Friendships for a Rainy Day

[dragonofmemory]

Friendships for a Rainy Day
By: Star Dragonsong
Disclaimer: I don't own Weiß Kreuz and make no claim to.
Summary: Rain. Cold, dark and bleak to most. But to a special few it can bring so much more. It can bring renewal.
Characters: Aya Fujimiya, Omi Tsukiyono
Author's thanks: Janette, you wanted me to write you something, so this one's for you. I would also like to thank my two beta readers on this, Cosette and Weissangel24.
Notes:  Welcome to one of my many Weiß fics.  This is based partly on the White Shaman manga where the first run in Aya has with being an professional assassin is when he joins Weiß. Crashers never really happened. That doesn’t really have much to do with the fic itself, but explains some of Aya’s mentality in the fic. So die hard Weiß fans, please don’t be confused. Everyone else, this means nothing to you anyway. Just enjoy reading it.

There are no pairings in this one-shot, even though it is centered around Aya and Omi. No romance. I’m horrible at writing romance. Just a nice little fic to give Omi some disgustingly cute moments and warm fuzzy feelings to all. Though, if you want to see it as shounen-ai as half my friends claim it is, you're more than welcome to see it that way. But I still maintain that it's as the title says.

 

It was raining. It was raining so hard, even umbrellas were useless. And the clouds in the heavens weren’t going to stop crying anytime soon. Every so often, Aya would look up to see a flash of lighting followed by a distant thunder clap.

Rain. He hated it. It always reminded him of that night. And right now, he felt as bleak as the weather. The rain poured down his cheeks like the tears he would never cry. His world was dark now. Too many clouds for the sunlight to break through.

His life used to be full of sunlight. But the only beam of light to shine through now was sleeping silently in a hospital. And on days like this, the clouds managed to obstruct even the hope of her waking up.

It was times like these that he thought about ‘What if’s.’ What if she never woke up? What if she did? What if she hated him for taking her name? What if he could not hold her in his blood stained arms? What if she would be afraid of him?

On days like these, the prospect of her waking up was just as terrifying as never seeing her eyes open again.

The rain that drenched Aya left him cold, inside and out. It was his luck to be out on a delivery when the storm started. Add to the fact that the covering over his head did not help keep him dry at all... Oh, how Aya-chan would laugh to see him now. Drenched to the bone driving a pink golf cart.

But being a florist was sure as hell better than his night job.

Aya stopped in front of a park. He decided he was already soaked and depressed, so why not brood in silence? Going back to the shop would just make more commotion then he wanted to deal with right now. Why did his new team mates have to be so... loud? He would have expected other assassins to be more like himself. The silent type.

As soon as he got off of the cart, he realized that the little roof had protected him, just a little. The rain lashed at him the second he stepped out from under the awning. Aya didn’t think it was possible to be wetter. He had been wrong.

Too late now. He stuffed the keys in his soaked pocket and wandered around the park, unconsciously going under a tree if there was one. But if there were none... Well, he didn’t quicken his pace.

The park was completely empty. Not that he blamed anyone. Aya must have been insane to come out here. Really. He was probably going to get pneumonia and die, and then who would take care of his sister? He was being totally irrational.

What the hell? There was someone else out in the rain!?

Taking in his surroundings, Aya noticed he had walked into the playground section of the park. And on a swing - all alone - sat a young blond-haired boy. What was a kid doing out in a storm like this? Try as he might, Aya couldn’t make out any of the boy’s features beside his hair.

Getting closer, he saw that it was the youngest member of his new team of assassins. Tsukiyono Omi. He was swinging on the swing set happily. In the rain. This could only mean one thing. That the kid was more insane than himself. “Omi, what are you doing?” The kid was so startled that he nearly fell out of the swing.

Regaining his balance, the kid stopped the swing and grinned up at Aya. “Aya-kun! You scared me! Do you like to play in the rain too?” Aya knew the kid was sixteen, but he didn’t look it. And right now, he wasn’t acting it. It was hard to believe this kid, of all people, was an assassin. How in the world did that happen?

Aya shook his head. “You’re going to get sick.”

“I do this every time it rains and I haven’t gotten sick yet!” He laughed and motioned for Aya to sit in the swing next to him. It was just as wet as he was, so Aya really couldn’t think of any way to get out of it. The red head finally took the seat, but felt extremely self-conscious about it. He hadn’t sat in a swing since... long before Aya-chan had gone to sleep.

The kid didn’t let his teammate sit in nostalgia for long. “You know what the others would say if they saw us? Youji-kun would think you’re just doing it for the ‘mysterious’ look to appear more attractive to girls,” he chuckled slightly. “Ken-kun would be frantic and mother us to death. I’ve only known them for a little while, but they really are good friends.”

“Friends?” The word startled Aya. He was sure it would have the same affect on the two in question as well. Was the kid really that naive? Assassins were far from the best choice of friends a teenager should have... But then, what choice did the kid have? He was an assassin too...

The blond just nodded and smiled up at Aya. “Yup. Friends.” He hesitated for a moment before adding, “You’ll be my friend too, right, Aya-kun?” He had this hopeful expression on his face, like he didn’t realize just how adorably and disgustingly cute he was being. Probably didn’t. Aya-chan never realized when she started charming and conning her brother into doing something for her.

That didn’t change the fact that the kid was insane. Beyond insane.

