When the Rain is Made of Teardrops

sᴀᴛᴏ ᴛᴀɪᴋɪ.

She stretched her arms up while yawning. It was only five in the morning. She received a message from the Director that they will arrive by seven as the team building will start at eight. The other departments prepared the whole program and all they need to do is to participate even if they don't want to. They changed clothes and then, they went to the stream behind the hall. It was just shallow and they will be able to cross it to get it to the other side of the forest.

The scavenger hunt will start later at night, so the introductions happened during the morning. She sat at the side and watched them play in the stream. Her gaze was focused on the man who appeared in front of her last night. He was there again and she felt like he was protecting her. She doesn't know why she is comfortable with his presence. She saw him smiling and it was the first time that it was not a sad one. It just faded when Kenta told her that the Director wants to talk with them.

"Are you feeling comfortable with our team building today?" The Director asked and she smiled while nodding. Of course, if something happens to her, it will reflect on the whole headquarters' negligence. She just woke up from comatose months ago and they don't want it to happen again.

"I will be careful and at the same time, enjoy it. Don't worry too much." She assured them that she will be alright during the whole day but what they didn't know is it will just start that night. She went back to her seat and saw that the man was no longer there. She looked around for him until the other police officers invited her to play with the water.

Later that night, everyone prepared for the scavenger hunt. Each pair got flashlights, a radio transceiver and then, she tied up the ribbon on her wrist so that she couldn't lose it. They received the paper with instructions and the map and they talked for fifteen minutes since the pair who will finish it the fastest will be the winner. They will be the third one to start, so she memorized all the important stops. The Director called them out and asked them to get ready because it will be their turn soon. After a few minutes, the second pair finally got back and they recorded their time. She took deep breaths and then, their time started.

They arrived at the first stop and followed the instructions written on the paper. After that, they quickly finish the other tasks on every stop until there is only one who needs to go to the abandoned house and do the remaining tasks. Kenta entered the abandoned house while she stayed outside. She saw the man again but then, a hand covered her hand and dragged her away from place.

She struggled until she was able to run away from her captor but then, she was knocked out when something was injected on her arm. She fell in her captor's arms and then, he carried her to the secluded spot where he dug a special grave for her. He laid her down there and then, he took the shovel to cover her with the soil. The man felt the breeze getting colder as it passed by and then, the ghost who kept on staying beside her suddenly appeared. He continued to bury her until the ghost started to use his strength to push the man away from her.

Meanwhile, Kenta just finished the tasks and radioed their Director that they were already done when he noticed that she wasn't there. He looked for her and he found a suspicious man hiding in the darker part of the forest. He quietly approached him until he realized that Ren was there. He took his gun from the holster and then, he pointed it to the man's temple.

"Who are you and why are you doing this?" He asked but the man suddenly attacked him. They know that he couldn't fire the gun right away unless it will be used as self-defense. Since the man attacked him, he pulled the trigger but made sure it wasn't pointed to anyone else. Everyone who heard the gunshot looked for them right away.

"There!" One of the police officers found them and he held on to the man tightly before it could escape. They found her half-buried, so they immediately got her out from the hole and then, they arrested the man who tried to kill her.

The authorities arrived after getting an emergency call from them. They rushed her to the hospital and called her family to inform them what happened. Sekai was the first one to arrive at the hospital. He looked for her sister and then, he found Kenta staying outside her private room. The younger one felt responsible for what happened. If he just didn't leave her alone there, it would not happen.

"She's already safe. The doctor said that the sedative injected to her will take a few hours and she will wake up soon." He said to the older one and Sekai walked inside the room. He suddenly felt a peculiar presence when he walked in and his jaw tightened when he saw him. He didn't say anything as he could see the man who tried to protect her from the culprit.

When their mother arrived, he told her that he would go out for a minute to get some coffee. He gave him a look, telling him to follow him outside. When they arrived at the hospital garden, he finally faced him. The younger one smiled faintly and bowed his head. He hasn't seen that face for such a long time. He let out a sigh and accepted his fate to be the medium of the two.

"Aniki.. I need to protect Ren. Someone wants her dead." He finally spoke. Sekai couldn't say anything as they both know that he can't do much because he is just a ghost. He messed up his hair, trying to think what they could do about it.

"Taiki, if you keep on lurking around and abuse your powers to help her, your soul will vanish. There is always a fair consequence on everything you do." He said before leaving to get a can of coffee from the vending machine.

"Aniki! Aniki! Please, I will do anything for her. I just want to make sure that she will be safe and she will have someone who can take care of her before I can leave." He added but Sekai didn't give him another look again.