"We'll be alright!"
His soothing words echoed through her soul and warmed her heart. Finally, after three years, they were here. In each other's arms. They never wanted to be apart from each other ever again.
"I missed you," Hina said as she teared up. "Where have you been?" Tears were trailing down her cheeks. She still couldn't believe it. It was him. It was him...
"I've missed you too, you know," Hodaka told her in return, pulling her closer. "I had to go back to my home island because of, you know..."
"Yeah, of course I remember," she was content in resting her head on his shoulder, silently noting how tall he's gotten. Three years ago, they were the same height! What was this? "You've grown so tall, Hodaka," she couldn't help but laugh. "I don't think I'll ever catch up now."
"Well, three years is bound to change anyone, right?" he ran a hand through her silky black hair, reveling in its smoothness, while reveling just as much in how Hina was running her hand through his hair as well. "I'm just glad you're here, Hina."
Hodaka felt his shoulder getting soaked, presumably in Hina's tears. Such just made him never want to let the girl in his arms go more than ever.
She sniffled. "So am I..." she trailed off. "How'd you know where to find me?" she asked him softly.
A question that he didn't know the answer to. Earlier, he was just wondering what he'd tell her when he found her. Then, he wandered into the street he remembered specifically as the place where he for the first time saw the grueling effects of Hina's powers on her. He found her, praying for the sunshine.
Now they were here.
He decided to just wing it and tell her the truth. He doubted that she would've cared even if she had seen through his lie, but better safe than sorry, right? He knew better than to try and take her for an idiot, anyway.
"Well, to be honest, I didn't. I just found you here." he told her the truth and chuckled.
"Well, that's good for us, isn't it?" she said, never letting her head unrest from his shoulder.
They decided to detach from their embrace (albeit, with subtle unwillingness from both sides), Hina decided that it was best that she caught up with him, since they were away from each other for three years and all. Hodaka kept his stare fixed on her face, seemingly admiring her beauty.
So, she started: "Did you have any plans after this? Anywhere to go to? You've been staring at me for quite a while now," she couldn't help but let out a giggle as she turned away, her cheeks turning red because of her own statement.
"O-Oh!" It was Hodaka's turn to blush, having been caught red-handed. "Y-Yeah, sorry about that. But, well, I actually came here! T-to, uh, look for you, so um..." he stammered, close to turning into a pile of mushy fluff. "What do you want to do?"
"Do you want to have lunch with me? It's almost twelve o' clock. I'm cooking," Hina said, with a bright smile that threatened to faint Hodaka right then and there.
He kept his poise. "Are you sure? I could be bothering you-"
Hina simply laughed at his nervousness. "Calm down, I'm sure of it! Unless of course..." she turned to him with a sly smirk. "...you don't like my cooking?"
At the rate he was going, his face was about to explode, almost entirely red. "N-No! I love your cooking, definitely!"
She kept her sly smirk. "I thought so." she giggled and started walking, gesturing him to follow her. "Come on! We'll stop at a Lawson first, then I'll lead you to where we live in now."
"What happened to the old house?" Hodaka couldn't help but ask as he started to follow, although he had a very on-the-nail idea of what had happened to it.
"Well, it's underwater now," Hina said to make a long story short. "But don't worry! We managed to get a lot of our stuff before it completely sank. Mr. Suga and Ms. Natsumi kept child protection services off of our backs and helped us move it into the new apartment we live in now." she pretended to wipe sweat from her brow. "To tell you the truth, I wouldn't know where we'd be without them and their help... they've helped Nagi and I a whole lot; even after you left..."
Hodaka had a look of surprise on his face. It most certainly explained the multitude of pictures Suga and Natsumi had with the Amanos, and how they had gotten close to each other, and while it was most certainly par for the course that they'd get closer in the next three years considering what had happened between the five of them (well, four, taking his own absence into consideration), he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous that he wasn't there to experience any of it.
And there was a small feeling in his heart that made him feel regretful, a feeling that wasn't there before; it was one of sadness and remorse, knowing that he was the cause for the losses of Tokyo's residents, all because he wanted a girlfriend.
As funny as how blunt it came out as, if you got down to brass tacks it was what it was; he let the rain stay as it was because he wanted her. And because of this action fueled by reckless abandon and desperation, something inside of him ate him up with guilt. Guilt that knew so many things - most of Tokyo itself, its residents, and many of the belongings of said residents, whether homes, material items, resolve - were gone because of the endless rain that has covered Tokyo for more than three years, and only Hodaka and the others knew why. It was most definitely a selfish move, especially when he knew the dire effects of bringing her back - and ignored them and saved her anyway instead of letting her fade away and accepting her fate as a human sacrifice.
