Under the Rain [Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS]

S1-18✩ Yu-kun and Mi-chan

-12 years ago-

The sun shone brightly in the clear azure sky with a few layers of thin white clouds accompanying it. The humid, yet warm wind gently breezed through a small bell chime, making it jingle a soft tune that resonated well with the cries of cicadas. It was a perfect day to sit down next to a slowly spinning fan while munching on a cold piece of watermelon... for some people. But for some kids, in this weather they'd still rather go play in the park with their friends until the afternoon bell called them to go home.

On that day, there were four of them in the park, huddling around one amongst them. He was a little boy with curious emerald-green eyes, and in his hands was a small bird nest with three small hatchlings. Those kids were in the middle of playing tag when he noticed those poor baby chicks, stuck on the bushes. The kids exchanged looks.

"Looks like they fell from that branch!" one boy pointed at one of the tall tree branches above their heads. "It's so high up! What do we do now?"

"We should ask the adults to put them back there," a girl worriedly murmured while observing those hatchlings. "They're crying... their mom must be worried, too!"

"But there's only us here! And Yu-kun was the one who found them. So he should put them back!" another boy replied, pointing at his startled friend. "My parents say to always be responsible! You have to be responsible, Yu-kun!"

"Umm, but..." the boy with emerald-green eyes stuttered, sneaking quick glances between the nest in his hands and that high tree branch. He then looked at his friends again and gulped upon seeing their intense stares. Finally he nodded, albeit reluctantly. "O-Okay..."

The boy took another nervous glance at the branch before preparing to climb the tree, but then, a high-pitched voice stopped him. "Wait! Let me do it!"

He and his friends turned to the source of that voice and found a grinning girl with silver ponytail and a pair of piercing ruby-red eyes. She was a bit taller than them but still looked like to be around their age. The second boy gave her a look of disapproval while walking up to her, putting his hands on his hips to assert his leadership. "Who are you? Don't try to act tough!"

"I'm ...... ......! But you can call me Mi-chan!" the girl replied, proudly. Then while gently taking the nest from Yu's hands, she said again, "I'm not acting tough. I said that because I'm a good climber! Watch!"

And just like she said, she easily climbed up that tree, put the nest back where it was, and climbed down. The other kids applauded her bravery once she was back with them. "You're good! Say, you want to play with us?" asked the first boy with glitters in his eyes.

The girl whipped her head. "Sure! And it's not 'you', it's Mi-chan! What are we gonna play?"

Shortly after that, those five kids got along quickly and continued playing tag together. The sun was getting higher, and with it the temperature had also risen, but they seemed to be too preoccupied in their exciting game to notice it. Yu stopped running for a while to catch his breath, looking at the vast sky through the small gaps between his fingers. His eyes narrowed in confusion when he saw there were two blurry suns instead of one in the sky.

"Yu-kun? What's wrong?" the red-eyed girl noticed him panting and also stopped running. Then without warning, he suddenly passed out.

"Yu-kun...!!"

..........
.......
.....
...
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When Yu finally regained his consciousness, he could feel a cold towel on his forehead that also covered his eyes. He also could feel a soft thing cushioning his head, although he had no idea what that was. His hand moved to uncover that towel from his eyes, then when he finally could see clearly, he was greeted with the sight of slowly rustling foliage above his head and the red-eyed girl's cheerful smile. He blinked several times and blushed when he realized that the soft thing that was cushioning his head was actually her lap. He felt too weak to move, so he only shyly averted his gaze. "Um, what happened?"