Pure Essence: Chapter 2 is up! Again, this chapter is not me who wrote it up…. It was my cousin, Ssilence, but I'll be writing the ending.

Previously on Chapter one (the last few lines):

When the train arrived, she immediately board it and took a seat all by herself by the end of the train compartment. She didn't want to be near anyone at the moment. No one.

Where can I go? Where should I go?

Izumi could only wonder.

~*~*~*~*~*~Flashback ends~*~*~*~*~*~

 Izumi wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep herself from the cold. Her thin jacket, hardly shield her from the unmerciful cool wind around her. She looked up for a second.

There was more to her story.

~*~*~*~*~*~Flashback~*~*~*~*~*~

How long have I been riding the train? Izumi wondered.

The train compartment was empty except for her. Everyone had reached his or her destination, but her.

Two hours? Four hours?

The sixteen-year-old blonde had lost track of time long since.

"Niigata City, Kinto Street." The conductor announced.

Niigata City.

Where had Izumi heard the words before? It sounded vaguely familiar. Then Izumi remembered.

Kouji lived there. That's where he lives.

Izumi realized.

Why am I going there? Why did I come here?

Izumi stood up. Her legs felt stiffed from sitting down so long.

Maybe I should go see Kouji.

Then she realized. She didn't know where Kouji lived. But she was glad to be away from Tokyo. She didn't want to stay there. Anywhere but there.

The train doors opened and the blonde teenager strode out of the train compartment. Then, she climbed up the stairs, passed the gate, and climbed one more flight of stairs and was greeted by the setting sky. There were no brilliant colors. It was black. It was gray. It was as dark as her feelings.

She wandered away from the train station. She didn't know where she was going. But she knew that she was heading in the right direction. Fate had told her that.

~*~*~*~*~*~Flashback ends~*~*~*~*~*~

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The rain was falling more rapidly now.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

It was falling a lot quicker now. It seemed as if the rain wanted the blonde teenager to stop thinking about her life and take shelter from it. But that didn't chase Izumi away. She just stayed where she was.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

There was someone come toward her. Izumi squinted hard to figure out who it was. She couldn't figure out who it was though. The figure came closer.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sixteen-year-old Kouji Minamoto sighed as he placed the pen he was holding down. He looked down at the stack of papers waiting to be looked through and glanced at the clock in frustration.

11:35

It read. He looked back down at the paperwork he had to do. This is going to take forever. He sighed and sat back on his black, leather recliner and closed his eyes. It was nearly midnight and he was quite tired.

The sixteen-year-old had graduated from college a few years earlier than an average person and was working in a business company. Due to the simple fact that he did not trust his secretary, he had to do all the paperwork himself.

Maybe I should call it a day, Kouji thought dejectedly. As much as he hated it, he wanted to get some sleep. Yet, at the same time, he wanted to finish his paperwork so he'll have an easier time tomorrow.

He glanced out the window only to be greeted by the pitch-black night sky. The moon was only seen faintly, hidden by thick gray clouds. It looked like it was raining, but Kouji wasn't sure.

Pitter-pattered.

The rain banged against the closed glass window. That confirmed Kouji's suspicion. Indeed it was raining. But only slightly.

However, that irritated the sixteen-year-old, because he had to walk home and the weather report's announcement of no rain was wrong. He didn't have an umbrella with him to make the matter worst. His brother, Kouichi Kimaru had borrowed his car and he'll have to endure the rain if he was to reach home. It was a ten block walk and pass the Oguni Park, and two more blocks.

It was a pretty long walk and the light drizzle was quickly growing heavier by the minute. Forced to have no options, but to call it a day, Kouji placed the pen down again and stood up from his recliner. He looked around his office, making sure everything was in place and shut the lights. Then, he locked his office and stepped out in the forbidding atmosphere-, the realm of grayness and water. The rain was falling more quickly now.

To his dismay, his jacket had no hood. He didn't have an umbrella with him. Walking swiftly, he went to a twenty-four hour supermarket and bought a parched-black umbrella. He glanced at the clock in the supermarket as the cashier took his money for the black umbrella. It read:

12:23

It was late. Taking the umbrella from the cashier, Kouji left the supermarket and stepped out once again into the pitch-black darkness. It was raining a lot heavier now. He opened the large black umbrella and began walking towards home in a quick pace. It took him about five minutes to reach the Oguni Park. He passed the entrance to the park and found himself face to face with the children's part of the playground. There were swings, slides, and many other obstacles made for the carefree souls.

