Title: Close Encounter
Author: Sicilian Maiden
Pairing: Ayumu Narumi/ Hiyono Yuizaki
Fandom: Spiral
Theme: #3—jolt!
Rating: G
Disclaimer: All characters of Spiral are the property of [insert name here]; I alleged no possession of said characters. I only request to take them to over-rowdy soccer games and force them to play at gunpoint.
Summary: Thunderstorms were always viewed best with company.

This is dedicated to sasukesgirl89 for her constant, amazing encouragement! You're a doll! :D
Edit: Finall! Ugh... Sorry it took for ever to re-post this. Thanks for your patience. I have an update if it helps. (:

-o-

Dark clouds swirled around madly while gathering winds blew the tall pine trees in a disorganized manner as if they were weightless toothpicks. It was nearly two o'clock in the morning and the moon was getting ready to set behind the thick, hazy cloud cover bathing the grounds in a ethereal glow. The shadows cast by the moonlight depicted the tossing and turning of one young woman.

Though she was safe in the confines of her soft downy blankets, the haunting sounds of rumbling thunder invaded her sleeping form sending tremors that racked her body unforgivingly. Her brows furrowed in a mix of fear and helplessness while she grabbed at handfuls of soft sheets. The twenty-two year old thought she had outgrown the dread that filled her stomach everytime thunderstorm decided to make its presence known.

Obviously not.

A sudden flash of lightning illuminated her room sending the woman shooting from her bed. A struggled scream burst forth from her lips when the impending thunder followed up the bright burst. Where was her stuffed chick when she needed it. It may have seemed trivial at the moment, but whenever she held that small, yellow plush that a certain auburn-haired male had boughten her for Christmas, it made her feel better—like he was there with her. Desperately, she shuffled through her neatly kept draws in search for the stuffed animal.

Nothing. Where had she put it?

Another streak of lightning shot through the darkening sky followed by yet another startled yelp. After graduating high school, the honey-haired woman had moved into her own apartment needing to feel independent. Now it seemed like such a stupid idea.

Rain pounded at the windowpanes scaring the young woman even more. Forgetting about finding the stuffed chick, she rummaged around for her cell phone. Successfully retrieving said cellular device, she immediately punched in a familiar number. The storm continued to taunt the poor woman with the constant flashes of light and rolling thunder.

Terror filled the caramel-eyed woman as she waited anxiously for someone to pick up—each ring made her lose more of her nerves. Hearing a click from the other side, she let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding.

"H-hello?" a deep, groggy voice answered.

"U-uh... Narumi-san, are you awake?" she stuttered quivering. The voice sighed when he realized who the voice belonged to—same old Hiyono, calling in the middle of the night.

"I am now," he stated bluntly—same old Ayumu with his straight-to-the-point attitude. Patiently waiting for her no doubt unusual request, he found that she hadn't developed an actual conversation. He sighed again, "Stupid, remember. You called me. That means you have to talk to me. I can't read your mind you know."

"A-ah, you see, there's this storm—"

"I noticed."

"—and well... I don't know what to do," she finished weakly. Since when had the feisty reporter become so meek?

"I guess you ignore it," he replied. What kind of question was that anyway? 'What do you do about a storm? I don't know... it's not like you can ask it to stop.'

"A-ano I can't...I—" The rest of her sentence was drowned out by an enormously loud boom. Streaks of lightning shot in a few different directions across the black sky, the light revealed the silhouettes of windswept trees, a couple of rooftops, and a high mountain of in the distance. Purple strips danced through the dense clouds, while pure white flashes erupted farther behind the horizon. If it wasn't such a scary thought—thunderstorms were super scary thoughts—it would be quite the fascinating show to watch.

"What was that?" Ayumu realized that at the rate the storm was heading, he wouldn't get any sleep tonight. Let's just say it wasn't going to be the thunder's fault.

"Can you come over?"

"What?" Had he heard her right?

"I don't want to be alone." There, she admitted it... now what? It was very likely that Ayumu would just say no. When it seemed as if he wasn't going to answer her, she began, "That's okay I—"

"Whatever. You better be up when I come. I'm not waisting my time if you're going to sleep," he grumbled but, call her crazy, she thought she heard a little hint of concern in his voice.

"H-hai!" she practically cheered. Closing her phone, Hiyono quickly dove under her covers to wait out Ayumu's arrival. Part of her did feel silly being a young woman and all but...

...she kind of enjoyed this horseplay. It made her think of all the fun she had in high school. She smiled when she was hit with nostalgia and then... the thunder rumbled at her grin faltered. The storm had finally moved directly above the tiny apartment as she no longer had to wait for the thunder after the lightning—the two boomed in unison.

Hiyono almost didn't hear the knock but when she did, she bolted for the door. Undoing the numerous locks and latches, she wrenched the door open to see a somewhat shocked Ayumu standing wide-eyed on her doorstep.

"Thank you so much!" she practically screamed in joy before launching herself at the unsuspecting detective, her arms wrapping themselves around his thin waist.

"H-hey! What are you doing?!" he yelled, startled. A small blush crept across his cheeks when Hiyono nuzzled her head into his chest.

'What the hell? What's going on?' his frazzled brain shouted at him. Why was he suddenly feeling the urge to return her hug? Wasn't she supposed to be annoying? She was only good for research so what was the deal? Just as quickly as the estrange emotion had appeared, it was gone.

So was she.

"You want anything?" she called from the kitchen. His face contorted once again with a "what-the-hell?" expression.

