Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Digimon Frontier characters. I just own the ones I've created (if any) and the plot. I don't own Google either.
Author's Notes: Wheeeee my first Kouzumi one-shot! I got this idea out of nowhere, and decided to give it a try. It was also my first attempt at writing makes-you-smile moments. Hope you like it! And please read and review!
Thoughts – except for single words/notes, in which I use italics for emphasis and difference instead of showing that it's a thought.
"Speech"
Story: Rainy Day
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
Kouji sighed. Today wasn't the best of his days.
Just this morning, his alarm clock had oh-so-generously decided to run out of battery, leaving him asleep when he should have been out going to school. Kouji had woken up exactly twenty minutes before school started and, having known the fact, made a hasty job in preparing himself. He had bolted out of the door a few minutes after, not even bothering to have breakfast.
Luckily for Kouji, he rushed into the classroom right on time. He pretended nothing was out of the ordinary the whole school day, and even managed to ignore Takuya's taunts and snickers. Mind you, that was a very, very hard job to do. Maybe everything will go right from here, Kouji thought hopefully.
Kouji soon found out how wrong he was. During his mathematics class, he had looked out the window and realized his misfortune.
It was raining a downpour outside. And what was worse? Kouji didn't bring an umbrella, thanks to his morning frenzy.
Yeah, everything's fine, thought Kouji sarcastically. He sent one of his death glares at the sky. It sure knew how to torture people. What in the world did he do to be stuck in a situation like this?
Half an hour ago, when school ended, the downpour was still showering down on Tokyo. Kouji had stood in the entrance of his school, staring at the infinite drops of rain.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
"Oh, what the heck, I'll just go home without an umbrella," Kouji muttered to himself. He picked up his black book bag and swung it over his shoulder. He was about to step out into the cloudburst when a cough interrupted him. Kouji turned around.
"Just what are you planning to do, stepping out into the rain without an umbrella, Kouji-kun?" the girl standing behind him asked.
"I don't need an umbrella, Izumi," Kouji replied curtly.
Izumi giggled and put her hands on her hips. "You just forgot your umbrella, right?" Her lips curled into a smile. She knew Kouji wouldn't admit it even if his life depended on it.
Kouji felt himself turn slightly red in embarrassment. He would be more than grateful if he didn't have to explain his morning to Izumi. "So?" He defended himself.
"So," Izumi replied, repeating Kouji's question of defiance. "If you didn't bring an umbrella, you'll just have to find someone to lend you an umbrella," Izumi explained simply.
Kouji blinked, taking in the words. His eyes wandered off from Izumi's emerald orbs to her hands. She was carrying her bag in one hand, and an umbrella in another. Kouji sweatdropped and blushed when he looked at the latter item.
So that's what Izumi's hinting on, He thought. Kouji raked through his brain for an excuse, but he had none. He'd much rather be drowned by the downpour than use her umbrella. After all, he didn't want to blush all the way from school to home.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
Kouji considered asking the other guys instead. Hmm…Takuya had soccer practice. Junpei was sick and didn't attend school. Kouichi lived on the other side of town. Tomoki was in elementary school, and their school day ended an hour ago. The janitor was still at school cleaning.
(A/N: Don't ask…I'm being random here…heh…)
So who was he supposed to ask?
Before he could protest, Izumi grabbed his arm and opened her umbrella. Her iron grip never faltered, leaving Kouji's struggles futile. "You can't rush out into the rain, if that's what you're thinking," Izumi insisted firmly. "You'll catch a cold."
Kouji's shoulders sagged. Guess I have no choice, he thought.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
Now here Kouji Minamoto, the lone wolf, the "cold" one was, sheltering from the rain, under a pink umbrella. Random grunts of disapproval could still be heard from this boy, but Izumi wouldn't let him get away.
Never knew that crab claw she calls a hand could be this strong and persistent… Kouji complained in his mind. Although he wouldn't admit it, Kouji would've enjoyed Izumi's grab on his arm; that is, if she wasn't cutting off his blood circulation.
"Curse the rain," Kouji mumbled silently, feeling the slight heat that tinted his cheeks pink. He looked at Izumi beside him, who had carried her bag on her shoulder, with the umbrella handler and his arm in separate hands.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
They were now in the busy streets of Tokyo, avoiding random puddles on the street floor. Looking around, Kouji could make out a crowd of their schoolmates inside a coffee shop. Cringing, he noticed that they were female schoolmates. Not just female schoolmates, but his fangirls from hell.
Aw, isn't life great.
"Kouji-sama!" shrill, high-pitched voices screamed out from the mass of fangirls. Sweatdropping, Kouji and Izumi ran, trying to escape from the herd of running love struck girls. They turned around a street corner, and the mad chase was on.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
"Kouji-sama!! You never told me Izumi's your girlfriend!!" a voice wailed out from the fangirls. Kouji turned beet red when the accusation fired at his back. He hoped Izumi was too concentrated on running for dear life to notice.