Kouji saw some movement.

There was a flicker of light, which immediately caught Kouji's curiosity. He walked closer to see a man sleeping on the end of a slide. Several empty beer bottles were scattered around him.

Kouji shook his head and began to stride away from the sleeping figure and continued his way to the other end of the park.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Who is that?

For the second time in the journey through the park, Kouji spotted another figure. This person was sitting on the base of some Japanese Hero back in the 1900's. He didn't know why, but he walked towards that person.

As he walked closer, he began to see the features of this person. This person was female. He could tell by the figure. When he walked closer, he began to see her of someone he once knew.

"Izumi?" He asked. What is she doing here in Niigata City? He asked himself. He walked closer towards his old time friend until he was directly in front of her.

She looked up to be greeted by dark azure eyes that she hasn't seen for two years. A gasped stayed stuck in her throat. Somehow, she felt drawn to them. Finally, she mumbled, "Kouji."

Kouji bent down a little, just to match the height she was at for now. "What are you doing here, Izumi?"

"Kouji," Izumi started, her voice hoarse. "It's great to see you." She whispered.

"It's great to see you too, Izumi." Kouji said. "How are Takuya and the others?"

At the sound of his name, Izumi felt tears in her eyes again. They slipped down on her face, mixing with the rain.

Kouji wasn't sure if she was crying or it was just the rain until she rushed forward, arms wrapped around his neck and sobbing. He felt his whole body stiffened. He had never been with anyone in close contact. It felt strange and he was uncomfortable. Yet, he returned her embraced, holding her as she continued to sob. One might look at this scene with disbelief to see the lone wolf, Kouji Minamoto holding someone-, actually allowing someone to get so close to him.

"What's wrong, Izumi?" Kouji asked warily. He was tired and exhausted from his day's work, but he wanted to know what's making his friend act this way.

"Takuya…sob…he…he's…with…someone else!" Izumi managed to say through sobs. "We were dating…sob…for…three…years, and …he's…with…someone else!"

Kouji didn't know quite what to say. Sure he was handsome and sixteen, but he had no experienced with boy girl relationships. At the same time, he couldn't quite take in the fact that his best friend, Takuya Kanbara would do such a thing. No wonder Izumi's upset.

He held onto the black umbrella, which shielded him and Izumi from the rain and said, "You okay?"

Izumi didn't answer. Her face was buried in his chest and mingled sobs could be heard.

"Izumi, do you think you can walk over to my place?"

No answer.

Kouji looked down to see that Izumi had fallen asleep in his arms. He didn't quite know what to do or what to say. It was very late and he was tired. But he wasn't going to leave his friend out in the rain. Sighing, he slipped an arm under her legs and wrapped his right arm around her back. Then, he shifted the umbrella so that it would shield the both of them from the rain.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The rain was saying something, but Kouji couldn't understand what it said. No one did, maybe except destiny.

Where one may be in utter shock to see Kouji allowing someone in close contact, one would be more shocked to see him carrying someone.

He started home, carrying the sleeping figure. His eyes hurt. They were begging him to hurry home so they could rest. It took twenty minutes to reach home due to his burden.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Opening the door was not an easy task while carrying someone. Kouji fumbled to get the set of keys from his jacket pocket, and succeeded in retrieving them. While balancing Izumi in his arms, he managed to get the right key and with great difficulty, insert it into the lock and turned. With a click, the door opened and Kouji pushed it open all the way with his foot. Then, he stumbled in and shut the door with his foot. He made sure it was locked.

Kouji's house was neat and tidy, due to the fact that he lived alone AND because he was hardly home.

He somehow managed to flick on the light with his hand and blinked at the brightness. He shut his eyes and his hand slipped and shut the light back off. That was fine with him. He opened his dark blue eyes and stumbled into his bedroom, where a queen size bed sat waiting. He set the sleeping Izumi down and pulled the blankets over him. Exhaustion of the day's work seized him and he crashed down next the already sleeping figure.

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(A/N: Done! Please Read and Review! Thanks to all people who reviewed. We highly appreciate it!)