She Loves Me

Written By SexySesshieSama

Author's Note: Despite all that I hoped for, the shortness of the chapters, how many I had in reserve, I have not updated in a long time. It's those damn reviews I was too lazy to handle. I am very sorry. My deepest thanks and regrets to my reviewers, you have been wonderful. Those of you who haven't reviewed, you can't complain. I will try to do better, it's summer, things should be good now. Steal my characters and die. I don't own Furuba, which is sad, many things would be worse and different if I did, starting with my lack of fanfiction and money. Please enjoy, review, PM, email, whatever. Please don't flame, it is pointless. I am a Daughter of the Fire God, you cannot harm me, foolish mortals...

I Love The Rain

Nagariva Yuizaki, third year at Kaibara High, hopeless romantic and animal lover extraordinaire. My favorite things in the whole wide world are warm colors, sad romance novels, any kind of feline, and the sound of rain as it purges the earth of sadness and negativity, although that experience is most fun pounding against my window as I sit beside it or soaking my clothes through as I dance in the rain. I'm a bit of a sad character, doing well in school with a perfect life at home and everything I could ever want—no, that's not the sad part; I'm getting to it! Hold your horses. I am completely obsessed with the concept of love, the concept of romance, and the thought of having my own Knight-in-Shining-Armor. Sad, I know. I am. However, that's who Nagariva Yuizaki is, and never will I change that.

Ever since I was a young girl I have been a dreamer, a thinker, a bit spacey and always more interested in fantasy than in real-life. Which is why my best friend is a girl named Kei Onira; she takes notes, pays attention, and relays all of that information back to me—I am very good at learning and absorbing information...just not paying attention, I'm afraid. She's the more worldly of us, lacking a bit in imagination, but not in heart. During class I will stare ahead, looking intent and interested so that the teacher doesn't call on me, while really playing fantasy after fantasy over in my mind, dreaming of my perfect man, imagining how we would meet and how he would confess his undying love to me, sweeping me off my feet, riding into the sunset with me in his saddle. Maybe even throwing in some conflict for us to overcome, the setting varying from dream to dream. He never has a face, or any definite characteristics; sometimes he is just one big blur, at other times he has black hair, or maybe blue eyes. Usually he is muscular, never is he fat; sometimes he's buff and bulging, other times he is toned and slender. It's not what he looks like that matters; it's the thought that some day a man will love me like that that makes the fantasy.

I live a bit far from Kaibara, and usually I get a ride from my mom or dad. But on days when they are leaving too early for me to want to ride with them, I'll walk the three miles to school, thinking and daydreaming on the way, perhaps finishing some homework assignment I had been too busy last night to complete. (I cannot count the number of F's and late work's that I have received because of a new episode of one of my soaps or a new volume of a series I am reading. Sometimes I stay up so late that I can't even go to school the next day! All my sick days are used up for days like that; I only get sick in the summer and on breaks and weekends, and even those genuine illnesses are rare. I guess I'm just...lucky? Good enough word for me.)

Today I had gotten a ride home from Kei's punked-out "gang" leader sister Taro. I had been sitting on one side of Kei, while on the other sat Yuu, at our feet rode Ara, and in the front rode Jin. An interesting bunch, but harmless but for their overprotectiveness and occasional going overboard. We spoke of nothing, for I am generally quiet (around them), and today none of the others felt talkative either. I asked them why, and in a soft voice Kei explained all that had happened, to which the others growled. She only briefly spoke of the guy getting beaten up...the guy she's had a crush on since his first day. Poor Kei. Taro and Co. didn't realize how much they had hurt her by trying to help. Sadness over him yelling at her was nothing compared to the guilt she must be feeling over him getting beat up.

I got home, and as usual, nobody had beaten me to it. I live just with my mom and dad, since my older siblings—twins Sari and Atari—are twenty years old and attend college several hours away. I opened the door, went inside, dropped my stuff off, and grabbed my newest novel, a fluffy romance by an adult novelist, Shigeru Shouma.

I sat on the couch by the window. I had only read about two pages when the downpour strengthened, beating against the glass with a rhythmically compelling and calm-inducing beat. I couldn't concentrate. Changing out of my plain school uniform, now wearing a pair of old gray shorts and a black tank-top, I neglected to put on shoes and slipped outside.

The rain was warm and it felt absolutely heavenly on my bare skin. I danced around in it until I was dizzy, eyes closed and face titled up towards the stormy heavens. Lucky for me my neighbors all know me and hardly think twice about my odd behavior. (I grew up in this house, after all, so they are like family in a way.) It was a gentle rain, the sun only just concealed behind soft and slightly darkened fluffy clouds. It's a magical time, I believe, when the skies open up and water falls forth onto the land below. A lot of people hate rain, but I love it. It's as if the sky is crying, and since crying purges sadness and stress from you, I like to think that it does the same for the sky. After you cry you feel better; after it rains the sun shines. Just another cycle in a world full of them. Life is just one big cycle, and since I enjoy life, I enjoy cycles.

I'm not making any sense, am I? Those who know me often see me as a bit of a psychopathic freak, which is why I don't have many friends. Just Kei, really. Sorry if I come off as a bit coo-coo—just bear with me, please.

I splashed in puddles, twirling in the water, catching rain on my tongue, the purest and cleanest liquid there is. As I danced and spun and had my fun, I thought about life, and school, and love. I thought of my Knight-in-Shining-Armor. I thought of my classmates, and I wondered who in my school would make a good Knight-in-Shining-Armor. Most of the guys weren't handsome enough, or their personalities were...undesirable. And so I thought of the Sohmas. They are handsome, and well-mannered, and likable. No offense to the fandom out there, but Yuki is too feminine to be a potential Knight. Momiji is too young. Hatsuharu is too wild. And so that leaves...no. Even though I am not thinking of the Sohmas as my potential Knights, just no. Kei likes him, rendering him off-limits even in my thoughts. What if I came to like him too? Kyo was not even to be thought of, contemplated or mentioned. (Oops! Hehe. That doesn't count! RESTART!)

My thoughts were interrupted by a sound that clutched at my heart and called out to me, no matter how faint it was. I froze and listened for it again. There was no mistaking it that time.

A kitty was crying.