Author's Note: There are no excuses, just reasons. Thank you for the endless support I keep receiving! You all encourage me. I hope it won't take me another six months or so to update this.

Salad Days
Chapter Thirty-Two
Rain

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Without his bicycle, Taichi reached as far as Shibuya from Mimi's house. With no pocket money in him, he sat where the statue of Hachiko did, and rested there.

Blankly he watched the people pass by, hurrying amidst the collective noise. Taichi began to notice everyone slowly reaching from their bags to open their umbrellas and he started to wonder why they did – he couldn't even feel the cold rain on his skin – he only found the answer when he could hear the sky roaring with thunder.

As if the cold crept in his chest while it tightened, Taichi was paralyzed, eventually forced to let out his tears camouflaged in the rain.

This was the second time this weekend a boy walked out of Mimi's house without even a goodbye. When news broke of Yagami Susumu-san's passing, there were barely words to clutter the silent void, apart from Hikari's failed attempts to insist her brother to go to the hospital immediately.

Mimi didn't hear him leave, nor did she even hear the door creak in open, but Taichi was no longer there. She could only stare at her carpet, retracing yet again events from yesterday to today.

Hey.. what's going on?

She can't remember the last time she was lost in her thoughts for so long.

It remained quiet for half an hour, until she completely became at peace with everything. Fresh from her own tears, she searched for Hikari, whom was still wracked in disbelief and sadness. Now completely aware of the events and what must be done, she took Hikari's phone and dialed Yagami Yuuko's number.

She pressed the gadget against her ear, anticipating for Taichi's mother to pick up. Where the hell are you, Taichi..

"Hikari?"

"No, this is Mimi-chan, Yagami-san," spoke Mimi in her slightly cheery self. Mimi could hear Yuuko sniffling, and it made her sad that she was still crying. Of course she's crying..

"Ahh.. I've heard of oji-san.. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. And thank you.." managed Yuuko in her now-raspy voice. "Ahh.. Is Hikari with you?"

She glanced to her side to check up on Hikari, whom quietly sat at the edge of her bed.

"Yes. She's just trying to feel better right now…" answered Mimi, carefully thinking of the words she would use to comfort her. "I'm taking care of her, so you don't need to worry,"

"I see. Thank you, Mimi-chan."

And now, for her main intention: "Yagami-san, is Taichi-san there?"

"Why no.. I haven't seen him since this morning.." replied Yuuko. "I'm actually expecting him and Hikari to be here with me right now."

Mimi had dreaded this. Oh boy. "I see. I'll bring Hikari-chan to you, Yagami-san."

A long heavy sigh came out of her once she ended the call. It was exactly like what she had expected from Taichi. I guess I have no choice, she thought in firm resolve.

Mimi stood from her bed, took a light coat from her closet and draped it over Hikari.

"Let's go, Hikari-chan," she said, gently helping the younger brunette up on her feet.

As if her world shook, Hikari tried to fight the vertigo and held on to Mimi for support. "Where are we going?"

Mimi had put on her shoes, troubled that she had no idea where Taichi could have gone off to; nonetheless, she felt compelled to bring him back here, where he is mostly needed now more than ever. "We're going to look for your brother."

Mimi had no idea where else to look; they already reached the almost-empty metro, which was unusual but perhaps not quite. The downpour came in heavier every half an hour, and handling Hikari was becoming a problem.

"Are you fucking serious?!" the younger brunette, huddled in a borrowed coat, cursed under her breath softly but it was enough to unsettle Mimi again. The pressure of finding Taichi and keeping his sister calm was about to overwhelm her.

Mimi felt dizzy with the rather humid air; the raindrops, although cold, did not help. They've already searched every corner of Odaiba – from Taichi's favorite bicycle track to the school's football field. They've also gone to the nearest Yomiuri Shimbun branch; Hikari reckoned he went off to work to take his mind off of the news, but he wasn't there as well.

The two rested in a coffee shop, physically drained, but both knew they must not stop. Mimi and Hikari had resorted to calling possibly anyone whom Taichi would run to. Mimi had called Sora, Yamato and Jyou, all three of them coincidentally having not picked up their phones with her every attempt. Hikari had gotten in touch with their grandparents; breaking the news of her father's passing was heartbreaking, but asking where Taichi may be was more embarrassing. Taichi was not there as well. Eventually after many phone calls from relatives Taichi was close to, Hikari rang Koushiro. He was not with him as well, but Koushiro told Hikari he'd be at the hospital soon, and help.

"One more round?" asked Mimi in a slightly cheerful tone, taking the last bite of her barely-finished bread and a gulp of her coffee. She noticed hope slowly fading from Hikari's face. There was only exhaustion and resentment to be left. Hikari nodded nonetheless – her food remained untouched.

And so they went for another search – this time to the temple. They stopped by and asked the residing deity there to help them look for Taichi, before heading to Todai. They asked the security guards if they've seen a boy in a bike, but he wasn't there. Not even in Monja St. or his favorite park, Ueno.

It was already one in the afternoon.

"Maybe he went home, Hikari-chan," tried Mimi. "Do you want to go?"

"No," Hikari replied in the cold. "Let's just go. Oka-san is waiting for a long time now."

