He's Just Not Right For You

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Nor do I wish to :)

Chapter 20: Drops Of Rain

The raven haired girl, decidingly leaving her hair black for the day, took the brunette's hand in her own. She was almost... nervous to be going back to the place she had left, and quite frankly she wasn't sure if this is what she really wanted.

Sure, she would be back where she belonged, in her own place, out with no one there. But that was the problem as well - what was once a haven was now something slightly scary. Since Raimundo's death, she hadn't been alone. She had lived with people, and almost every day she had someone around to talk to if she wished, or at least another human being in the household. But being back there it seemed as though it would be different.

Now that she was gone - away from Keiko's parents, away from Cole, away from everyone in that awful house (she didn't mean the house itself - just the atmosphere and stress) for a while seemed very nice. But at the same time, again - she didn't know if she would be able to handle it.

One part of her was afraid she would turn into a social outcast. Someone who couldn't function properly because she refused to do something with the people around her, pushing them away until they didn't come back at all. That really scared her. She had always been very social, popular, whatever, but now it seemed as though the ice of her life might crumble beneath her feet, if she pressed too hard. She was fragile, and to herself she could admit it.

"Kimi..." Keiko broke through her reverie like a person ripping paper; it made Kimiko jump out of instinct - even if she didn't mean to. "We're back..." She squeezed her best friend's hand, pushing the door open.

Kimiko breathed in the familiar scent of her long lost New York apartment. She couldn't believe after all this time she was finally free to come back to her home. She was even more amazed at the fact that everything was still in the same spot she had left it. Of course, she hadn't brought everything with her such a time ago when she packed to go to Keiko's parents' house to stay - and it was even more surprising to see her top-floor, balcony-clad apartment building not broken into, or rearranged, or having one spec of dust even out of place.

But, despite all of her previous troubles, a smile broke onto her face.

She was home, and she would sit right there and soak it in for the next however long it took.

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"It sounds really beautiful, Kimi! It really does! I think you're better than you were before!" Keiko smiled brightly, encouraging her friend enough to crack a smile and keep playing.

"I really hope it sounds good and you aren't just lying," when she saw that her friend was about to interrupt, she spoke louder, "because I really need to do good at this recital... place."

"Don't worry Kimi, you're going to do excellent!" She grinned, her emerald eyes shimmering with the delight of a four year old recently given a cookie.

She flipped open her phone (put on silent before she came) and saw that Cole was even trying to call Keiko he was that desperate to get a hold of Kimiko.

After the incident with Cole, Kimiko had been infuriated. First of all, she refused to stop screaming at people for a few hours. It ended up that no one walked to her for a whole day before she finally became a little more chipper. But after that, she got strange cravings for food all the time - something very unnatural for the usually petite, lady-like, Japanese girl. Then not long after, the depression of the still-situation hit, along with the joy of the newfound information. She booked it out of there so she "never had to stare at Cole's ugly head ever again". Lana had thrown a little party at a café downtown, celebrating getting her brother out of Kimiko's life. Her and Clay seemed especially happy over it.

In a nutshell, the time had been a definate rough one, but she had made it through - she was finally free of Cole's grasp, and now she could finally move on with her life... Even if she had to let Raimundo go. Of course, she didn't want to - never did she want to do that... Without Cole in the picture, her feelings weren't blocked, meaning that she focused her heart on her feelings for Raimundo. Though he was gone, she figured on the bright side, she at least found out that she had true feelings for him that would always last forever, even if she did find someone else.

A smile crept onto her face as she began her new song, transitioning into something random that first popped into her mind. It was the same song she was playing the night she met Raimundo. Though tears threatened to brim her eyes, she smiled, her pearly white teeth a glimmering contrast to her rosy pink lips. She adored the way the melody floated through the air, even if she had heard the song so many times before. Today it was different...

Her thoughts strayed away from the music, and with that her fingers changed course. It was something she had never played before - simply coming to mind with thoughts about good harmonious sounds. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she imagined Keiko behind her, quickly jotting down the notes she was playing so that Kimiko would remember. She, being the Japanese girl's best friend, knew that this was when inspiration struck the most.

It wasn't long after she had stopped playing, Keiko in the kitchen cooking dinner (she still insisted she didn't trust Kimiko with anything flammable), that she glanced over the music and fell in love with another song. This time though, it was completely her own and with her own mood... She played it again and decided this exactly was the song she was going to play for her concert.

