Hey! Look! I'm not completely and totally dead! Sorry this took so long to post. I just haven't really been in a writing mood lately. *sigh* This section of the website is really starting to get kind of deserted. =( Buuut, KOEI is going to be making a new anime, probably to come out sometime early next year, so maybe it'll breathe some new life into the minds of fanfiction writers. (^_^) Unfortunately it'll be following the characters in Kiniro no Corda 3, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

"Ah!" With a mighty gust of wind, Kahoko's umbrella was flipped inside out with a loud crack that told her that it would never work again. Huddling under it for whatever cover it could provide her, she quickly plowed through the rain toward the others, managing to stay pretty dry for the most part. "Looks like I made it somehow or another," she smiled sheepishly at the boys as she ruefully looked at her umbrella. She took a quick glance at their surroundings. "Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there's a convenience store around where I can buy a new one," she sighed in disappointment.

Kazuki looked briefly out at the dark clouds. "And it's really coming down." He smiled at the Takashinas. "Well," he chirped in a cheerful voice, hoping to raise their spirits, "I guess it's the perfect day for udon then, right?"

"Yeah! I want Tempura Udon," Yuji exclaimed enthusiastically as Kahoko just nodded with a sad smile. She was still a bit concerned about her lack of umbrella.

"Don't worry, Kaho-chan," Kazuki gave her an encouraging smile. "The forecast said it was supposed to rain on-and-off today, so maybe when we come out, the weather will be nicer." His eyes shone warmly. "Think positive."

A self-conscious hint of rose crept into her cheeks before giving way to a shy smile. He always knew just how to make her feel better. "You're right, Hihara-senpai. We have to deal with things as they come, right?"

"Exactly," he grinned. "Hey! Yuji! Wait for us!" he laughed as he followed the boy in through the doors.

After she thanked the staff for disposing of her broken umbrella, her eyes found Kazuki's mop of green as he and Yuji chatted happily over the menu. She bit her lip in confusion thinking over their little interaction by the door. Ever since that time on the stairs a couple months ago, being around him had started to make her feel a little funny. It was disorienting how the same person could simultaneously make her both relaxed and nervous.

The former wasn't a bad thing, but there was still something about it that made her uneasy, which was perhaps why the latter so often reared its ugly head. Becoming more comfortable around each other and enjoying time spent together was a natural progression of the rebuilding and strengthening of their friendship. But for some reason, the more and more time they spent together, the more she started to feel like she was teetering on the edge of something where if she moved one way or the other, there was no turning back. It was daunting, confusing, and, quite frankly, downright unwelcome.

She clutched her purse a bit more tightly as she neared them. Her eyes saddened as she thought of an airport and were gripped in helplessness as her memories moved to a hospital room.

She laboriously shoved those things out of her mind. "No." She shook her head a bit to clear her mind more. "No." This was Hihara-senpai, her good friend from high school whom she had reconnected with a little over half a year ago. That was all there was to it. Right?

Her heart warmed when Yuji cheerfully greeted her, eager to show her the large array of food on the menu. She allowed herself one glance at the attractive man across the table before focusing on her son. That's right. She had Yuji. What more could she want or need?

She immediately squashed the beginnings of the answer that rose up in her mind. "Nothing," she told herself firmly. Absolutely nothing.

After eating, the two adults slid outside to wait while Yuji went to the restroom.

"Would you like my umbrella?" Kazuki offered as he closed the door behind him. "I've got a hood, so I can just walk in the rain."

"Oh, no, I couldn't do that to you, senpai."

"Well," he scratched his head nervously, "would…umm, would you like t-to share then…?"

She hesitated. That was something couples did. Would accepting his offer send the wrong signal? Was this a sign that he thought of her as more than a friend? Would he think she was interested if she agreed? Was she thinking way too much about this?

At her hesitance, he glanced down at the green umbrella she was holding. "If…if you're not comfortable with sharing, then I can take Yuji's umbrella and you two can share mine."

"No, no, we can share, senpai," she shook her head. Yuji's umbrella was green with frogeyes sticking out of the top and a large pink mouth on the front. She couldn't make him use that! She was being stupid. Hihara-senpai was just being nice like he always was. She was making a mountain out of nothing.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she insisted. She chuckled, "Can you imagine how silly a grown man like you would look with that frog umbrella?"

