Gruum!

The two kids flinched at the loud noise of the thunder. It was completely dark outside, with the lighning flashes occasionally lighting the whole world up. Last time they checked their phone—when it had charge, it showed 10:20 pm. Good thing Ruri brought cookies with her, or they would be staving to death.

They were currently taking shelter, sitting in the shade of the shrine to protect themselves from the heavy rain. It was not doing much for the cold wind, however.

'Dammit, I should have worn my shorts and brought my hoodie with me!'

Ruri inwardly cursed her past self as she shivered for deciding on wearing a skirt for today. She should have just gone for her usual half-pant, t-shirt and hoodie getup! She just had to pretty up for this... for this...

She glared at Takeshi, who was not really in any better shape. He was also shivering—in fact, he was shivering even more heavily than her! Was he more sensitive to cold than her?

Ruri remembered the boy playing around in snow without any care in the world, and not getting sick at all. Was he okay?

"...Takeshi kun?"

"Eeep! W-What?!"

She frowned at the boy, who made a weird squeel as he even jumped a little from his sitting position.

"...Are you okay? You are shivering a lot."

"Y-Yeah! I am okay! W-Well, its cold, so m-maybe not t-that much? Y-You're shivering t-too!" Takeshi replied with a trembling voice, occasionally taking glances at the sky.

Was that the effect of the cold wind? He seemed as if... as if...

"...Takkun, are you perhaps... scared?"

"..."

"..."

Ruri saw the boy's eyes get round, and then his face blush hard—really hard, like a tomato.

"H-Ha?! W-Who the hell is s-scared?! I-I'm not scared of anything!"

Ruri just looked at him blankly.

Takeshi shouted immediately as he looked completely shaken. He pointed his trembling finger at Ruri, "d-d-d-don't try to hide the fact that you're scared by blaming it on—"

Boom!

The whole world shook as a nearby tree got hit by lightning. Ruri flinched and almost screamed, but she controlled herself. It was scary, but... she was more scared of large vehicles.

Takeshi, however, was very much scared. He screamed like a horror film actress and jumped at Ruri.

"T-Takkun?! Wha—"

She stopped in shock as the boy hugged her tightly, trembling like earthquake.

"T-T-T-T-Takkun?!"

The boy, completely oblivious of Ruri's embarrassment, hugged her even tighter than before.

Feeling flustered, Ruri instinctively went for a headbutt—

But she stopped.

Takeshi kept his eyes shut, while he trembled like a scared squirrel. A part of her actually found it a little cute! What the hell! The boy usually acts all tough and boisterous—

She remained silent and let him hug her. The boy hid his face in her shoulder, his heavy breaths falling on the nape of her neck. It was a little ticklish, but she didn't hate it for some reason.

"...Don't laugh," the boy said meekly.

"...I won't," the girl replied with a calming voice.

Takeshi was getting calmer with every moment, but the occasional thunder sounds were pushing him back to square one. Ruri sighed. Seriously, what was she going to do with this big baby?

Her big baby.

She instictively started to pat his head. She softly ran her hand through the boy's hair—which was short, and a little spiky.

What the hell was with all these baseball players and buzz cuts? In her opinion, medium hair suited Takeshi more.

After a few minutes, Takeshi calmed down enough to realize the situation he was in. He immediately let go of Ruri and pushed her away—

He couldn't, as Ruri was also strongly hugging him.

"R-Ruri?! I-I am okay now, so you can let go!"

Ruri did not let go. She kept hugging him and kept patting his head like before.

"Ruri?" Takeshi squirmed, "I said I am fine! You can stop now!"

"I won't."

"Why?!"

"Because I am scared too. Now pat my head and help me calm down like I am doing to you."

"Like hell you are!"

Takeshi was dumbfounded at the blatant lie. Was she taking revenge on him for his previous embarrassment or something?

"I am scared. See, I am trembling."

"You are just shivering from cold!"

"So you won't believe me?"

"Like hell I will!"

"Okay, then let me prove it to you," said the girl as she leaned backwards a little as she pushed his head towards her chest.

"R-R-R-R-Ruri?! W-W-W-W-What—"

"Ne, Takkun... can you hear it? My heart is beating really fast. Isn't that enough proof for you?"

"That's just—!" Takeshi stopped his mouth as he almost said something super embarrassing.

"Just what, Takeshi kun?" Ruri teased him as she kept patting his head. His hairs were prickling her jaw a little, but it was not a bad feeling. She could also feel a little hint of the shampoo he used. So it was that brand, huh.

"...Nothing," the boy could say nothing in reply, so he just started patting her head in return.

Ruri leaned sideways and soon they both found themselves lying down on the cold wooden floor.

"Keep patting, or I will tell your Shishou about how you got all scared from lightning."

"P-Please don't!"

Ruri smiled in return. Somewhere inside her, she was screaming loudly in embarrassment and wishing to bury herself in a hole, but she decided to ignore it all for today. Will it be awkward tomorrow? Yes, definitely. But she would leave that to tomorrow's Ruri.

They both flinched again as another lightning fell on the earth. But they soon calmed down, patting each other's head. They also stopped shivering from the cold, finding solace in the warmth of their hug.

Ruri felt calm, calmer than ever before. Soon, they started to fall into deep slumber, slowly...
ever slowly...

 

---

 

Warning: The * mark was for all the headpats. Headpats are lewd, right? It is on par with handholding, right? Okay, back to serious stuff. There would be disturbing flashbacks ahead (and thus the + mark). Read at your own risk.

