked with surprise, her blush getting darker. But nevertheless, she still returned his kiss, her own eyes following suit and shutting as well. Her fingers clenched onto his vest, his arms wrapping even tighter around her. They weren't aware of anything; anything, except for the other and their warm embrace. Thoughts of the festival escaped their minds. The warmth of air grew cool as time passed from twilight into night.

And the cry of the summer cicadas faded away into silence.

Author's Note:

Yay for K1 x Rena fluff! ; w ;

I hope you enjoy the story so far. No worries, insanity will ensue soon...like in a couple-of-chapters soon... Muahaha... Hehe. I kinda like having those little italic things at the beginning of the chatpers. Who could be speaking to that voice? Who, I wonder? Haha. As it is 2 in the morning, I cannot think of much more to write at this point in time (though I want to sooo much.... Dx). However! I will say this:

M stuff ahead. Muahahaha...