You know that strange, mystical power that keeps urging you to do weird shits you never expected yourself to do?

The sound of the downpour, synced like a calming melody. The silence, complementing the peace of the rain. The darkness of the night, a beautiful backdrop to the twinkling lights of the busy district. The scene was oddly calming, to say the least. Yes, 'calming'. It was definitely not the scene that would cause the hearts of men and women to thump faster, louder, nor harder than strictly necessary.

Yet apparently, it wasn't the case for the pair of man and woman who was seemingly 'embracing' under the raindrops.

Yes, the circumstances aren't exactly 'calming' for Heiwajima Shizuo. Not with the pair of woman's arms gripping tightly on his torso, not with the said woman's hair tickling the back of his neck as she trembled in fear. Overall, definitely not with the shocked woman holding him tightly, as if her life depended on it.

Finally, finally, after what felt like an eternity of awkwardness hell, Shizuo's deep voice broke the silence. "..Oi," he muttered a bit hesitantly. He glanced over his shoulder at the woman who was burying her face into his back and continued, "What are you doing?"

"Huh?!" Kaname squeaked in an uncharacteristically high pitch. Kaname thought her heartbeat couldn't get any crazier, but she was proved wrong when she looked up and saw the blonde's face, no more than twenty centimeters from her own face. It was as if she could see nothing but the -rather attractive, but Kaname would never admit that out loud- face before her. However, her attention was soon shifted towards the burning sensation on her cheeks. Her legs even started to tremble. God, she felt like she could faint at that very moment.

"..Oi?"

Finally, something in Kaname snapped. Realization struck her like tsunami, and with a small yelp, she immediately pushed the taller man away. Honestly, Shizuo was quite impressed. If Shizuo wasn't himself, he could have fell down.

Alas, the mighty awkward silence prevailed once again. Shizuo couldn't help but gape at the woman before him, whilst said woman quickly looked away and fumbled with the ends of her black hair, twisting and turning it with her index finger, while desperately trying to ignore the burning feeling on her cheeks. "U-Uh, I-I.. Eh.. Uhm.." Kaname stammered. "I-I.. I'm.. s-sorry.." Unfortunately, much due to Shizuo's lack of response, Kaname was unable to overthrow the awkwardness. In fact, his wide-eyed staring didn't help. He was still taken aback and his mind was apparently still having a hard time to digest what the heck just happened. Covering her deeply blushing face with her hands, Kaname bowed deeply and semi-shouted, "I-I'm really sorry!"

After another few seconds of silence, Shizuo cleared his throat. Without a single word, he turned his back towards the woman. Kaname couldn't decide whether to be grateful or disappointed, grateful because further conversations might be even more embarrassing and Kaname honestly thought she has had much more than enough embarrassment to deal with, and disappointed because further conversations, though quite unlikely, might have some possibilities to clear the awkwardness and really, at this point, anything might be better than the crazy tension of an awkward silence.

However, even with all the different thoughts dancing across her mind, one question that quite bothered her was,

'Why is he only standing there?'

Yes, perhaps it was a logical question. As the person not experiencing the panic attack, why would anyone merely stand there, in the middle of the downpour, while he completely had the capability to walk and continue the journey towards home, or at least find the nearest, temporary shelter?

An apparently logical question, since Kaname probably had no idea whatsoever that Shizuo, too, was struggling to calm his heartbeat and get rid of the reddish shade on his cheeks. He was only.. doing a better, much better job than Kaname.

Kaname could barely hold back a sigh of relief when somehow, Shizuo decided to speak up, as if God heard her silent wishes and decided to generously grant it. "So," Shizuo glanced at Kaname, "You're.. afraid of thunders?"

However, unfortunately, Kaname still didn't have the courage to look back. Well, she was pretty sure she would never accept to make eye contact, not with her cheeks looking like a tomato. Nope, never. Therefore, Kaname opted to respond while gazing away at the distance, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever that could get her mind off the whole ordeal and cease her blush. "U-Uh, y-yes.. I-I guess."

"...Oh."