The Kobayashi household was not calm that night.

Koharu was still weeping, and her husband was comforting her, giving her words of hope and confidence. Actually, he was also quite anxious about the children, but he had to be steadfast for his wife and daughter.

Miki had already fallen asleep from crying. Sayuri pulled up a blanket on her and moved towards the adults who were still awake.

"...Miki chan has fallen asleep," she informed the Kobayashi couple and Gojima. Sunohara was already gone, muttering weird stuff about needing something.

She sat beside Koharu and took one of her hands. "You two have to eat something. Both of you havn't eaten anything since the afternoon. You will get sick if you keep doing this."

"...How am I supposed to eat anything when I don't even know if the children are hungry or not?"

Sayuri had no reply for Koharu's question. But they could not go on like this. She pleadingly looked at Satoru, who gave her a knowing nod.

"Koharu, let's eat something," he soothingly chided his wife, "we need to have energy to look for them tomorrow, right? We will not be able to do that if we both become sick, right?"

She could see the logic in her husband's reasoning, so she reluctantly nodded. Her husband led her towards the dining table.

Sayuri contentedly looked at them, and then she turned towards Gojima.

"Gojima san, you have not eaten anything yet either, right? You need to eat as well, you just got away from the hospital."

Gojima blankly looked at Sayuri and said, "you haven't eaten anything either."

Sayuri could only return an embarrassing smile. "Ahahahaha, that's also true, right? I still have the porridge I made for you with me. H-How about I warm it up and then we share it together?"

Gojima slowly nodded, and Sayuri took the box to the kitchen to heat up the porridge.

Gojima looked outside the window again. It has harshly raining, and the window was rattling violently due to the wind, ocassionally lighting up the whole room from the flashes of lightning.

He did not like rainy nights like these. It brought up bad memories. Really bad memories.

 

"Mom, Dad! I'll be going now!"
"Return before 9 pm, okay?"
"Aw come on, Dad! I'm 20 now and I'm going to drink with my friends! I'm not a kid anymore!"
"Hora Sachi! Take your umbrella with you! It is raining outside!"
"Okay Mom~"

 

Gojima stood up immediately and went outside the room, to the balcony. He needed fresh air.

It was raining outside and he was getting wet, but he did not care.

Ken, are you okay?

'...Yeah, I'm fine.

...I think you should not go outside. I will not be able to prevent you from falling sick at this rate.

'...Just for a few minutes.'

Gojima grabbed the railing and took in the cold wind into his lungs. It did not help him calm down, unfortunately. He was worried about the kids, and seeing the Kobayashi couple was reminding him of that night. The night his whole world shattered.

 

"...It's 1 am and Sachi has not returned yet..."
"...Maybe she went to one of her friend's house?"
"But Aoi, shouldn't she at least receive our phone call?"
"Maybe she is asleep! Ken chan! Stop being such a helicopter parent! Our daughter is an adult now!"
"...What if she got a boyfriend and—"
"And what?! We ourselves dated since high school, and had already had sex when we were 18! Stop being such a worry-wort!"
"...At least she has her umbrella."

 

Gojima subconsciously searched his pocket, and then remembered that he had not used a cigarette ever since he had come to this world. He should have kept a packet with him. It would have been helpful at times like these.

 

"Ken chan... I called all of her friends... none of them know where she is..."
"...We have to go to the police now, Aoi. It has already been two days."
"Sachi... w-where did you go, my daughter..."
"Don't cry, Aoi! We will find her!"

 

Gojima strongly grabbed the railing—it creaked under his strength.

The memories, they were not stopping.

 

"H-Hello? Gojima household?"
"Hello, is this Gojima Kenjirou san?"
"Y-Yes? May I ask who am I speaking with?"
"I am Inspector Makabe. It's... uh, about your daughter."
"D-Did you find her?!"
"Uh, about that..."

 

Gojima started to hyperventilate. Ubs was alarmingly saying something to him, but it felt too distant, and he could not focus.

 

"We... found a body in a forest that matched the descriptions. The forensics found the evidence of drug use and um... se— assau—"

 

Gojima fell on his knees. It was cold, and it was getting harder and harder to breath—

"Gojima san!"

Sayuri immediately ran towards him, and tried to lift him up. He was having a panic attack! Did he hide all of his anxiety?!

"Gojima san! Are you alright?! You're completely cold! You need to get inside! Why did you come to the balcony in such weather?!"

Sayuri was a little confused about what to do. She had always seen him as calm and confident. But the man in front of her right now was shaking and panting and... broken.

So she did the only thing that came to her mind.

Gojima felt a warmth embrace him. And a soft hand was ruffling through his hair. And then he heard a sweet and kind voice in his ears. At first, it felt distant, but soon it felt closer than ever.

"It's alright, Gojima san. The children are going to be okay. Everything is going to be alright."

Sayuri soothingly said these words in the shivering man's ears as she hugged him and patted his head. His hair was surprisingly smooth.

The man subconsciously hugged her back, seeking the warmth of her hug. It surprised the woman a little, but she did not mind it.

"A-Aoi... our daughter... she..."

Sayuri froze hearing those words for a moment, but she recovered immediately. It was not the right time.

"S-She will be fine. Let's go inside, okay?"
"Un."

The man slowly got up on his legs, but did not stop hugging her. She slowly led the man towards the door to the inside.

She was not his anything but a neighbor, and she did not have any right to take the place of "Aoi". But right now, she was the only one there for him.

And she would not let him go.