"Hey, at least it would match my hair," he quipped as he joined in with her. It really would look ridiculous. Taking the umbrella in question, he opened it and walked out into the rain. Turning back with a wink, he struck a silly pose. "Classic, don't you think?" His heart leapt as she laughed even harder. She'd been kind of serious and pensive during lunch. He was glad to see her happy again.

At this moment, the door opened to reveal Yuji. Catching sight of Kazuki, he put his hands on his hips. "That's my umbrella. You already have one." He giggled and beamed up at his mother. "Kazuki-san looks really silly with my umbrella, doesn't he, Mama?"

Kazuki cut off her reply as he came back under the awning and handed the frog to Yuji. "Well, if you two are quite done laughing at me," he then offered his clear umbrella to Kahoko with a smile, "shall we hit the road?"

Since the restaurant had been relatively isolated, they walked for a while. Kahoko smiled as she glanced at Hihara-senpai out of the corner of her eye. Like a gentleman, he held the umbrella over her as she walked beside him, carrying the bags of crumbs for the birds they had planned to feed. As she turned her head to thank him again for the shelter, she noticed his other shoulder had gotten quite wet. Biting her lip, she shifted closer and placed her hand on his, tilting the umbrella so it covered them both. When his steps faltered, she blushed and brushed the water off his raincoat. "You were getting wet," she mumbled, unable to look him in the eye.

"Oh…" he murmured. His heart threatened to beat out of his chest as he glanced between her bowed head and their hands. "Thanks. I hadn't even noticed."

"There's the store!" Yuji's voice cut through the moment, making them both jump a little.

Kazuki smiled a little nervously at her, but managed to keep his tone light. "Well then, shall we get you a new umbrella?"

"Yes," she bobbed her head quickly and brushed some hair behind her ear in that adorable way she had about her. "Let's." She lowered her head as they hurried along to make sure he didn't see her scolding herself. "What is wrong with you?!"

Of course, as soon as they walked out of the store, it stopped raining. She looked down at her shiny, spanking-new umbrella a little ruefully. "Figures."

Kazuki shrugged sympathetically, but pointed out, "Well, at least you have it for later." Taking Yuji's hand he asked, "Ready to go feed some birdies?"

"You bet!"

As they walked along, they helped Yuji leap over cracks and puddles on the ground.

"One, two, three, jump!" Kazuki called out as he and Kahoko lifted Yuji over a rather large puddle.

When Yuji landed delightedly on the ground, he happily yelled, "Again! Again!"

Kahoko grinned and nodded at Kazuki. "One, two, three, jump!"

They did this about ten more times before a new voice interrupted their laughter.

"Hihara-san…?"

Kazuki's eyes widened a little before he turned. "Rina-san…."

The titian-haired woman's face broke into a large smile. "I thought it was you!" She ran her inquisitive brown eyes over Kahoko and Yuji who by this point had turned around as well. "Is this your family?"

Both Kahoko and Kazuki blushed furiously as they practically fell over themselves to explain that they weren't together.

"Oh…I see," she murmured. There was a funny look in her eyes, as if the last piece of a puzzle had fallen into place making everything clear. With a slight bow, she introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Rina Fujimoto, Hihara-san's ex-girlfriend."

"Ex-girlfriend?" For some reason, Kahoko felt a strange coldness douse her. Deeply ingrained politeness was the only thing that enabled her mouth to move. "I'm Kahoko Takashina, and this is my son Yuji. Hihara-senpai and I went to high school and college together." If her smile was a little over-bright and strained, no one particularly noticed.

"Fujimoto?" Kazuki looked surprised, but happily so. "You got married? When did that happen?"

"Last year," she grinned and flashed her ring at him. "A childhood friend of mine."

"Congratulations! That's wonderful!" he beamed. "So other than that, how have you been, Rina-san? It's been so long!"

"About four years now, I suppose."

"Really? That long?" He scratched his head in embarrassment. "Man, I suck at keeping in touch. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she smiled. "Oh, and I'm pregnant! Youhei-san and I just found out last week."

"Really?!" He grinned and gave her a hug. "Wow! That's awesome! I'm so happy for you! You two must be so excited!"