Kouji, having recovered from his flushing, started to look around for a possible way to ditch the crazed girls. Come on…There! Kouji smiled at his small victory. If he was right, then Izumi and he would manage to live for another day.
"Izumi, let's choose the right path," Kouji whispered through pants as the two approached a fork path. "My house should be on the left side, so hopefully they'll think we ran towards there." Izumi nodded, smiling.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
They ran to the right path, and hid from view. Soon after, a crowd of squalling beings stopped in front of the fork path. "It must be this way!" a fangirl pointed to the left. "Kouji-sama's house is that way!" The crowd rushed to the direction, and Kouji overheard their conversation as they ran farther away into the distance.
"You're amazing! How do you know these things?" a fangirl asked the fangirl who had pointed out the direction.
"Oh, it's nothing really. The many things you can do with Google…" the fangirl answered, chuckling evilly.
What… Kouji thought, his right eye twitching. Izumi could barely stifle her laugh.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
Since the fangirls went to the direct path, Kouji and Izumi had no choice but to take a detour. They walked on. Kouji wondered if Izumi regretted lending him her umbrella, after what they'd been through.
"Kouji-kun? Are your walks from school to home always like that?" Izumi asked, turning to the blue-eyed boy's direction.
"Sometimes," Kouji answered, shivering at the thought of his runaways from the group. The last time the fangirls chased him, he had to hide under a police car.
"If must be fun being you then," Izumi giggled, still thinking about the faces of her friend's fangirls, which somewhat resembled a dog looking at an appetizing, huge bone.
Kouji sweatdropped, surprised that Izumi considered their escape from devils fun. "Easy for you to say…" Kouji murmured, looking at the blonde girl beside him. Now that they were on their way home, with no one chasing them, Kouji once again diverted his attention to his clamped arm. Even through all that running, Izumi's hand's grip on Kouji's arm still hadn't faltered. Kouji was starting to wonder if it was mechanic.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
They soon reached the front porch of Izumi's house, since Kouji lived a street farther away. The two teenagers, half drenched despite the umbrella, stopped walking.
"Shouldn't I walk you home first? After all, you don't have an umbrella," Izumi asked, worried. Kouji shook his head. A girl walking him back home! What kind of boy would he be if he accepted that? Plus, it would surely rouse questions from his step-mom.
"Nah," Kouji answered. Izumi seemed dissatisfied with the answer, so Kouji quickly thought up a solution. "I'll um…borrow your umbrella and return it to you tomorrow, okay?" He couldn't believe he was openly requesting to borrow a pink umbrella. "You won't have to walk all the way to my house and back."
"Alright," Izumi answered; at least Kouji wouldn't get any wetter. "I'll see you tomorrow at school then, Kouji-kun?"
Kouji nodded and was about to turn around when Izumi once again grabbed his arm, but gentler this time. Kouji looked at her. Was that a tint of red on her cheeks?
It was probably your imagination, Kouji commented.
"I had a really fun time today, Kouji-kun," Izumi said, smiling. "Thanks."
"N-no problem," Kouji answered, stunned. He continued staring until Izumi went into her house and closed the door.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
Kouji looked at the pink umbrella in his hand. Like you're really going to use it, his mind said sarcastically. Sure, it was absolute that he wouldn't go home with a pink umbrella; who knew what his parents would think if they saw it. Plus, although unknown to Kouji, he had pride, and borrowing Izumi's umbrella hurt it.
But how can I do it without offending Izumi? He asked himself.
After some thought, he took out a pen and a piece of paper, scribbled on it, and placed it on the floor along with the umbrella.
Here goes nothing… Shutting his eyes, he rang the doorbell and ran.
He just hoped Izumi wouldn't kill him tomorrow.
"Coming!" Izumi yelled as she ran down the stairs after hearing the doorbell. Izumi opened the door and asked, "Yes?" But all that heard her was thin air.
Confused, she looked down on the floor, and found her umbrella and a note. Still puzzled, she picked up both items. Unfolding the note, she recognized Kouji's scrawny but neat handwriting.
Izumi,
Gone back home without borrowing your umbrella. Don't worry, I'm drenched enough; more soaking wouldn't hurt. I just live a street farther anyway. I'm sorry if I made you mad after this.
Kouji.
Izumi reread the note, half-worried for her friend, and half-amused. She never expected Kouji to use her pink umbrella anyway. That wasn't like him. But she was definitely going to have a word with Kouji tomorrow. Looking up into the rainy sky, she folded the note neatly and pocketed it. And with her umbrella in hand, she went back to her house, feeling a little bewildered, but sweet. Oh Kouji-kun…
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.
Author's Notes : So, how's it ? It's longer than I expected, but good enough to be posted up, I hope. I don't really like the ending, but still. Please read and review!