Disclaimer: No miracle has occurred and given me the rights to Gravitation. I make no money writing fanfic but I really appreciate comments. :D
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"No Tears in the Summer Rain"
Eiri groaned softly as he sat down on the couch next to Shuichi. He wasn't sure how, but he had pulled a muscle in the back of his thigh. The brat looked at him with surprise.
"Did you just groan?" he asked.
"Shut up," Eiri told him, growling around his cigarette. He opened up his newspaper.
"You did!" Shuichi cheerfully accused, pushing the newspaper down. He sat up on his knees and poked Eiri's side. "You need to get more exercise! Let's go for a walk!" Shuichi bounced up from the couch, faced Eiri and grabbed his wrists, attempting to pull him to his feet.
"Stop it!" Eiri shook him off and temporarily removed the cigarette from his mouth. "Let me read the newspaper, brat. It's raining and I don't want to go for a walk." He made his statement with finality in his tone, thinking that would be it. He leaned forward and flicked ash into the tray on the coffee table for emphasis.
"Of course it's raining, it's the middle of June and the height of the rainy season!" Shuichi retorted. He pulled the newspaper away from Eiri and threw it over to the other couch sectional. "Do you plan to sit inside all month? When was the last time you had some exercise?" Shuichi stepped back and put one hand on his chin, pretending to consider Eiri. "You are looking a little squishy around the middle . . ."
Eiri gave Shuichi a dirty look. He knew the brat was baiting him and yet, it was true enough that it made Eiri feel defensive. He stood up, clenching his teeth on a second groan. Shuichi smirked at him. "Get your umbrella," Eiri ordered. Shuichi's smirk spread to a full grin and he hopped off toward the hall. Eiri took a long drag off his cigarette before putting it out and following his energetic lover at a much more sedate pace.
Outside, the world was grey, drippy, and soaking wet. Trees were so green they practically glowed under the onslaught of water. If the two of them had tried to sit on a park bench, they would either wind up sitting in a pool of water or sinking into spongy boards which had soaked up the rain. Streetlights gamely tried to illuminate more than just the raindrops around them.
"Yuki, why can't we share an umbrella?" Shuichi whined.
"Because if I let you hold it you'll poke me in the eye with it or you'll hold it too low and hit my head. If I hold it, you'll be too close and splash me with all the puddles you walk into and you'll cling to me and make me wetter."
Shuichi laughed. "I do that anyway." Sadly, it was true. When Eiri didn't voice any dispute, Shuichi folded up his ridiculous cartoon-character umbrella and took hold of Eiri's arm. Sure enough, Shuichi's steps managed to soak Eiri's pants' legs in minutes but the kid's body was warm against his side.
Shuichi began a lengthy monologue about his day and Eiri listened to him with half an ear. It was kind of nice just to walk with him. The walk was stretching out that muscle he'd pulled, too. After a while, Shuichi took a deep breath and asked, "So, how was you day? What did you write about?"
"A pathetic woman in love who cried a lot," he answered cynically.
Shuichi laughed. "Do you ever write about happy people— who stay happy?"
"Sometimes."
"Happy people who stay happy in love?" Shuichi pressed, squeezing his arm.
Eiri thought about it. "Not usually," he admitted. Shuichi gave him a questioning look. "All right, once," Eiri told him. Shuichi sputtered in laughter again. "Twice if you count a short story I wrote back when I was starting my career," he said, annoyed that he was defending himself again.
"Does bad drama really sell better?" Shuichi asked curiously.
"Hey! I don't write bad drama!" Eiri gritted his teeth, realizing he was defending himself yet again— against Shuichi, no less. "Who are you to criticize my writing, anyway?" Eiri said darkly. "Idiot."
"Oh, come on," Shuichi said. He let go of Eiri's arm and ran ahead, spinning around in a puddle to face his lover again. Shu pointed a finger at Eiri and rain dripped off both the kid's finger and his nose. Eiri's side felt cold, too. "You don't write badly, but admit it: you must use every cliché in the genre!" He stopped holding the umbrella's handle and let it dangle from his wrist. He clasped his hands together and put them next to his cheek, blinking wet eyelashes at Eiri, he started laying out the time-honored romantic scenario: "The beautiful heroine is wanted by every man in her village."
"It's set in modern times."
"Fine, her city, then?" Eiri took a step forward and Shuichi fell into step beside him again. "But the men she knows are just too ordinary for her and she wants something different. Does she move to a bigger city to catch his eye or does he come to her?"
"Chance encounter," Eiri replied, thinking he'd thrown off Shuichi's predictions.
"Chance encounter," Shuichi repeated, "and he saved her from some of the village— er—city men who tried to make her choose one of them." Eiri frowned. "But everybody says he's the wrong guy for her," Shuichi continued. "What kind of villain is he this time? Let's see, he can't be too ugly. Is he of low birth? Maybe illegitimate? Ooo! Is he foreign?"