Another silence ensued. Somehow, Shizuo couldn't get his eyes off the woman before him. Even with their slight 'interactions', it was painfully clear that Kaname was still deeply shocked by the thunder. Her eyes still wandered, occasionally towards the sky, in alarm and fear of the possibility of another thunder. She was still quivering as she pulled her hood down onto her face again. No matter how tempting it was, seeking protection and comfort by glomping the man before her was no longer an option, so when another low rumble of thunder was heard from the far distance, Kaname immediately tensed and, with all her willpower, managed to only bite her bottom lip and tighten her grip on her coat.

However, that was when Shizuo could no longer hold back his concern. Although a bit stiffly, he approached her. God bless Kaname's poor heart, because Shizuo must have not considered it when he leaned down to look straight at her. For the second time in such a short time, his face was no more than twenty centimeters from Kaname's face, and that thought easily caused her to blush deep red, again. In fact, Kaname even subconsciously leaned away, for the sake of her poor heart. Well, uh, his intention is good, but the blonde's rather attractive face, wetted by the rain, a bit too close to her face for her own good, is just..

Shizuo narrowed his eyes, apparently not realizing the effects of his sudden action. "Are you alright?"

"H-Huh? U-Uh, not really- I-I mean, y-yes! I-I'm fine!"

"Are you sure? You don't seem fine." Kaname was silent as she wasn't sure of how to respond to that. However, seeing the look on her face, Shizuo quickly decided to drop the topic. He turned around, attention shifted towards another problem, as he spoke, "Anyways, at least, we need to take shelter. The rain doesn't seem like it will cease any time soon. Let's hurry. "

"Y-Yeah, let's hurry!"

There was a brief silence.

"E-Eh?"

Her distraught tone was definitely not good, and Shizuo immediately responded. He quickly turned around and asked in a rather concerned tone, "What's wrong?"

The grin on Kaname's face twitched. "U-Uh, I.. Somehow I can't.." Kaname trailed off. Shizuo followed her gaze and realization immediately dawned upon him when his gaze landed on her trembling feet. "Holy.. No way! I-I can't.. I can't move my legs!"

"..What?"

Kaname's voice nearly cracked as she responded, "Really! I-I mean it! Oh no.. God damn it!"

Shizuo's teeth gritted. Indeed, God damn it. This was definitely not what he expected when he agreed to accompany her home. But then again, what is done is done, and it is now his responsibility to make sure Kaname gets to her new home safely. Obviously, anything that happens to her shall be blamed on him. Shizuo hasn't encountered many people with phobias like her, and who knows, it might even cause all the dangerous things no one would ever want to experience! Another low rumble was heard from the distance, reminding them of the dreaded threat of another thunder. Truthfully, it felt as if they were dealing with a time bomb that could explode anytime. With that in thought, even though it could be considered a bit 'reckless' and definitely unexpected, Shizuo immediately did the first thing that crossed his mind.

Kaname's eyes widened in shock and slight confusion when Shizuo turned his back towards her and leaned down. Not quite getting what he was trying to do and with the stress and tension due to all the misfortunes one after another, Kaname semi-shouted through the sound of the rain, "What?!"

Indeed, his response was definitely one she least expected.

"Get on my back!"

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me right. Get on my back!"

"What?! Y-You're going to carry me? No way! H-How could you do that while also holding both-"

"You don't need to worry about that. Come on, we need to hurry, before there's another thunder!"

The last part of Shizuo's sentence proved to be very persuasive for Kaname. In a split second, Kaname pushed herself with all her strength, and fortunately managed to jump onto the taller blonde's back. "Oh God, no way! I-I'm so sorry! A-Are you sure I won't break your spine o-or something?! P-Please forgive me!" She quickly threw her arms around Shizuo's shoulders, clutching them tightly, and wrapped her legs around his waist. Burying her blushing face onto his shoulder, Kaname shrieked, "Holy- T-T-This is v-very embarrassing!"

