I have no excuse for how late this chapter is, except insane writer's block and being away from my computer for several days.
14.
Downpour
He didn't expect the shower. Usually, his body warned him of even the most sudden spring rains. Perhaps Hanajima's unexpected breakdown had distracted him. All he knew was one moment, they were kneeling on the ground together, and the next, rain was pouring relentlessly down onto them. Saki lifted her face to the torrent, and in a placid voice observed, "It's raining."
"Yeah," said Kyou softly. "Yeah it is." He rubbed his face like a cranky child. "I need to go home."
"The rain makes you sick."
"Ha- hai." His skin began to itch and crawl, it wanted to shed itself. "Gomen. I have to -" he got to his feet, silently praying that his strength would hold up until he reached the house. Hana made a move to help him, but he pushed her away, fear of transforming clutching at his heart. Without thinking, his hand tested his bracelet, made sure it wouldn't come loose. Nothing could possibly be more terrible than showing her... THAT.
Her eyes were glued to his wrist, where his fingers sought the beads. It felt so familiar. She watched as he took a slow step in the direction of home, his head hanging and his arms crossed over his chest. There was a very strange feeling attached to all of this, something she couldn't explain. The denpa she felt from him were altogether new, fearful, sad, and somewhat menacing. Yet she was sure she'd felt something like it before. She couldn't place it, but it scared her.
She reached out, helpless against the wave of anguish that had crashed between them moments earlier. He claimed to be a murderer, and how could she really know it wasn't true? "I killed my mother," he'd told her, and all she had done was stare.
And now he was walking away, through the rain that for some reason changed his denpa and made him sick, refusing to let her help him, and again, all she could do was stare. She felt paralyzed, watching him stumble away and unsure of what to do, soaked with the rain, her school skirt clinging to her legs, shivering in the slight wind.
And then, when he was at the edge of the woods, where it opened into the yard, she started running after him.
"Don't!" he gasped as she came near. "Don't touch me, don't- You can't see it."
She grasped his shoulders firmly, staying an arm's length away. "You didn't really. She made that choice. Didn't she?"
Silent, Kyou disentangled himself from her touch. He didn't want to hear this, not right now. He kept aiming for the house, willing himself on though each step was becoming harder. Just please, he thought, please don't let something happen. Don't let her see that... that monster.
It was just at that moment that Hana placed the new denpa.
- - - - -
"What's wrong, Hanajima?"
"Hana-chan, what happened? Your face got so white!"
"Something... A strange creature in the rain."
"It's not raining, Hana-chan."
"No, not here. Not now."
"Did you have a vision?"
"I don't know. I saw it."
"What was it?"
"I don't know. An animal. Not like any animal on earth. Alone in the rain. In so much pain..."
- - - - -
She stumbled back, eyes not focusing. She didn't understand, or didn't want to understand. She couldn't recall the creature's body, only that it had been frighteningly ugly. All that had remained with her was its sorrow, and its energy. The same energy she felt from Kyou since the rains began.
Every living thing had a unique denpa. A signature energy pattern that, like signatures or fingerprints, evolved with time, but were individual. Never in all her life had Hanajima come across two things with the same wave. It wasn't possible.
Somehow, the creature she'd seen in her vision was Kyou.
Tohru and Yuki had come out of the house by now, and Yuki was trying to get Kyou to lean on him to get him into the house, which Kyou was stubbornly refusing. Tohru came running with umbrellas, and she gave one to Hana and ran to hold the other over Kyou's head for him.
Inside, Hana found herself fussed over as Shigure and Yuki hauled Kyou upstairs. Everything seemed to be happening around her, and she found it difficult to concentrate as Tohru led her to her bedroom to change out of her wet clothes. Quietly, she stripped her wet uniform off and obligingly put on the skirt and sweater that her friend handed her. Bowing apologetically, Tohru excused herself to check on the sick boy, and Hana found herself standing alone in the bedroom. For a moment she could only stand there, frozen to the floor, unsure of what to do, but before long, there was a familiar rap at the door, and Uo-chan's face appeared.
"You ok, Hana-chan?" Arisa was surprised by Hanajima's pallor. "Your face is whiter than normal." She walked into the room and slid the door closed behind her. "What happened out there?"
After a long pause, Saki answered the only way she could: "I'm not sure." She closed her eyes and once again felt her energy drain. "This has been a hard day, Arisa."
"Looks like it." Uotani slid her arm around Hanajima's waist. "C'mon. You need to dry your hair." As she led her out of the room, Uo added playfully, "You look ridiculous in Tohru's clothes, by the way."
In the washroom, Hana leaned over the bathtub and squeezed the excess water out of her braid. "The wave here is all wrong, Uo-chan. I don't know what to make of it."
"Eh?" Uo handed her a comb. "Are you scared?"
"Scared? I don't think I can be afraid until I know what's going to happen." She combed her damp hair thoughtfully. "But something is going to happen. Or, at least," she added, her brow wrinkling. "At least, I'm going to do something."
Expression serious, Arisa took hold of her wrists. "What do you mean? Hanajima?"
"I'm not sure yet. But something has to change here. Someone has to do something, because they're all too afraid." She shook the unsettling thoughts from her mind and smiled at her friend. "I'm sorry, Uo-chan. I'm being strange, aren't I?"
"Even more than usual."
"We should probably leave, since Kyou-kun is ill. It is a bad time for company."
"Right."
Hanajima glanced at herself in the mirror. Tohru's short skirt looked odd on her, but at least it was a dark color. The light pink sweater, however, was horrifying to the girl who rarely wore anything that wasn't black or purple. "This does look ridiculous," she agreed mournfully.
