One Rainy Day
Author's Note
I was reading my friends' blogs, some of which mentioned that they had been caught out in the rain a while ago... and then it started raining outside.Inevitably, my thoughts began to revolve around the rain, and I started writing this… the story just wrote itself from there.
Another one-shot… because I find that I never seem to have the patience or consistency required for writing a complete series.
Staring gloomily out the window, she sighed. Thanks to the rain, she was stuck indoors, unable to walk home. School had been over for a while now; the corridors were deserted, the classrooms empty. The voices of the teachers and students had faded out gradually, leaving nothing behind but an empty silence, broken only by the pitter-patter of the rain falling hard against the pavement.
She'd been late to school that morning, and had had to stay back after school as punishment, doing her homework and studying alone in the classroom under the supervision of a teacher who had made an excuse to leave for home as soon as the sky began to grow dark. Yet she was told to remain until her assignment was finished, and to leave it on the teacher's desk.
Her work finished, she realized that the downpour was too heavy by now for her to leave the school compound, so she had no choice but to stay in the school, walking aimlessly in the dimly lit corridors and hallways.
Bored, she slumped against the wall, watching the shadows play across the walls. Every now and again, lightning would strike, causing everything to light up for a brief instant before returning to darkness.
Alone like this, in the dark, she began to remember a rumor that had spread around recently about the school being haunted by the ghost of a student who had committed suicide several years earlier by jumping off the roof of the building; he was said to roam the school at night, waiting for an unwary student to fall into his clutches…
She shook her head, berating herself for her own stupidity. There were no such things as ghosts! Or were there…?
Surely that wailing sound was that of the wind… or could it be the voice of a ghost calling out? Was that just the sound of the rain against the windows… or was that the footsteps of a creature of another world?
To her horror, the sound of footsteps grew louder steadily; they were coming towards her! Beads of sweat formed across her forehead, yet she was too terrified to move.
Then, as the footsteps seemed to come closer, almost turning the corner, she rushed to a nearby door and flung herself inside, shutting the door behind her.
In her panic, she rushed headlong into darkness so deep she could not make out her surroundings… Something – or someone? – brushed against her and she gasped.
Reaching out her hand to push away whatever it was, she touched something that felt like matted, tangled hair… she backed away, hitting something hard; she felt a pressure on her head, and felt something very much like a clawed hand pulling and tearing at her hair as she tried to struggle.
Screaming, she tried to grope for the door… but could not remember where it had been. Fumbling and panicking in the darkness, she had forgotten which direction she had come from. Sobbing now, her eyes squeezed shut; she flailed wildly at the clawed hand that still gripped her hair, at everything around her…
"Hey, hey! It's me!" a familiar voice yelled.
Opening her eyes, she found that she was out in the corridor again; it was bright, the lights having been switched on, and she was lying on top of…
She scrambled to her feet, but as she did so, she felt the clawed hand wrenching at her hair again. Gasping in pain, she fell down again.
"Oof!" Yohei gasped as well as she fell with her full weight on his stomach.
"Haruko, relax! I'll get it off you in a second."
Blinking, tears still in her eyes, she sat still whilst Yohei gently removed whatever it was that had grabbed her hair.
"There," he said. "All done."
Haruko looked, and found that it had been a garden rake, fallen on top of her when she had backed into it – and there, lying on the floor, was the mop which she had touched and assumed to be hair.
She felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she realized how silly she had been.
"What were you doing in the janitor's closet?" Yohei asked, picking up the things that had fallen and putting them back.
Sheepishly, she told him.
Yohei managed to keep a straight face whilst she told him her tale, but his mouth twitched a little in the corners, suggesting that he might have burst out laughing right then and there if he hadn't been afraid of hurting her feelings.
"What are you still doing in school, anyway?" Haruko asked.
"Looking for a damsel in distress to rescue… nah, I'm kidding, I'm kidding," Yohei said, seeing the look on Haruko's face. "Actually, some teachers had been making me run random chores for them all day, and by the time I'd finished it was already raining."
"Oh, I see…"
Yohei suddenly reached out his hand to touch her hair – surprisingly, she let him do it – "Your hair…"
Reaching up to touch her own hair, she realized that the garden rake earlier had done more damage than she realized; it had hacked her shoulder-length hair short in some places, making it very messy. She moaned in dismay when she realized this.
"Oh no!" she moaned. "And I don't have time to get my hair done this week!"
"Well…" Yohei said, glancing out the window. "It's still raining pretty heavily… I don't suppose you'd mind getting a haircut while waiting for it to stop?"
Haruko looked at him, surprised.
"What I mean is," he said, muttering, his eyes to the floor, "My family owns a hairdresser's so I know a bit about cutting hair… so, if you wouldn't mind…"
"You'd cut it for me?" Haruko said, smiling. "I'd love that!"
He grinned at her. "Really? You won't regret it, I promise! Although… I don't have any of the usual tools with me, but I guess an ordinary pair of scissors will do…"
"It's fine," Haruko assured him."Just do the best you can."
Yohei shrugged. "Nohelp for it, I guess… I'll just do what I can, and maybe touch it up later."
Some time later, Haruko's long hair had been cut short, and she was staring at Yohei's work in one of the mirrors in the girls' toilet – they'd both agreed that it was the most feasible location for the hairdressing work...
"What do you think? Do you like it?" Yohei asked anxiously.
"It looks great!" she said enthusiastically. "It looks like it was done professionally... I can't believe how neat it looks!"
Pleased, Yohei smiled. "Ya know, you look really cute with short hair."
"And here I meant to grow it longer!" Haruko said, smiling.
"Why did you want to?"
Haruko's smile faded a little. "Well… I heard a rumor that Rukawa likes girls with long hair… "
Yohei's smile faded as well. "Oh."
"But then…" Haruko continued a little hesitantly. "Now that I think about it… I think it really doesn't matter anymore."
Yohei looked at her.
"I think…" Haruko said, blushing a little, looking back at Yohei, "I think… I should just let go… no, maybe I've already started to let go… of my feelings for Rukawa. It may be a while before I'm completely over him, but…"
A smile lit up Yohei's face as she said this.
Haruko cleared her throat."Um, hey…It stopped raining."
Yohei noticed that she'd changed the subject rather abruptly, but decided to just let it go... he knew that she needed some more time before she was ready.
"So it is." Yohei agreed, smiling.
"I can go home now!" Haruko exclaimed happily. "I'm starving, too... haven't had a bite to eat all day!"
"Want me to walk you home?" Yohei offered. "Maybe we could stop by somewhere and grab a quick bite on the way..."
Haruko smiled, and that was answer enough for him.
Author's Note
My sis told me that this pairing is totally random... but I still think they'd be sweet together. o
Comments and reviews would be greatly appreciated.