A/N: Short, odd drabble, somewhat depressing (you know what mood the rain tends to set). Yes, chalk another one for my one-shots for Satoshi x Risa. I experiment with this couple in all sorts of twisted ways. X) I think you might even consider this a triangle of Dai x Sat x Risa, in a way. I guess the interpretation is up to you.
Sorry if the title is not entirely original, I just like the sound of it. (: This idea came to mind when I was reading aya's ficcy with Sasuke & Sakura, the one about the umbrellas. Waaai, kawaii. The rain is such a beautiful thing.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own D.N.Angel, nor it's characters, so don't sue me.
Mmkay? (:
CAN YOU STAND THE RAIN?
By Jackie Doming
Can you stand the rain?
Silently, I wait. Waiting in the chilling, pouring rain. It leaks down my cheeks and the frames of my glasses, fogging my vision, but I am still able to decipher the figures before me. They seep like ants in every direction, dozens and dozens of them, but for them, I have no interest. They are not who I am waiting for.
The thunder is blaring in back of my ears, splitting my eardrums every roar it breathes. The wind hits me like a thousand bricks on my bones, tempting me to fall forwards, but I continue to stand in place, motionless. Patient.
As little as a breath is taken as I stand there in the eye of the storm. I'm drenched, from head to toe, in the sky's tears. They never cease to spatter against the ground, the cars, the floating umbrellas that filled the streets. We are the sky's puddle on which it streams it's tears in a violent downpour. I make no mind of it, instead -
I stand there, waiting.
People glance at me curiously, muttering remarks to their partners and comrades. They don't think that I can hear then. I can't, I don't. Nor do I care about what they have to say about me. I wait.
My eyes are set directly ahead of me, my heart pounding as the school doors open, only to devastate and massacre my hopes. It's not her, only simple school girls that I take no note of.
And I wait, in the pouring rain. Hoping to see her smiling face shine brightly behind those cold grey walls.
Something feels outs of place. A bushel of red points approaches me as he exits the school, an umbrella hovering over his head, protecting him from the rainfall. "Hiwatari-kun, what are you doing out here!"
I look at him with my unreadable eyes. "Waiting."
He looks at me with a great deal of concern. "Waiting .. for her?"
I disregard his interrogation. I simply fixate my gaze at the entrance to the school, expecting her to come out at any moment.
"Hiwatari-kun, she wasn't at school today." Niwa is sad to inform me.
As my gaze falls onto him, a hint of questioning is cleverly hidden behind my cold blues. "She's not?"
Niwa's look is sympathetic, his innocence I could only be envious towards. But now, there is no time to wish my hopes on fallen stars. They have long gone shattered along with my lost childhood, a dream that I locked away in the distant past.
No room to indulge myself in self-pity, now.
But to my dismay, I have found myself waiting for something that was never meant to arrive in the first place. She's not here, nor is she going to appear before me, no matter how long I wait for.
Why had I held my expectations so high?
"Do you want me to walk you home, Hiwatari-kun?" His offer is kind, and it still amazed me to this day how his soul remains so tender and pure. "There's always room under this umbrella for two."
I shake my head. As much as I appreciate his kindness, his humanity does no recovery to the shattered pieces of my heart that wash away with the rainfall. I waited, and she never came.
"Well, you should get home soon," Niwa was always a friend who proved to show concern in even the darkest of situations. But under the circumstances, he is not going to be able to shine through. Not this time.
His eyebrows knit as his arm raises to pat my shoulder. "Be careful, Hiwatari-kun. You might get sick if you're not careful."
As he walks down the street with as little as a wave, I begin trembling. May it be the weather or an emotional breakdown, I'm not entirely sure.
It's not until now that I realize how bitter the air is around me, sucking my skin dry of any traces of heat that I have left in me. I hold no shield to protect myself against the storm. I'm weak, helpless.
I allowed myself to pull down my mask, and in return, I have to pay a price for showing, to the world, that I am, indeed, vulnerable. For one moment, I proved to the world that I am completely human. That I am flawed.
I stood alone, naked, and all that they could do was laugh.
