Chapter 15: Parasol Waddle Dee

The day had started off beautifully. The sun was shining, and Kirby wanted to take advantage of such a nice day. So, he decided to take a leisurely stroll throughout Dreamland. However, clouds began to gather, blocking out the sun and it began to rain. It wasn't a heavy rain, but it was enough to put a damper on Kirby's good mood as he ran underneath a tree. He wasn't a fan of the rain. While he did understand that plants needed rain to grow, he still viewed it as something that prevents people from doing activities outside and being happy. Suddenly he couldn't feel the rain hit his head anymore and looked up to see a parasol was now above him.

"You're gonna catch a cold if you just stand out in the open like that." An amused voice said. The voice and parasol belonged to Kasa, a Waddle Dee in King Dedede's Parasol Dee Corps and one of Kirby's friends.

"Oh, hi Kasa." Kirby said, trying to hide his disappointment with the rain.

"What's the matter Kirby? Was someone mean to you? Where did they go, I'll teach not to mess with-"

"Oh no, it's nothing like that. It's just that it was such a nice day and now..." He looked up at the tree.

"The rain happened. I understand." She then grabbed Kirby's hand and started dragging Kirby with her.

"Where are we going?" Kirby asked, equal parts confused and startled by the sudden action.

Kasa flashed him an eye smile. "I'm going to teach you how to enjoy the rain!"

While the two were walking, Kirby felt like he needed to ask a question that's been on his mind.

"Kasa, why do you like the rain?"

She looked up in deep thought. "Hmm. Well, there are a lot of reasons really, but if I had to choose just one thing."

She appeared to think even deeper. "It would be that a light rain like this is peaceful."

"Peaceful?" The puff questioned as he looked back out at the scenery.

"Um... how do I explain? In a way, the rain makes it feel like time stops. There's less noise being made, less commotion. Only the rain."

While Kirby did somewhat understand what she meant, he still gave a bit of a sigh. "But isn't that sad? If there's nothing happening then there's no fun, people are forced to stay inside."

"You may have a point, and that's why our first stop will be the local park."

Kirby wasn't sure what exactly Kasa had in store for him but honestly, he was just grateful that she wanted to hang out, even if he didn't have a say in the matter.

When they arrived, Kirby saw something that confused him. He saw kids playing in the rain and families having picnics. Even a few people swimming. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits. This threw the puff for a loop. Many of his friends, himself included, disliked the rain for one reason or another. Due to this, Kirby always saw rain as something that ruined a day, but now he was starting to rethink that.

"Kasa, how are they having fun?" he asked.

His friend gave a smile. "It's because they have each other! If friends and family can make even the most mundane task fun, don't you think they can even make things like the rain fun?"

This made Kirby think for a moment.

"Besides, a nice cool rain is refreshing on a hot day!"

After Kasa mentioned that it became more obvious to the puff. It felt a bit cooler than it had been earlier. Then he noticed that the children were being yelled at by an adult from the picnic for playing in the mud and puddles.

"This is a random question, but have you ever played in the mud, Kirby?" Kasa asked.

He scratched his head. "Um... does severe weather training count? Meta Knight occasionally has us train during severe weather such as heavy rain and thunderstorms to better prepare me for any combat situation...we don't do it too much because it's hard for him to get mud out of his cape and armor."

The Waddle Dee only stared at him in slight annoyance. "No, that doesn't count. I meant actual playing."

"Oh. I think I did when I was younger..." he scratched his head. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious. It was a fun thing to do in the rain when I was a kid." She replied with a nostalgic tone as the duo continued to watch the scene.

"Were you also yelled at for playing in the mud as well?" The puff then asked.

"Yup..." Kasa gave a slight shrug.

The next place was a large flower field, Kirby knew what this was going to be about.

"Kasa, I already know that rain is important for flowers to grow." He gave a slight pout, as if annoyed that his friend was assuming he was dumb or something.

His friend gave a nod in response. "I know that you know that. But have you ever seen a group of flowers absorb the rain in person?"

Well, she was right about that part.

"That's what I thought."

At first, the scene was plainly simple. It was just watching raindrops falling on flowers. However, as Kirby began to take a closer look, he noticed something peculiar. He had passed by this flower field several times before and not seen a difference. Now that he was up close, he could see that they appeared to have been wilting a bit, like they had not been watered for some time. As the rain fell to the ground below, it was as different as night and day as the flowers had begun to perk up again. Honestly, it was a beautiful sight to see. Though that beautiful sight was about to be interrupted, as a local thug group comprised of Waddle Dees that were kicked out of the king's military saw the two friends having fun and decided to do something about it.

"Playing with flowers huh?" The leader said. "Let me join in!"

He then stepped on a couple of flowers, laughing at the shocked look on Kirby's face. However, Kasa wasn't going to take this lying down. Without a single word she collapsed her parasol, walked towards the leader, and bashed his head in, knocking him out.

"Well, anyone else care to dance?" She asked in a dangerous tone.

The other thugs shook their heads no and ran off, leaving their unconscious leader behind.

"Well, that was rude." Kasa uttered with a sigh as she gave Kirby the parasol and she tossed the leader off the hill into a nearby river.

"Um...I know he stepped on the flowers, but is that really a good idea?" The puff uttered.

