The Winners Take It All | Chishiya

The rain's fateful tears

I hated rain.

Why today? Why did it always have to rain when I didn't take my umbrella?

I now stood in front of the main entrance of the hospital and thought about how I could get home dry.

Taxi?

No, too expensive.

Wait for Hinata?

A good idea in itself, but she had already left work an hour ago because she had a doctor's appointment. Obiki was already gone and Chishiya... Well, I still couldn't really look him in the eye.

I just had to- oh no... no... NO!

I saw the rush of water too late and was hit directly.

What the hell?!

A car intentionally drove past me way too fast! And stupid me, I hadn't looked at the license plate!

That would have been a lot of money if I had reported the driver...

Now that it didn't matter anyway, I could walk. My clothes were now soaking wet and the cold wind raised goose bumps on the back of my neck. Hopefully I don't catch a cold now...

"Hayashi-chan?"

I turned around only to look Chishiya directly in the eyes. The blush immediately returned to my face and I lowered my gaze so that he wouldn't notice. But I didn't miss his grin.

"Come on, you'll get yourself killed if you stand here," he instructed me, before a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me along. Suddenly I was walking next to him; he was holding an umbrella, which he shared with me.

Once again out of character for him...

Wait... wait... the two of us were alone... Shit, shit, shit! I vowed to give him the puzzle when I had the chance! And I had also promised my three friends... Oh no, where did he even take me?

"It would be an advantage if you picked up the pace... At this rate I'll be soaking wet too," he instructed me and I concentrated on the rhythm of his steps.

How embarrassing...

Amazingly, we stopped in front of a modern apartment complex. He pulled out a key and opened the large glass front door before we entered the bare hallway.

It slowly dawned on me. It wasn't what I just thought, was it?

He pressed the elevator button after putting his umbrella in the designated compartment to let it dry. I use the short break to look around secretly.

Somehow this was quite luxurious...

The elevator came and we got in, he pressed the four.

"You can go take a shower right now, I'll lend you a few things. Then I'll drive you home in the car," he said as he pulled his hair out of his braid and let it hang loose.

"Uh... I don't want to cause you any trouble, Chishiya-kun!" I wanted to wave him off, but he pointed to the wet clothes.

"Any more of this stuff and you'll get sick, Hayashi-chan," the tone of his voice didn't allow for any argument, so I surrendered and followed him to his apartment.

It was a pretty comfortable dwelling.

To be honest, I didn't expect it from him, but he seemed to place a high value on compatibility. His furniture matched the wall color, his "decor" matched the furniture, and so on.

"There's the bathroom up front, I'll bring you a few more things right away," he said and was about to turn around when I reached for his sleeve and held it tight.

Fuuuuck, that wasn't planned.

He looked at me expectantly, seeming to be waiting for me to say something.

Now or never.

I put the words in my mind.

Words I had learned from a wise woman... that I wanted to pass on to him before I disappeared into the bathroom.

"By chance you see each other, you feel each other, you stay. And then you become intertwined."

It was suddenly so easy to say those words. It was like I had already done it once.

Without looking at him again, I disappeared into his bathroom and closed the door behind me. Then I waited.

I heard his footsteps, he seemed to be strolling through the apartment... What was he doing?

Then there was a knock on the door.

"I left you some clothes and towels," I heard him say from the other side of the door and opened it carefully.

His face was right in front of mine.

I backed away in shock, my heart doing a thousand somersaults.

So we stood there, staring at each other and feeling each other's breath on our faces.

"How brave of you," his crooning sent goosebumps up the back of my neck again, "I wouldn't have expected that, Ayu-chan."

Wait...Wait...WAIT!!!

The heat rose to my face and I thought my heart would completely jump out of my chest this time.

He called me by my nickname...

He... Chishiya... How?

"Hinata-chan was probably right," he said with a grin before taking a little distance, "Damn, now I owe her 10,000 yen..."

I looked at him with wide eyes.

There were exactly two things that bothered me:

1. What the hell did Hinata have to do with it?

2. Why didn't he give me an answer?

Oh damn, his grin got wider...

"You twisted my head, Ayu, now you have to face the consequences..."

The answer hit me like a punch in the stomach.

So sudden, so short and yet so meaningful.

"I-I," my voice trailed off as he looked into my eyes and I lost myself in his.

"So speechless?" he wanted to know and then... then the fireworks exploded.

It felt so familiar when his lips touched mine.

It was as if I had kissed him before, as if everything that enveloped me in that moment was familiar.

I was the first to break away from the kiss.

But only because I had to sneeze hard. He laughed quietly.

"I have a hand free to help you shower," he murmured provocatively and I looked at him with wide eyes.

He didn't just say that, did he?

If so... what did I reply now? I couldn't just agree, what if it was just a joke on his part?

Without really thinking, I slammed the door in his face.

I heard him laugh softly and knew that I had fallen into one of his traps again. Damn, that guy was so sneaky...

But I loved him for that.

I wouldn't be able to live without him anymore.