His teachers back in Kozushima had often said: "Bad things tend to happen when you tempt fate." It was clear that the rain had stayed for as long as it had (well, save for a few sunny days that people had treated like gold) because he saved Hina. Because he tempted fate. Because he was selfish.
He wanted to say to himself that he didn't regret it. He doesn't want to regret it. But the guilt was there. The facts and what had happened to Tokyo were writings on the wall, they were there too.
But like Suga had told him, the rain and Tokyo becoming into what it was almost a millennium prior - a bay, was probably bound to happen eventually and he shouldn't 'flatter' himself by way of blaming himself for what he action he had chosen to take for the flood. He didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, or so Suga had said - at least, he didn't matter as much as he wanted to believe he did.
Regardless, it was food for thought. Many former residents most likely had to move away when everything they had and loved is currently akin to a sunken ship - everything may as well be lost treasure. Was it all because of him and his incentivized selfish and self-centered ideals, alongside more unsavory and reckless actions that were unnecessary in the long run? Maybe. Probably. Most likely. Yes.
Yet he wondered what could've been if he had just accepted Hina's fate as the weather maiden. Was the girl of his dreams really worth the cruel and tragic fate of an entire city?
He hoped so, otherwise it would've just made him feel worse for himself.
Maybe he deserved it. Probably.
These aching thoughts plagued his mind for far longer than he wanted to admit (and granted, it was for very good reason) that he had failed to notice that they've already made it to the Lawson Hina was talking about earlier.
"We're here!" Hina suddenly spoke up, snapping Hodaka out of his inner monologuing and prompting him to look up, realizing that they'd already made it.
"Huh? Oh," Hodaka chose to mutter. The girl picked up on his rather uncharacteristic silence.
She raised her eyebrow in a mix of worry and suspicion. "Are you alright, Hodaka? You've been pretty quiet. Is there anything troubling you?" she asked, concerned.
Hodaka instantly looked up, not wanting to worry her with his pointless, yet well-deserved self-loathing and guilt. "No! It's nothing! I'm just thinking about... things, is all."
Unconvinced as Hina was, she doubted that he'd get him to spill his guts about what's troubling him right now, and even then, she also doubted that right outside a Lawson was the best place to confront him, either.
These things in mind, she decided to leave it be for now and tacked a mental bullet point in her head to confront Hodaka later. "Well, if you say so," her tone was uneasy. "Do you want anything? It'll be my treat." she told him as they entered the convenience store.
Lawson was a sight Hodaka was the most accustomed to in Tokyo, since their village in Kozushima had one, and had the recognition being the only place Hodaka would go to in his free time during his probation, provided his parents had let him. Many things were easily taken note of; unassuming workers hiding only God knows under their most likely fake smiles, shelves stocked with most necessities one could ask for, and readily available fast food, provided you had the yen. What wasn't to like?
"It's fine. I'm eating lunch at your place, right? I'm okay." Hodaka dismissed, rather gruffly for that matter, as if on edge about something.
She merely shrugged. "Okay, but the offer's still up if you ever want anything," she let him know. Hodaka decided to sit down on one of the seats, while Hina broke off and began to do her shopping.
Close to an hour had passed when the two left the convenience store and were on their way to Hina's residence.
"So, where do you live now?" Hodaka asked her, holding two shopping bags in his hands.
"Right up the hill." Hina responded, pointing forward. "We made sure to find one that was high up, in case of, you know..." she let him think of the rest.
"That's nice," Hodaka merely said, but by then the grating thoughts of the rain being all his fault were already back, living rent free in his head.
All those cries of anguish in his head, as people were painfully forced to watch everything they love slowly sink under the never-ending rain and the slowly rising water level, some even choosing to drown in the deep water than living a life of poverty after all their valuables have sunk and have become worth nothing - in Hodaka's head, it was horrific. The never-ending rain as he stood over the sunken parts of the city had been nothing more than a visualizer at first glance, but the more he thought about it - the more he himself sunk into despair - knowing that he caused all of this, all because he wanted to be loved.
It was selfish. It was reckless. And most of all, it was pathetic. What if Hina didn't actually feel for him that way? Then what? Would everything that he had done would've been all for nothing?
'No,' he quickly retracted. 'Don't be stupid. Even if she didn't like me that way, I still saved a life. It wouldn't have been all for nothing.' he mentally scolded himself for even possibly accepting the possibility that it could've been all for nothing.
It'd just go to show that he only cared about his own selfish desires.
