i'm sorry. this one's a whopper. i'd like to thank you in advance for reading this monster of a one-shot.

#1; clean.
heine/naoto.
safe.
word count 2500+

Naoto was never fond of movie-style romances. Rather, she wasn't fond of anything that had to do with romance in the first place.

Occasionally on a slow, rainy day Badou would pop one of his countless movies from his collection into the old vhs player that the bishop kept in the church, inviting anyone in the vicinity to join him in killing time. Oftentimes Nill would be eager to watch, thus dragging both Naoto and Heine in and forcing them to endure many a b-movie to keep her company.

It wasn't that Naoto disliked watching these films... it was just that they were so unrealistic, an escape from reality that she wasn't sure she was willing to take. Naoto was a determined, focused woman, and she was uncomfortable straying from her path and the goals she set for herself. However, for Nill's sake, she watched. And wondered.

Why did movies always have to portray scenes of sadness with rain?

She couldn't help but notice how almost every movie she watched coincided rain with the characters' unhappy feelings, whether they just broke up with a loved one or lost a fight, or if everything in their world seemed hopeless.

She supposed it was because of its association with tears, but Naoto still wasn't very pleased with how frequently she saw this in movies.

In her mind, rain was cleansing. Rain meant new life. Rain meant a fresh start, a way to wash off the dirt and grime of yesterday. There was nothing she liked more than waking up to raindrops falling on her apartment's windowsill, blurring her vision of the tainted city below.

In the rain, Naoto was in her own world. Under her umbrella, people would leave her alone, eager to get inside their buildings and stay dry. In the rain, Naoto felt ( almost ) unburdened; ( almost ) at peace.

It was a much more calming feeling to her than a sunny day.

The movie's orchestral music swelled to a climax, snapping Naoto out of her thoughts. She watched the screen as the two lovers embraced and kissed underneath a clear blue sky, and her brow furrowed ever-so-slightly. She glanced over at Nill, seated next to her. The young girl's knees were drawn up, and she was hugging her legs tightly, with a dreamy expression on her face as she watched the end credits roll. She beamed and leaned against Naoto, clearly happy with how the movie turned out.

Naoto smiled warmly, letting the girl lean against her and thinking about how nice it must be to enjoy movies as much as Nill did. She briefly wondered if she would have been the same, if things had been different...

It was getting very late; the movie had lasted longer than they had expected. After saying good night to Nill, Naoto made her way to the church entrance. She paused for a moment when she approached the door, noticing a patch of white among the dark wooden pews. It seemed that Heine was planning on staying a while longer.

She frowned, not really dwelling on the assumption much longer. She didn't feel like saying goodbye to him, so she decided that the best option was to ignore him. Turning to the coat rack to take her things, Naoto was met with a sudden unpleasant surprise: her umbrella was missing.

She stood there, frozen, for a minute. She was sure she came in with an umbrella; it had been raining all day. Was it hidden behind one of the other coats? Naoto moved them aside hurriedly, looking behind every one of them.

Nothing.

She must have made more noise than she thought, because the sound of wood creaking behind her signaled that Heine had gotten up from the pew. Naoto continued to search fruitlessly for her umbrella, ignoring the heavy sound of his boots on the stone floor as he approached her.

"Something wrong?"

Naoto turned to face him, a small frown plastered on her face by default.

"It's nothing," she said shortly. Letting her pride get the best of her, she pulled on her coat and wrapped her scarf tightly, heading towards the door. The last thing she wanted to do was stay until the rain let up; she was too tired to deal with what Heine might say to her.

"You know it's raining, right?"

Naoto froze right as she was about to grip the door's handle. Too late. She decided to think quickly.

"My place isn't that far away. It won't be a problem --"

"You aren't just going to let the lady walk alone in the rain, are you Heine?"

The two of them both turned to find none other than the blind bishop approaching them, grinning pointedly at his "younger brother".

"What are you talking about," Heine said flatly, furrowing his brow.

"I mean, the gentlemanly thing to do in this situation would be to offer the lovely woman a walk home, seeing as how she has no umbrella at the moment." Ernest's grin widened, and he leaned forward on his cane.

