AUTHOR'S NOTE: I got irritated with the National Novel Writing Month site for not letting me update my word count yesterday so I decided to tackle some fan fiction for my word count today instead of my actual project. Whether or not this is a good idea I have no idea ^_^ I am halfway contemplating working on fan fictions through the first half of the month and then picking up my project around the 15th (unless the muses smack me upside the head), we'll see what happens.

In other news, welcome to the next installment of my Rainy Day Man stories. I need to be really careful or I'm going to fall in love with the 8086 pairing and it will completely alter the entire course of my stories for Future Revised (just kidding...mostly...I think). After I get this done I'll be working for a little while on the next chapter of one of my other fan fictions before I wander off and get some stuff done this evening (and, yes, for those who are waiting for me to pick up Flowers in Namimori again, it is on the list of things to try and work on ^_^)

Katekyo Hitman Reborn! isn't mine, but it's been fun writing in the world though this particular series of mine is probably kinda boring compared to the daring mafia life in the Future Revised series *laughs*

Thanks for reading (and reviewing) if you get a chance!

~ Yuki

Spring Rain

The morning of April 24th dawned clear and pleasant, cherry blossoms still floated on the breeze and Takeshi Yamamoto settled his bag on his shoulder. Today he marked his sixteenth year on the planet, but it was just like any other day. His father would make his favorite dinner tonight and he would likely get a gift. He poked his head into the living room to tell his father he was leaving and exited the house.

He came up short as a small form stood in front of the restaurant dressed in a bright yellow shirt and a pair of faded jeans. Yamamoto looked around for Shiroame and didn't see him around. "Is everything okay, Haru?" he asked worriedly.

"Hahi!"

The brunette jumped, wide eyes flying up to meet his as if she hadn't expected his presence quite yet. "Everything is fine," she assured him. "Father is watching Shiroame."

"Ah, I see, did you need something?" he asked.

"Why didn't you tell me today was your birthday?" Haru demanded glaring up at him.

Surprise flickered across Yamamoto's expression. "It's just another day," he said.

Haru stomped her foot on the ground and brandished what looked like a school ID. "You dropped this yesterday after wrestling with Shiroame, do you have any idea how hard it was for Haru to find an appropriate gift for Yamamoto on his birthday with only a day's notice?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"You didn't have to, it's all right," he said. "I didn't even realize I lost my ID. Thank you for bringing it by."

Haru's cheeks puffed out for a moment in indignation and then she tucked the ID wallet into the oversized bag she carried and gave him a challenging look. "You can have it back after you spend the day with Haru," she stated.

Yamamoto chuckled. "I can think of worse things to have to do in order to get it back," he said.

"So you'll come with me?" Haru asked.

He nodded. "Do we need to go pick up Shiroame?"

Haru shook her head. "Shiroame can't ride the train to Tokyo," she said.

Yamamoto frowned. "Why are we going on a train to Tokyo?" he questioned.

She smiled at him. "You'll see," she said. "Haru has a surprise for you."

Haru moved to his side and slipped her arm through his and tugged him into motion. "We have to make the next train though to get there on time."

"Where is there?" Yamamoto asked letting Haru drag him along.

Haru tossed him a mischievous grin but said nothing. She told him that she'd packed a lunch for them and that she'd cover their expenses today. Yamamoto frowned a bit at that, but obligingly followed the girl listening with only half an ear as she chattered on their way to the railway station. They reached the platform just in time for them to hand over their tickets and get on and Haru led him towards where their assigned seats were.

They settled in the seats and Yamamoto glanced at her. "So where are we going?" he asked.

"Tokyo," she replied promptly.

"I meant beyond that," he said.

Haru grinned. "Haru told you, it's a surprise. Oh, did I show you the pictures of Shiroame I took yesterday? He was trying to eat the cherry blossoms that were dancing in the wind on our walk yesterday evening."

Yamamoto allowed her to change the subject, but kept inserting casual questions into the conversation to ascertain where exactly they were going. Haru, however, managed to dodge every single one and they arrived at the station with Yamamoto no more the wiser to what exactly they were going to be doing today.

Once they were at the station Haru pulled out a notebook and scanned it then consulted the map over their head. "Okay, we need to go there to catch the right bus," she said and grabbed his hand and dragged him along behind her.

He shook his head and chuckled, following her through the crowded station. He heard a lot of conversation about the Yomimuri Giants game that was going to be happening later this afternoon and talk about the rivalry between them and the Tigers. Wistfully he wondered what it would be like to see the game, but figured Haru had something else completely different in mind. The tickets to the game were sold out the moment they were on sale.