"Uh... no thanks," he replied, setting his bag filled with an extra change of clothes, toothbrush, and hairbrush, next to the couch. He assumed that once was trapped in her apartment, was wasn't leaving until the storm left or if was extremely lucky (not) than he would get to spend the night with her.

'What the...' Where the hell did that come from? His face flushed for the second time that night when all of sudden, the double entendre hidden in his last thought made itself known.

'Spend the night with her. Hmm...' Bad thoughts!The thunder roared again outside, though it was farther away this time—the storm was leaving. When Hiyono didn't reappear from her adventure to the kitchen, Ayumu, (against his better judgement) decided to find her.

Surprisingly, or not, the lost reporter was perched in front of a bay window, her caramel-eyes glued to the storm outside. The lightning flashed wildly, highlighting every part of her. The young woman that had called him an hour before screaming hectically in the phone was gone and replaced with a more mature woman—she was an elegant, untouchable goddess.

Almost ashamed for ruining the silence, Ayumu stepped closer to her. As he was about to ask her a question, he was cut of.

"I don't know why I was so afraid... thunderstorms aren't so bad. You see, when it's dark and cloudy outside, the whole world seems to be in a dreary state. Then the lightning strikes and bathes the world in its unbridled light and for a split second, the whole world seems brighter; everything is looking up and the world is at peace. But then, the light fades and the world is once again shrouded in darkness and misery. And then, the thunder rumbles. It's the happy response that says, 'Don't worry, I'll be back. Just wait for a little bit and I'll be back to brighten the world.' and there's nothing you can do but wait."

Ayumu was speechless. Yes, the bubbly reporter always had a way to shock and amaze him but now... now, there were no words to describe her and her actions. A part of him was in awe at her and the other part was about to yell at her for calling him over for no reason. This was precious sleep time that she was waisting!

As if she was reading his thoughts, she muttered, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't of called you but when you're here, I guess I just feel safer. More secure you know? You can leave now."

She half expected him to storm out, berate her, at least call her stupid. But when she felt him slide next to her on the window seat and his arm brushed against her, a jolt shot straight through her. It was like she had been electrocuted from her head to her toes and goosebumps covered her arms. The weird part was that he didn't wrap his arms around her, announce his undying love to her, or yell at her.

He just sat there.

"Narumi-san? What are—"

"Shh... watch the storm," he interrupted.

White flashes exploded on the horizon as the storm died out. It was like a dozen people were flashing cameras at them. Subconsciously, Hiyono scooted closer to Ayumu.

The two sat silently subconsciously enjoying the others company as the watched the storm. Twenty minutes later, the thunder gave off one more rumble before disappearing for good. Ayumu, content with the lack of conversation made to get up but soon realized that there was a rather evident amount of weight leaning against his side.

Turning his head, he saw a crown of flowing, golden hair and a pair of two eyes that were closed in peaceful slumber. Long, elegant eyelashes brushed lightly over her flushed cheeks and her mouth was slightly parted as she took quiet, deep breaths. The sight almost took Ayumu's breath away.

Looking at the illuminated clock on the microwave, he discovered it was almost four o' clock. That would explain the sudden drowsiness. Deciding that he could just leave her here—though he didn't know why—Ayumu slowly rose and gently scooped up the journalist in his arms. She was surprisingly light and he made a mental note to force her to eat more.

Having been to Hiyono's house on a few occasions, he maneuvered his way around the large couch and coffee table to her bedroom. He had never, in actuality, been inside her bedchambers before. He sighed when he opened the door to her room and took a quick overview of her decor.

Newspaper clippings, some dating back to the early '60s, where tacked to her walls, a dozen or so journals lay strewn on her desk and at least fifty books lined the bookshelves adjacent to her bed. What caught Ayumu by surprise was the screen saver on her desktop computer. A simple purple frame outlined a picture of himself and the young woman. They stood side by side, his usually smirk plaster on his face, her ginormous smile on hers. Both held the peace sign out to the photographer and the tall clock tower in the town center stood ominously behind them. Snow fell gracefully around them reminding Ayumu that the picture had been taken around Christmas three years ago.

"I didn't think we kept that picture?" he voiced quietly to himself. When Hiyono shifted slightly in his arms and buried her head in the crook of his neck, his face flushed and remembered he had to put her to bed. With one arm, he pulled back to soft blankets on her bed and slowly, (relishing for some odd reason, the feeling over next to him), placed her on the mattress before covering her once again.

"N-Narumi-san," she mumbled in her sleep. He kept his eyes on her as she cuddled into the pillows and smiled. "Arigatou."

Coming completely out of character, Ayumu leaned down and placed a small kiss on her forehead, whispered, "Don't make a habit out of this," and retreated out of her room to the couch were he set up a makeshift futon.

Before drifting to sleep a brief thought passed through his mind, 'What are the chances of a storm next week?'

-o-

Wrote this in just one night. Can you tell? XD My dearest apologies if you didn't like this story. If enough people complain (though I'd rather you just nicely tell me XD) than I will rewrite it with a different story for the theme. I have another idea involving this particular theme but it doesn't seem very original. Please, let me know.

Thanks to all the reviewers too! You guys... 48 reviews? Hell yeah! Could you pretty please boost me to like... 55? I'll post an extra tidbit of a chapter if you lovely people can give me 55. Whatcha say? The chapter involves a somewhat naughty little Ayumu. Peak your interest?

Thanks for sticking with my guys! Have a great week and an amazing May!