(A/N: Blah. Sorry about the lack of updates. First off, I got writers block and THEN ff.net decided they needed to suspend me as they hadn't done that for a while. -_- Hoperfully, this chappie's up to standards. Enjoy. As always, thankies for the lovely reviews. ^^

Hi: I'm glad you like the story and I'm very sorry about the lack of updates. I'll try my best to update sooner this time.

Aznfyre: I take it that was your fav line? Thanks for reviewing!

hhtme: I'm glad that you liked the fic. And sorry about not updating, but I'll try to update sooner.

And now, on with the fic!)

Return To Summer

Chapter 5: The Storm

The wind howled angrily, wipping Rei's hair about. Standing behind him, I nearly got hit in the eye, several times. The sky had turned rather black, threatening rain. Rei just stood there, stock still, looking at the sky. "What?" I asked him, grabbing a fistful of his hair and holding it away from my face.

"There's going to be a storm," Rei said and I rolled my eyes.

"Really, Rei? I hadn't noticed."

Rei turned and hissed at me. "This is no laughing matter Kai! If the rains are heavy, the wheat will be ruined!"

I stood there, not finding the horror in those words that Rei obviously did. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "Don't you get it?! Without the wheat, the people will starve in the winter!"

I blinked. "You guys eat wheat all winter long?"

Rei gritted his teeth. "No, you baka! We sell the wheat, which gives us money to buy other food for the winter. The surplus makes flour and bread and feeds the horses."

"Oh," I said, feeling a little stupid.

Rei looked back at the small group of threshers huddled just a little ways back from us. "Look alive!" he shouted. "Get as much threshed as you can before the rain starts! We don't know how heavy the rain will be!"

The group dispersed. Li walked up to Rei. "Rei, I know you're concered about the village, but I don't think-"

"Just, get to work Li," Rei said, looking at the other boy, almost desperately.

Li swallowed and nodded. Rei started for the fields. He turned back to me. "Well, get a move on Kai! There's a whole field here!"

He gestured wildly with his hand. "Rei, I think you're just getting a little worked up-"

"I'm not gonna starve again, goddamnit! I'm not! I'm not!"

I stepped back from him. "Rei. Rei, just calm down. Nobody's gonna starve."

I gently placed my hands on his shoulders, moving toward him again. He moved away. "Just leave me alone."

He walked away. I followed him. "Rei-"

"Just leave me alone."

We worked in the field like that, in silence, for about twenty minutes, before the rain started coming down. Hard. The threshers were running from the fields, carrying with them what they could of the wheat.

I looked at the fleeing threshers, then back at Rei. He was gone. The rain was making it hard to see, so I couldn't find him anywhere. I suspected he hadn't gone far though. "Rei!" I shouted.

No answer, save for thunder clapping overhead. I winced as the sound boomed, pressing on my eardrums, then dashed forward. "Rei!"

Still no answer. I'd be damned if I let him walk off again. I gritted my teeth and started to run. I couldn't see five feet in front of my face, but I wasn't going to lose Rei. I ran out of the field and slipped and fell in the mud. I got up again. I kept running. "Rei!" I screamed, my voice becoming shrill.

I'd lost him again, hadn't I? Panic started to set in. Where the hell could he have got to? My clothes were plastered to my body and stained with mud and grass. I didn't care. "Rei!"

I tripped again, over a tree root. I land hard in the dirt-turned mud. I coughed, finding the wind having been knocked out of me. I sat up again. Blood dribbled down my hands where I'd cut them. I realized I was in the forest. The rain pelted the leaves of the trees, making...well, that noise leaves make when they're petted by rain.

I got up, starting to run again. "Rei! Rei! Where the hell are you?!"

No answer. I felt myself on the verge of tears. Rei was gone. I'd just let him go again. I hated myself. I stopped, pausing against a nearby terr-trunk, looking up at the sky. "Why?" I asked the sky, feeling very helpless and very small.

Thunder boomed in reply. Gritting my teeth, I started off again. What if Rei was hurt somewhere? I couldn't just leave him out here, could I?

I ran for a long time. I tripped over some more roots. The rain never ceased. At long last, just as I was about to turn back, giving this up as hopeless, I saw something white lying on the ground at my feet. Rei's hair wrap. It was covered in mud and I wondered just how long it had been lying there.

I started forward again, looking left and right, calling his name. No answer. Then, there he was, huddled under a tree, knees hugged to his chest, sobbing into them.

I ran to him. "Rei! Rei, what's wrong?"

I got down on my hands and knees, trying to get him to look at me. "Rei, what's wrong? What happened?"

Long strands of ebony hair clung to his muddied face. "It's all my fault," he said softly.

"What's all your fault, Rei?"

I lifted his chin gently, forcing him to look at me. "That the village will starve."

I gritted my teeth. "Rei, nobody's going to starve."

He started to cry again, pulling away from me. "Yes they are! They're all gonna die and it's gonna be all my fault!"

I slapped him. Hard. "Get a hold of yourself, Kon! Everybody's going to die as long as you sit here snivelling about it!"

He stared at me, holding a hand to his cheek. "Kai," he said softly.

He pulled me down on him and kissed me. Before I knew what was happening, we were involved in a full-blown make-out session, kissing each other and groping each other madly.

I bit his lip, drawing blood and ground myself against his hips. He cried out, both in pleasure and in pain. We went on like this for a while, lost in animalistic passion. Without warning, we tore away from each other, looking in opposite directions, suddenly feeling very guilty.

I don't know why, but I felt like we'd done something very wrong. It'd felt good and there was no denying there was an attraction between us, but somehow....

We sat there, in silence for a moment or two. Rei turned back to me. "Don't tell anybody?"

He looked at me, begging me to keep quiet. I nodded. Slowly, we got up, each of us trying to to hide our evidence from the other. I don't know why, but I guess we felt kind of guilty that we'd been turned on by that. It was, of course, the only natural thing that could have happened.

Rei took my hand. "We should get back," he said.

I brushed some of the hair out of his eyes. "We should do that again sometime," I said softly, trying not to be too obvious.

Rei smiled. "'kay," he whispered, then sneezed.

I smirked. I had a funny feeling we were both going to have very bad colds in the morning...

~*~*~*

[A/n: As always, R&R?]