Rain, Rain, Go Away [OPEN]

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

OOC: Okay, this is a looonnngggg post, but I promise it will be good! I wanted to introduce Ryosuke's sister in some way, and I thought this would be a good way to start! Please hop in if you feel like it, and hope you enjoy!

It was late afternoon in Miura City. Club activities at Miura Middle School had just finished up for the day, and Ryosuke had just spent the last few minutes watching the final remnants of club members departing the building, chattering madly about their new school music or their cool new dances as they headed off to catch the bus or meet waiting family members. Ryosuke remembered a time when he'd been a member of the middle school hre. His memories hadn't been fond so much as....interesting. New to Miura City, which had hardly been a city in comparison to where he had lived prior to that, it had taken him quite some time to adjust. He'd never been part of any school clubs, and maybe that had been for the best, because he never would have had any parents waiting for him when they let out. Not that he would have wanted to......

At the moment, he was with his little sister, Naomi. In fact, Naomi had been the reason for his visit to the middle school. That morning during their usual rushed breakfast, she'd asked him if he would join her to the middle school to help with a younger class of kids interested in the high school radio and broadcasting club looking to set up their own junior radio show, and even though he'd been close to declining, Naomi had been determined.

"I'll buy you dinner after! No cold leftovers at home!"

Ryosuke had pouted. "Naomi-chan, I told Wataru I'd spend the evening..."

Naomi had pouted back, and that had been it. Ryosuke had never been good at declining girls in general, but when his sister made that disappointed face at him, she won easily. He wondered if it was all that fair that she could get her way just by using that one look alone. And yet even so, he decided he wouldn't mind spending the afternoon with her. They rarely got to spend time together as it was, and even though he didn't think he'd do much helping around the with the middle school kids and her club, he wouldn't mind at least keeping her company and waiting until the activities were done. They could walk home together, and he'd treat her to dinner instead.

So he'd called up Wataru to explain and followed Naomi off to Miura Middle School after high school had let out. And now, after club activities had finished and Naomi was done for the day, the two of them were sitting out on the lawn, relaxing after a long day of school. Ryosuke's stomach had been keen to remind the both of them of that promised dinner, and the Yankee had gotten up thinking he would tell Naomi his plans to take them out to eat instead, when the girl had pulled something from her backpack. Two bento boxes, both neatly wrapped.

"Dooozo!"

And then they'd begun eating.

Ryosuke was in the process of finishing up the delicious meal--nothing beat fresh, home-made food--when something that had been bothering him came to mind. "Naomi-chan..."

His sister managed a "Mm?" through a mouthful of rice.

Ryosuke hesitated. "Is my hairstyle scary?" He was only asking because he'd been thinking a lot about his status as "school delinquent", something that hadn't been helped that afternoon by the numerous middle schoolers who had cowered at the sight of him. It was cool to feel powerful, sometimes, but not when it entailed frightening a bunch of little kids. Hell, the oldest of the bunch he'd apparently scared had to have been a 3rd year in the middle school.

Naomi almost started choking on her rice, though she shook her head. "Mm mm! That's random! If I didn't already know you weren't exactly the best kid in the class, I think I'd just think it was a normal haircut. I'm so used to you having that, I forgot what your normal hair color looks like. And the kids, I think they were......curious, that's all."

Ryosuke laughed out loud. "You and everyone else too, probably. I can't even remember when I started dying it.....middle school? Some kids were sniffing paint cans or something and gave me the idea..."

"...to sniff paint cans?" Naomi's eyes widened.

"No!" Ryosuke furrowed his brow. "I hope you're not doing that...."

Naomi smirked and shook her head.

"Good, because then I'd get on mom and dad's cases, letting their daughter do that kind of thing...."

There was a pause, and Ryosuke set to work wrapping up his finished bento box to put away and bring home. It had really hit the spot...

"Hey, Ryo-kun...." Naomi had stopped eating. "I wouldn't listen to that, what Mom says sometimes." Naomi pressed her lips together into the trademark Tsukimori pout and looked to the ground. "Mom doesn't hate you, Nii-chan. Believe me.....I spend a lot more time with her than you do, so I think I'd know." A small smile crossed her face, and she turned back to her brother, winking. "I don't think she knows how to show it, that's all."

