The rain falls heavier on the building. There's thunder booming louder in the distance. Every single flash of light seems to last forever in such a small space. In such a closed up space.
Rio breaks apart from the small kiss first. She doesn't get up though. She knew that if she did, she'd fall over from the shock and trembling legs. He still holds onto her arms as he looks down at her. He had an expression that made Rio lost in her own thoughts. It was so unreadable. She couldn't understand if he did it just to see what would happen or if he did it to further keep his mind off of things.
She was quiet for such a long minute until she opens her mouth to say, "wh-what the hell are you doing...?"
He lets her go as she backs away from him but only a little bit.
He doesn't say anything. She asks him again but louder this time. Still no answer. Her hands shake as she tries holding them down away from his vision.
How can he do that to her...? Why did he do that?
Her guesses from earlier will never be the right answer if he never tells her.
She feels her face become warm. She remembers that she may or may not have kissed him back ...
Why?
She gets up quickly and he calls her. She's deathly afraid to look back at him... Afraid she herself might act on what just happened.
"I... I didn't mean to do that. I was just caught up on everything that happened today... And I sort of just..." Rio looks back at him trying to hide her emotions as he ends his excuses with, "can... Can we forget this ever happened?"
She doesn't want to tell him he was her first. She doesn't want to let him know that she wouldn't of been bothered if he kissed her again. She just nods and makes her way to the bathroom. As she closes the door she feels the weight of her ankles give and she sits near the door to try and calm herself down.
:::::::Izaya::::
Once she was gone, Izaya gets up from the sofa and looks over at the window once more. Thunder sounds resonate with his calm heartbeat. This isn't something he wanted to find out this way. This isn't something that he will accept with full content.
He kissed her first but it was just half of him being an idiot and also him trying to see a reason as to why she now acts differently. In the end, he found something else entirely different. He sure played himself on this one.
Very quickly enough though... He knows for sure it'll be easy to forget. He's thinking for both himself and for her.
Yet... There's just something... That seemed to bother her from his actions...
He curses and picks up her blanket and pillow from the sofa. He walks to the bathroom and hesitates to knock. Once he did he says, "you can take my bed for the night. I'll leave your belongings in there for you."
He walks down the hall into his room and pulls out his sheet and pillow and sets hers down. Walking out, he sees her standing by the bathroom door. The sight of her made him stop fidgeting with his sheets and pillow. They exchange wordless stares through that endless time. It was as if he was staring at water and she at fire. He knows this will end when her ankle gets better... And she knows it'll end when she finally leaves tomorrow. She'll be ahead of schedule... And she feels like she's choosing the best decision right in that moment.
She slept for too long.
She overslept.
How can she have let this happen?!
She frantically goes around the room putting things in her bag and quickly unfolding the written newspapers she collected from the corner of the rooms to throw outside. She took a fast shower and made his bed too. She places the backpack she sort of stole from under his bed on her shoulders. She made her way quickly to the exit but suddenly stops herself from walking. She takes in along breath. She looks back at the room, looking at everything there, and feels herself grow sad. She knows this is the best for both of them. She can't be anymore trouble to him.
She takes a deep breath in as she walks to the kitchen counter and sets down the note she wrote the minute she woke up. She smiles as she pats on the letter and seeks her way out.
She goes down many stairs trying to be careful with her ankle. She wasted so much time... Yet... She couldn't bring herself to exit the final door to the building.
She hasn't been outside since the day she came. She doesn't know what the outside holds for her.
Did she really think this through...?
She takes a deep breath in and goes with it. She's come this far. She can't drag this whole thing down with her.
Stepping out, she notices the many puddles everywhere from last night's rain shower. From the looks of the clouds, there's going to be another one. She hopes its not like this every time. She doesn't want the rain to become troublesome to her again.
As she rips her planned filled newspapers and throws them to the sky, she suddenly hears something in the distance. It gradually becomes louder. It sounds like a drill siren. All the more, it's starting to scare Rio. This is the first time she has heard this. What's the purpose of it? Who is sounding it?
She panics trying to think that maybe it's for her...?
Maybe someone spotted her and reported her...?
Rio quickly latched onto this idea and didn't know where to go.
She feels her lip tremble as she turns around naturally to go back...
She shakes her head and stops walking. She wouldn't be able to look at him the same way ever if she ever returns...
The sound is harsher and it builds more fear into her.
She swallows her pride. She moves towards the apartment building with a slight hesitation. If anything, she's praying to an unknown god hoping he hasn't returned first.
Entering the building, she can still hear the nightmare still ringing. Rio looks desperately everywhere... But Izaya still hasn't arrived. She quickly runs to the fridge as her heart beats rapidly and puts all the food she took back where they belong. She gets up and stores his backpack under his bed just where he left it. She sighs in relief and walks out of the room to enter the living room. This all doesn't solve the siren problem. What's that all about..? Could the walls have been breached...? Does that happen here?
The door suddenly opens and Izaya walks inside. Rio notices that it's still light out... Did he rush to get back here...? He normally never comes back here so early...
"A-are you okay?" Is the only thing she can manage to ask after what she almost tried to do..
Izaya looks at her but doesn't respond. He walks to a corner on his left where newspapers were scattered everywhere and unfolds a lot of them. He goes over to the window and covers it with more paper.
Chatty as usual.
She looks over at the counter and stops herself from gasping out loud. The thoughtful good bye letter still sits there ready to be read. She looks at him cautiously and walks over to it. She takes it and folds it over placing it on her sweater's small pocket. She smashes her fist inside to keep it from falling out.