'That wouldn't be too far off,' Hodaka admittedly thought to himself.
Hodaka decided to let his mind wander to different things for now.
A few minutes of walking up the uphill road had led them to Hina's apartment complex, where they had gone inside. Hina's apartment itself was on the third floor; and once they had gotten in, Hodaka was astounded by how better it was than their old apartment.
First and foremost: it was enormous - or at least, it was enormous relative to the apartment they had used to live in. The apartment was divided into four rooms: the living room (where they had gone into) that also housed the dining table and the kitchen, the bathroom at the rightmost and two other rooms to the left of when you entered the entrance. From this, Hodaka chose to assume from this that Hina and Nagi had their own rooms now, as opposed to sharing. They even had a TV in the living room! It was most certainly far from living the dream, but they were definitely in a better position than three years ago.
One thing's for sure, however: it was that Hina and Nagi's home is way better than the craphole of a one-room house he was currently renting at the moment.
But then again, a house was a house, no matter how you looked at it. There was really no need to compare.
After leaving the shopping bags they had brought with them on the floor next to the coffee table, Hina made her way to the kitchen, while Hodaka chose to sit on the sofa.
"I'll make lunch; you just make yourself right at home." She told him, as she pulled out ingredients from a cupboard and put a pan on the stove. "If you want to watch TV, the remote should be in the drawer."
True to her word, when he opened the coffee table's drawer, the remote was laid there alongside other junk that he didn't heed any attention to. Turning on the TV, he switched channels until he decided to just stop at a cartoon channel featuring anime. Instead, he sat silently, patiently waiting for Hina to finish cooking. He thought about telling Hina about what had been troubling him.
Maybe it'd be better to let it all out to her than just bottling it up and keeping it to himself. She deserved to know, didn't she? He was over with being selfish and choosing to keep everything to himself because he was scared of how others would react.
He'll prove to himself that he'd learned something from his recklessness. That he had learned something from the effects of his actions. That he had learned something from running away to Tokyo. That he had learned something from meeting her.
But what had he learned, exactly? That his actions had consequences and that he was a reckless, insufferable brat that had a tendency to bring people down with him? Like how he had persuaded Hina and Nagi three years prior to run away with him, instead of just turning himself over to the police and saving everyone the trouble?
And with how he had turned the gun against Suga in the abandoned complex? Even when he was the one who had saved him on the boat and had offered him work despite his status as a runaway and had prevented him from completely turning into an squatter?
Before he had the chance to sink his knees deeper in his self-loathing, he heard Hina's chipper voice, alongside one he hadn't heard in ages.
'Could it be?' Hodaka thought to himself, in disbelief.
"Hey, Hina." the voice called out. It really was.
"I saw the shoes on the floor, who's the g-guest…" he asked, but whatever else he had wanted to say were trapped in his throat when he saw Hodaka. "H-Hodaka?" Nagi looked at his sister in disbelief. "You didn't tell me he was coming back..."
Hodaka instinctively stood up from the sofa to step closer to him. "S-Senpai? Is that really you?"
"To be honest, I could ask you the same thing," Nagi said, scratching the back of his head. "You've grown so... tall..."
"So have you..." he gaped. "Hey, at least we're both taller than Hina now, right?" he said playfully.
Hina turned around from her cooking to pout at Hodaka. "Hey!" she grumbled.
The three couldn't help but laugh at one another. Even after all this time, they were still akin to a family.
Hodaka took the time to hug Nagi tightly, much to the teen's chagrin.
"H-Hey, Hodaka! My hair!" the boy protested as the older teenager clung to him tightly, almost strangling him. Nagi sighed, deciding to return the embrace. "I've missed you too, Hodaka."
Hodaka let go of him after finally hearing what he wanted to hear. "Took you long enough," he chuckled.
Nagi merely grumbled. "Don't push it," he said, before trying to fix his hair. "Easy on the hair next time! It takes me an hour to have it like this everyday!"
Hodaka raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't look any different from before, if you ask me."
"What do you mean? It definitely looks better than three years ago!" he protested.
"Now that I think about it, I don't notice any difference either," Hina piped in. "Do you even know how to use the hair gel properly?" she teased.
"You be quiet!" Nagi growled, Hina's soft laughter reverberating against the walls of the apartment, much to his annoyance. "Doesn't matter, that's only you two," he remarked. "Kana throws a fit when she sees me come into class with my hair not, well, how it normally is," he elaborated. "At least, that's what she tells me. She told me she'd do it herself the next time she saw my hair not permed," he shook his head. "I'd rather not test her."
"Hey, maybe it'd look better if you let her do it!" Hina said.