I humiliated myself to the point that I can no longer bare witness to my own face. I curse myself for holding the position that I'm in right now. How can I bare with the idiocy that I exposed myself to. Why me. I am foolish.
In my despondence, I take a step in the opposite direction of Niwa. Not that those around me are suppose to know, but I hold no argument against sulking in the epitome of my loneliness.
I am nothing but a fool.
I feel something warm stream from the corners of my eyes. Rainwater, or teardrops? I'm not quite sure. It all makes sense. In efforts to replace my mask, I have to rid myself of any emotion that I have left within me.
Pitterpat, pitterpat.
I see her, in the distance. She is running towards me, a great deal of determination in her eyes. And what else is that I see as I gaze longing into her face? Rainwater, or teardrops?
I'll never know.
She stands before me, breathing heavily as she ducks down to retaliate herself. How long has she been sprinting before? Where is she in such a hurry to get to?
"Hiwatari-kun, Wh-Wh .." her voice is thin and breathless, but it fills me with the warmth that I have longed for in this wintry rain. "Where were you?"
My eyes grow wide as she says this. "I was in front of the school."
"What were you doing there!" Her voice sounds light, almost teasingly, but I could still sense the grave concern that she makes no effort to hide. Does she really care what my intentions were?
I take a few moments to contemplate whether I should tell her. "I .. was waiting."
Her ears perk. Her look is intense, as though she's trying to read me through the expressions of my face. My mask is on, but it's not entirely secure. It threatens to jerk off at any second. "You were waiting? For .."
"You." I briskly finish her sentence as my eyes pierce through her fiery, chocolate orbs. They thaw through the iciness that has restrained my heart for all these painful years.
Her voice comes out barely as a whisper. My only guess is that she is breathtaken. "You were waiting .. for me?"
My chin nods. I remain still, almost statue like, as I feel the emotion mouth up in her voice.
"When you were waiting for me," her voice stalls, trying to find the right words to say, "I .. was waiting for you."
My heart feels as though it pulled itself into overdrive. I catch my breath in my throat, and realize that we were both experiencing a sad, one-sided loneliness. I attempt to retaliate my efforts, "You weren't at school today, Niwa told me-"
"I thought that you were going to come see me today," her voice butterflies, filled with an emotion that I could not translate. "I waited in front of my house for the whole day."
Waiting, for me? A promise made to see her today, but I never knew that she intended me to find her there. A misunderstanding, that's all it is, which I am thankful for. "I'm sorry, I never knew."
A smile manages to sweep onto the corners of her mouth as she gazes at me, looking grateful. It's strange how easily emotions can change from one to the next. "It's alright, I'm with you now."
My eyes soften, almost melting, but I try to restrain myself. A smile threatens to form on my face, but I don't try to hide it. So my efforts weren't completely useless, after all.
My water soaked hand reaches up to touch her cheek, and her eyes turn into glass. She looks up at me expectantly. As I draw nearer, inching ever closer, I can feel her steady breath upon my face. A faint whisper escapes her mouth. "Can you stand the rain?"
My eyes smile at her, mockingly. And gently, they close, as I can feel her warm lips find their perfect place, pressing against mine. It feels as though I'm kissing the rain, tasting the bittersweet droplets that covered her mouth.
After what felt like an eternity, I calmly lift my head away from hers. Her eyes are still closed, and quickly, they come to life, blinking innocently. An adoring smile comes onto her face as hints of red escape her cheeks.
My hand is still over her cheek, leaving a warm imprint in it's place.
I have waited, and finally, you came. The rain cannot separate us, for what we share is more powerful than any storm.
"Yes, I can stand the rain. We can stand in it, together."
A/N: Gaaah, I feel weird writing about kisses. XX! I had a hard time picturing this pair kissing for some odd reason (although I support it 110!). Well, passionately, I mean. Grr, I had a lot of trouble with the tenses too. I kept having to reread it .. I'm not used to writing in the present. Corny ending, as always. Mooou xx ..
Yes, I'm still working on STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN and perhaps rewriting the fourth instalment of I'M GLAD HIWATARI-KUN IS WITH ME. That's if I can find that stupid disk! Grr .. ;; Well, anyways, while you're waiting for those to come .. review review review!