Just a tiny bit of rain won't hurt right? YES IT WILL

Pairing: Clear x Aoba
Warning: Gloomy rain and all

A Tiny Bit of Rain

Aoba hated it when it rained.

It wasn't that he disliked the rain itself—he didn't mind it at all, in its clear, translucent glory. He certainly didn't mind the cool drafts that swept past the gaps in the door if he left them open by accident, or when Haga-san came back from his deliveries, shaking droplets of water off himself onto the wooden tiles. Bonjin-kun would jabber on about untidiness in his robotic voice and dry up the mess using some sort of heating device installed in him, and it was really kind of amusing to watch the robot go about his work.

He saw days like these in and out, and they had become one of his precious memories he could call upon when he was down.

When it rained though, the already dwindling number of customers would decrease even further, with less orders coming in for the parts. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why this happened—they made deliveries for a reason— but here in the Former Residential District, sweeping storms came by pretty often during the rainy season, and everyone would stay indoors, even deliverymen. Either way, Haga-san would get severely depressed during times like these, and a dark, heavy aura would begin to surround his very being. It made Aoba nervous just being in his very presence.

The one good thing that came out of it was that the Rib and Rhyme gangs would stay off the streets as well, deciding to put off tormenting civilians to another day. It just went to show that it was difficult being a gangster as well, trying to look scary and threatening someone's clothes off their back while keeping your foothold on the slippery concrete pavement.

The deep rumbling of thunder from the distance made Aoba jump slightly, his leg brushing against his bag which had been leaning against his chair. There was a light rustle, before a blue furry ear poked out of the opening of his bag.

"Is something the matter?" Ren asked, sounding slightly concerned. He jumped out of the bag, landing on Aoba's lap in a perfectly balanced leap.

"Aahhh~ Ren~ I'm so bored…" Aoba bemoaned, reaching down to stroke his furry companion behind his ears. On dreary, rainy days like this, talking to his All Mate was one of the few things he could do—not that he was complaining, since Ren was a pretty good conversationalist in his opinion.

Ren didn't seem to mind the attention, and he rolled over slightly to make himself comfortable. "Aoba, you hate the rain after all."

"Not the rain in general," Aoba corrected, and shrugged lightly, since it probably didn't matter anyway. "Just what comes with it."

"I see."

Their conversation dwindled off at this point, and perhaps Ren wasn't such a great conversationalist after all. Or maybe he was just being considerate, deciding to stay silent to prevent aggravating Aoba further. Either way, Aoba took to staring at the trails of glistening water down the glass windows, which were by now, pretty fogged up from the rain. The clear trails of liquid trailing down its surface to pool down on the windowsill, past the odd clear umbrella which was hanging outside…

The odd clear umbrella which looked strangely familiar…

… It couldn't be… right?

Aoba's gaze flickered to meet Ren's deep blue ones, and the other's furry ear flickered slightly in confirmation. There was no mistaking it—it was Clear's umbrella, and for some ungodly reason, the other was outside the building in the rain.

"H-Haga-san… I'm heading out for a minute to check something… do you mind?" He would probably head out anyway even if Haga-san didn't allow him to, but it was probably best not to mention it.

"Of course not, Aoba-kun…" Haga-san sounded vaguely distracted, as he tapped numbers into his Coil. Aoba nodded thankfully and stood up, heading towards the door quickly. The sound of the chair scratching slightly against the floor resounded rather loudly in the enclosed room, and Haga-san seemed to snap out of his daze.

"Ah, Aoba-kun!" The store manager suddenly piped up from behind him, making him pause in his tracks momentarily. "You can head on home if you want."

Aoba blinked, surprised out of his concern. "Eh? Are you sure about that, Haga-san? It's not even five, though…" He normally wouldn't complain about having a nice day off once in a while, but looking at the gloomy store manager who was trying to calculate the day's sales with an oppressively darkening aura, he felt a little guilty. From the way Haga-san shook his head sadly, he could tell it wasn't much.

"It's alright, Aoba-kun. Let's work harder tomorrow!" Haga seemed to be holding in his frustration, and Aoba nodded, agreeing quickly, lest he enrage the scary man.

"Alright, Haga-san. We'll sell so many tomorrow that we'll have to order more stock even before the third of next month!"

This seemed to cheer the store manager up a little, and he chuckled. "Right! Take care, Aoba-kun! See you tomorrow!"

Ren tugged on Aoba's pants, and he got the message, quickly saluting to Haga-san before dashing out of the store. Behind him, he could hear Haga-san yelling frantically, "Aren't you going to take an umbrella, Aoba-kun?" but all he did was wave back.

After all, he already had someone waiting for him.