Rain
Rating: PG
Pairing: Amuto
Warnings: Hints at child neglect/possible abuse. I've also been told that this one is OOC. I apologize in advance for that.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Shugo Chara. This one was for Lizzie. :3
---
She woke up and blinked her weary eyes, frowning as her eyes focused in on the illuminated letters brightly displayed on her alarm clock. It was 6 and it was a Saturday. Why on earth would she have woken up so early? It was completely out of the question- especially since she'd gone to bed late last night.
She flopped back down onto her pillow and rubbed her eyes. She closed them and yawned, hoping that she could fall asleep again. A few minutes later, her eyes opened and she pouted, realizing today just wasn't going to be a normal day where she could just fall asleep again.
With a sigh, she propped herself up on her elbows and yawned once more. Eventually she pushed the covers away and rolled out of bed. She stretched again and glanced out the window of her room. She immediately frowned.
Just a rainy day...
She pulled her hair back away from her face as she approached the bathroom. She turned on the skin, splashed her face and proceeded to clean it. With another heavy sigh, she wiped off her face and went back into her room.
She opened the doors of her closet, eyeing her clothing and determining what to wear that day. She decided on a pair of black sweatpants and a red long-sleeved shirt. She jumped a few feet whenever loud thunder shook her house. She picked up her red and black plaid rain boots and left her room, leaving her shugos to rest.
She yawned and prepared herself a bowl of cereal. She munched it and mused silently, mulling over her odd awakening. Eventually shrugging it off as nothing important, she placed her empty bowl in the sink and reached for her rain boots. She put them on and walked over to the down stairs closet where she removed an umbrella and her raincoat.
She glanced up at the clock above the door.
Still only 6:20... I doubt anyone will notice if I just go walk for awhile...
So she did.
---
He woke up silently. He was extremely accustomed to silence. He didn't need an alarm; no lights would bother him during the few hours he felt safe enough to sleep. He slowly and silently pushed himself up and slipped out from underneath the covers. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he made the bed perfectly, as to create the image that no one had slept there.
He placed his violin case on the bed as he dressed quietly. Pants, socks, shoes, undershirt, shirt. As he buttoned up the front of his shirt, he glanced out the window. He slightly smiled at the steadily pouring rain.
Rain.
With a quiet sigh, he glanced over to the bed where Utau was sleeping soundly and then back at the clock that read 6.
It's too early. She'll just have to get over it. He picked up his violin case and smoothed out the crease it had made in the mattress cover. He silently left the room.
He knew exactly which spots on the floor of the hallway creaked, moaned, woke people up. He avoided them with catlike grace, perhaps with the help of his companion. He passed the kitchen without so much as a glance; eating would give away his presence.
He simply opened the front door and softly closed it with an inaudible 'click'. Pausing under the covered porch, he stared out into the rain.
I like the rain.
So he stepped out into the downpour and walked away, headed toward the park.
---
The two coincidently met twice, but neither recognized the other. Amu stopped to buy hot chocolate, Ikuto to purchase a cup of coffee.
They passed each other in the park. Neither expected to see the other, so neither one truly saw the other.
If you aren't looking for something, you won't find it.
And then, suddenly when they meet for the third time, the girl recognized the boy.
He was standing in the center of a wide field with his case on the ground, his arms outstretched and fingers wiggling. Curious, she approached him from behind. She poked his on the shoulder, and he turned around with a smile on his face.
"... what are you doing?!"
The boy paused, raking his fingers through his damp hair. " Enjoying it."
"What? Rain?"
"Yeah. Rain."
"Why?"
"It's cool."
"Cool?"
"It's a nice thing to notice..." He ended there, his eyes moving away from the girl and back into the sky.
"Notice the fact you're getting wet?"
"No. Notice just the way it feels. The way it looks. The way it is."
The girl blinked and twirled her umbrella over her shoulder absentmindedly. "It's just rain."
"No. I don't think so."
"Ikuto-san, it's so early. What are you doing here standing in the middle of the rain? You're going to get sick." She sighed. "And you're going to tell me I sound like your mother."
"You don't."
"I don't what?"
"Sound like my mother."
"...oh." She paused, staring at the smiling boy. "It's just rain."
"I thought so too until I really looked at it." He watched with a small smirk as the pink-haired girl intently studied the rain with her nose scrunched.
"I still don't see it."
