Lights from various buildings and skyscrapers illuminated the busy district of Ikebukuro, twinkling like stars in the beautiful, peaceful night sky. A pair of garnet orbs gazed up lazily at the sky and the black-haired woman could only recite a silent wish. Oh, how she wished she could feel as peaceful as the night sky. Everything since that day in the hospital seemed to went by in light's speed. Heck, sometimes she felt like she was dreaming. The memories of her reluctance to go along with her brother's plans were still freshly imprinted in her mind. In fact, that same reluctance was still slightly lingering in her heart. Perhaps, deep down, Kaname has fallen into the deep depth of denial against the fact that she was back in the district where she spent her early childhood, Ikebukuro.

Why did she agree with her brother's plan again?

Oh, right, apparently it was to save her sorry ass.

Deciding that whatever done is done and there was no more use weeping over it, her garnet orbs shifted their attention towards the moon, noting the thin, soft, and barely visible clouds engulfing it. It was.. beautiful, but then she remembered she had better things to worry about. Quickly turning her attention towards the sky overall, she noted the lack of stars in the sky and with an adequate focus, she could see the dark cumulus, with little to no contrast at all against the endless black over it.

Her face contorted into a troubled frown. "Shit. It's going to rain. Not good."

A familiar, unpleasant scent reached her nostrils and snapped her out of her mental rambling. Kaname wasted no time and turned to look at the cigarette. The black-haired woman narrowed her eyes on it in disgust, but unfortunately, the blonde man standing approximately a meter beside her easily noticed the staring. Yes, there Kaname stood with the rather intimidating man -but of course, anyone who could throw a lamppost into the air would be very intimidating, actually- in front of the one and only Russia Sushi.

"What?"

Ah, how she would love to ask him to extinguish that wicked creation of satan immediately, but Kaname decided against it. As her hunger has been quenched, Kaname finally returned to her senses and realized how unnecessarily stubborn she was acting. In fact, she even felt a bit guilty and started to wonder whether she should've been the one who apologized. However, due to the human nature known as 'pride', she has not done anything to voice her guilt.

With that in mind, Kaname could only let out a small sigh and mumble, "No, nevermind. I guess I'll survive a few minutes without air."

The four of them has just finished their dinner. Haruka had to stay a bit longer at the Russia Sushi whilst Tom had something urgent to do. However, God bless that kind human being, Tom has already contacted the landlord and therefore -quite magically, in the siblings' opinion- Kaname had already attained the key to the apartment. In the meantime, Kaname was stuck with the tall, blonde smoker, because Tom said something along the lines of 'apologizing to the lady by being a gentleman and escort her home'. Ah, well, it couldn't be that bad, right? Besides, they will be neighbors for quite a while.

Maybe they might even get along..

Maybe.

"Alright," Shizuo sighed as he dropped the cigarette and extinguished it by stomping on it, an action Kaname didn't expect. Shizuo turned at the woman and asked, "Shall we go?"

Kaname responded with a small, grateful smile -because thank goodness, now she could breathe!- and a nod. Shizuo quickly led the way. However, he also unexpectedly took both her and Haruka's suitcases in his hands and pulled it. Kaname shot him a questioning stare, which didn't go unnoticed by Shizuo. He glanced back at her and answered her unsaid question coolly, "Consider this as an apology."

His words caught her off guard and Kaname briefly froze in her tracks. However, a few moments later, a warm, gleeful smile slowly spread across her face. She chuckled and tucked her hands into her coat pockets before skipping and following the man before her.

Well, maybe he's not that bad, huh?

"Thanks!"

Shizuo only 'hmm'ed in response, much to her disappointment. They were going to be neighbors and it never hurts to try to befriend your neighbors, right?

With that in mind, somehow Kaname decided to attempt to converse with him. However, it proved to be a not easy task for her. Even after all these years, Kaname was never good in socializing with strangers. Her charming and more social brother, Haruka, had almost always taken care of that aspect of her life. She was glad that she was behind Shizuo, or else he could have seen the embarrassing shade of red seeping across her cheeks. She gathered all her courage before finally speaking up, "W-well, y-you know, uh, I'm sorry for how I acted. I'm usually not t-that bad, I swear. I was just.. not in my best mood."

She felt like slapping herself for embarrassingly stuttering like an idiot. Meanwhile, again, Shizuo only 'hmm'ed in response. Ah, well, this is getting frustrating..