Naoto, unable to find words, immediately shook her head at the thought. Heine did the same.

"You forget that I'm not a gentleman." he coldly stated. Naoto's frown deepened.

"I'll be fine, really. I was saying that my apartment isn't that far from here. A little rain won't be a problem." Heine nodded in response to this.

The priest's cheerful expression faded, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Ah, I see. Well, that is unfortunate for you, Heine.' he waved goodbye and turned to walk away.

"Nill will be so disappointed when she finds out tomorrow. Anyway, good night, Miss Naoto!"

Heine and Naoto stared after him for a moment, watching him walk slowly back to his quarters.

After a few seconds, she heard him make a frustrated growl. Heine brushed past her to hastily grab his coat and umbrella, grumbling to himself and muttering "Come on."

At first Naoto was unsure of what he meant. She stood there, slightly confused, until he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out the heavy wooden doorway.

The rain hadn't sounded quite as severe as it really was from inside the church. Fast, heavy droplets fell from the dark clouds overhead, pouring over the city's streets and staining its rugged sidewalks an even shadier gray. The loud rattling of raindrops on metal drowned out much of the normal evening sounds of the city.

Naoto instinctively covered her head with her scarf; within a few seconds it was already soaked. As she was about to head back into the church, the tapping of rain against the top of her head suddenly ceased.

She looked over her shoulder and was surprised to see that Heine was, in fact, holding his umbrella over her. His white hair was plastered to his face, which held an irritated and begrudging expression while avoiding her gaze. He was still standing in the rain.

"Ah..." was all she could say. An uncomfortable silence followed. Only the sound of water against pavement echoed in their ears.

"Which way... is your place." Heine shifted uneasily in the rain, still trying to avoid looking at her. Naoto, on the other hand, could only stare blankly at him.

"It's... two blocks east... of here..." she told him. It almost felt like the words were coming out on their own, like it wasn't really her saying them.

" 's that so," he mused halfheartedly. "Let's hurry this up, then." he nodded his head in no particular direction, signaling her to start walking.

Naoto complied, moving forward out on to the church steps. Heine followed a few steps behind her, covering her with the umbrella and getting even more soaked in the process.

After the first few steps, she stopped and turned to face him. He came to a halt at the same time, keeping his distance. Frowning up at him, Naoto grasped the umbrella at a point higher than his hand and boldly walked up to the same step as him.

Though the two of them had been in close proximity before, the sudden movement caused Heine to let go of the umbrella and take a step back into the rain. "What are you--?"

"I'll hold it for myself," she sighed. "I don't like you following behind me."

Heine laughed harshly, grimacing. "Now you know how I felt."

Naoto shot an irritated glare up at him, and he returned it. They remained in their little staring contest for a good 30 seconds before Naoto finally looked away, back out at the street.

"If you want to stay in the rain, go ahead. But this umbrella has... more than enough room for both of us." she wasn't really sure why she was saying this, but it was true; Heine's umbrella was a bit larger than a standard one-person model. It wasn't like they had to be too close to each other in order to share it.

"Tch. Whatever," he scoffed. Naoto sighed yet again, and continued her descent down the steps.

When she got to the sidewalk, she felt his presence become closer than before. Looking to her right, she realized that Heine was now underneath the umbrella, maybe half a pace behind her. He was staring pointedly at the ground, with a furrowed brow and his hands in his pockets. Though this puzzled her, Naoto decided to say nothing, and continued walking on the way to her apartment.

At about the halfway point, Heine broke the silence.

"Were you watching that movie?"

Naoto didn't speak for a moment, wondering why he would ask such a question. When she looked back on it, she really wasn't paying attention to the movie most of the time. She had been thinking about... other things. She shook her head.

"Were you?"

"Yeah," he replied shortly. "Nill likes to ask me questions about that stuff sometimes."

"I see." she said stiffly. She hadn't had this kind of conversation with Heine before. It made her feel uneasy.

"...You didn't answer the question. Were you watching it?"

Naoto slowly came to a stop, turning to face him. She stared at him with a mixed expression of curiosity and frustration. He stared right back, blankly.