"Yakuza," Eiri said shortly.
"Ah, a reformation, then! Hey, that explains why you had all those gang articles clipped out of the newspaper," Shuichi said happily.
"You can't even write lyrics well. Why do you bother to try second-guessing my writing?"
Shu grinned unrepentantly. "It's fun!"
"So what happens next, Idiot," Eiri challenged him.
"Hmmm. The heroine loves him. Do they marry in secret?" Eiri gestured 'no'. "Then she gets pregnant by him but he denies it because of peer pressure or society telling them both the girl can do better." Eiri wanted a cigarette. Shuichi was hitting a little too close. "Then, there's a big scene when she breaks down!" Shuichi danced ahead of him again, splashing into puddles without any heed. He faced Eiri and turned his face up to the sky, letting the rain cover his face. Melodramatically, Shuichi held out his arms, as if in supplication and his voice warbled, "She implores him that he's the only one she wants! She reaches out to him— just like this, crying in the rain!" Shuichi begged Eiri with his posture and his eyes; "Don't leave me!" Eiri thought he looked exceptionally stupid letting the rain fall on him when his umbrella hung from his wrist.
Passersby looked in their direction as if they were viewing a juicy bit of gossip. Eiri scoffed at his lover and strode past. "HA!" Shuichi said, splashing back to Eiri's side. "Just like that, the hero leaves her— while she's crying miserably in the rain!" Shuichi laced his hands behind his head and stuck his elbows out in a self-satisfied manner. Eiri watched him through narrowed eyes. He was way too smug— and a little too accurate.
"You're going to catch cold if you keep jumping out into the rain." Eiri warned him. "If you think I'm going to nurse you to health, you're mistaken."
"See, Eiri. That's too tragic. It's not real. Here we are, in the summer rain, walking together. Over to our left, there's a couple kissing under that tree over there," he gestured in their direction. "Other people are walking around, too. Nobody is breaking down and crying in the rain."
"And what if I left you right now?"
Shuichi smiled and looked at him fearlessly. "You won't." He dropped his arms, swinging the umbrella around his wrist so he didn't hit himself in the head with it. "See, the villain has to reform and admit he loves the girl."
"He doesn't reform," Eiri said grouchily. He hadn't written that far yet.
Shuichi shrugged. "He still repents in terms of his love for the girl. He takes her in and the baby is born. Knowing you, they guy gets shot or something." Shuichi watched him for a reaction.
Eiri dug out his cigarettes to avoid Shuichi's gaze. He made Shuichi hold his umbrella while he lit up and he made a mental note to change a few of his plans for the book. He could send the man to prison instead of shooting him. "Have you been getting into my computer?" Eiri asked suspiciously.
Shuichi laughed and shook his head. "No, but you did tell me about part of the book's plans when you were really sleepy."
Well, that probably explained it, Eiri thought. It made him feel a little better about the plot. He was still going to alter some key points of the story. There would be no reformation, for one, and maybe crying in the rain was a little over-the-top?
"Yuki, are you happy?" Shuichi asked.
"Huh? Why are asking?"
"'Cause I want to know. I think this is fun." Shuichi latched onto his arm again and Eiri felt warmed, in spite of his water-logged pants. "I mean, here we are walking in the rain and talking. We're spending time alone together, not arguing, just being together. It's nice."
"You're easy to please," Eiri said.
"Mmmm. So are you happy?"
Eiri considered the question. "I'd be happier inside where it's warm and dry," he said.
Shuichi didn't let go, but pushed Eiri sideways into the walkway railing. "I'm serious!" Eiri steered them back onto the path and watched for a tree he could push Shu into for retribution. He took a couple of steps and Shuichi let go of his arm again. "Yuki! I want to know! If-if you aren't happy when we just do normal things . . ."
"When are you ever normal?" Eiri retorted. Shuichi glared at him. "All right, fine. I've been happier but this isn't bad."
Shuichi's glare vanished. "Not bad?" he repeated. "That doesn't exactly mean 'happy', either."
Eiri shrugged. "Come here." Shuichi came close and Eiri put his cigarette in his mouth and draped his arm over Shuichi's shoulders. "Let's turn west when we get to the other end of the park," he suggested. It meant lengthening their usual route by quite a distance.
Eiri watched Shuichi's smile return a little at a time. He decided he didn't need to push Shuichi into a tree. The kid wrapped an arm around Eiri's waist and snuggled against him and as they walked. Eiri admitted to himself he was happy. He vowed to re-write that crying in the rain scene, too. Mizuki was going to be annoyed; she had liked it.
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Author's Note: I was tired of the tears and rain cliché, so I decided to write something that de-bunked it. I hope you enjoyed it.