"..I-I really am sorry for how I acted. I didn't really make a good first impression, d-did I?" Kaname laughed nervously. "Let's start over, shall we? I-I mean, we're going to be neighbors for quite a while a-and.. and well, who knows, w-we might be friends someday or something, r-right? Who knows! And besides, how I acted.. that wasn't really the best way to start a friendship, don't you think? So.. y-you get what I'm trying to say.."

For god's sake, why couldn't she stop stuttering? Kaname could feel her cheeks growing hotter by each and every second. Oh god. How she would love to run away right now and never cross paths with the man before her ever again. That was embarrassingly pathetic!

Even though he thought she was being a bit too.. noisy, especially compared to how she was acting a few hours ago, Shizuo could see the logic in her words. Letting out a small sigh, he finally responded, "..Alright."

Wait, what?

The smile on Kaname's face twitched. "H-huh?"

Shizuo glanced at her. "I said, 'alright'."

"E-Eh? You did?"

Shizuo merely raised an eyebrow at her response. Alas, awkwardness seeped back into the air. Way to go, Kaname!

"A-Ah, I mean, a-alright!" Kaname exploded with laughter. It was a bit more genuine than the previous laughter. Well, actually, she was laughing at herself and how pathetic she was acting. "T-Then, what's your name?"

God bless Kaname's poor heart, cause damn, she thought she was going to have a heart attack when Shizuo stopped abruptly and actually turned to look at her. Shizuo looked straight at her, his face still had the usual scowl plastered on it, whilst Kaname could barely keep her gaze back at him. Her heart was beating painfully fast and again, she could feel the burn on her cheeks. She didn't say any single word and merely stood her ground in silence while looking up at the man who was around five inches taller than her with wide eyes. The awkwardness was very.. intense.

"W-What?" Kaname sputtered.

"Don't you introduce yourself first before asking for someone's name?"

"E-Eh? A-Ah, right! I guess I should, huh?" Kaname laughed. Ah, her brain definitely wasn't working like how it's supposed to. With a slight bow, she reintroduced 'herself' in a slightly quicker pace than usual, a rather telltale evident of her nervousness. "M-My name is Hikaru, Yamamoto Hikaru. Pleased to meet you!"

Shizuo let out a small, barely audible sigh. Well, at least she's trying, right? Playing along surely wouldn't hurt. "Alright then," he answered in his usual tone and a nod, "I'm Heiwajima Shizuo."

"A-Alright then. Is 'Heiwajima-san' alright? Ah, no. Maybe 'Heiwajima-kun' is better? W-Well, we're going to be neighbors so we might as well be in a rather friendly terms, right?"

"Whichever suits you, actually. I don't mind."

'Friendly terms', she said? Well, the blonde could think of some friendlier terms she could use, like actually calling him by his given name, but Shizuo kept his thoughts to himself. Besides, as he said before, he doesn't mind... Or at least, he believed he shouldn't mind.

"Alright, 'Heiwajima-kun' it is, then!" A light laughter, much like a cheerful tune, emanated from the black-haired woman. A bright smile graced her features as she continued with words that quite surprised the former bartender, "I know I said we might as well be in a 'rather friendly terms', but I guess I can't call you by your given name just yet. I guess I'm not really good at friendships and stuffs like this.. Let's just hope that I'll get there someday!"

Well, that wasn't what Shizuo expected. No word left the blonde's lips as he actually took time to scrutinize the young woman before him. The scowl on his face dwindled ever so slightly as he was a bit taken aback because despite of her words, she was actually quite open for admitting that to him, someone she had just known for.. no more than a few hours, right? Besides, judging by how.. 'expressive' she apparently was, Shizuo thought she was the type who could get along and befriend almost everybody. Maybe everybody but people with bad temper, because Shizuo could easily imagine her and her 'nonchalant honesty' irritating those bad-tempered types. Ah, that's strange. Shouldn't Shizuo consider himself as one of those 'bad-tempered' types? Then why..

That train of thoughts didn't manage to hold his attention for long as it was quickly diverted towards the alien, cold sensation on his skullcap. Looking up at the sky, Shizuo missed the sudden look of distraught and horror on the woman's face as she hurriedly fumbled the hood of her coat and put it on, slightly pulling it down as if it was an effort to hide her face. Refreshing droplets of water washed over the earth and slowly but surely, the rain grew heavier. The two stood in silence, each with their own reasons, whilst most citizens of the district started to scatter away from the streets, in search of a shade.

