Plum rain – that was the name of East Asian rainy season. It got the name "plum rain" due to this poem by this poet from the Tang Dynasty – Du Fu, his name was. I remembered reading about it in a book I took off of a shelf in a library. Coincidentally, it was on a rainy day, when I rushed into the library to avoid getting wet, which prompted me to read a book to pass the time. I also knew that that the plum rain lasted from late spring to early summer – about two months.

It was one of those facts that I don't really remember unless it's relevant to a conversation. I wished that wasn't the case. If I remembered that fact, maybe I would have the wherewithal to pack an umbrella or, at least, clothes that would have been proper for a rainy day. Maybe I would have chosen a different kind of activity instead of checking out the local arboretums and parks. And maybe I wouldn't be running through the rain, pulling along a large man in a jaguar mask by the hand as I try to look for some semblance of cover.

"Julia, slow down," the man said as he tried to keep up, no doubt hindered by the wet ground. "You're going to fall and hurt yourself!"

Things my mother would have said at this very moment, I thought to myself. I was about to slow down until I saw it – it looked like a pavilion.

"There!" I yelled out, pointing towards it with my left hand. I changed direction and sped up. I heard the beast like rumble from behind me. No doubt he was exasperated, but he did what he could to keep up. After a minute, we were in the pavilion, underneath the roof. I let go the man's hand and looked out towards the rain. I sighed.

"I'm sorry about this, King," I said. I looked over at him as he shrugged.

"Nothing to be sorry about, Julie," he replied. "You can't control the weather."

"Yeah, but I should've remembered it was rainy season."

"It is what it is."

It was times like these that I wished he didn't have that jaguar mask on. That masked covered his face very well – had his hair not been grown out during the fourth tournament, I wouldn't have even known what color it was. So, all I could do that was hope that he really wasn't upset over being rained out. Still, I looked out towards the rain, a bit dejected.

"So what do we do now?" I muttered out.

"We can just sit and wait," he suggested. I looked over at him as he walked over to the bench took a seat. I looked away in thought before I nodded.

"I think you have the right idea," I said. I walked into the middle of the pavilion before I took a seat on the ground, looking out towards the rain as I crossed my legs.

"What are you doing?" King asked. I smiled.

"Just taking it all in," I replied. "Every now and again, I like to take a moment to just sit and just take in what nature gives to me." I slowly moved my eyes as I took in the park, from the creek to the trees whose leaves glistened from the precipitation that covered them. I took in a deep breath, taking in the scent of the rain. "It's something my mom taught me to do – to help me keep my mind at please." I looked over at King. "Do you have something like that?"

"…I used to," he replied slowly, his head bowing slighting. Even though I couldn't see his eyes, something told me they were looking somewhere else.

"What was it, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I used to go drinking with Armor King." I frowned and internally kicked myself for prying. I was going to tell him that he didn't have to continue, but he spoke again before I could. "…I was a street urchin before the original King brought me into his orphanage. He looked after every one of us. Even when I became a legal adult, I stayed at the orphanage, working with King around the orphanage or going with him to wrestling cards he was booked in. Anything he needed me to do for the orphanage, I did it. And then… Ogre happened." He sighed. "When King died… things were looking bad at the orphanage. So, not know what else to do, I put the mask on and became the new King."

I uncrossed my legs and moved to my knees as I fully faced him. At that point, he chuckled. "People did not like me at first, you know? They called me a disgrace to the mask. Not that I blamed them. I lost match after match after match – none of them were even close. I remember one time, during my entrance, I saw a mass of people get up out of their seats and walk for the bathrooms. I didn't mind at first – win, lose, or draw, I got paid and the money went to the orphanage. But after a while, I was getting tired of losing, mostly because I felt like I was sullying the original King's name.

"Luckily, Armor King found me and took me underneath his wing. He trained me hard. First time I took a chop from him…" King laughed, and I could only imagine a jovial look on his face. "…I practically collapsed to the ground. I thought my chest caved in. It's funny now, but I was scared as hell when that happened. But, I kept at it. And he took me around the world to places I never been to and had me wrestle in and see matches in different promotions."

I tried to imagine the look on his face – the look of wonder whenever he ended up in a location that one would see on postcards, like the Tokyo Tower here in Japan or Ayers Rock in Australia. The thought of him being all wide-eyed was enough to make me smirk in amusement.

"And after every training session and every match, we'd go out for a beer. As we drank, he'd tell me stories – stories of his past matches and King's past matches, and stories of both of their pasts. And… not only did it motivated me, and made me feel at ease that I was in the right hands. Even when I started winning matches and became accepted as the King's heir, I'd always drink a beer with Armor King whenever I could. Until…"

He trailed off, and his head dipped a bit. I frowned. I knew he missed his mentor. I started to feel bad about this whole day. Not only was I the reason King got caught in the rain, I made things depressing. I was about to open my mouth to apologize, before…

"Hey Julia," King said as he lifted his head.

"Yes King?" I replied.

"…Do you mind if I sit with you?"

I was given pause as my eyebrows rose slightly, mildly caught off guard by the question. I then smiled slightly. "Sure." I turned around and sat down, crossing my legs as I did before. I patted the ground next to me with my left hand. I heard footsteps as he lumbered towards me. I looked up at him as he sat next to me. He crossed his legs before he returned my gaze.

"So I just… sit and take in what nature gives me, right?"

"That's right."

"Okay."

He looked out towards the park. I smiled before I did the same.