Gears | A Rainbow Quest Street Racing AU

Street Light

Friday, May 5th - 9:58 pm - Two years prior to Rainbow's Death

"Hey, Elemental?" Rainbow turns down the radio and I look over at him, worried. He usually never turned down the radio on his favorite song.

"Yeah Rain? What's up, something on your mind?" Rain lets out a sigh as we pull up to a stoplight, rain splattering the windshield silently.

"Do you- Do you think I'm a good brother to Sabre?" I pause and look at Rain, his rainbow colored hair shining in the light that came from a nearby streetlight. This was out of nowhere.

"Yeah, you are the best brother he could ever have. Why? Has something got you worried?" Rain sighs and runs his hands through his hair, leaning back in his seat.

"I just- I wonder if being a street racer is a good idea. El, I could get in trouble one day with one of the gangs, and I don't want- I don't want Sabre caught up in all that. You know?" He looks at me and I place my hand on his shoulder. Worry wasn't a good look on Rain.

"Hey- Rain, Sabre looks up to you like you're his guardian angel. You being a street racer just shows him that you are brave and would do anything for him. If anything dude, your rivals should be jealous of the relationship you have with your brother. You'd do anything for him. Even I'm jealous of your commitment to him..." The light turns green and Rain sighs and puts his hands back on the wheel and starts driving again, the light rain drumming on the windshield.

"You're right, El. Maybe I am just... worrying a bit too much about it all." Rain exhales softly and turns the radio back up with a smile on his face. However, I could tell he was just trying to put on a smile for me, to hide his fear. I knew when Rain was fake smiling, cause his posture would become rigid, the corners of his mouth would be firm, and he'd avoid looking at me. I didn't want to downplay that he could end up in trouble with a gang one of these days, but I didn't want him to be hiding things from me. Heck, I was his closest friend for a reason. I turn the radio off a bit roughly and punch Rain's shoulder not too softly, prompting a grunt and a glance from him for a moment.

"Rain, I don't know if you are trying to put on a smile to make me feel better, or yourself, but you can drop it." I lower my voice a tone as he shoots me a look. "You know I can see through them and it does you no good for yourself. Dude, you don't want to think about what will happen to Sabre when you're gone, don't you." Rain lets out a sigh, his eyes dead on the road. He's silent, but I could tell from his body language, I hit it on the head. We finally make it to the diner we were meeting the others at, and Rain pulls into the lot and parks.

"Ugh... You're- right, El. I'm worried... I just- I don't want him to be left alone with Daisy and Dad, you know? Both of them don't get Sabs like I do and they'll... they'll push him past his limits. Especially with- You know. Sabs and my's actual mom... gone. Daisy's sweet, but doesn't know how to handle him, much less our own dickhead of a dad." Rain turns off the car and sighs, rubbing his neck as he goes limp. I knew what he meant. For a while, my own dad didn't know how to handle raising two sons on his own until he finally reached out to Rainbow's dad and asked for help. I never truly had the greatest relationship with my dad, yet now that I was older, I could understand the stress he had, and tried my hardest to make it easier on him. Maybe I should ask him if we could hang out later.

I place my hand on Rain's shoulder and rub it gently, letting my friend know I understood and was there for him.

"Look, I get that. I'm unsure if my mom would be scared stiff at the thought of my dad raising her two sons on his own. Heh. Dad said she worried too much. However- thinking about those things- Yeah, it's scary. I know that myself, dude. I can't stand the thought of leaving Ti all alone by himself. But I know you're strong, Rain- You wouldn't be here today if you didn't have the guts or will for your brother." I playfully hit his shoulder, much gentler this time.

He smiles at me and I quickly poke his cheek, prompting him sticking out his tongue at me. He bats my finger away and unbuckles then opens his door chuckling.

"Oh- Come on, leave me alone about that El!" He laughs and I unbuckle and open my door, getting out.

"Nah, not anytime soon gay boy!" Rain huffs and runs around the car and I duck out of the way to avoid him hitting me on the head.

"Get back here before I actually decide to kiss you, you little shit!" I duck another swat and run out into the near empty parking lot, laughing as Rain tries to grab me.

"Try as much as you want, you are never getting this dude 'Ladies man'!" I tease Rain and he actually manages to grab my collar. With a shove, he forces me to the wet pavement, grinning.

"Now you were saying El?~" He gets up in my face before he winks and laughs as he stands up and extends his hand to me to help me up. I laugh and take it, having wondered for only a split second in the very back of my mind if he was actually gonna kiss me. You couldn't be too certain with Rain, he was one to actually make do on his word.

I rub my head which hurt now from the impact of hitting the pavement and we both laugh our heads off, the rain cooling us off.

"Hey! You two dipshits done fucking around with each other or are you gonna get in here?!" I look to see Royal standing in the doorway of the diner, staring Rain and I down with his fist on his hip. Moody as ever. Rain punches my shoulder and we both walk inside, wet from the rain.

"There you two are! About time! You're nearly 20 minutes late! In fact, you are 17 minutes and 23 seconds late! Be grateful I spared you the detail of nanoseconds!" Professor complains and crosses his arms, seeming annoyed at having to wait on us.

"Aw, catch us a break. I had a late race and needed to drop off Ti at my place with Sabs." Rain slides into the booth next to Nightmare and I slide in beside him, not wanting to get too close to the gang member. Sure we were on equal terms, but it didn't mean I trusted him entirely. But that applied to Royal as well. Royal huffs and slides in beside Professor who rolls his eyes.

"Sure, you two were fucking around in the parking lot." Royal rolls his eyes, looking at us bored. "You two sure you don't have a secret fling going on we don't know about?" He teases and I chuckle and shake my head as Rain slicks back his usually wild hair and styles it for a moment, being very picky with it.

"Nah Leon, you'd see me all over him if it was." I snap my head to look at Rain and elbow him hard, causing him to grunt and start laughing. I could feel my face was getting hot even at the slight mention of Rain and I being a thing. We were just buddies who's fathers knew each other, that's all. "Shut up dude! Don't make me find you an actual boyfriend!"

"Ah quit your griping you two." Royal says in a bored tone, but I catch him smirking as he pulls out his phone from his pocket. Ugh. Asshole.

 I shiver as the cold from the diner sets in and I cross my arms, leaning against the table.

"Should make this quick. That black car has been sitting across the street ever since Royal and Professor pulled in and I get a bad feeling from it." Nightmare looks over at Rain and I as Rain relaxes in the booth, placing his hands behind his head.

"Aw, it's probably just nothing Mare. Don't be superstitious." Rain glances at me and grins. Yet, something did feel a bit off to me.

Eh, It was probably nothing.

"Hey, where's Light? Thought he'd be here by now," Rain says and looks out the window. I shrug and look at the diner and some of the oldies references up on the wall.

"He called me to say that he had a late shift at the hospital tonight so he wouldn't be able to make it." Royal mumbles and scrolls through something on his phone. After a moment, a waitress comes up and asks us for our orders.

I order my usual and as the others do, I turn to look to see the black car Mare was talking about, sitting across the street. I shake off a feeling of dread and keep up with the conversation.

Something still didn't settle right with me that night.

And later, I knew why.

Cause I was about to witness my dad get shot from his car at his race.