"If there's anything I've learned from having you fix my hair, it's that I should never let a girl get her hands on it ever again."
"Wait, who's Kana?" Hodaka asked, confused.
"My girlfriend?" Nagi responded. "You've met her! We've been dating for years!"
"Huh?" Hodaka was still confused, until he remembered his very first meeting with Nagi, in the bus, the second girl with the brown hair. Nagi's told him about her and the other girl as well, Ayane, if he remembered correctly, before, during one of the younger boy's lectures about the 'hearts of girls'.
He also remembered that according to one of the few e-mails from Ms. Natsumi that let him know how they were doing while he was serving probation, the two girls had a hand in the plot Nagi orchestrated to sneak out of the center to help Hodaka get Hina back. Some days after he had seen the e-mail, Hodaka had wondered what that plan Nagi made was.
But perhaps, it'd be better that he stayed ignorant of it.
"Ohh, her!" Hodaka finally realized. "Honestly, I would've thought you'd have three new girlfriends after so long," he chuckled.
"You wish," Nagi sneered at Hodaka. "But I'm always loyal."
"Tell that to Ayane," Hina mused.
"We don't talk about her!" he suddenly screeched, much to his embarrassment as Hina and Hodaka both laughed at his sudden outburst. Nagi decided to fire back with a retort of his own. "You keep laughing," he goaded with a mischievous look on his face that only served to signify impending doom. "I'm really sure Hodaka would love to know how much you've talked about him in your journal for the past three years," he retorted.
Hodaka immediately turned to the girl, who was choking on air, her face completely flustered. Without context, one would've assumed that she'd undergone an allergic reaction. "Wait, what?" he asked her.
Her eyes narrowed at her brother. "I told you not to read that!" she angrily said.
"Is it my fault you left it on the kitchen counter?" he replied in mock surprise.
"You knew exactly what it was, and you read it anyway!" she scowled at him.
"If you left it there right out in the open, you were just asking to have it read!"
"How about you learn how to respect other people's privacies?!"
"How about you learn how to hide your stuff properly?!"
By then, the two siblings' talk had devolved into mindless bickering, with Hodaka (perhaps unfortunately) being caught in the crossfire, switching glances from Hina to Nagi every few seconds as they fired retorts at each other, one after another.
Hodaka couldn't help but stare at Hina, taking notice of how despite she turned around every few seconds to fire an insult in Nagi's general direction, she was still doing her cooking rather expertly (if one were to additionally consider how she'd periodically turn around to give her brother aggressively snide retorts), from mixing the elements of the recipe together and chopping the onion chives she'd been growing on the windowsill and putting it onto the food.
Hodaka couldn't help but blush too. He would probably be caught dead if he actually told her so, but Hina was very cute when she was angry.
Unless that anger was pointed towards him of course, then God help him.
After a few minutes of constant bickering that seemed to have no end, the two eventually found themselves with nothing to say to the other.
...
Hodaka finally chimed in. "Are you two finally done?"
They both sighed. "...yeah."
The siblings finally calling it quits, Hina prepared their food on the dining table. The moment he saw it, Hodaka immediately realized that this had been the same meal the girl had served him the first time he had went to her old house, all those years ago. Seeing it filled him with a sense of nostalgia, solace, and remembrance.
"Let's eat!" they said as they clasped their hands together.
All of them took a bite of the food at the same time, savoring in the taste of the cooking.
"This tastes amazing, Hina!" Hodaka complemented her delightedly as he shoveled more spoonfuls of rice into his mouth, which brought a bright red hue to the girl's face.
Contrast to the look on her face, however, her thanks came out in a silent whisper. "T-Thank you, Hodaka."
Nagi eyed his sister, taking notice that she was extremely flattered by the compliment, and couldn't help but smirk. Hina's attraction for Hodaka was made blatantly obvious to him, but then again, it wasn't as if it were new to him. With this, a glint sparked in his eye; one of mischief.
"So, Hodaka..." he started. "What brings you back to Tokyo?"
"University," he aptly stated. "I'm looking for a job, too!" he quickly added.
"Are you sure it's not just to see my sister?" he jokingly raised an eyebrow, the statement sending both older teens' faces into a state of flustered blushing and complete disarray.
"N-No, not at all!" Hodaka denied. "W-Well, that's actually part of it-" he stopped when he realized he said that out loud for the two to hear and quickly retracted his statement. "N-Nothing!" he slumped in his seat, acknowledging the hole he had dug himself in. "Oh my god..."
