Author's Notes: Well, even though this story is about Suikotsu and Kikyou, this chapter also gives due time to our other cast members since this is really a story about life and trust overall. But no worries, we still find out where our dear brown-haired doctor has gotten off to. ^^

The song that they sing during this is "Rendezvous" by the Australian rock band, "The Choirboys"- probably one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands ^^;

The "singing" is indicated with ~lyrics~

Aussie Slang used in this chapter:

"muck"- a stuck-up/conceited person

"luv"- a friendly, yet endearing term for a woman

"bastard"- sometimes used as an endearing term

"conch"- a conscientious person. Somebody who would rather work or study than go out and enjoy themselves

As always- please read, review and enjoy ^^

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~Chapter 4: Weathering the Weather~

Kikyou kept her hands firmly gripped on the steering wheel as she attempted to drive down the dirt road that was merely a small partition of raised ground about a foot at the most from the rest of the outback.

"How these people live like this is still an amazing feat to me…" She thought to herself, turning up the windshield wipers another notch.

The amount of rain the clouds were allowing down onto the dry earth was slowly increasing, and as Kikyou noted, it was becoming harder and harder to see through it.

Being as the sun had already set, the only light on the rural road was the flicker of lightening in the distance and the headlights of the truck tracing out the path she drove on. And for someone unfamiliar with the lands, it was of no assistance at all.

Looking at the mileage gauge, she estimated she was almost half-way into town based on the distance Bankotsu and Jakotsu had told her.

"And still no sign of him…"

Squinting out through the fogged windows, she scanned the dark landscape for any indication of where he could be.

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Back in town, Hiten and Kaguya paused in their activities as the lights flickered and went out, accompanied with a loud crash of thunder.

"Well, damn," Hiten cursed.

"What's the matter? It's not like we needed the lights..." Kaguya said with a shrug.

"Maybe because I like looking at your pretty…" He cut his thoughts short.

Focusing his eyes in a direction away from the warm presence of Kaguya, he wished his somewhat sentimental thought away.

Feeling her hand cupping his chin, he turned back towards her, barely able to make out her form in the darkened pub.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"No. Just something one of the doctor's kids said getting to me."

Unseen in the dark, she quirked an eyebrow, "And what pray tell was that?"

His mind drifted back to Chiyo's innocent words, "But Mr. Suikotsu said it was perfectly okay as long as you and Miss Kaguya loved each other. That's what people that love each other do, right?"

Smirking to himself, he resolved it, "Heh, love- yeah right. I'm better than that sentimental mush."

He leaned towards Kaguya, pressing his lips against hers forcefully in hopes it would make her forget her pending question.

But, the braided-man wouldn't be so lucky this day.

"Hiten."

"Hmm?"

"Answer my question now," She said increasing her grip on his arm.

"Eh, it was just some random crap about only people who loved each other acting like this…you know how kids are. They don't know anything."

Kaguya paused, her expression of irritation fading into one of mild shock and whether her ego would admit it or not, her heartbeat did fluctuate.

She leaned in and gave a light peck to his lips and then turned to whisper in his ear, "If you dare propose to me with a diamond less than two karats you'll regret it, got that Hiten?"

He blinked, "Kaguya…?"

Resting her head under his chin she replied, "Okay okay, one and a half karats, but you're not getting it any lower than that. I have my reputation too."

Placing his hand on her back he stared up in the direction of the ceiling, "You're a muck, luv."

"Same to you, bastard."

The two laid like that, enjoying the silence until a light tapping at the door could be heard.

"Is that someone knocking?" Hiten questioned aloud.

"Who the hell would be out in this shit?" Kaguya commented.

"Miss Kaguya! Miss Kaguya are you in there?" The voice called through the door.

The bar-owner sighed, and felt around, "Hiten, where's your shirt?"

"My shirt?"

"Do you really think we're going to find every article of clothing we need in the dark? At least we can cover up with that."

Reaching about, yet careful not to make Kaguya lose her balance from where she laid on top of him, Hiten felt around for his shirt.

"Found it!" She said, pulling the shirt around her and laying back down so it partially covered Hiten as well, "Come in, you aren't interrupting…much."

The door swung open, the drenched figure covering their eyes as they stepped in.

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Out at the farmhouse, things weren't fairing much better as the storm's intensity increased, the power having gone out there as well.

In the darkened room all the children had gathered around where Jakotsu sat with Bankotsu on the floor, several blankets being shared amongst them all.

"Mr. Bankotsu, do you think that ghosts will come out now that it's dark?" Yuuta asked from beside him.

"Why, did you…feel a chill down your spine or something?" He replied.

"No. Just curious- is that how you know a ghost is nearby?"

"Oh, more than a ghost can put a chill down your spine…." Jakotsu whispered, giving a playful bite to Bankotsu's earlobe.

"Hey! Not with the kids here!"

"Well it's not like they can see anything…"

"Jakotsu!"

"Are Mr. Jakotsu and Mr. Bankotsu 'making love,' Mr. Manten?" Yuuta asked, looking in the direction of the bed the injured rancher laid on.

"Nah, they aren't making enough noise yet. But if they do, come and sit over this way," He mumbled in reply.

"Okay, Mr. Manten."

"What's…'making love'?" Ichiru questioned.

"See- now we've got the kids asking things!" Bankotsu muttered towards his companion.

Before any of the adults could speak up, Chiyo decided to answer, "Mr. Suikotsu told me that when you really really love someone and want to do stuff other than kiss them then you 'make love' with them. And then you have kids."

"Mr. Jakotsu- are you and Mr. Bankotsu going to have kids now?" Tadashi questioned.

"You can only have kids if you're a girl- stupid!" Souten piped in.

"Then what will Mr. Bankotsu and Mr. Jakotsu have?" Kiyoshi inquired.

