Portraits of our dreams (Hashirama x Madara)

15. Salty rain water (Madara)

I decided to go out running while waiting for Hashi to come back from meeting his friend.

As I set out in a slow pace, I started planning a noodle dish in my head so that me and Hashi could eat together once he got back. I had just learned how to make homemade soy sauce, and would add some fried carrots, broccoli and other greens to the dish alongside crispy tofu.

I was just deciding on how to make a homemade mango smoothie to go with it when it started to rain. I didn't mind running in the rain, but this was like a waterfall, making it impossible to see more than a short distance in front of you. I decided to take shelter inside a hotel lobby, into which a few unlucky pedestrians were already running to wait out the rain. I would do the same until the rain lightened up so I could continue; this magnitude of downpour never lasted. 

But in that hotel lobby, I would get the shock of my life.

At first, my heart jolted in happiness. Hashirama! Out and about with his friend! I was just going to go up to them to say hi when a voice spoke up in my mind.

Why is he coming down a hotel elevator? And not out of the hotel bar?

And then, I saw who he was with.

And it felt as though all blood fell out of my body; as if I were a planet that lost its gravity and all of the oceans poured off it.

No... No, it can't be.

Hashirama. And my abusive ex. Coming out of a hotel elevator together, looking dishevelled.

Without thinking, I hid behind a pillar before they could see me. Although I probably didn't need to worry; they seemed to have eyes only for each other. They stopped before the exit, and Hashirama grabbed hold of my ex's hand.

And then, a wave of realisation hit me.

That uneasy feeling had always followed when I hugged Hashirama, from the very first time I felt his scent up until now. I suddenly realised what it was. It was the same scent as I had found on my ex every Friday evening when he came home drunk after having fucked someone else.

Never in a million years could I ever have guessed that someone else was my beloved Hashirama.

I had no memory of how I got home.

When I opened the door, Hashirama was already there. When he saw me, his face broke out in something I could only describe as relief and happiness.

"Madara!" Why was he so happy to see me? Did he know no shame? "Oh my God, you're drenched! Why didn't you take shelter from the rain?"

"Oh", I said stupidly. I hadn't realised I had run back in the rain, but I was as wet as if I had taken a shower.

"Let me help you."

Hashirama took a step forwards with his arms out, and I took a step back on pure reflex. I could feel the terror in my eyes. 

"Madara?" Hashirama suddenly looked worried.

I can just leave it. Just pretend I never saw anything. Go on about this life with Hashirama in happiness and peace. It would be so easy. 

I snapped.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

I didn't recognise my voice as I screamed at the man that I had believed that I loved, and that I had believed loved me, too. Tears were pouring down my cheeks, blending with the rain water, making it salty.