FOREWORD: Each third year will be the subject of a chapter in this short fic.

As she lay awake that night, Eli counted it, as she had each night since μ's had decided not to continue, and as she did all the days to come until graduation.

Tired eyes watched a lonely few raindrops collide with her window, but her surging thoughts refused them any rest. There was a way to resolve this. She sighed. It seemed that she would once again find herself indulging in the ritual she had developed since their decision.

Only the faintest creaks and groans of the floorboards incriminated her as she dressed once again. The soon-to-be-former school idol was light on her feet; she had to be. She had to glide through the halls, past her family and down the stairs without rousing them, without drowning out the faintest pitter-patter of the first droplets hitting the roof.

"You need to stop doing this," she told herself. She wasn't very convincing.

All it took to dispel the last vestiges of that order was the intoxicating rush of fresh air from her opening of the front door. It hit her, crisp and pleasantly cool in the warm night as she stepped out. The door softly clicked shut behind her and she breathed deeply, looking skyward. By the delicate moonlight she could see the edge of the mass of clouds; the outliers hovered just above her home.

Eli turned and walked out into the street, deeper into the city, deeper into the storm.

Her mind had been crowded with painful thoughts as of late: leaving Otonokizaka, getting into a good university, uncertainty regarding the future, and worst of all, the disbandment of μ's and separation from her friends. In the face of such cruel circumstance, it gave her a strange comfort to take command and force herself out into the night like this, just to prove that she could.

Or was this, in and of itself, a loss of control? Perhaps she would find out once she had done it for the final time.

But it mattered not; what mattered was the way those thoughts were driven away ever so slightly for each raindrop impacting her skin.

Yes, this was what she had come for!

The wind began to pick up and carried with it a vigor that took her from a walk to a jog, from a jog to a run. Her home rapidly faded in the distance as she raced her smeared reflections in the storefront windows.

Even in the popular market areas, no one would be out at this hour and in this weather. That was exactly the way she liked it.

The feeling of freedom led her on as she splashed through puddles and twirled across the wet pavement. She was steadily growing soaked as the rain picked up slightly, but she welcomed it. The intoxicating sensation of the wind filling her sails was the only thing left on her mind, no cold yesterdays, no mercurial tomorrows.

A natural sort of rhythm came upon her; she weaved through the middle of the road as she ran, drawing inexorably closer to the familiar destination without a thought given to it. Somehow, no matter how many times she did this, all roads seemed to lead there.

Otonokizaka was perched imperiously on its hill overlooking the area. Eli didn't offer it any more than a passing glance, lest it ruin her meditative state.

She slowed, chest heaving as her target appeared on the horizon. It would pay to conserve her strength for what she was about to do.

Clouds were amalgamating overhead as each step regained a small measure of lightness; strangely, the rain began to calm at the same time. The wind, too, had calmed such that her foot landing in a puddle felt as though it echoed through the streets. A small part of her urged her to be quiet, as though this moment would allow her to slip back home without consequence.

Eli smiled to herself as she reached the edge of the park; it was far too late for anything of the sort now.

This place offered a slightly larger measure of privacy, but more importantly, it felt closer to nature.

As she reached the center of the field, she looked up.

She was ready.

Lightning split the sky open to release an overwhelming downpour - a cloudburst - as the wind howled back to life, driving it into her and soaking her utterly in seconds. Around her, nature's austerity melted away as the park came alive; the trees swayed, the grass rippled in time with eddying winds, the water flowed freely from the hills and over the heather, and fresh leaves were pulled down and into rapturous dance.

Unable to contain herself any longer, Eli, too, began to dance.

Heart pounding, she twirled and leapt through the grass. She ran, jumped, cartwheeled, relishing the burning in her lungs and the feeling of sweat mingling with the rain. In stark contrast to the measured steps seen at her performances, she was wild and trembling with energy, and that was how her instinct demanded she be. Oh, to fly with all the freedom of the storm!

In these moments, a deep longing often began to well in her chest, still heaving, as she pirouetted with the leaves and chased the gales. Even with her eyes closed in concentration and exertion, she could still vividly see it all: the drops twinkling like sparks, the field rippling, the trees waving. She couldn't escape noticing how she grew tired and sluggish as the storm continued to rage around her. She couldn't escape noticing that she was being left behind.

And then she was standing in the pounding rain, empty in stark contrast to furious energy surrounding her.

Eli left herself fall back into the wet grass, staring at the flickering lightning as the thoughts she had been running from finally caught up. She couldn't keep dancing forever; she couldn't seem to keep her life from leaving her behind. μ's was ending, and all-too-soon, she would be forced to leave.

It had been wonderful. Working together with them had lent her life a spark, given her countless moments worth preserving.

And was what made leaving so unbearable.

Eli wanted at once to scream, to laugh, and to cry into the storm hanging above. She begged it to save her the suffering of watching this beauty tarnish.

Soon the storm would be over, and she would drag herself back home and into bed, pretending to herself that nothing had happened.

A/N: I have the whole story drafted, so updates should be coming quick. Remember to review and comment if you have something to say!

I've long been a fan of late night walks, and one of mine which coincided with poor weather was part of the inspiration for this chapter, and in turn, the rest of the fic.