And onwards to April and all of its showers! I admit, this has got to be one of the easiest chappies I've ever written, seeing as how I got a lot of inspiration in many places. Though many anime fans might just recognize the title of the chappie…what can I say? It was too good a title to pass up…

I do not own Senkaiden Houshin Engi or Soul Hunter, it belongs to the guy who made the manga, Ryu Fujisaki, who I'd actually like to meet one day "smiles"

Rainy Day Man

By DayDreamer9

Thunder boomed overhead, but it showed no sign of lightning bolts as rain continued to pour from the angry black clouds above. The air carried a chill with it, almost misty in essence, while the wind itself blew at a moderate pace. The pale flashes of light from above lit up the countryside, albeit briefly, especially highlighting a lone tree amidst the broad expanse of meadow that went on for miles. Wind rustled the wet leaves, but everything beneath the tree itself was quite dry…save for the disgruntled redhead underneath it.

Sitting down with his legs drawn in to his chest, this was the last place that Nataku expected to be today, but then again, a lot of things happened today that he hadn't expected. And remembering them just gave him further reason to sulk…

Stupid…

He felt miserable.

He wasn't quite used to that emotion yet, but that was how he felt; simply miserable with a nauseating feeling at the pit of his stomach. His arms were wrapped around his knees, hugging them closer to his body as a cool wind whipped by, carrying raindrops along with it as they splattered across the redhead's face. Not that he noticed; many who knew Nataku well and came across him like this would have said that this was way out of his character…unless they'd been in his home less than five minutes ago and witnessed the events that led up to this.

Stupid…

A lot of crazy, upsetting things may have happened in his life, but today's events were worse than any angry Dragon Spirit or Youkai Sennin assault he'd ever lived through. Those were easy to brush off, but this…

"Stupid…" this time, he whispered the bitter word to himself with lots of bitterness in his voice to go with it.

The sound of footsteps crunching through the wet, soggy grass made the redhead alert, but then again, he had a feeling that he knew who it was. He didn't want to deal with this right now and turned away from the person who walked up to the tree that he was hiding under, a slick, soaked cloth draped over his head to act as a feeble protection from the rain. For a while, neither one spoke, they just let the rain speak for them, the wet roar echoing all around them with an occasional thunder boom before the one standing before the newcomer spoke.

"She's worried about you, y'know? She'd like for you to come back…"

The nausea only grew worse and Nataku had no clue with how to deal with it; it simply made him more miserable and even more upset.

"I don't care," he muttered, flatly, still not looking up.

From where he stood just bordering the protection of the tree, Taikoubou heaved a heavy sigh.

"Of course you do," he retaliated, mildly, knowing that this was about to become a battle of wills.

A scowl came across Nataku's face; he didn't need this…

"What makes you so sure?" he huffed, still not meeting the other's sad gaze.

"Because you wouldn't have flown out here in the pouring rain feeling the way that you do if you didn't," Taikoubou pointed out, voice growing firm.

Clenching his fists even tighter and feeling his shoulders stiffen, the young Paopei Human fought the urge to just start opening fire, his standard reaction for an oncoming temper tantrum. For the older doushi in front of him a ways, though, he knew that the younger of the duo was going through something that he viewed as sacrilegious in his private mind, and decided to at least try to undermine the insecurity.

"Nataku, it's okay," he said, soothingly as if he were speaking to a small child, leaning forward a bit, "a lot of kids go through this with their parents. It's not a sin. And it doesn't mean that she doesn't love you any less."

No response.

The redhead just continued to sit there and sulk, completely ignoring the fact that he was soaking wet, his fiery red hair plastered around his shoulders. Taikoubou was honestly surprised that the Kontenryo wasn't reacting, but he was feeling more concerned now than anything else. So, he steeled himself and took a step forward…and the minute he entered the shaded circle beneath the dripping wet leaves, the other's arm came up almost automatically, aiming for the other's chest. Taikoubou stopped and stared evenly at the warning for a couple of seconds before merely sidestepping it and continuing towards the other, face set in a determined frown. Nataku said and did nothing, not even lowering his arm, as the other unfolded the bundle that he'd kept close to his chest, safe from the raging rain beyond their safe shelter.

"Look, you both had a bad day," he spoke, calmly, draping the warm, dry blanket over the other's shoulders, "and you were both snappy, so of course you'd clash like that. Neither of you meant it, it just happened. It doesn't mean she hates you or you hate her. If anything, she's more upset now than angry."