"It's perfectly fine."

"There you are, Kasa. I've been looking for you." Another voice alerted the duo to look behind them.

There they saw another Waddle Dee, this time wearing bandages around their head and carrying a parasol. It was Shinonome, the captain of King Dedede's Parasol Dee corps and Kasa's direct superior. Kirby had only met her in person fairly recently, but he had heard his friend talk about her before multiple times. What she was here for now, the puff had no idea.

"I'd like you to come back to the castle."

Kasa looked confused upon hearing that. "But why? Both Bandana and Dedede told me that I had permission to hang out with Kirby."

The bandaged Dee placed a stub on her own head, as if thinking. "...I don't remember. All I know was that I was just told to get you back to the castle."

Kasa gave an annoyed look, as if asking how she forgot about something that was supposedly important.

"Can't she come back later?" Kirby attempted to enter the conversation with this proposal.

"If she were told to come back, that would mean immediately, right? So, no."

The puff gave a pout upon hearing that. While Shinonome's words did make sense, he still didn't like them. That was when he thought of something. "Hm... if you let Kasa stay, I can tell you some stories about Meta Knight!"

This instantly got the Waddle Dee's attention.

"Well...in that case...hang out as long as you want..." She uttered in slight shyness.

"Thanks! You can join us if you want!" The puff replied cheerfully.

"...if you're going to tell stories about Sir Meta Knight, then..." She appeared to be following them along slowly.

"I hope you don't mind, Kasa." He whispered to his friend.

"Not at all, actually. I'm just glad I get to hang out with you longer." The reply was simple but made him happy regardless.

He then turned back to their new traveling companion. "So, Ms. Shinonome, what story would you like to hear?"

The bandaged Dee gave a shrug in response. "It doesn't matter, I'm sure whatever stories you have will be... informative."

The bandaged Dee sounded a bit more noticeably excited now.

The puff took a moment to think.

"Then how about the story of the time we went swimming!"

Well swimming wasn't the right term, more so underwater combat training, but it was close enough for Kirby.

The light rain continued late into the day. Interestingly, Kirby was starting to notice something as he was walking around with his friend. He turned to Kasa.

"You know, Kasa, I think it's weird. We're just walking around and talking but haven't even noticed the rain once!"

His friend gave a slight giggle. "That must mean that you're beginning to appreciate the rain a lot more!"

"Yup! It's thanks to you!"

The two chattered happily as they continued to walk along.

Then, Kirby thought of something else.

"Um...I'm not sure since you like talking about how much you like the rain, but is there any time where you don't like the rain?"

This made Kasa think for a moment.

"Hm... I think just about everyone doesn't like it, but I don't like heavy rain or stormy weather really. I mean, the opposite type of weather can also be the same. While I like sunny weather, it's better if there's a nice breeze with it. If it's too sunny, it can get way too hot. When the weather is like that on those days, it just drains me of all of my energy."

Honestly, Kirby has felt like that a few times in extremely hot weather, especially when it was summer. The only reason why he did like hot weather was because it meant he could go swimming to cool off and most of his friends had the same thought. Honestly, his thoughts on that got worse whenever he had to undergo training outside with his mentor. Thankfully, Meta Knight also seemed to hate the heat, so they would often just train inside the air-conditioned main base instead.

"What about snow, then? Do you like snow?" Kirby suddenly asked.

"I think snow is pretty, but I don't like blizzards. But I don't think anyone likes blizzards." Kasa replied immediately.

"I think I can say the same thing for sleet and hail as well."

"Yeah, hail can be pretty dangerous. Like didn't you say Dedede got a concussion from a big piece the one time?"

"Yup. It was the size of a grapefruit."

"Wow... hail really is dangerous."

Their conversation was suddenly cut off by throat clearing from behind them.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I'd like to hear another story about Sir Meta Knight, if you don't mind." Shinonome finally spoke up again.

"Ah, right! Let me think of another good one..." Kirby uttered as he began to think. "Since we were just talking about hail... how about the time where we had a training session during a hailstorm?"

Soon after that, the rain began to noticeably slow down. Kasa seemed to get excited by this, which slightly confused Kirby.

"What are you getting so excited for? I thought you liked rain?"

"Oh, I do! But one of the best parts about a light rain like this comes near the end!"

Hearing this made the puff a bit more excited and equally curious about what he would see. As the last of the raindrops fell, it seemed to be time to see exactly that.

"Kirby, look up in the sky!" Kasa exclaimed as she pointed to the sky.

Upon looking in the direction she was pointing, the puff was amazed to see a massive rainbow arching above them in the sky.

"Wooow! It's so pretty!" The child's eyes sparkled in amazement.

"I knew you would love it!" His friend said with a smile. "So, Kirby, what do you think of the rain now, if you don't mind me asking?"

The puff took a moment to think.

"Hm... I think I like the rain now! It's nice and refreshing and super important!"

Kasa gave a laugh. "That's wonderful! I think it was made even better by having you with me."

"I'm glad to hear that! You made my day a lot better!"

With a newfound energy, the duo continued to trek down the path.

Ah, a nice, short, and wholesome chapter. Just what I needed to write after the chapter I had previously completed of Only Neat Life.

Hope everyone enjoyed it!