"You'll have plenty of time to think about that later, but now is not the time!" Shizuo responded firmly. Tightening his grip onto both suitcases in each of his hands, he glanced at Kaname. "Ready?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Hold on tight!"

And that was all the warning Shizuo gave before he sped off in an impressive speed. Honestly, Kaname thought the warning was very understated. There were several times she thought her life was in more than strictly necessary danger. In the end, all Kaname could do was hold onto Shizuo's strong figure as tight as she could, occasionally letting out her frustration and fear in the form of muffled yelps, screeches, and barely audible curses. Kaname kept her eyes closed tightly, all the way, as if trying to block the whole situation out of her consciousness, or wishing to wake up to find out that the whole circumstance was nothing but a stupid nightmare, or both. Meanwhile, Shizuo ran through the downpour, through the streets of the district, through the halls of the apartment building, through the staircases, through whatever stuff Kaname couldn't bother to think of. All Kaname could think of was the very real possibility of losing hold of the man and falling down, and Kaname couldn't even bear to think about all the possible risks and consequences of this action. It was much like riding a roller coaster. A dangerous, life-threatening, no safety insurance roller coaster. Well, except that the said 'roller coaster' is a body of a real man, and as a young, single woman who's pretty certain of her sexuality, the whole situation couldn't be any worse.

And by each and every seconds, not even once did Kaname desert the silent, desperate wish to wake up from the whole predicament which she claimed as a 'hellish dream'.

"We've arrived."

After a few minutes -that felt like an eternity of pure terror to Kaname-, Shizuo's footsteps slowed, and finally, stopped. That was when Kaname slowly, very slowly opened her eyes. She exhaled the air she subconsciously held back as she slowly untangled herself from Shizuo. Ah, her heart was still beating like crazy, it was hard to focus on anything but it. A slight scowl made its way across her face when she noticed how drenched her clothes was, already thinking of how troublesome it would be to deal with it, but the thought was soon pushed into the far back of her mind and shoved far away off her priorities list. She scanned the apartment building, her gaze finally falling on the door before her.

"Well, the sound of the rain is barely audible. That's good." Kaname raised her eyebrows as she scanned the door. "It doesn't look too shabby either. I guess we'll survive."

Finally, Kaname quickly shifted her attention towards the problem she deemed more important for the time being. "W-Well, uhh," putting on a small, nervous smile on her face, Kaname turned around to face her blonde savior. Just as Kaname expected, after everything that happened, her cheeks immediately burned just with the sight of him, "T-Thank you very much, I guess! I don't know what w-would have h-happened if y-you.. w-weren't.. A-Anyways, t-that was v-very awkward, w-wasn't it?!"

Shizuo stared down at her in silence, merely raising an eyebrow when she forced a laughter. "Well," Shizuo let out a small sigh, "I guess it was, but there was nothing else we could do."

And really, with that whole hugging thing before and now the piggyback-ride-home-through-the-downpour, Shizuo doesn't know what else to expect from having this woman around anymore. Apparently, none of them knew what to say. Silence ensued, the only sound was the barely audible rain which sounded far, far away, during which Kaname kept her gaze down, hoping that avoiding eye contact might reduce even a slight bit of the awkwardness. Besides, staring up at someone with wide eyes and a deep blush across your face is never a good way to reduce awkwardness.

Finally, after a few moments of mental preparation, Kaname looked up. "W-Well, uh," she mumbled. However, it was Shizuo's turn to look away as his attention was shifted towards the hand tightly gripping on his sleeve. Raising an eyebrow, as if silently questioning whatever the action meant, Shizuo turned to look straight at Kaname again. Of course, the stare made Kaname even more nervous. The smile on her face twitched as she stammered, "U-Umm, I-I don't know.. T-Thanks, I-I guess?"

There was another brief moment of silence.

"Uh, yeah, you're wel-"

Ah, now he understood. Shizuo's words were interrupted by another sudden, loud clap of thunder. And yes, of course, the woman before him reacted, most noticeably by tugging on his sleeve by reflex. It was a clear answer to his unsaid question. Quite unsure of how to react, Shizuo merely watched in silence. Kaname once more struggled to overcome the shock and in this situation, Shizuo decided to wholeheartedly give Kaname all the time she needed.

