Tomorrow, he would go out and see about finding a new house.  Not now, because it was raining fit to skin a cat, and if there was one thing Katsu hated, it wouldn't be rain, but if there was a choice of about a dozen things he hated, rain would be on that list somewhere.  More specifically, being wet – rain in and of itself didn't really bother him.  Besides, Himura and Kamiya-dono had offered him a room for tonight, and every night after until he found a house, which had been completely unexpected.  And welcome.

Best friend or not, Katsu had not been looking forward to sharing a room with Sano should he fail to find suitable housing before nightfall.  Well, perhaps it would be more accurate to say he had not been looking forward to sharing a room with Sano, but he had not been looking forward to sharing Sano's room with Sano.  It wasn't in a neighborhood any poorer than Katsu's was – had been – but Sano's neighbors were something Katsu had experienced once, and had no desire to do so again.

Not everyone could sleep through a riot.

So tomorrow, he would work.

Tonight, though …

Tonight …

Tonight there was rain.  A symphony of rain, pounding, tapping, rapping, splashing all over the roof that was – thankfully – far more water-resistant than his old one.

He was still sharing a room with Shinomiri Aoshi, but the man hadn't come in yet.  Katsu wondered why, in a lazy, offhand sort of way.  It wasn't really his business to question the man's comings and goings anyways.

He'd come in when he was ready to come in.

In the meantime, Katsu lay on his back in the empty room, wavering between sleeping and not, and just enjoying the feeling of pure solitude that only came with a well-built room and no other buildings around for at least a hundred yards.

Tomorrow, he would try and find a house.  Tomorrow.

But tonight, there was only the rain.

******************

Hmmm.  I … don't think I really like this one.  Not all that sure though.  It seems just too … I dunno, too … aw, shit I can't think of the word.  "Lyrical," almost, but that's not what I want to say.  Something else.  *sigh*  Whatever.  (I've been saying that a lot.  Maybe playing so much FFVIII is getting to me?)  Or maybe it's just that I don't like the fact that I sorta repeated a plot device (rain) twice in a row.  Meh.  I'll deal.

Kuroiyousei:  *glows*  Thanks.  I've always seen Misao's hero-worship of Aoshi to be a sort of blind teenage obsession that borders on the unhealthy – it actually reminds me a lot of the relationship my friend has with my other friend's older brother, only a lot more severe.  Kinds freaks me out whenever she starts talking about him (both Misao and my friend).  As for the SxS sex … well, sorry to disappoint, but at this point in their "relationship," having either one of them admit to a "relationship" would be an act of God bordering on *gasp!* Out Of Character-ness!  (I even wrote it out special, just for emphasis, yo.  *nods*)  So no, no rabid bunny sex.  Yet.  I might be able to work in a sufficiently lemony dream sometime soon though … *dangles idea in front of monitor*

Maybe.

Nicky:  I'm glad we agree on the appropriateness.  ^_^  Rain is generally classified as gloomy weather – though it doesn't have to be.  Hmm.  Damn.  You just gave me an idea for a chapter, but it would be way far ahead in the plot, when Katsu and Aoshi are actually "together."  Ah well.  I'll write it when I get to it.  Or I'll write it now and stick it in when I get to it …