Kahoko stiffened as she watched them. Just who did he think he was hugging a married woman? And in public no less! She was pregnant with another man's child for crying out loud! Didn't he have any sense of propriety? She was his ex-girlfriend, so why exactly was he being so familiar with her? This was hardly a fitting example for Yuji.

"I…I'm going to take Yuji to feed the ducks while you two catch up." She sent the woman a thin smile. "It was nice to meet you, Fujimoto-san."

"Likewise," the redhead nodded in response. "It was nice to meet you, Yuji-kun."

"Nice to meet you too, Fujimoto-san," he smiled with a little wave, wincing slightly as his mother firmly tugged him away from the pair.

"She doesn't like me," Rina murmured after mother and son had gone out of earshot.

"What? Kaho-chan?" Kazuki looked confused. "Why would you think that?"

She stifled a laugh. He always could make her smile with his silly, oblivious little ways. That was one of the things that had drawn her to him. "I wonder…" she trailed off, giving him a loaded look.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

She just continued to stare. Eventually he'd get it. It just might take a ton of bricks or two.

His mouth dropped open. "Wait, because of me?!" His eyes shone in bewilderment. "Why? What did I do?"

Rina smiled. "You did nothing wrong," she assured him. "Maybe she's just feeling a little…territorial…."

"What?" He looked confused. "You mean like a dog?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he clapped his hands over it. Way to go, idiot! Compare the woman you love to a dog!

Rina laughed in amused delight. He really was a goof. Her face suddenly went serious. "She's the one, isn't she?"

For a full minute, they gazed at each other, communicating through eyes and body language alone before finally, he looked away sadly. "Yes."

Her smile was genuine. "I thought so. Hihara-san?" He looked up to see her turning to leave. "Hang in there. I think you're pretty close." An enigmatic smile played around her lips as she glanced over at two figures by the pond. "I'll see you around!" she waved.

He just waved dumbly in response, his mind blank. Territorial? Pretty close? He remembered that moment under the umbrella and his heart beat a little faster. Could…could it be possible…?

Kahoko glanced back a few times as she held out the bag for Yuji. Were they still talking? She glared a little more when she saw the woman leave. Good riddance. But why was Hihara-senpai not moving? What had they been talking about? She suddenly wished the pond had been a bit closer to where they had been.

In a flash of perspective, she suddenly wondered why she was getting so worked up about this. Then, it hit her like a bucket of ice water to the face.

She was jealous.

It was all she could do to keep her feet. "Oh no. Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening," she panicked. She was mistaken. She had to be mistaken. But that sick feeling in her heart told her otherwise.

It was fun writing about them at the beginning of this chapter. It was like they were a real family. I think Kahoko just kind of gets caught up in the moment and forgets to remember she's supposed to be resisting Kazuki's charms. XD

Back when we were kids, my brothers and I had umbrellas like Yuji's. Between the three of us we had a black cat, a green frog, and a yellow duck, I think.

Tentsubasa's Japanese Corner:

Udon are thick flour noodles. As far as I'm aware, udon is always served hot and generally in the form of a noodle soup. With the exception of Curry Udon, where the soup is kind of like watered-down Japanese curry sauce, and Yakiudon, where the noodles are pan-friend and basically have no sauce other than what's stuck to it, the soup is broth-based and usually fairly lightly flavored. Tempura Udon is udon topped with—you guessed it—tempura, vegetables or other things (generally shrimp) that are covered in a batter and deep-fried to a crispy, golden finish. It's probably my favorite udon dish.

Other common kinds are Tanuki Udon, which is udon with tempura flakes (nothing in it, just the golden, fried batter crumbled up into small pieces); Kitsune Udon, which is topped with thin, sweet, deep fried tofu; and Kake Udon, which is simply topped with thinly sliced onion and kamaboko (white fish cake with a pink rim). Considering that tanuki means raccoon, and kitsune means fox, I have no idea why they are called that, but they taste good.

The most common kind of umbrella you'll see running around Japan is a clear, plastic vinyl with a white handle. When I asked my Japanese friends why, they said it was because it was the cheapest. XD I think the fact that it's clear is helpful for when you have to tilt the umbrella so it blocks your line of vision, but if they say it's because it's the cheapest, then I guess it's because it's the cheapest. *laughs*