“Why would you want to be friends with me?” he said flatly. Aya certainly wasn’t a people person. Far from it. Even for an assassin, he had to be the worst possible choice as a friend.

But it seemed he had underestimated the kid again. The blond actually thought about the half meant question. “Well, you’re also a really nice person under the cold facade you put on.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are!” Omi insisted. Aya just shook his head and the kid continued. “Also, out of all the others, you’ll probably be the only one who can and might help me with my homework.”

Okay, the kid has ulterior motives. And a valid point. Underestimation, yet again. “Anything else?” Something in Aya really wanted to know. He couldn’t say why. But, hell, at least the conversation was interesting... To view of the world as crazy person...

“Yeah, you seem like-” Omi stopped mid sentence and started blushing. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into me... I’ve been so forward...”

Curiosity piped, Aya decided to find out what the blond was going to say. Which shouldn’t be too hard. From his observations of the blond in the past few weeks, Aya learned that the kid was a horrible liar. “What were you going to say?”

“No really. I shouldn’t-”

“Tell me.” he said in a voice that booked no arguments.

As predicted, Omi couldn’t hold out. He was a real push over at times. “I just thought you might need a friend...” His blush deepened and he looked down, swinging slightly with his shoes dragging in the mud.

Aya was speechless for a few moments. He would need a friend? No one cared for Aya. Ran had plenty of friends, but he wasn’t Ran anymore. No one could or should care about Aya’s emotional state. His hands were too blood stained...

But Omi’s hands were stained too. Probably far worse then Aya’s at the moment. It’s not like he could mess the kid up anymore than he already was. A little voice inside of him said it wouldn’t kill him to care about someone else other than his sister either. And for some reason, this meant a lot to Omi...

Omi didn’t look back up and took Aya’s silence as a rejection. “It’s okay if you don’t want to be friends. But can I ask you something before you go?”

“Omi, I-”

But Omi looked back up. It was hard to tell if those were tears streaming down his face, or rain drops. It stopped Aya from continuing. Two pure blue eyes kept him from doing anything but a slight nod.

“What’s it like? Being normal, I mean.” Normal? What was he talking about? “All my life, I’ve been an assassin. My first memory is waking up in Persia’s office and him asking what kind of weapon I would like to use. I think I was ten or so... But I don’t remember anything before that.” Omi looked back down, but not before Aya saw the pleading in those eyes. “Tell me, Aya-kun. What’s it like to be normal - to have a family...”

He knew that Omi had amnesia, but to have never known a life other than killing? His parents may be dead, but they had loved him. Aya-chan may be in a coma, but he still had known her. He had his memories. It was his choice to go for revenge, not anyone else’s.

How could Omi smile like that, day after day? How could he cheer everyone else up when he felt so down inside. How had he even known what a smile was, if he had never even had the choice of a normal life? Then it clicked. Omi was trying to learn. He would never be normal, but he could come close. He was making up for lost memories, for lost choices... He-

There was a flash of lighting followed by a very loud clap of thunder right over their heads, making them both jump in surprise. Aya had completely forgotten about the pouring rain. And he couldn’t think of anything better to say than, “It’s dangerous here.”

Omi jumped up and smiled brilliantly at him. “You’re right! I’m sorry to keep you out in the rain, Aya-kun. I can be such an idiot sometimes...”

His smile looked and felt real. But after the conversation they had just had, Aya was beginning to doubt if any of Omi’s smiles could be sincere. No, they were genuine. As genuine and sincere as someone who had never learned how to smile in the first place. Omi needed a friend just as much has he claimed Aya did.

And why not? He doubted Omi had shown this side of himself to Ken or Youji. Or anyone for that matter. Whether the rain was affecting the boy, or he just trusted the red head that much, Aya couldn’t be sure. But all that really mattered was that he had.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Aya-kun! I’m going to walk around a bit more before going back to the shop, kay?” Omi was leaving. Aya quickly stopped his inner monologue and got up. He put his hands on the boy’s shoulders and gently began steering him toward wear Aya had left that awful pink golf cart. “Aya-kun, what-” he said, turning back to face him.

“I said it’s dangerous. And if I’m not mistaken, friends look out for each other.” He raised one eyebrow slightly. “Or have things changed that much since I was younger?”

There was something different about the smile now. “Aya-kun! So, you’ll really be my friend?” When he nodded, Omi came that close to hugging the red head. And Aya came that close to ruffling the blond’s soaked hair.

Omi was back to his usual self. He chatted happily to Aya bout his preparations for school and some of his past misadventures in the flower shop. He didn’t seem to mind that the conversation was often one-sided. And for once, Aya didn’t mind the constant talking.

Because there was the smallest possibility that Omi had been right.

There was something in Omi’s smile that reawakened feelings that had been buried behind a cold mask. Maybe Ran wasn’t completely dead... Aya-chan would have liked Omi. She would certainly have liked him more than what her brother had become...

Yes. Maybe, just maybe, Aya needed a friend too.

~Fini~

Memory:  There are so many good quotes about rain. I was hard put to come up with a quote of the fic. So I decided to put two on here. One for Aya’s perspective, and one for Omi’s. See ya!

"No one but Night, with tears on her dark face,
Watches beside me in this windy place."
--Edna St. Vincent Millay

"Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain."
--Author Unknown