"Okay," agreed Mimi, trying to keep herself collected. She was not used to the listlessness across Hikari's face. "Let's just pass by the bakery first and bring Yuuko-san some foo –"

"I said it's fine, Mimi-chan." snapped Hikari, turning around to the street and hailed a cab. "Let's just go now."

"..yeah." conceded Mimi, feeling more pathetic than before.

When he came here, it was as if something had put Taichi on fire.

"How did you find me?" snapped Taichi. He couldn't believe it. Today was the worst day ever for many reasons, but nothing annoyed him more that the fact the rain stopped. The fuck. "Forget that question, answer this instead: why are you here?" he asked in contempt.

"I –"

"Guess what, I don't care what you say." he cut Koushiro off.

Koushiro sighed and looked up at the clearing sky, now unsure if this was the right thing he did. Should he have headed to the hospital instead?

No, this was the right thing, he reminded himself. How Hikari sounded over the phone was enough to prove the urgency.

He found Taichi atop Tokyo Tower. If there was one thing Hikari and Mimi didn't know among his favorite places, it was this. The tower he and Sora frequented since they were children. It was the most obvious spot if Taichi would not be at his favorite football field. Koushiro knew, because Sora would often ask him to fetch Taichi whenever they fought back in middle school.

"Hikari called. She's looking for you."

Taichi, who was leaning on the rail, did not budge.

"She's with Mimi."

He just blinked thrice.

"Your mother is waiting. You need to go to the hospital, Taichi."

A grunt.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Crack.

Without warning, Koushiro felt his collar tighten, his feet on air.

"What's wrong with you, Koushiro?" out of anger, Taichi clenched his fists tighter, with the fabric of Koushiro's shirt in between his fingers. "You could have apologized sooner, you could have said 'I'm sorry for your loss' before you've gone here telling me what the fuck I should do, you could have spoken out your sorry ass first to me too when you suddenly cut me off of your life – damn you! What's wrong with you?!"

It was all too sudden, the redhead felt afraid; not because of the act of violence, but because right on front of him was a Taichi he never got to witness, up until now. He wasn't crying, but he looked as if he was for several hours – he could tell how red and puffed his eyes were, his nose was rouge as well.

Koushiro lifted a fragile hand, and held Taichi's arm as if a plea. Already aware he's not the best speaker or conveyor of feelings out there, Koushiro tried to look and sound as sincere as possible. He only felt Taichi's grip went snugger.

"I.. I'm sorry.. I was wrong for all of that," apologized Koushiro. "I'm sorry, okay Taichi? I wish I could offer you a better apology b-but.. that's not as important as this.. I'm here telling you that your family needs you at this very moment,"

Although still frowning, Koushiro noticed his face no longer wrinkled in anger, his grip slightly loosened. The fiery anger in Taichi's eyes was slowly being diffused and eaten by tears again; it astounded Koushiro how the water in his eyes remained unshed.

"Taichi.." he hated that he had to be the one to say it. "You have to face it."

Taichi instantly pushed himself away, let him go and faced the cityscape again. And now you're here? How he wished he had enough strength to speak of his resentment, but he could only do so few.

"Just go, Izumi."

Koushiro backed away, silently admitting defeat, already knowing he can't change his mind. "I'll head to the hospital. Don't worry. I'll take care of them. I'll ring Sora too."

When Taichi no longer uttered a word nor even glanced at him, as if going back to his own world where Koushiro once found him, the redhead turned around, headed to the lift. He turned his back, to see Taichi's head lowered, his shoulders heaving up and down relentlessly.

Upon a rare sight, Koushiro finally understood.

They found Hikari's mother alone, just outside the room where Susumu was once held. Hikari wondered if people are going to come just as they promised, if oba-san would be here anytime soon, if Koushiro would actually be here just as he said. She looked at Mimi, who was just as tired and broken as her. She wanted to thank her for being with her all this time, and apologize for getting caught up with this, tell her that Taichi should have been here with them, but she could barely open her mouth.

It was three in the afternoon when Mimi and Hikari arrived at the hospital.

"Where's your brother?" was the first question Yagami Yuuko asked. She looked fresh from the tears and sleepless nights. Mimi went over to comfort her.

Hikari shrugged, no longer caring about the brother who abandoned them. "Oka-san.." she managed to croak. It was still hard to say the words. "where is he?"

Yuuko looked away, held up her palm against her lips, taking deep breaths as she tried to swallow her tears. "Inside."

Remaining listless, Hikari clasped the door knob behind them. The door to what was once the confined room of her father, now was the chamber of his deathbed. She opened the door, then abruptly closed it behind her, leaving Mimi and her mother behind.

The older brunette sat beside Yuuko, asked her if she wanted anything – "coffee or juice?" – Yuuko shook her head and simply took Mimi's hand. The girl sat down, unsure how to respond. With the silence enveloping them both, she took her phone, saw three names - Sora, Yamato, Jyou - asking the same thing, just in different words:

"Sorry for the late reply. What's up? Is there something wrong?"

"I only saw this now.. How are you? Are you okay?"

"Sorry. I was on my shift. You called ten times. Is everything okay?"

But it was all too late for this now, thought Mimi. She dimmed her phone and put it back to her pocket, then glanced at the figure beside her. She put a comforting arm across Yuuko's shoulder, and allowed her to rest. Taichi.. where are you?

The shared silence between Mimi and Yuuko was broken when ceaseless whimpers from a familiar voice came from the door behind them. They wept again.