I'll Light the Darkness

It was a dreary day. Dark clouds hung over the town. Rain was forecasted for later in the day. It was one of those days where you just wanted to crawl back in bed and sleep. Unfortunately, it was a week day, so that wasn't possible. At least tomorrow was the weekend, so it wasn't too unbearable.

It started pouring down rain an hour before school was let out. It was a heavy rain. Thankfully, no thunder or lightning accompanied it.

It was almost four now. The rain hadn't let up. Most students were gone by now. There were a few left. The student council was still there. They had work to do.

At the moment, it was only Sayo and Rinko in the room. They were silently working away at some forms. The dull thudding of the rain and the scratching of pens was all they heard.

Then, the lights went out. Sayo blinked in surprise. A power outage now? What happened? She didn't know and wasn't particularly bothered by it. She just sighed. Now they were delayed even more with all of this work.

Sayo glanced over at where Rinko was sitting. The girl hadn't made a single noise since the lights went out. She hadn't even put down her pen. Sayo couldn't make her out very well yet, but she could see that Rinko was sitting as stiff as a board in her seat.

"Shirokane-san? Are you alright?" Sayo called gently, not wanting to startle her.

Rinko slowly put down her pen. Her breathing was heavy and ragged. Sayo stared at her for a bit, until it clicked. Rinko must be afraid of the dark.

"Rinko, are you alright?" Sayo repeated, hoping to get at least some answer out of the poor girl.

Rinko brought her gaze to meet Sayo's. Sayo could see the fear in her eyes. On a closer inspection, she found that Rinko was shaking.

Sayo knew she had to do something. She couldn't just leave Rinko in this state. But, what could she do? She wasn't exactly the most emotional person.

"Are you afraid of the dark?" Sayo asked, though she knew what the answer would be.

Rinko nodded slightly. She lowered her gaze. Sayo reached out and grabbed Rinko's hands. She squeezed them reassuringly.

"I'm here. You don't need to be afraid." Sayo said calmly.

Rinko was still stiff. Sayo didn't know what else to do to ease her worries. She was grateful there was no thunder outside. She could only imagine how much worse that would make all of this.

"May I ask what it is that scares you?" Sayo questioned.

"In the dark... I see things... I know they aren't real, but it scares me..." Rinko whispered, her voice barely audible.

"I'm here. You don't have to worry. Nothing will happen." Sayo said, "If anything does, I'll protect you, okay?"

Rinko gave her a slight nod. She slowly looked up at Sayo again. Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness. They could see each other clearly now.

"Let me check if anything is happening to fix this." Sayo pulled out her phone.

She searched for news about it. There wasn't much. Most of the town had lost power. That much she knew. She couldn't find how long until they could get the power on, though.

"Fuck."

"W-what is it?" Rinko asked. That was the first time she had heard Sayo curse.

"We're under a flood warning. We can't leave until it's lifted. That won't be till midnight." Sayo explained, "So... guess we're stuck here for the night."

Rinko's eyes flashed with panic. Sayo knew this wasn't ideal. It would be better for them to be at a house. But, it was far too risky going out.

"Where are the others at?" Sayo whispered to herself as she started sending texts to find out.