At this point, Hina's cheeks were completely red and Nagi was giggling and laughing madly at the mayhem he'd caused. Hodaka and Hina realized how ridiculous they were being once they had realized what Nagi had intended to do. They had already confessed their love for one another when they had fallen out of the sky, right? Why were they so embarrassed by Nagi's endless teasing?
The three all started laughing. After all these years, they still felt like a family. Hodaka couldn't be any more happier.
After a lengthy laugh session, Nagi spoke up once more. "Well, we're glad you're back." he said admittedly. "It's been a while since we've seen you. If it weren't for the replies you sent to Ms. Natsumi's e-mails, we would've assumed you were in jail," he continued. "Trust me, Hina would've visited you every chance she got if you were." he snidely said.
Hina puffed her cheeks as she crossed her arms, spoon still in her hand. "I would've been too busy, even if I had wanted to," she iterated, before she saw the hurt look in Hodaka's face. "N-Not like I wouldn't have! Just that I would've been too busy, what with school and working in Mr. Suga's office," she explained coyly, a small tint of red staining her cheeks.
Nagi noted this with a huff. "Jeez, you look like a tomato with all the blushing you're doing just looking at Hodaka, sis," he huffed at her sister. "I don't know why you just don't tell him that you're into him; it's not like he isn't practically the only thing you talk about when you're not writing about him in your journal, anyway,"
A death glare was sent in the younger teenager's direction which immediately made him clam up. Hodaka merely eyed the siblings, his blushing face clearly making it obvious that he was well-aware of what Nagi was implying. Regardless, his wise side noted that it was best if he chose to switch topics, because even if he did want to tell Hina that he loved her (which he definitely did), he'd rather not do it in front of Nagi.
The rest of the afternoon went smoothly after Hodaka managed to steer the conversation somewhere else away from Nagi's endless jabs at the two lovebirds. Minutes turned to hours had passed as the rest of the time was spent informing Hodaka on what had happened and what had changed in the three years he'd been away.
This was what Hodaka bided his time for. To be back with the people he truly related with. He was finally home.
They shared laughter and smiles when it came to the old times they've come to remember more greatly. The hard times they had shared too, with frowns on their faces but somber acceptance for what it was. After all, the only way they could really progress was forward.
Hodaka came to realize how much he's missed in the three years he'd been stuck in Kozushima. He could've been there, if he didn't fuck up so badly he got deported back to his hometown for so long. But now, he was back. The least he could do after how badly he'd screwed up and had been gone for so long was to be there with them now.
While most promises were meant to be broken, this one was sure to be kept, as Hodaka crossed his heart and hoped to die.
9:00 PM, and Hodaka was just about ready to leave. However, Hina stopped him, saying that he could stay for the night.
"You sure I'm not gonna be a bother?" Hodaka worriedly asked Hina. "My house isn't that far, the trip back won't take more than fifteen minutes," he told her.
"Not at all!" she said, her voice as chipper as could be. "You just make yourself comfortable. You can leave tomorrow morning if you want to; but I wouldn't want to have you leave in the middle of a rainy night. And here!" she said as she handed over some pajamas his way; Hina herself was wearing a sleeveless hoodie with short shorts, Hodaka resisting the urge to check her out in the even that she calls hims out. "These are Nagi's, but I had him lend you some. Have these as well," she held a pillow and a blanket in her hands.
"O-Okay," his tone was still hesitant as he took the pajamas, the pillow, and the blanket. "But you can always make me leave if you want to, alright?"
"Never!" she said, shocked that he considered her doing something so heinous. "You sleep tight, okay? You can watch some TV if you can't sleep, just keep the volume down, alright?" She was already in her bedroom's doorway. "Good night, Hodaka!" she said sweetly, as she closed the door behind her. Hodaka was now all alone, deciding that it was fit to take a shower.
...
...
...
Fresh from the bathroom wearing the pajamas Hina lended her, he laid the pillow down on the left arm of the sofa and put the blanket on top of it, choosing to put it over him later on.
As of now, he wasn't very tired, so he opted to follow up on Hina's advice and watch TV until he did feel sleepy.
Too bad life had a way of punishing you for the mistakes you make.
In this case, his own penance in the form of his own self-destroying guilt.
The first thing that came up was the weather channel talking about how there were constant rains for the next few weeks.
No.
He immediately switched channels; the next channel coming up being a cartoon...
...talking about how the main characters' houses were ruined by the typhoon and about how they have to rebuild.
No, no, no!
Hodaka turned off the TV. He didn't want to think about this. He didn't want to admit it, but it was his fault.
