2: Rainy Afternoons are for Romantic Heroines

Summary: It's raining, and Akari realizes that she forgot to bring umbrellas for her and Taiki.

Timeframe: Sometime after their adventures in the Digital World.

"Taiki, pass!"

Akari's uninterested eyes followed as the orange ball arced from Taiki's hands to that of his teammate. She sighed. About half an hour had passed since basketball practice started, and she was bored out of her mind.

I should have brought my DS...This is all Taiki's fault, anyway! I can't believe he agreed to help the basketball team again. Akari scowled. They seriously need to find a new player instead of borrowing Taiki all the time!

She reached into her special TAIKI bag (the one she only used whenever she had to go take care of Taiki) to grab herself a bottle of water. Hmm, I should have brought two…Her hands grasped at a pillow (to cushion Taiki's head in case he collapsed like usual), a towel, some snacks.

Wait. Where are the water bottles…? She looked down to find that in her hurry this morning (Taiki had failed to remember to tell her about practice), she had totally forgotten to pack water bottles for herself and Taiki. Crap! I need to run home now and get it! She looked over at the court where Taiki was guarding another player from a pass. But can I make it in time…? After all, her house wasn't exactly close to Taiki's middle school. She sat there for a couple of minutes, pondering.

Whatever, I'll just go, she finally decided. What kind of self-proclaimed manager would she be if she couldn't even supply Taiki with something as simple as water? Akari sighed and got up from the bleachers where she was watching. But I really don't want to run all that way…

She stopped short at the gym entrance, looking dismayed. It was pouring outside, and she didn't even bring an umbrella. But who would, given the circumstances of the morning? Sure, it was pretty cloudy half an hour ago, but it didn't look like it was about to rain or anything. Where did all this water come from…?

Actually, the better question was, how the hell was she going to get home now? Even worse, what about Taiki? It was one thing for her, who was dressed accordingly to cold weather, to be drenched in the rain, but for Taiki? He would have just gotten out from practice! He'd catch a cold if he didn't stay dry!

What do I do…

"Rain can't be that interesting to look at, can it?"

Akari jumped. "T-t-t-taiki? Wh-why aren't you practicing?"

Taiki laughed. "Scared ya, didn't I? Anyway, Tatsuya pulled a muscle and he's our captain so we're cutting practice short today. I went over to the bleachers to get you but I had no idea you were THIS interested in rain!" He laughed again.

Akari frowned at him. "That's not it! Would you please look at the situation seriously? It's POURING outside and I didn't bring umbrellas for us! We can't just—"

But Taiki wasn't listening. Instead, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her out into the rain with him. "Aww, lighten up, Akari! You can't appreciate the simplicities of life if you're always like that! Now let's run home so we don't get sick," he grinned as he dashed forward, dragging his best friend along with him.

"Wha-wai-Taiki!"

But Akari knew it was no use trying to get Taiki to listen to her because, put simply, he never did. She'd always scold him, Don't wear yourself out! Stop overexerting yourself! but of course, he'd never listened, which was why she had to work so hard to make sure he didn't hurt himself. But what could she do now, in the rain with no umbrella? Nothing. Just amuse him by allowing herself to be dragged along.

A minute passed, then another…Although she wouldn't admit it out loud to Taiki, Akari was actually starting to enjoy their little run in the rain. It wasn't that she particularly liked the rain or anything, but just simply being with Taiki, having that carefree feeling as they dashed through the rain, really made her heart race.

Of course, a lot of that feeling was due to her immense crush on Taiki, which, of course, she would also never admit out loud. For the time being anyway.

But the other part of that feeling…it was something a bit unfamiliar to her, that carefreeness. Taiki was right; maybe she did need to lighten up a bit. After all, this little rain-run was fun!

"We're here!"

Akari realized that they were standing in front of her house, not Taiki's. "B-but why didn't we stop by your house first? Isn't it closer? Now you have to walk home alone in the rain…"

"Silly Akari, it's always the boy's job to walk the girl home!" Taiki winked.

Akari turned red. "W-well f-fine! Hmph. Do what you want." She motioned towards the door. "But do come in," she said in a softer tone of voice. "At least dry off and have some tea! And you can borrow my umbrella to go back home."

"Nahh, that's alright. I should probably head home so Mom doesn't worry haha. Thanks though!"

Akari frowned. "Fine. At least let me lend you my umbrella." She dashed inside to get her umbrella. "Here," she said as she emerged with her favorite Rilakkuma umbrella. "Sorry it's a little girly and kiddish—"

"Ahh, no worries! As long as it keeps me dry, right?" Taiki smiled. "Thanks a lot, Akari! Well I'm gonna go now. See ya tomorrow!" He waved and walked off.

"Yeah, see ya…" Akari said softly, closing the door behind her. She fell against the frame, heart still racing. Even though their rain-run had only lasted about ten minutes, she was still feeling the adrenaline rush it gave her.

Hmm, lighten up, huh? Guess I could try that. She giggled a bit. Especially if it makes Taiki happy…

The redhead was never fond of the rain, but sometimes, sometimes, rainy afternoons were meant just for romantic heroines.

Like her.

A/N: Nerd fact #1: This drabble was inspired by a dream I had HAHA. An old crush of mine was dragging me through the rain, and when I woke up, I was like "GOOD PLOTLINE FOR A NEW TAIKI x AKARI STORY" and that's how that happened.

Nerd fact #2: I took the name Tatsuya from the Xros Wars manga—Taiki has a friend named Tatsuya in the manga.

Nerd fact #3: If anyone was wondering, I took the title for this drabble from one of Arina Tanemura's one-shot mangas haha. I thought it was a cute title…

As always, please R/R! Thank you :)