A smile graced her lips as she placed the notebook back down, tracing the collected dust on the top of the black piano, before standing and joining her best friend in the kitchen.

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A pale hand slid down the light pink dress hugging her curves. She watched sparkles at the bottom glimmer in the stage light that crept backwards. She pushed a stray spiral curl out of her face as she took in a deep, refreshing breath. Her fingers unconsciously drummed against the wood of the podium she stood waiting by.

She was nervous.

It had been such a long time since she had gone to a show like this - and it seemed like so much had happened in her lip. Clutching her now twisting stomach, she gnawed on her lip, hoping the lip stick didn't rub off onto her teeth. That thought alone made her stop, and just fidgit back and forth.

"Kimiko - you'll be on in three..." The person with the headset - an adorable, tall brunette with freckles and bright blue eyes smiled at her, her tennis shoes turning slightly as she leaned down to talk to Kimiko.

The girl could only nod in acknowledgement, though she hardly heard anything she said. Nerves ate away at her stomach as she smoothed her dress and hair down for the hundredth time. Glancing up at the sky, she saw angry clouds rolling quickly overhead, and she prayed it wouldn't rain - that would just make everything worse. Shaking her head, she tried to rid it of the negative thought process it was channeling, and decided to turn towards the audience.

There were going to be so many people there for her that night. Her father was actually making a concert, Keiko was lined up to play a few people after her, Lana, Clay, and Ashley, were cheering from the crowd, dressed in something so fitting for the occassion - Kimiko envied them and their confidence in wearing something of the sort.

Omi and Jack, along with the rest of the band, would most likely be there too. Though Jack and Omi had their differences - not to mention spats about fighting over Keiko - they still stuck together to give the girl the support she needed.

Wringing at her dress, she heard her name called, and that's when she took her first step into the humid light - illuminating but also baking the stage. There was a sense of excitement in the crowd, but it didn't quite reach her. She couldn't exactly pinpoint it, but something about the aura of the audience was very anxious. As though they were waiting for her to screw up - or worse - something to come out and surprise her.

She smiled at the claps, it was forced though, but it didn't make it seem any less real for people who didn't know her. These people wouldn't even get close enough to talk to her... Why would she play for them? They didn't know her personally - they didn't know what music meant in her life... They didn't realize what great and horrible experiences it gave her.

She shook her head and sat down on the wooden bench, examining the polished wood for a moment, before taking oen glance into the crowd again, and started to play. It began slow, with high notes that were very quick and airy. Then it began to get stronger, though still with high, soprano-like notes, before the msuic slowly transitioned into the smooth, strong, and tranquil music she had created with her own thought process.

An ugly boom of thunder interupted what was going on, when a healthy chunk of people moved away from the stage, in fear of getting rained on. To Kimiko though, it didn't quite matter anymore. She would still play if it began to rain. As flashes of lightning blinked the lighting pointed on stage, more and more people decided to leave the park. Consideringit was one of the only places that you could be struck by lightning at (at a higher risk anyways), they decided a concert wasn't worth it.

To Kimiko, she had to agree with them. A concert where you had no idea what was behind the music was nothing to play for at all. She slowly began to come up with lyrics in her mind, though they weren't the greatest in the world. Soon other instruments followed suit, and not long after, she had a whole sympany playing in her mind.

What cracked her out of her thoughts though, was not the thunder, or the rumbling of people's voices, or even the notes played on her keys. No, it was the chords played on something much more important.

A Guitar....

Her head snapped up, and her beautiful image slowly began to fade. Though her fingers didn't stop, in fear of shattering the wonderful sound carassing the atmosphere, her eyes scanned the stage next to her, hearing what she thought she would never hear ever again.

The first drops of rain began to hit her face, trying to distort her vision. Though nothing could screw up what she thought was a trick - played out in front of her...

It was not just any guitar - no...

It was his guitar...

It was Raimundo's guitar, played by none other than Raimundo himself.

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A/N: Well... It took me a LONG time to write this chapter. I didn't know it was going to work like this - this story only has a couple chapters left. Sorry :( And Sorry about the late update too. School has me so crabby, unmotivated, and tired, not to mention busy.

Hope you still review!

-zesty-