All because he was selfish. All because he cared about himself. All because he mindlessly exploited powers that he knew there should've been drawbacks to using. Powers he shouldn't have had in the first place. Powers that weren't even his to abuse. This was what they got for his mistakes, his screw-ups. Everyone in Tokyo now had to live with the weight of the rain threatening to sink everything they cherished and loved, and it was his fault.
Every time he thought about it was a waking nightmare. The view of the now mostly-underwater Tokyo was nightmare fuel. The effects of his actions were icing on the cake. He hoped to wake up from the nightmare he'd slept into.
But until he could find peace in himself, he never would.
'You caused this... this is all your fault...' the voices in his head cried all at once. 'You're a failure...'
He cried himself to sleep that night.
Hina woke up, having not been able to sleep that night. She didn't know why she felt so restless.
She went out of her room, thinking a warm glass of milk could be the trick.
To her surprise, the first thing she saw was Hodaka sitting down, crying on the sofa, hands on his face.
"Hodaka?" she came to the weeping boy. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," he lied. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
She cocked her eyebrows in a dubious manner. Hodaka had never been a very good liar, and it was clear that he didn't want to bother her with whatever it is he was crying about.
"You're crying." she pointedly stated.
"I-I am?" he pretended to not notice, wiping the tears away from his eyes. "I d-didn't notice," he hardly managed to croak, just heightening Hina's suspicions (or lack thereof since she was more than certain he was actually crying) that he was crying.
Terrible liar, he truly was.
But relationships are always about give and take. "Hodaka?" she looked into his eyes, sitting down next to him on the sofa and pulling herself closer to him.
Her cerulean-blue eyes worriedly looking into his own were enough to make him spill his guts. "Yeah?"
"You trust me, right?"
"Of course I do!" he was surprised she'd even ask such a thing. He would've thought he was a bit more obvious with some of the things he did.
"Then why won't you tell me what's bothering you?" she asked.
He simply sighed. "When I came back to Tokyo, the rain."
"What about the rain?"
"It ruined so much of the city," he stated, as if it were nothing. "So much of the stuff a lot of people lived for, washed away because I got selfish and exploited your powers when you were a sunshine girl."
"But it was going to happen eventually, right?" Hina asked in return. While this may just come off as her being defiant of her role as a human sacrifice to the gods, but something in her said that it was going to happen anyway. "Tokyo used to be a bay, didn't it? It would make sense if the weather simply chose to turn it back into the way it was." she reasoned. "Mr. Suga said so, didn't he?"
"Mr. Suga hardly believes anything about this kind of stuff. He thinks it's bullshit," he muttered. "So what would he know? Just because he's old doesn't mean he knows everything. If anything, he chooses to stay ignorant; stay real, that's what he'd call it. But even then, the weather wouldn't be this bad, you know? I just made it worse, because I thought turning your powers into a business venture was a good idea." he cupped his face with his hands. "And I thought there wouldn't be anything wrong with actively cashing in on the shitty weather? Bullshit, I tell you. I'm such a fucking idiot."
Hina was shocked by Hodaka's intense self-loathing and use of foul language. "Hodaka, don't say that!"
"Not like it isn't true," he mumbled.
"Because it isn't!" she yelled. "So what? You were desperate for money so you could live out your dream of living in Tokyo! I needed money to get by while raising Nagi! I helped you, not just to help you, but because I myself needed it! You just gave me the idea, but I could've refused if I wanted to!" she said, fed up with Hodaka blaming himself with everything that'd happened around them. "But I didn't! So don't say that it was just your fault, because it's my fault just as much as yours if you want to blame yourself for making the weather the way it is!"
"If I hadn't given you the idea, then none of this would've happened," Hodaka merely uttered. "You would've never thought to abuse your powers, and I never would've ruined those people's lives."
"You made mistakes, or what you think were mistakes. So what? That doesn't mean you should treat yourself like garbage. Nobody is perfect." she decided to focus on herself, and how she had a hand in Hodaka's plot. " But what about me? I agreed to your idea. I helped you with it. What does that make me?" Hina took the boy's hands and put them into hers. "I was a human sacrifice, Hodaka. You knew that. I knew that. But because you l-loved me, because you wanted me more than any blue sky, you saved me," Tears started falling from her own eyes. "Does that mean that if you had to do the same thing now, would you have never done it? So those people could have their springs, their summers and their winters back? I wouldn't blame you." she said in a rather passive-aggressive manner, with each passing second having her words weighing down on Hodaka harder than his own guilt having ever had. "But I want to ask you - I want to know. Say it. Tell me. Do you regret saving me?! Do you, Hodaka?!" she said with unrivaled aggression and venom, Hodaka both startled and intimidated by the girl's sudden unbridled rage.