"Why does it matter?" she asked. In the back of her mind, she recalled that she had never been the one to talk much in their conversations before. Why start now?

There was a pause. Heine continued to look at her square in the eyes, with no readable expression on his face.

"It... doesn't." he said eventually.

It wasn't a satisfying answer in the least, but Naoto was too frustrated with his odd attitude to really care for one. Turning back around, she continued onward towards her home.

The rain only grew worse as the two got closer to their destination. It was falling in heavy sheets now, slowly flooding the grimy streets and gushing out of drainage pipes like waterfalls. Naoto was thankful that there was no wind to accompany it; she would be completely soaked if it came from any direction other than straight above them.

She finally came to a stop at her building's entrance where, thankfully, there was a small awning to take cover under. Grateful to finally be home, Naoto handed the umbrella over to Heine. She managed a small "thank you" in the process, feeling incredibly awkward and unsure of what to do next. He nodded.

She stood there in front of him in silence for a moment, wondering why he didn't just turn around and leave immediately.

"Ah... about that movie," he started, shifting a bit and looking to his right, "I wanted to ask you if you thought it was... I don't know. Weird."

Naoto had no idea what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he said as his brow furrowed, "That one scene. In the rain."

The rain?

"I... don't remember it," Naoto said quickly, hoping that he would drop the subject and let her be.

Heine looked up at her, both annoyed and confused.

"The couple in the movie walked home in the rain. They shared an umbrella, because the girl lost hers."

Naoto grimaced as she made the connection. She sighed heavily and shook her head.

"Does that mean you think this might have been... set up?"

"Most likely," Heine closed his eyes and pushed his hair out of his eyes, massaging his forehead in the process. "I'll bet that shady priest had something to do with it."

Naoto crossed her arms in irritation. "What did he think was going to happen? Why would he..."

Heine smirked bitterly. "You really didn't watch the scene, did you?"

She didn't answer him. He moved under the awning and out of the rain, lowering the umbrella.

"You don't know how it ended."

He stepped closer. Naoto still didn't speak, her arms still crossed and her face still darkened with a frown. Their eyes met, and she felt a shiver crawl up her spine. She told herself it was from the cold.

"Their first kiss."

He said it matter-of-factly, with that crooked smirk remaining on his face. He always looked like that when he told her something she wouldn't like. It was as if he was mocking her. That smile made Naoto wanted to pull out her knife and stab him, right then and there. Sadly, she remembered, it wouldn't matter; he would just heal instantly and laugh at her.

She remained silent, glaring daggers at him instead. He looked to the right, seeming to recall something.

"In the rain... The perfect place to start something new."

Naoto's head tilted slightly in confusion.

"That's a quote from the movie," Heine told her. "Do you think it's true?"

For a while, she still didn't say anything. Eventually, the words formed slowly in her mind, and she analyzed every one of them before speaking.

"I do..." she started, looking at the ground instead of at him. "When it rains, it... feels like the past doesn't matter. That it's... getting washed away. Everything bad, everything painful... it goes away for a while."

Naoto had never thought she'd say these thoughts out loud, let alone to someone like him. She'd shared her past before, but sharing this was something entirely different. It felt too personal.

"A clean slate, huh?" he summarized. "Something new..."

His voice was getting closer. Naoto looked up, and found that he had moved in further, his face only a few inches from hers. She froze. She felt his eyes scanning hers, uncertain, indecisive. She held her breath.

"I..."

The steam from his breath circled around them and disappeared into the cold air. Naoto was suddenly highly aware of how cold it was, and how she faintly felt Heine's body heat radiating from him. She shivered again.

At long last, he backed away. Without the cover of the awning, Heine raised his umbrella and muttered, "I'll see you around."

Naoto nodded silently. She quickly turned and opened the door, heading into the warm, dry building. Thankfully, there was no one to greet her in the foyer. As the heavy door closed behind her, she leaned against it and finally breathed in. The warmth of being inside flooded over her, and she felt a soothing heat rise up all the way to her cheeks.

For some time, Naoto just stared fixedly at the old tile floor, her heart thumping steadily against her chest, and her eyes only seeing white and red.