The room fell silent, as a loud thunder crash cut off anyone who was attempting to answer and caused most of the children to huddle towards Bankotsu and Jakotsu.

Pulling Chiyo into his lap, Jakotsu frowned, "That baby still sleeping after all this?"

She nodded, and looked to Makoto who was still sleeping peacefully in her arms.

Yuuta, who had climbed into Bankotsu's lap leaned over, "I wish I could sleep through this…hey, Mr. Bankotsu- can you sing something?"

"Sing?"

"Yeah, Mr. Suikotsu always sings us something to calm us down."

"Like what?"

"By that one band you guys like," Yuuta explained, helping Kiyoshi up next to him.

"That rock band," Inori clarified.

"Oh that group, well- I suppose we could sing something, right- Jakotsu?"

"I suppose," He said with a shrug, "What song?"

"What about 'Rendezvous'?"

"Okay, but you kids better go to sleep then."

Unseen in the dark, all the children nodded in agreement as the two young ranchers began the song.

~Yes I had a dream, like a million kids from my home town.~

~We found love on dirty streets, if I knew then what I know now.~ Jakotsu sang, joining him.

~From discotheque to home, there was no place left for us to go. Now we're on the road to our rendezvous. With nothing- there's nothing to lose.~

And as the two began the chorus, another person somewhere else was humming the same tune.

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On the way home, a lone truck was stuck in the mud that used to be the road. Humming to himself and trying to stay awake, Suikotsu was obviously a bit surprised when he saw a set of headlights headed in his direction.

The surprise quickly turned to panic though, as he realized that in the dark night the oncoming truck couldn't see him.

Jamming the key in the ignition and turning on the lights to his truck, he closed his eyes and hoped they saw him in time.

The other truck slammed on the breaks, mud sloshing up into the air as they came to a stop at the last moment.

Quickly unlocking his door, the brown-haired doctor rushed over, recognizing the truck as Bankotsu's.

"Are you all…." He paused on seeing the black-haired female emerge from the driver's side, "Miss Kikyou…"

She smiled slightly, "Mr. Suikotsu. Thank goodness, we were all worried."

"What are you doing out here alone? You shouldn't be out here by yourself!" He said, walking over and placing his hands on her shoulders.

"You hadn't come back yet, so we thought perhaps your injury had caused an issue."

He sighed, "And since you're the doctor, you took it upon yourself to come out here just in case I needed immediate care," Suikotsu replied, his mind understanding the doctor's logic in it.

"What happened?" She asked looking about and not seeing why he was delayed.

"It's stuck in the mud," He said pointing back towards the truck, "And with the clouds overhead the VHF radio frequencies are all scattered."

"You were just going to sit out here and wait for someone to come by?"

"Pretty much. Though I would have rather it been someone aside from you, Miss Kikyou. It's not safe to be out in this weather."

"I can handle myself, Mr. Suikotsu," Looking over at it, and figuring it wouldn't take more than just a push, she continued, "Now- shall we get that truck unstuck?"

"But…"

"The children are worried, so let's just hurry back," She said, walking over towards it.

Putting the truck into neutral, Suikotsu began to try and push at it from behind as the rain continued its deluge from above.

Finally, hoping a little added strength might help, Kikyou left the car's steering to its own devices and went out into the weather to help the other doctor.

"Miss Kikyou?"

"I've handled heart transplant surgery; I can handle a little rain," She said firmly on seeing his worried face.

And with that, they both began to push, and the rain still fell.

It had been several minutes and it was beginning to become clear that the truck was definitely not moving anywhere at all.

Looking over at Kikyou's now equally drenched form; Suikotsu averted his eyes on noting what the water had done to her white collared shirt.

"You…didn't bring a coat?" He asked.

"No. I didn't pack one."

Removing his own jacket, he draped it around her shoulders.

"Mr. Suikotsu?"

"You don't want to catch a cold," He said, wiping a smudge of splattered mud from her cheek.

She nodded, "Shall we just take the other truck back?"

"Yeah, we can come get Hiten's truck in the morning when the rain lets up," Suikotsu replied, walking alongside her back to the other truck.

Climbing in to the seats, Kikyou buckled herself in and turned the key. The truck lurched, and the whirring sound of tires without traction reached their ears.

"Don't tell me…" She muttered.

"I believe the excess rain…well…"

"So they're both stuck."

"Basically…yes, Miss Kikyou."

Kikyou frowned. She wasn't fond of this type of weather and being stuck literally in the middle of nowhere in such weather was not her cup of tea.

That's when she felt a warm arm wrap around her shoulders.

"Mr. Suikotsu…?"

He turned his face away, and replied, "It gets awfully cold out here at night, I was just…afraid you'd get chilled."

Figuring that the least she could do since he'd given her his coat was to share what warmth she could, she leaned back into the loose embrace.

Just as it seemed the rain was beginning to die down, a loud crash announced another problem.

"Um…Miss Kikyou?"

"Yes, Mr. Suikotsu?"

"Well…I don't want to cause unnecessary worry, but…I believe a storm is going to move through."

"A storm. Great." She thought, uneasy memories seeping back into her mind.

That's when she felt him pull her closer, "I know, I'm just a conch of a doctor but…well, don't worry, I'll do everything I can to keep you safe, Miss Kikyou."

She blinked; her brain at first not registering her own reaction.

"Why do I…trust those words?"

Leaning her head over against his chest, she replied, "Thank you, Mr. Suikotsu."

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Preview for Chapter 5:

Being trapped out in the middle of the outback is one thing, but with the rain continuing to fall and the threat of flooding rising, things aren't looking so good. It doesn't help that rain and storms just stirs up some troubled memories from Kikyou's past and now she'll have to rely on Suikotsu's words that he'll be the one to keep her safe.