It was then, that Hodaka finally realized how much of a complete idiot he was being.
Hindsight is always 20/20 vision, his parents had always told him.
The weather had always been crazy. Suga said it. Centuries-old history attested to that. They hadn't changed the world as much as he thought they had, it could be that the world only decided to go back to its old self again.
Who knows, maybe they'd truly been the catalysts for the change in weather. Maybe Hodaka made a grave mistake exploiting the weather to turn profits even if his intentions had no ill will within them. Many would probably be blaming him for lacking the foresight that exploiting the weather would be coming at a price. He wouldn't blame them, for he definitely would, too.
But he saved her. And because of his choice, she's still here. He could blame himself for the rain because he chose to have love all he wanted, but the fact of the matter is that he made a choice, and he chose her.
Hodaka supposed he could learn from this. After all, there's always the saying: 'We live and we learn.'
What's done is done and will always stay in the past. He should learn from his mistakes and prosper from them, instead of imprisoning himself in them, drowning in his sorrow and mistakes.
Hodaka thought it to be best that they simply looked forward. Pray for themselves first, just like what he told her years ago.
He finally answered after a tense silence, his intimidation finally rolling off of him. "No. I don't. I don't regret saving you." his tone became more reflective than regretful.
The girl's anger faded once he saw the look of hurt in Hodaka's eyes. While she felt it was necessary, it didn't necessarily mean she didn't feel bad for doing it. "Then why do you keep blaming yourself?" her voice took on a more gentle tone, as if trying to understand his motives for doing so.
Hodaka looked down in guilt, not wanting to meet Hina's eyes. "It's just..! I know that sometimes, you can't get everything you want," he explained. "I guess... I guess I was just guilty because I couldn't have both. It's why I blamed myself for exploiting your powers. It would've been still rainy, sure, but the weather wouldn't be this bad if we hadn't gone through with the business. I just wanted you here with me, but I wanted people to be able to live fine without worrying about their lives being ruined by the rain." he finally looked into her eyes. "And when you disappeared the day after I gave you the ring in the hotel, I realized that I had to make a choice: you or the good weather. I knew that I couldn't have both. I saved you that day because I realized I didn't care if the weather would never be the same again."
He proceeded to take on a more forlorn note, now choosing to mention how one-dimensional his ideals were. "But I forgot about other people and everything they've worked for because I wanted you. Something inside me said I was selfish; self-centered. Another part said I did the right thing by choosing what my heart wanted."
"Well, what do you think was the right thing?" Hina questioned.
"Saving you," he said, which brought a blush to both of their faces. "I feel like it was one of those situations where you can't satisfy everyone, I guess. Some people if put in my situation would've chosen to save you, just like how I did. Some people would've just accepted your fate as a human sacrifice and thought of it as a, what did my teachers call it?" Hodaka thought to himself for a few seconds, before remembering. "Oh, yeah! A 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of one' kind of thing."
He finally looked into her cerulean eyes with bright determination. "I wouldn't trade you for the world, Hina, and I want you, more than any blue sky."
She hugged him tightly hearing those last words. "I'll never forget the first time you said that. Never. And thank you for saving me, Hodaka," she thanked him, clinging onto him tightly.
He returned the embrace. "Thanks for knocking some sense into me too, Hina," he thanked her back. "I really needed it."
"I'm just glad to see you happy again," she said, giving Hodaka a sweet smile.
Then, while they shared the embrace, Hodaka suddenly remembered about the ring. He'd almost forgotten about it, and for the second time, no less!
"H-Hina?" he stammered.
"Hm?" she looked at the boy.
"I wanted to give you something," he told her. "W-Well, I wanted to give it earlier when we met in the street, but I forgot, so..." he trailed off sheepishly.
"Really?" she mused, her interest having been piqued. "What would that be?"
He pulled something out of his pajama pockets. Hina's eyes widened almost immediately when she saw it.
"So even when I'm gone, you'll always have a memory of me," Hodaka said as he slipped it into her ring finger. "If you even want to wear it, anyway," he nervously said, silently hoping she would, a blush on his cheeks as clear as day.
"H-Hodaka, it can't be..." the girl was in shock. "This is..!"
She thought she'd lost it, all those years ago, when her body completely liquefied while up in the cumulonimbus, the ring slipping through her fingers, soon to fall a long way. The ring being her only memory of the boy she loved dearly like no one else before she would soon fade away, and it was ruthlessly and forcibly taken from her.