14.
Downpour
He didn't expect the shower. Usually, his body warned him of even the most sudden spring rains. Perhaps Hanajima's unexpected breakdown had distracted him. All he knew was one moment, they were kneeling on the ground together, and the next, rain was pouring relentlessly down onto them. Saki lifted her face to the torrent, and in a placid voice observed, "It's raining."
"Yeah," said Kyou softly. "Yeah it is." He rubbed his face like a cranky child. "I need to go home."
"The rain makes you sick."
"Ha- hai." His skin began to itch and crawl, it wanted to shed itself. "Gomen. I have to -" he got to his feet, silently praying that his strength would hold up until he reached the house. Hana made a move to help him, but he pushed her away, fear of transforming clutching at his heart. Without thinking, his hand tested his bracelet, made sure it wouldn't come loose. Nothing could possibly be more terrible than showing her... THAT.
Her eyes were glued to his wrist, where his fingers sought the beads. It felt so familiar. She watched as he took a slow step in the direction of home, his head hanging and his arms crossed over his chest. There was a very strange feeling attached to all of this, something she couldn't explain. The denpa she felt from him were altogether new, fearful, sad, and somewhat menacing. Yet she was sure she'd felt something like it before. She couldn't place it, but it scared her.
She reached out, helpless against the wave of anguish that had crashed between them moments earlier. He claimed to be a murderer, and how could she really know it wasn't true? "I killed my mother," he'd told her, and all she had done was stare.
And now he was walking away, through the rain that for some reason changed his denpa and made him sick, refusing to let her help him, and again, all she could do was stare. She felt paralyzed, watching him stumble away and unsure of what to do, soaked with the rain, her school skirt clinging to her legs, shivering in the slight wind.
And then, when he was at the edge of the woods, where it opened into the yard, she started running after him.
"Don't!" he gasped as she came near. "Don't touch me, don't- You can't see it."
She grasped his shoulders firmly, staying an arm's length away. "You didn't really. She made that choice. Didn't she?"
Silent, Kyou disentangled himself from her touch. He didn't want to hear this, not right now. He kept aiming for the house, willing himself on though each step was becoming harder. Just please, he thought, please don't let something happen. Don't let her see that... that monster.
It was just at that moment that Hana placed the new denpa.
- - - - -
"What's wrong, Hanajima?"
"Hana-chan, what happened? Your face got so white!"
"Something... A strange creature in the rain."
"It's not raining, Hana-chan."
"No, not here. Not now."
"Did you have a vision?"
"I don't know. I saw it."
"What was it?"
"I don't know. An animal. Not like any animal on earth. Alone in the rain. In so much pain..."
- - - - -
She stumbled back, eyes not focusing. She didn't understand, or didn't want to understand. She couldn't recall the creature's body, only that it had been frighteningly ugly. All that had remained with her was its sorrow, and its energy. The same energy she felt from Kyou since the rains began.
Every living thing had a unique denpa. A signature energy pattern that, like signatures or fingerprints, evolved with time, but were individual. Never in all her life had Hanajima come across two things with the same wave. It wasn't possible.
Somehow, the creature she'd seen in her vision was Kyou.
Tohru and Yuki had come out of the house by now, and Yuki was trying to get Kyou to lean on him to get him into the house, which Kyou was stubbornly refusing. Tohru came running with umbrellas, and she gave one to Hana and ran to hold the other over Kyou's head for him.
Inside, Hana found herself fussed over as Shigure and Yuki hauled Kyou upstairs. Everything seemed to be happening around her, and she found it difficult to concentrate as Tohru led her to her bedroom to change out of her wet clothes. Quietly, she stripped her wet uniform off and obligingly put on the skirt and sweater that her friend handed her. Bowing apologetically, Tohru excused herself to check on the sick boy, and Hana found herself standing alone in the bedroom. For a moment she could only stand there, frozen to the floor, unsure of what to do, but before long, there was a familiar rap at the door, and Uo-chan's face appeared.
"You ok, Hana-chan?" Arisa was surprised by Hanajima's pallor. "Your face is whiter than normal." She walked into the room and slid the door closed behind her. "What happened out there?"
After a long pause, Saki answered the only way she could: "I'm not sure." She closed her eyes and once again felt her energy drain. "This has been a hard day, Arisa."
"Looks like it." Uotani slid her arm around Hanajima's waist. "C'mon. You need to dry your hair." As she led her out of the room, Uo added playfully, "You look ridiculous in Tohru's clothes, by the way."
In the washroom, Hana leaned over the bathtub and squeezed the excess water out of her braid. "The wave here is all wrong, Uo-chan. I don't know what to make of it."
"Eh?" Uo handed her a comb. "Are you scared?"
"Scared? I don't think I can be afraid until I know what's going to happen." She combed her damp hair thoughtfully. "But something is going to happen. Or, at least," she added, her brow wrinkling. "At least, I'm going to do something."
Expression serious, Arisa took hold of her wrists. "What do you mean? Hanajima?"
"I'm not sure yet. But something has to change here. Someone has to do something, because they're all too afraid." She shook the unsettling thoughts from her mind and smiled at her friend. "I'm sorry, Uo-chan. I'm being strange, aren't I?"
"Even more than usual."
"We should probably leave, since Kyou-kun is ill. It is a bad time for company."
"Right."
Hanajima glanced at herself in the mirror. Tohru's short skirt looked odd on her, but at least it was a dark color. The light pink sweater, however, was horrifying to the girl who rarely wore anything that wasn't black or purple. "This does look ridiculous," she agreed mournfully.