"Rio, come here."
She looks up at him and frowns. She came back just to be ignored and told what to do...?
She goes over to him hesitantly and he takes her by the shoulder. His touch sends unwanted memories from what he did to her last night. She honestly didn't think twice about a relationship between them... All she ever cared about was that if they can get along as friends. Now, it's practically eating her alive and she can't calm herself around him. The worst part is... She can't understand why.
"Look over there."
She looks at to where he was pointing to. There's a long building that's pretty far from them. It's giving out a red light. She's guessing that there's where the noise is coming from.
"That's a deterrent post. There's about five in this entire place. It's only sounded when the seasons change, a month goes by, or for emergencies."
Rio looks closer. "How can you tell which one is which from all three of those...?"
He lets her shoulder go and she jumps lightly from it. "Usually it's, one long siren for seasons, two long sirens for a month, and two long sirens, with breaks in between, for emergencies."
Rio listens closely. "It's sort of unclear..."she says.
The siren is doing a long warning sound followed by two that have breaks in between. What could that mean...?
"Exactly. Everyone I was talking to just now found it odd so they just told everyone else to leave to their homes quickly in case it's an emergency bell instead of just the climate change."
Rio shakes as she turns towards him. "They've... Never done this type of drill..?"
"Not from the times I've been here. But don't worry too much on it. It's no surprise they're this unpredictable."
Rio doesn't feel safe leaving all on her own any more. It's like everyday she finds something new that's very disturbing to her. Where as... Here... With him... It's different.
She looks back at Izaya who stares outside scanning the area. She decides to step away from him. Maybe to try and distance herself from him.
She feels like staying... But not if she gets a head of herself or if she causes him trouble, which she has, (in her own words). There's just no way that he possibly cares for her other than someone he saved. It's incredible to her that a simple kiss made her believe that he might. It's not even something she was hoping all this time either... So maybe it'll be easy to drop it just as quick if she stays her distance for now and leave tomorrow when the time is better.
She walks off and says, "okay... I'm.. Done with the lesson..."
He stands back, pulling up the newspapers more onto the glass.
It suddenly became darker than before... It's odd how much sunlight means to the time. It's only the afternoon.
She walks to the kitchen and sits on the stool. She really does feel her ankle getting better... This isn't good...
"Rio. I have something for you."
:::::::::Izaya
She looks over at him with a tired expression. She's been acting strange the minute he got there. It's as if she really can't stop thinking about yesterday. He sighs and makes it over to the counter and pulls out something from his pocket.
"I believe this belongs to you." And he smiles gently.
She looks down at what he holds out to her... She softens her stressed face. She doesn't make a move. She just looks over at it thinking it's probably a figment of her imagination... But it's real...
Her family photo...
She touches it gently with her finger and then takes it from him.
She pauses in her words until she finally stammers out.
"N... No way... How.. How did you find it?"
"I asked around the day before yesterday. Today, I met up with whoever found your clothes and told me this was found in the clothing."
She gets up and doesn't take her eyes off it. "B-but why did you went through all that trouble? I said I was okay..." She says with a smile.
"Ah... You see, Rio, there was this heavy feeling in my chest."
"You mean guilt?" She says smirkingly.
"Let's not call it that. Call it something that means... I just know how to get anything."
"I... I just can't believe..."
And to think she was really going to leave... This really is a sign to stay. There's no better way to say it...
He does have feelings. He does have a way to show he feels guilty for doing something. Maybe this is a form of apology from yesterday night too. She'll take it and try not to bother him with that. She'll be good and stay put.
"Thank you so much!" She says and comes towards him. He becomes reluctant and tries stepping away from her closeness... But she already had her arms around his waist into a warming embrace. It was so uncalled for... And it made him remember about yesterday. From her actions, he assumes that she has gotten over it. It makes him feel heavy in some ways but he pulls through as he pats her on the head gently.
"You're welcome, Rio..." He says.
She realizes now that they're both humans that shouldn't of crossed but did at some point and now here they are. It's a weird feeling but she knows that he's only focused on one thing and so is she. Small kisses and embraces must mean nothing to both of them. She needs to remember this. She just has to...
She lets him go and stands up straight. She places the photo in her small pocket she has on her shirt and says good night. It's probably still a little too early to fall asleep... But Rio realizes that she almost probably hurt him today. She needs to reflect on what she's been thinking... And to try and forget about anything else.
Izaya looks as she leaves the room. He thinks to himself that perhaps he's been thinking all of this because he's been away from actually observing people for this long.
He turns towards the fridge when he notices something on the floor. He turns his head to the side and kneels down to pick it up. It's a small envelope.
How did this get here?
:::::: Rio:::
As soon as Rio took that small turn to go into the room, she relaxed a little bit.
She completely feels overwhelmed. She feels almost... Like a jerk.
She thought she was doing the right thing for the both of them but she now realizes that she was only making excuses to make herself feel better.
She walks into the room, going against the urge to close the door, and sits on the bed. She takes her family photo out of her pocket and finds herself asking them what she should do. It's something she hasn't done in a while. A long while.
She couldn't find an answer... And even laying down and looking at the ceiling didn't give her much of a better idea. Though, she knows this isn't rocket science. She wants to tell him everything. She wants to tell him about how her ankle is getting better now and also how she tried to leave... But... She's afraid of what he'll say and do. She's still afraid after everything that has happened.
Rio shakes her head and turns her body towards the windows. She should at least give him his bed back... He already apologized for yesterday with the photo...
Rio takes in a long breath. She feels overwhelmed from her thoughts... And drifts off to sleep.