She remembered when Hodaka had given it to her. When she had showed the effects of her powers on her body, when they hugged and cried into each other's arms in the hotel room, the fuzzy feelings in their chests that knew that they were the ones for each other.
Tears fell from her eyes as the boy in front of her gave her a soft smile. "It is. I found it in a puddle when the police were about to take me into the station. That's how I knew where to find you."
Hina chose to stare at the ring on her finger and thought to herself. For many years, she'd wondered. Wondered if her feelings for Hodaka were requited, returned. Sure, he had said that he'd rather have her than any blue sky, but the sinking feeling in her told her that maybe he could've said that just to get her to stop worrying about the weather and to worry about herself. And sure, such a reason just made her sound paranoid that Hodaka may not like her the way she did to him, but the thought was what it was.
Now, with the ring in her finger that was symbolic for the love they shared for each other, the same uneasiness and hesitancy that had plagued her for so long when it came to confessing to Hodaka was gone. The writing was on the wall; the confirmation was there.
If defying all logic and odds to save her wasn't enough, then this was more than enough for her to decide to seal the deal.
The small gesture meant the world to her and gave that burst of confidence she needed. She'd finally let him know how much the ring meant to her, how much he meant to her.
Meanwhile, Hodaka took Hina's silence as a reason for worry. "H-Hina?" he nervously stammered. "D-Do you like it-"
He was unable to finish the rest of whatever he had wanted to say, as the girl closed her eyes, quickly leaned in, and captured his lips with hers, his left hand intertwined with her right, her left hand caressing his cheek. At the start, it was soft and gentle; both parties trying to adjust themselves to an angle that satisfied them both. After they did, it became more passionate as they kissed more deeply, savoring in each other's taste. After what seemed to be an eternity, they broke off each other to catch their breaths.
"I love it." she caressed his cheek with her hand as she gave him a quick peck on the lips again. "I love you, Hodaka."
She said it.
Hodaka had finally heard it with his own ears. The signal he desperately needed to hear, to know that his feelings were reciprocated. That they weren't misplaced. That she loved him back.
All his regret and guilt were finally gone. His choices were not all for naught; not misplaced.
"I love you too, Hina." He hugged her tightly, looking into her eyes.
"Hodaka?" she asked, staring back at him.
"Yeah?"
"Can you promise me something?" she requested.
"What is it?" he attentively listened to what she had to ask of him.
"Please, don't ever leave again."
"Don't worry," he pulled her closer. "I never will."
They meant the world to each other. This was the feeling they've fervently sought after being separated for three years.
They'd never let each other go ever again.
Nagi woke up in the dead of night by the alarm of her sister's phone. If he got past his grouchiness over how early it was, he was confused. His sister oftentimes turned her alarm off before it could wake him up (he wasn't the deepest of sleepers, only that Hina was fast in turning it off), so it was off-putting.
He went to her room and turned the alarm off himself. Much to his already confused state, her sister was not in her bed. When he went out into the living room, there were clearly no lights coming from the bathroom that would've stuck out like a sore thumb in the inky darkness of the room and signaled where Hina could possibly be, especially since he kept the lights off.
'Who knows, maybe Sis and Hodaka ran to have a date at a Lawson,' Nagi chuckled at the thought. Even he doubted that the lovebirds would do such a thing.
He turned on the lights, wondering where his sister could be. "Sis, don't you know how to turn off your alarm? People are trying to sleep here! Where are you-"
His eyes stopped on the sofa that answered all his questions, which had Hina and Hodaka on it, content sleeping in each other's arms.
He rubbed his eyes, as if doing a double take and not believing his own eyes. This had to be a dream, right?
He pulled out his phone and took a picture of the sleeping couple. If he still had the picture in his phone after he woke up, then he just obtained something that rivaled gold. If he didn't, then it was a dream. Nagi thought of it as a win-win! Even if it was a dream, either Hodaka or his sister would eventually come to tell the other that they loved each other. It'll happen at the end of the day.
He was sure of it.
A/N: A bit of angst near the end, yeah, I know. But I feel like it would've been interesting or compelling to at least have Hodaka acknowledge the fruits of his actions and react to it in a mostly negative light, to at least let us (the readers) know that he's regretful of what had happened, and a bit more reason to have character development with it. I feel like I made it a bit too one-dimensional for my own liking, but I was at a loss for how to expand it any more than I already had.
Also, it took me less than a month to update a new chapter! I'm getting better at this 'updating' thing!
In any case, that's all I have for you guys, I guess, feel free to leave to leave anything that lets me know what you think about the story, reviews (provided they're constructive), follows, and favorites are all appreciated!
I'll see you next time.