"I-I'm.." Her low voice immediately grabbed his attention. Keeping her gaze locked onto the ground, Kaname clenched her shaking hands and struggled to keep her voice from breaking. "I'm.. Sorry.."

Shizuo's eyebrows furrowed. Really, he had no idea how to react to this. What was he supposed to say? He didn't even have a single idea of what to say. Countless thoughts of confusion and uncertainty danced across his mind, until finally, Shizuo decided to give it his best shot and respond with the best thing he came up with. Letting out a small sigh, he closed his eyes and answered firmly, "Don't be."

Frankly, he could see the genuine fear Kaname was experiencing and a part of himself was troubled by it. What was he supposed to do? Should he leave her alone in this heavy thunderstorm? He could just leave her be right now and retreat back to the peace of his own apartment he yearned for hours, and no one can stop him. Well, of course, the woman was nothing but a mere stranger and honestly, the whole piggyback thing was probably far more than enough, but somehow the idea of neglecting her.. didn't feel.. right?

Despite her silence, Kaname was aware of all the possible thoughts Shizuo was having. Biting her bottom lip, one thought made its way across her mind.

"Let go."

Right, she needed to let go. What was she thinking? She has caused the man more than enough trouble, all just in a few hours since first meeting him. Taking a deep, shaky breath, Kaname slowly, gradually loosened her grip on his sleeve and finally let go. Replacing whatever grim expressions she had on her face with a cheerful grin, Kaname looked up at Shizuo once more. "W-Well, thanks for dinner!" Her sudden change caught Shizuo off guard. Giving Shizuo no time to react, Kaname hurriedly turned around, grabbed the apartment key from her coat pocket, and unlocked the door. Then, she quickly grabbed the suitcases and entered the apartment. Still with the same grin plastered on her face, Kaname proceeded to close the apartment door whilst exclaiming, "Sorry for all the trouble, alright? I-I guess I'll make it up to you somehow someday. I-It was really nice meeting you, good ni-"

"Wait!"

The clashing forces of the door and Shizuo's strength resulted in a 'rather' loud sound, effectively shocking Kaname and ridding the forced grin from her face.

"..Umm?"

Shizuo looked up and stared right at her, the sudden action catching her off guard. It was another moment of awkward silence as all of Kaname's efforts to read past the scowl on Shizuo's face failed miserably and she didn't have any single idea of what Shizuo was trying to do.

Finally, finally, Shizuo let out a long sigh.

"..Can I come in?"

Really, what was he thinking...

...

Ta-dah!

Yes, I am alive and well. (lol)

Aaah, I'm very sorry for this terribly late update! This might sound like another array of excuses, but I was really busy during late March - early April, and exhaustion got me real hard and I was terribly sick (even nearly hospitalized) during early April - late April, just a few days ago, so I never got the time to actually finish this chapter and post it. My laptop is being a real meanie right now, google chrome keeps crashing every now and then without any clear reason, so I might be a bit infuriated while retyping some parts of this chapter and I might or might not have paid less attention to the grammar, etc. That, and it is currently 12AM here and I have school tomorrow and I'm quite tired. I'm very sorry! Dx

Had a brief 'discussion' with my classmate (who turned out to be experienced in romance fics like this), and gahd, then did I realize how 'romcom-like' this fic is starting out. Ahaha, I'm not sure how you all think about it, but it really was quite embarrassing to discuss about. I'm.. hoping that you like it? xD I'm really worried, you know. I'm terribly afraid that Shizuo might be OOC.. If you think he is, please kindly tell me and I'll try my best to fix that!

Anyhow, as always, thanks for all the supports! Please do follow/fav this story if you're liking where it's going and feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think. Opinions and constructive criticism are always welcome. Who knows, all the follows, favs, and reviews might motivate me to work on this fic more and update faster. Who knows~? Keep them all coming ('cause my ego can never have enough feeding xD)!

See you in the next chapter!