"..Oh no.."

Shizuo shifted his attention back towards Kaname, unable to look at her face because she was looking straight at the ground below her. Instead, his gaze lingered on her hands, tightly gripping both sides of her coat's hood.

Slowly but surely, curiosity started to take over him and finally, albeit slightly hesitantly, Shizuo voiced his question. "..Do you hate the rain?"

"E-Eh?!" The sudden, squeaky yelp nearly made Shizuo jump back. It sounded like a totally different person, nothing like the moody woman who was glaring daggers at him just a few hours ago. He kept his gaze fixated on her, his eyes slightly widening when Kaname finally looked up to him. He wouldn't be able to see her if it wasn't for the nearby lamppost, but pure dread was clearly visible on her expression. Even as she continued, her voice was much higher than usual, "W-what? N-no I don't!" Kaname forced a laughter, but sadly, it quickly faltered. Shizuo could see her efforts to hide the terror in her expression, but unfortunately, she didn't really succeed. Shizuo even narrowed his eyes when he noticed her shortness of breath and how her hands shook. However, he couldn't focus on it for long. Kaname hurriedly shoved him forward, a painfully forced grin plastered on her face as she stammered, "P-Please, l-let's go on! I-It's going t-to r-rain v-very.. J-just.. P-Please!"

"Wha-"

"Please! L-Let's just g-go now, s-shall we?!"

Seeing her apparent desperation, Shizuo didn't have the heart to fight back. Instead, he let himself being pushed forward by the woman behind him before finally turning around and consenting to her request. However, perhaps somewhat subconsciously, he focused on his hearing, making sure that he could hear her footsteps following right behind him. It was as if he was.. worried.

However, that focus briefly, very briefly slipped when a blinding light suddenly flashed above them. He slightly looked up. Ah, bless all these crazily tall buildings. If it weren't for them, Shizuo might have needed to worry about the possibility of being struck by the lightning. Then, he closed his eyes, bracing himself for the coming thunder. Even for Heiwajima Shizuo, the loud, shocking thunders, especially when you don't have an adequate shelter from it, isn't the best experience-

Wait, what?

"Kyaaaaa!"

Shizuo's eyes widened. To those who didn't know any better, it would've seemed like a mere look of shock. There was a very sharp, loud crack of thunder, and many would have guessed that it was what shocked him. However, no, it was not the thunder. In fact, it was nothing like the harsh, scary thunder.

It was the pair of slender arms, slithering around his chest area.

It was the soft, smooth hair, tickling against the back side of his neck.

And even through the several layers of coat and sweater that she wore, probably due to the rain, he could still feel it.

It was the female body, suddenly pressed rather tightly against his back..

Yeay! And there goes chapter 4 (aka the 'juicy part' I mentioned in the last chapter). Well, what do you think? xD

Really, I'm worried about how you all would react to this fic. I have so many questions in my head! Will the readers like the idea? Will the readers like how I write this fic? What if there are grammatical errors(No, English is not my first language)?! I worry a lot, especially about the latter. I don't know why, but I think that is important, so I try my best, but if there are any mistakes, I would be more than thankful if you could kindly point it out and I'll try my best not to do it again in the future!

Aside from the rather 'technical' stuff, there are also some other stuffs I worry about, too. What do you think about my OC? Is she 'likeable'? What about my portrayal of Shizuo? Did I serve his character the justice he deserved? I am worried, you know, I really am! OAO

However, I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has followed, faved, and/or reviewed this fic. Really, I didn't expect such kind feedbacks from you all, especially the reviews! God, have I mentioned how much I loved your kind reviews? If I haven't, then now you know! Virtual hugs for you all! 3

I've been planning to post this chapter for days, but gah, internet, so many god damn beautiful distractions! I ended up posting it now, not exactly the best time to work on fanfictions because I have a rather important ceremony tomorrow, lol! Somehow it seems that I have the tendency to be able to focus on fanfictions on the worst of times.

Anyhow, as always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please do follow and/or fav if you enjoyed this chapter and would love to read more. Also, feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think. Suggestions and constructive criticism are always appreciated!

See you in the next chapter! Love~