「 only the rain 」 • TAKA

「 n i n e 」

It wasn't always that Taka skipped out on crew breakfast. He would rarely go to a cafe and order hot choco when all their kitchen supplies could offer is coffee. There are times when he is gone in the morning for fifteen to twenty minutes, and the crew wouldn't mind his absence because they know that he craves his hot choco on sweet and special days.

This day, however, is different and the band and crew doesn't know why. He's already been gone for an hour, and Toru and Ryota are fuming. Taka knows this for sure. He's put his phone on airplane mode and only left a note saying be back by rehearsal. He could already hear the buzz of the crew all the way to the Sansa's front entrance.

Stepping into the establishment with a knock, he pats his pants pocket to reassure himself that he's brought his wallet this time. He left it inside his other pair when he changed out of them last night.

The place is closed in the morning but Taka sees Jin in casual clothes, wiping the counter still. What is that thing made of? Taka thinks it may be expensive since Jin's been wiping the thing clean since last night.

"Ohayou." He greets with a bow and Jin looks up.

"Ah, Seventeen." Jin says jokingly and the corner of Taka's mouth curls up in amusement.

"Takahiro. But Taka, please." Taka says with a small graceful smirk.

"Well then, Taka. It's still too early for beer. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until it's twelve noon."

"Can't wait." Taka laughs and hands over a cash card. "For last night."

Jin accepts the card with both hands and swipes it on his cash register. Typing a few options, a receipt is then printed and handed over to Taka.

"Arigatou." He says and tucks away his card.

"Doitashimashite." Jin smiles and returns to wiping the counter.

Very odd. Taka thinks as he watches Jin endlessly clean the counter.

It's a Sunday morning and the bar opens earlier than the weekdays, Taka surmises. Usually red light district bars open at 3PM because the employees work until 5AM. It seems that Jin's the only one who runs the Sansa because he's not seen anyone else in uniform last night.

Taka eyes the jukebox and notices that it's still covered in dust upon closer inspection. He walks to it and sees that the record he chose last night was still inserted and not in its compartment. Inserting a few coins, he lets it play once more.

It's not the love, it's just the rain

Two broken hearts

But not in vain...

It's not the love, it's just the rain

Taka sings along. Closing his eyes to feel the bass of it in his bones. He remembers the rain pour last night. Remembers the beer pour down his throat straight to his gut, and thinks; that maybe, maybe the beer had something to do with it. Had orchestrated this whole fate thing.

He feels it bloom in his chest, down to his fingers and toes. The instinct that something his is finally there for the taking. He remembers her. The girl with the Daito tattoo.

But then he thinks, she's no one's to take. She proved it last night with the drunken guy. How a girl as petite as her managed to manhandle a guy out of the bar, he could not comprehend, because she's tiny and adorable--and this is coming from a guy who's height is a bit of a tricky subject.

As fast and hard as lightning, Taka is suddenly so aware of their age difference. The thought lances through his logic and he understands then that, No, she's not his. It's not his decision to make. It's hers and hers alone.

No reasons why, no one's to blame

It's not the love, it's just the rain...

Blame it on the beer. The alcohol that tastes as bitter as he is to fate. Taka thinks with a throb in his chest, and he massages his closed eyes with two fingers. Honestly, this soulmate thing is giving him a headache.

"Are you alright?" He hears Jin ask and he presses his fingers harder on his eyelids, making him see stars at the edges.

"Headache." Taka answers.

"Hangover still?"

"Ugh..."

"Lightweight." Jin teases him. "You may sue me if our beer made you sick."

"Jin, it's the beer."

"No, Taka. It's not the beer."

"It's the beer."

"It's not the beer."

"It's just the rain." A feminine voice answers in English.

Taka jumps from the jukebox and snaps his eyes open. If he were holding another mug, he'd have dropped it again in shock. Staring wide eyed at the girl sitting boredly at the bar, Taka sends a brief questioning look at Jin.

He didn't even hear her arrive.

"I... I'm sorry--I mean--I'm Taka. B-But I'm also sorry. About last night." Did he just fucking stutter? Usually he's so smooth with the ladies but now his silvertongue eludes him.

"Hello, Sorry. I am Tina." The girl answers sarcastically but she isn't looking at him, she's looking at the old jukebox.

Taka scratches his head. "My name is Taka. And I'm... sorry if I was kind of a threat last night."

"I know of you."

"You do?"

"Jin does too."

Taka pauses and looks at Jin who shrugs.

"I'm sorry." Taka apologizes again and Tina chuckles, the sound tickling his ears like sweet syrup.

"It's alright. I misunderstood your approach. But you came close to touching my birthmark. Nobody touches my birthmark." She sends him a brief glare and caresses her right shoulder.

"Sorry." Taka bows his head.

"Yeah, it's cool. So stop apologizing." Tina laughs and beckons him to sit next to her.

Taka follows and sits rigidly next to her. His heart races in his chest the way it does when he's about to step onto the stage of an arena. A behemoth of excitement and anxiety burrows deep in his chest. He casually clenches and unclenches his fist so she wouldn't notice their trembling, and smiles softly to mask how nervous he actually is to be sitting next to her. The soulmate. His soulmate.

With all his acting skills, it seems that his odd reaction doesn't go unnoticed by her, because she's raising a brow at him as if to say, "what's the matter?".

Taka stills then laughs it off, but no humor could be heard from his tone. So he plays it cool and casually swivels to face her when the tremor in his hands passes.

"May I ask..." He starts. "About your birthmark?"

She blinks to the left and thinks about it before gazing back at him with a passive face. "No."

Taka smiles disappointedly, ready to say sorry for the billionth time when she cracks a grin and tells him:

"Just kidding!"

And Taka laughs at the absurdity of the moment. He gives her a smile in return for pranking him and her grin widens. Taka decides that she's beautiful even with such a childishly roguish grin.

"Go ahead ask away." She says. "But there's a catch."

Taka grins at that. He thinks she's a fun one so he indulges her with a bring it on kind of nod. "I'm game." He tells her.

Tina eyes him for a second, a strange emotion or expression or whatever it is lights in her eyes. She pulls out a picture from her purse and slides it to him on the counter.

Taka looks at the picture of a woman holding a girl, but sees only the little girl with the complex white tattoo on her shoulder.

"You gotta help me find my mother."