Green Tea: Yay! Third Chapter! This story doesn't seem to be all that popular, but oh well. I enjoy writing this story the most, so it's going to be written whether people read it or not! Please read and enjoy!

NNSC: I'm glad you liked it Hope you like this one.

Stacey: Yes, F minor!

Chapter 3: Can Blind Men See Color?

"Shino-kun, take a guess, which tomatoes are mine."

It was a hot summer afternoon, and once again, Shino found himself in the company of one Ayame Soramachi, this time, he was visiting her vegetable garden.

Shino pointed to a small, withered looking tomato.

Ayame pretended to look offended.
"I'm not THAT bad of a gardener!"

And then she froze and quirked an eyebrow.
"You just made a joke, didn't you?"

"I guess."

"You do know that that's the first time you've ever joked around before... right?"

"Yes."

"Ok, then."

Ayame surveyed the tomatoes and finally pointed to a patch where several gigantic, bright red tomatoes grew.
"Those are mine."

Compared to the tomatoes growing beside it, her tomatoes looked like giants.

Shino stared.

and stared.

and stared some more.

"Yep! Those are mine. And I didn't even have to add any fertilizer or anything!"

The red-haired girl smiled and crouched next to the tomato plant.
"Want to know why?"

Shino nodded.

"Because the best fertilizer in the world... is love."
With that, she leaned over and kissed a tomato.

Then she stood up and linked her hands behind her back, like she always did when she was content.
"Just wait, that tomato will grow to be the biggest of them all."

Then she smiled.

A raindrop fell on her pointy nose.

"Ne, ne, Shino-kun... Do you see?"
Ayame pointed at the little raindrops falling down from the sky as they took refuge under a greenhouse roof from the sudden downpour of rain.

Shino stared at the droplets and shrugged.
"Water. What about it?"

The girl shook her head, curly red locks bouncing on her shoulders.
"No, no, silly! Look!"

Shino stared at the droplets some more. There seemed to be nothing special about the droplets...?
"I don't see anything."

"Really?"
"Mn."
"That's so weird... you really can't see it?"

This was beginning to irritate him a little.
"What is it?"

Ayame shook her head and sighed.
"I suppose you can't hear it either..."

"What is it?"

She was quiet for a moment, as she stared glassy-eyed at the droplets.

But she did not answer his question.
"Tell me Shino, Can you show a blind man what color looks like?"

Shino was silent. Ayame continued.
"Can you describe music to a deaf?"

"No."

"Why are you so sure?"

"It can't be done." Shino replied impassively

Ayame turned and stared at him curiously before resuming her observation of rain-droplets.
"I think it can."

She bit her lower lip in thought, and then added,
"Maybe that's why you can't see them."

Shino sat in a chair in his room and stared at the window silently after he got home. No one bothered him, he was always like this anyways.

However, they had no way of knowing that today was different. Very different.

Shino normally stared outside, mind blank and empty.

Today, as he stared outside at the raindrops beating against the glass, he was searching for something, listening for something. But he couldn't find it.

If someone asked what he was looking for, he didn't think he could give a definate answer. After all, he wasn't given one either.

But even so, he continued to look, until he fell asleep at his chair. Perhaps he dreamt that he found it. Or at least, he liked to imagine he did.

Green Tea: Please review! Thanks for reading!