Unseen

When The Rain Arrives

"Oh, I didn't know you were an early bird." A smirk widen across her face.

I chuckle as I saw Yujiro waiting for me at the root of the tree, sitting patiently with the same bunny. She wore a blue yukata and had a white obi nicely wrapped around her waist; her mask placed on her face but she took it of as I arrived, hiding it in her obi. Her hair was let down, flowing gently in the light breeze that flew by us.

"I was bored, couldn't sleep I guess." I shrugged trying to deceive her. 

"さ、行きましょか？(Well, shall we go?)" Yujiro got up and grabbed my hand as she skipped her way to a different part of the forest that I've never ventured to before. 　

She dragged me along to a small path that lead to steep steps to what looked like a shrine. My suggestion was quickly wronged when she dragged my up the stairs. I panted as we reached the top, but it seemed like she was giggling. How the hell does she have so much stamina? Those stairs were long!

Yujiro then let go of my hand as I recovered from the short trip up the tiring stairs. I look up to see a summer festival in the middle of the forest, the bright lights illuminating the darkness of the forest making it almost blinding.

"You should hold onto me, wouldn't want to get lost now would we?" Yujiro smiled, "Plus I know this place better than you."

I quickly grab onto her hand fully ready for my hand to freeze up. Peculiarly, her hand wasn't just cold, but it had a windy feel to it. I didn't bother asking, I just wanted to spend my last summer festival with her. I'm going back tomorrow after all, I might not come back with all the financial problems we're having at home.

The mouth drooling scent of takoyaki roams its way around the booths, alluring us in. We look at each other realising that we haven't any money, but that doesn't stop our stomachs from holding back. 

We return grins and that is the cue for 'fridge raider Mide' to pop out. We creep up to the small line in front of the stand, reaching our hands into the stall before my shoulder got tapped.

"Kazuku-shonen, what are you trying to do?" A familiar voice appeared as I quickly retracted my hand to turn around only to see Tanaka-san, Ryouka-san, Yuuta-san, Daichi-san and Hanashi-san all behind me.

"O-oh! Tanaka-san! I-I was just um-"

"Uroko-san, I thought you said that you were going straight to the platform?" I was cut of by Yujiro thankfully saving us from getting sued by that takoyaki stand owner. She tilted her head slightly towards my way as she winked playfully. 

"I was, until Seishin over here strayed away to get some cotton candy." Tanaka-san glared at Ryouka-san for a moment before getting interrupted.

"What? Can't blame me, I just wanted a snack." Ryouka-san shrugged.

"Since we're close by, why don't we all get some? Uroko-san's treat!" Yujiro insisted. I looked over to Tanaka-san to see him baffled speechless.

"えーえ？？？(Huh???)"Tanaka-san stuttered, "Excuse me! I did not agree to pay for your snacks!" 

It was too late. Yujiro and Seishin grabbed us all and went sprinting down the pathway, laughing. Now this is a sight to see.

We pushed through the crowd of people as we made our way to a small stand at the end of the pathway. A dimly lit stand that had a cotton candy machine.

Ryouka-san purchased 6 fluffy cotton candies from the small stand. He happily speed walked his way back to the group as he handed each one to us.

"One for me, one for Uroko-san, one for Daichi-san, one for Momoka-chan, one for Youta, and one for Mide!" Ryouka-san handed out the cotton candies, but Yujiro didn't get one.

"What about Yuki-chan?" I asked using her cute nickname but that got me 'crush' stares from all the others.

"I just came for the fireworks. Snacks while it's going on, doesn't really work for me." Yujiro smiled although, it seemed more like a sad smile than a happy one.

"O-ok." I stutter as the group moves along to a small wooden platform at a very open space in the middle of nowhere.

I stare in awe as we settled down. The platform had no roof; wooden benches circled a small table in the middle.

Laughter popped up every now and then in the hut as the sky got darker and darker. A loud burst in the sky appeared, showering us in a burst of bright light. 

The fireworks have begun.

A the clear sky was soon filled with multi-colored flowers that explode with a loud shout. 

"わあ～！花火は確かに美しいですよね？(Waa~! The fireworks sure are beautiful aren't they?)" Yuuta-san dragged on while she stared straight into the flower illusions exploding in the sky.

I nodded at her tilting my head look at Yujiro. To my shock, she disappeared. In panic, I start whipping my head left to right until I give up. I run into the wave of trees searching for her. I run as fast and far as my legs could carry me, I almost trip from my yukata's tight grasp on my legs.

I eventually find a shadow that loomed over me, I look over to see Yujiro standing on a rock in the river.

"Yujiro...YUJIRO!" I call out her name as I jog towards her. Her shoes were off, maybe she was planning to take a swim?

"Yuki.....chan?" I make my way down to the river while taking of my slippers, "Get down from there it's dangerous."

She turns around and sits down the rock as she hears me call her name. The sky starts to rumble again, the rain is coming. Small droplets of rain trickle down my face as they get louder and louder pounding on the ground. The clouds start crying again, the forecast was right after all. 

"We should go inside, it's going to pour down hard tonight." I press my voice just above the rain's volume so that she could hear me. A lightning struck near by as it got louder, I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this.

"I can't believe you still come after me even though you should've stayed with them." She laughed disbelievingly, her head tilted down. "After all, you'll be in more pain when I'm gone."

What?

She stood up and I could now see her face, that happy face of hers turned into a sad mess. Tears trickled down her face and so did the rain, a sad smile plastered on her face.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked, waiting a few seconds. She didn't reply. 

"Yuki-chan, this is not funny. Let's go..."

"Thank you for giving me a reason to dress up one more time, I was selfish for talking to you again. I don't deserve to be your friend...I'm horrible at this!" She laughed through the whole thing as the thunder drew ever closer.  

Suddenly, a lightning struck down exactly where she was standing.

"YUKI!!!"