"You have to look for it."
"Excuse me?"
"You have to look for it. If you don't look for it, you'll never find it."
"Look for what, exactly?"
"Look for the magic."
"In rain?"
"Yes."
"It's just rain."
"No."
"Uh, duh."
"Then how can you say you've looked?"
Amu sighed. "I did and I didn't see."
"You have to want to see the magic. You have to believe it's there."
Amu looked up and saw the twinkle in his eyes. "Do you think it's really there?"
"Yes. Look."
He grasped her hand that was holding her umbrella and eased it away from her, dropping it open onto the ground. He moved so he stood behind her and set his head upon her own, tilting hers upward. He moved his hands so they were clasped in hers and lifted them up, unclasping them and letting the back of her hands rest in the palms of his own.
"I-Ikuto..."
"Trust me. Feel it."
Amu was blushing and feeling incredibly awkward with her body so close to his and stupid with her hands outstretched trying to find magic in rain. She sighed and tried to move her hands away.
"No. You said you wanted to find it."
"I do. But this is stupid."
"It's not."
"There's no magic."
"Yes there is."
"No there isn't. This is stupid. It's Saturday at 6:30 in the morning and we're standing in the middle of a downpour."
"But it feels right."
"No. It doesn't."
"Yes it does."
"Why?"
"It's usually chilly, and this rain is warm. It's usually windy, but there isn't wind. This rain is magic."
"I still don't see it."
"Look again."
"What am I looking for?"
"You're looking for magic. Something out of the ordinary. Feel it, Amu-chan. Feel the rain touch you and talk to you."
"That's so stupid."
He grasped her hands and dropped his head to her shoulder, tilting it up.
"Look."
She looked. She watched the rain's pattern, the way it fell around objects, the way it darkened every color. She watched the rain form puddles. She watched it fall into the lake and she watched the ripples that spread from each tiny droplet.
And she felt the rain hit her skin and send a tingling through her body. She felt how wet her skin was, how the rain drops all hit different places at different times.
She looked. And she saw.
"It's... pretty."
"It is."
"I haven't ever though of rain as pretty."
"At one time, neither did I."
"We've missed out."
The boy grinned. "I think so."
The girl turned to him with a smile. "Thank you."
He raised his brows. "For what? Getting you drenched at some ungodly hour of the morning?"
"No. For showing me the magic."
Ikuto nodded, slipping his hands behind his back and staring up at the sky. "It's sad."
"Rain?"
"Yes. It's like the earth is crying, yet at the same time the product of its pain is a source most everything needs to survive."
Amu nodded tiredly. "Um, sure?"
Ikuto shrugged. "That's what my grandpa used to tell me."
"Really?"
"Yes. He's the one who showed me the magic."
"That's sweet. How is he?"
"Dead."
Amu winced at the colder tone Ikuto replied in. "I-I'm sorry."
"It's okay. You should be getting home."
"Hmm? Why?"
"It may be magic, but that doesn't mean you still can't catch a cold." Ikuto winked.
"Oh."
"Not to mention it's 7:15. I'd say your parents are awake and wondering where their daughter has run off to."
Amu gasped. "Are you serious? It's that late already?"
"Or that early. But yes."
"Mom always starts breakfast at 7! I'd better get back."
"Go."
Amu began to jog away, but turned when she saw Ikuto drop under a tree. She ran back.
"Where are you going to eat?"
"I'll be fine."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Are you really sure?"
"Yes, Amu. I'm sure."
She blushed. "I sound like your mother again, don't I?"
Ikuto shook his head. "Nothing like her. But you should go."
Amu nodded and took off. "BYE IKUTO! THANK YOU!!!"
He watched her go with a smile and he turned his attention back to the rain.
You're nothing like her. You care so much more than my mother ever will.
---
Amu entered her house quietly and was able to sneak by her mother without being noticed. She went back to her room and flopped down onto her bed.
Her first shugo was awake. "Amu! Where have you been?!" The pink one exclaimed. "You're soaked!"
"It's not a big deal."
"I hate the rain." She cheerleader muttered, crossing her arms and pouting.
"It's not that bad rain." Amu smiled, letting her thoughts drift to Ikuto. "Not that bad at all."
A/N: Once again, I apologize for any OOC-ness. Ikuto was kind of OOC, i know. But hey, fluff is fluff. xD I hope you enjoyed it!