He could have sworn he saw the younger doushi's shoulders twitch a bit, but in the dim light, he wasn't too sure. He could understand the redhead's turmoil, though; his mother was the very center of his universe, one of the very few people that he cared about and one of the even fewer people that understood him…and today was the very first time that they'd ever fought. After they'd come to a halt in the proverbial 'vocal assault', however, Nataku seemed to realize what had just happened and something in the way he viewed things got a very big crack in it. He'd bolted from the room and out the door before anyone could say anything and had vanished for practically an hour. His mother was starting to get hysterical, she herself feeling immense guilt for the blowout they'd had, and the last time Taikoubou had seen her, she was hopelessly sobbing in her home with a rather frazzled and very surprised husband trying to calm her down.

He hadn't been succeeding, from what he'd seen.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Taikoubou shifted his brilliant green eyes down at the young boy sitting next to him as he himself leaned over, lowering the other's still outstretched arm.

"Look…when I was way younger and still mortal, I had a fight with my Dad," he said in a low voice as memories of a far time came rolling back to him, "it was the first time that we'd ever fought; we got along great normally. Fishing, hiking, it was great being with him. But I felt so miserable that day…I didn't mean to say half of the things that I did, but father and I, we……" Taikoubou stopped for a second to glance at the redhead, but received no sign that he was listening or even paying attention. "I never got the chance to say that I was sorry; things remained tense between us…until the day came when…the-" Taikoubou had to stop there, taking deep breathes to fight down his own mess of emotions that this talk was bringing back to him. "We never apologized to one another and now we'll never have the chance to do so. Do you want the exact same thing to happen here? Do you want to put off saying your sorry and putting this whole mess behind you until it's too late?"

There was silence; no speaking, no response, no retorting, only silence…and the rain.

Taikoubou was just about ready to get up and leave the other alone for a while when the other took him by surprise by unwrapping his arms from his legs and pushing himself up, wobbling a bit, but managing to get up without hassle. Hurriedly, the dark-haired doushi jumped to his feet and stood beside the boy, looking to him for a sign that he was all right and not about to bolt again. To is surprise, and utter shock as well, the other's head was still hung and now there was no denying the fact that his shoulders were shaking. A slight realization coming to him, Taikoubou walked around to the front of the boy, reaching out gently.

"Hey," he whispered, concerned, slipping a finger under the boy's chin to raise his head up so that he could see his face.

Even though he expected it, he was still nonetheless shocked to see the other's night blue eyes glistening and filled with sorrow. Without one word, Taikoubou's arms wrapped around the other and pulled him in, Nataku responding – rather clumsily – by returning the gesture, burying his face in the other's chest. Even the pounding rain couldn't drown out the muffled, but still audible sobs as the young Paopei Human cried for the very first time since he was born. Taikoubou didn't expect it to be over anytime soon, knowing that the boy had a lot to get off his chest; he was more than happy to allow the other to cry in his arms. He rubbed the boy's back and hair rhythmically, in a soothing pattern that his mother used to do whenever he was upset…including that night and many nights after, when he'd been too proud to say two simple words. Both stood there, the rain completely blotted out as it felt as if only an hour passed.

After a while, the rain beyond the cover of the tree started to lessen more and more, the black clouds growing a few shades lighter as the storm started to pass, the wind slowly growing humid, dropping its icy touch. It seemed like it'd been an hour, who truly knew, but the young boy's sobs seemed to subside along with the rain until he was just sniffling a bit, the dark-haired doushi with him raising his hands to pull the blanket closer to his body. Looking up, Nataku was a bit surprised that Taikoubou hadn't brushed him off or even teased him for such a weakness, but instead smiled at him with understanding. Nataku himself was more than just a little embarrassed…as well as confused; he cried, he never thought that he was capable of doing such a thing before, was it possible for a weapon to cry? He reached up to rub away the small droplets of water that fell from his eyes…but was surprised to see somebody doing it for him.

"Better?" said 'somebody' asked, warmly.

Sniffling a bit more, Nataku gave a sheepish nod as the other placed an arm around his shoulders, giving them a firm squeeze.

"Let's head back now, 'kay?" he asked, emerald eyes almost bright as the stars that were starting to appear in the now partly clouded sky.

Nataku couldn't help but stare at him for a few seconds before giving a small nod, breathing in the wet night air as they left the protective shade of the tree that gave them both comfort and back towards the place where Nataku was determined to make things right.

"Hey…Taikoubou?"

"Yeah?"

"……what did you and your father…what did you fight about?"

"Same thing that you and your Mom fought over……something that wasn't worth it. Don't ever make the same mistake that I did, okay?"

"…okay."

And there you have it; all completed in just a day XD Am I cool or what? Teeheehee, but anyway, I digress; this does it for April, make sure that you watch out for May in about a month's time. See ya later! Oh! And please review!!