They clambered onto the bus and Yamamoto noted that a lot of the passengers were wearing their fan gear for the baseball team and glanced down at Haru. "Haru, how did you get tickets?" he asked.

Haru turned to look at him in surprise. "How did you figure it out?" she demanded.

"Lucky guess," he replied.

Haru pouted a bit then answered. "Father has an acquaintance who is a season ticket holder and something came up and he couldn't attend the game so Father acquired the tickets for me."

Yamamoto chuckled and reached out and ruffled her hair before settling down next to her in the seat. The enthusiasm on the bus was contagious and he felt his own excitement rising. He got caught up in a conversation about the teams and what he thought the result of the day's game was going to be and it carried on until they reached the stadium, at which point he finally remembered that he had someone with him. He turned to Haru and found her dozing with her head against the window and smiled ruefully. He reached out and tapped her shoulder and she started awake turning her eyes on him. "Sorry, Haru, I didn't mean to ignore you," he apologized.

She shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. "It's okay," she said. "I'm sorry I don't know a lot about baseball to hold up the other end of a conversation."

"Don't worry about it," he said and offered her a hand up.

She took it and he didn't let go of her hand as they made their way out of the bus. "I don't want to lose you in the crowd," he explained to Haru and her smaller hand tightened in his.

"Where are our seats?" he asked as they made their way through the milling crowd.

"I'm at least keeping that a surprise," Haru said.

He laughed. "All right," he replied and they wound their way to the concession stands and picked up some drinks and snacks.

They stopped by the bathrooms and Haru vanished inside and Yamamoto was distracted by one of the souvenir stands. He picked up the merchandise and turned to see Haru halfway cornered against a wall by a man who already had a flush of alcohol on his cheeks.

"C'mon girlie, whatcha doin' here if you're not pickin' up a boyfriend?" the man slurred.

"Having a date with her boyfriend," Yamamoto said dangerously and grabbed the man's wrist pulling his hand off her shoulder.

The man's eyes moved upwards and met Yamamoto's and he swallowed heavily. "Shorry, I'll be…" he mumbled and stumbled away.

"Thank you," Haru said. "Where were you?"

Yamamoto plunked a Giants hat down on her head. "You'll need something to protect your skin from the sun," he said. "I'm sorry I wasn't back in time to stop that from happening."

Haru tilted her head up trying to look around the brim of the hat. "It's okay, he wasn't taking no for an answer," she said and pushed the hat up. "Haru is supposed to be buying everything today."

Yamamoto adjusted his new ballcap and smiled. "I can't let you pay all the outrageous prices on this stuff," he said.

They made their way in the direction Haru indicated and she handed him the lanyard with his ticket before they ascended the stairs after a nod from security. They came out a few rows above home plate and his eyes widened and he whistled. "Here?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied. "Haru was assured these were really good seats…"

"They are," he said. "Thank you."

She gave him a relieved smile and they took their seats and Yamamoto watched as his favorite team went into extra innings and finally pulled the win out of a two-run homerun by his favorite player.

They made their way out of the stadium and stopped at a little shop near the train station and got the house special and took a seat in a relatively quiet corner. They chatted together about the game and school and about a hundred different things they hadn't really talked about before. They made it to the station just in time to catch the last train stopping in Namimori and Haru fell asleep on his shoulder on the way.

Yamamoto smiled and gently trailed his fingers over the hair that escaped her ponytail over the course of the day, barely restraining the urge to place a kiss on her forehead.

Haru woke up just as they reached the Namimori station and they gathered their things including the bag of peanuts Haru picked up for her father and exited the train. He took her bag from her and hefted it onto his shoulder as they made their way towards her house. "Thank you for the game today," he said with a smile. "It was one of the best birthdays I've had in a while."

Haru smiled up at him and then dropped her eyes to the sidewalk. "I'm glad," she said simply. "I wanted to make sure you had a good one."

They reached her house and she took her bag from him and dig out his school ID and handed it to him. Yamamoto chuckled, he'd forgotten she had it. "Thank you," he said simply.

"Haru has a question…" Haru said slowly.

Yamamoto cocked his head to the side and met her eyes hidden in the shadow cast by her bangs in the streetlight outside of her house. "Are you my boyfriend?" she asked.

Yamamoto blinked and then recalled the incident earlier. "I could be if you wanted me to," he said, "but if you don't that's okay too."

Haru beamed at him. "Yes."