1Disclaimers: Hana Yori Dango is the property of Kamio Yoko, etc. Borrowing for entertainment purposes.
water and herbicide
April 21/ the rain my drink
00:04 042006
Melancholy was a luxury—birthday or not—and she struggled gamely to break out of it, a rather hard thing to do when one's less responsible friends mixed alcohol and outrageously expensive food into one messy tureen of escapism. The two hedonists were on the dance floor carousing shamelessly with the standard issue party girls, while Shigure and Hanazawa Rui slept in one corner, the former being drunk and the latter being himself. (Yuki-chan couldn't stay long.)
Somberly, she raised her bloodshot eyes, looking out the glazed window, out into the night. Water glistened on the glass, appropriately tear-like. It was raining.
On impulse she flew to the outside, dodging the scantily clad socialites. Wonderingly, she stood under the evening shower, watched the sky gradually clear up as its fluffy load fell to earth. Singly or doubly, the stars began to peep through.
It was sad when the heavens cried. She found herself weeping with the stars, but she also found that they were tears of solemn joy, a serenity that stemmed just from being.
After all those days of tension (her thesis, her tuition, her brother's tuition, the rent, her sick father, the market inflation, the neighbor's cat roadkilled), she laughed, and it was sweet as rain, sweet as melancholy. The memories that flowed with the rainwater weren't all happy, but it warmed her all the same. Deeply. Fiercely.
"Oi, Tsukushi!" called a voice. "Tsukasa's on the line."
"What?" she quipped impishly. "It's raining in New York, too?"
"How should I know?" It was Nishikado. "He definitely sounds apologetic and kiss-ass, though."
"The great Domyouji? Kiss ass?" She laughed again. "Yeah, right. And technically, it isn't my birthday anymore."
"Just take the phone. You're weirder when drunk."
"I'm not!" It may take poison to neutralize poison, she thought, alcohol versus herbicide, but it was still water that cleansed and scrubbed one squeaky clean. "Not any more."
"Then get out of the rain," said Mimasaka, bandying a towel in her direction. "It disturbs us sane folks."
She sighed and went back into the den of vices, soaked in water, the universal solvent.
00:35
Note: Realized Makino's birthday falls on December after this was written. Too late. /