水の中の雲 ("Mizu no naka no kumo", literally "The Cloud in the Midst of Water") is a song by Yanagi Nagi, who's probably most famous for her collaboration with Supercell in past years. It's actually quite hard to think of a title for this chapter.

Chapter 2: 水の中の雲

It was nothing but awkward upon running into Rin the next day, and it didn't help that her fellow school idol pretended like nothing had happened between them when she was clearly avoiding her.

The orange-haired girl greeted Maki as usual in the morning, with her playfully energetic tone, and clung on to Hanayo to ask for her copy of English homework. The three of them chatted for a while, and Maki was glad that the school bell rang soon afterwards. The pianist ignored Hanayo's curious glance, and proceeded to take her seat without another word.

Things didn't change for the better during their practice. Rin was jumping around as usual, joining Honoka in teasing Nico and running away from Umi's murderous glance, but apart from their dancing steps there was clearly a recognizable distance between the two of them. Nozomi kept looking at them with a raised eyebrow, and Maki tried her best to avoid meeting her gaze. For once she was glad she had never been the talkative one in the group, since she was in no mood to chat at all.

A week passed by like that, and no one had really commented on it. Still, Maki figured Hanayo had probably already connected the dots. Eri was also a perceptive one, so she might have guessed as well. Nozomi…well, even without any signs of indication that girl probably had somehow figured it out already. She could only pray that others didn't sense the increasing tension between her and Rin.

It wasn't like she didn't want to clear things up with her. Even disregarding what had happened in the park, she still missed Rin's presence. She hadn't realized how omnipresent Rin had become in her life. She missed the surprise hug she gave her in the morning. She missed her sudden attack on her lunchbox, always trying to steal food from her because 'it is a meal prepared by the Nishikino family's own chef!' She missed the way she teased her during group practice. She missed the casual walks they shared after school, when they would talk about all sorts of silly things without getting bored.

She just found it ironic that the two of them were the only one left again on another rainy afternoon.

The crimson-haired girl wondered if the others were purposefully scheming against them, when suddenly everyone was preoccupied with something else. She could understand that Eri, Nozomi and the second-years had student council affairs to discuss, but the odds of that combined with Nico receiving a detention and Hanayo having class duty on the same day? She smelt something fishy there.

Maki cast a nervous glance at Rin, who looked thoughtful at the fact that she didn't have an umbrella with her. A small smirk was kept firmly on her face. The same way that she had been acting as always, as if nothing had ever happened.

And that annoyed her.

'Rin…'

'I'll see you tomorrow, Maki-chan!' Rin beamed, waving goodbye to the girl, and turned around to leave. 'Rin's house is nearby, so Rin can just run over there quickly.'

'What? Wait!'

Rin curved her lips upwards, but her eyes showed the same degree of pain that Maki had seen a week ago. It was so uncharacteristic of Rin that Maki wondered if this was her actual self.

'Let's forget about the past, Maki-chan, alright?'

Maki stared, her facial muscles tightening.

'We didn't wait for the rain to be over,' Rin continued, her smile growing more and more unnaturally calm, 'we brought our umbrellas and we left the park shortly afterwards. That's what happened, right?'

No, Maki wanted to yell. You're dead wrong, you're being unreasonable, she screamed in her mind. But in reality, all she did was remain standing there, watching her classmate concluding her solo act.

'So there's nothing to worry about,' Rin turned around in a singing voice and started walking away from the erect school building. 'That's just the way it is.'

With much determination, Rin stepped into the pouring rain. There was no way she could have missed Maki's hesitant glance at her own umbrella. The crimson-haired girl must be pondering on the proper of asking her to walk home together, under the same umbrella.

Rin grinned at that thought. Her kindness hurt her so much.

What Rin didn't expect, when she was almost by the front gate, was a force tackling her on the back. She squealed and had to balance herself quickly so that she didn't fall on the ground. The rain droplets continued falling gracefully on her body, but she didn't move, not a single inch, as she felt a pair of warm arms wrapping around her shoulders.

'Stop acting like that, Rin,' Maki pleaded weakly, leaning her forehead against Rin's back. 'Stop acting like that in front of me.'

Rin felt her body shaking. For all the façade she had put on for the whole time, she wasn't ready to drop that countenance yet.

'What did that mean then? What did that all mean?'

Maki didn't specify it, but Rin knew what she was referring to. It was something that she had been hoping to avoid discussing. Her only wish was that they could just go back to how they used to be. How reckless of her to lose control that one time.

'Did that mean nothing to you?' Maki clutched Rin's uniform, ignoring the growing wetness of the fabric or her own hair. Images of her and Rin floated in her mind. Even though she caused all kinds of trouble for her and gave her headache more than anything, Maki also realized that there was nothing more precious than those moments that they shared together.

'Why did you do it then if you just want to pretend it never happened?'

'Did it mean anything to you, Maki-chan?' Rin retorted, raising her head to look at the grey sky. It wasn't a pretty sight, and she had never enjoyed raining days. They always brought her bad luck.

'Answer me!' Maki shouted, surprising both herself and the athletic girl.

For several still minutes none of them moved. Their bodies were getting wetter and they could feel the cold, but none broke contact with each other. Rin lowered her head and clenched her fists.

'Rin makes a mistake,' the orange-haired girl whispered. 'Rin's mistake is liking Maki-chan.'

Maki only tightened her grip on Rin's uniform. Tears were threatening to flow out of her eyes as she listened. Slowly turning her body to face the pianist, Rin raised her hand to wipe the tears out of her eyes.

'Rin doesn't want to hurt Maki-chan,' she murmured, 'so Rin really wants things to go back to how they used to be, okay?'

Maki bit her lips and looked straight into her companion's eyes. Rin wore the same expression like the day at the park. She looked like she would break anytime. Maki couldn't help but feel that it was because of her own cowardice that this was happening.

She hated that look on Rin's face, and somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she held the key to untying this knot between them.

'What if I say no?'

Rin widened her eyes, looking at Maki disbelievingly. Blushing hard, Maki however refused to break eye contact this time. She knew that if she did, then it would really be over. Her friendship with Rin would burst into bubbles, and it could never be repaired by any means.

'You haven't really given me the chance to respond,' Maki continued, her fingers finding Rin's and intertwining them firmly. It scared her that Rin did not say a word. 'What if I…say that you're not the only one who feels that way?'

After a brief pause Rin shortened the distance between their faces, and asked in a hesitant voice.

'…may I?'

Their uniforms were completely soaked and their hair a mess. Maki simply closed her eyes and leaned forward.

End of Chapter 2

I know that I ended this chapter without really elaborating on their specific feelings for each other. Partly it's because I try to maintain a certain length for each chapter, and partly it's because there will be more in future chapters, on how Maki comes to terms with her own feelings. There will be confusion, worry and fear, but all will lead to recognition along the road.

Please leave me a review to let me know what you think!