Ryosuke hesitated for a moment to take in his little sister's words. He didn't really know what to say....His parents had never really given him reason to believe anything other than what he'd always thought, that they hated him, though he was little more than a nuisance, and that when he was away from them they were far better off.....It wasn't that he didn't think he was deserving of their feelings. He knew he hadn't been a good kid. He was aware he'd been a troublemaker and probably shamed his family more than once, even if sometimes unintentionally. He'd just never thought to try harder at his relationships with them because they'd already seemed to be completely and totally ruined. They hated him, end of story. Was there really anything more that could be done? And yet, what Naomi had said......

"You're too smart for your own good, little sis," Ryosuke replied instead, reaching out a hand to tousle his sister's hair. She ducked away last second, giggling, and suddenly smiling himself, Ryosuke folded his arms. "Heeey, now you're running away too?"

He moved towards her again, laughing, when the rain began to fall.

And not just a slight rain. It was as though someone up in the heavens was emptying a particularly large bucket of water over everyone on the earth below.

"Aw what the hell....I didn't even bring a bike or anything." Ryosuke scanned the surrounding area to check if maybe any stray bikes had been left behind, maybe someone was still at the middle school and wouldn't mind lending it if they had another way home, but from what he could see, the coast was regrettably clear. And the bus stop was a ways down the street. He didn't want Naomi to have to walk through this....

"Naomi-chan...." Ryosuke slipped off the black jacket of his school uniform and held it out over his little sister's head. "You take that, use it like an umbrella for a bit. Let's get some cover under the doorway or something."

Naomi nodded, and the two of them sought shelter under the main entrance of the middle school building. A quick tug on the front doors revealed that the place was under lockdown with all the school clubs having finished up for the day, so instead, the pair remained under what little of an overhang the school entrance had. Ryosuke was a bit too big for the spot, so he was still getting a little wet, but at least Naomi had his jacket for extra cover now....

Instead, the Yankee pulled out his cell phone and ran through his list of contacts. More than anything, it would have been nice to call home and have his parents come pick him and Naomi up, but he didn't even have their cell phone numbers on his phone. Just the home phone number, and though his mom would likely be home, his dad wouldn't. He didn't want to bother any of his other contacts either, though. Not the boys on the team, not any of the girls on there, not Akaba--Akabane!? What the hell was he even doing on his contact list anymore? Ryosuke swiftly hit the delete button and watched his former comrade's name disappear into the virtual trashbin.

"No one to call?" Naomi inquired, still holding his jacket over her head.

Ryosuke turned her way again. "You look like a nun."

"Hey!" Naomi tried to keep a laugh at bay, but even as she began swatting at her brother, she started grinning. Ryosuke lifted his arm out of the way to keep his cell phone safe from his sister's attacks, though he was laughing too.

"Fine." Naomi was still caught somewhere in the middle of a smile and mock-frown when she finally backed down from her attacks, looking off into the distance as though she was adamant to avoid his gaze. "You look like a wet dog."

Ryosuke snorted. "I'm gonna look worse than that, and you too, if we don't find some shelter soon. I had no idea middle schoolers left so quickly....I don't remember ever getting practically booted out of the school building immediately after afterschool clubs finished, do you?"

"It's a Friday," Naomi responded, glancing up at the graying sky. "The janitors probably wanted everyone gone so they can finish up work quickly for the weekend."

"Fair enough."

"So are you going to call them...? Mom or dad?"

Ryosuke was silent for a moment. "I thought about it..."

"And?"

"I thought it would end up being about as much fun as running headlong into a brick wall a few times..."

"....Nii-chan!" But Naomi was still grinning. "No wonder there's so many arguments between you guys. You never give each other a break..."

"Break? What's that, break? If they thought I was any more broken than they already do...."

Naomi reached out and shoved her brother sideways back into the rain, to which he gave a loud cry of protest before ducking back under the measly cover of the school entrance, and folded her arms, letting his school jacket dangle loosely over her head and shoulders. "I think I'm gonna call them, then. Mom can come pick us up. And I promise you don't have to say anything--I can do all the talking."

"We'll be lucky if she let's me in the car..."

Naomi gave him a look. "She will."

"She doesn't like wet dog..."

"You're annoying, Ryo-kun!" Tap tap tap! Naomi was already busy dialing in a number Ryosuke didn't recognize, one he guessed to be their mother's cell phone.

"Hi, Kaa-san? It's me, Naomi....Yeah, Ryosuke and I've gotten caught in the rain......."

Naomi's words to their mother drifted off into the back of Ryosuke's mind as he got to thinking about what his little sister had just said. There were very few moments like this that the two of them had spent together. And yet, few and far between though they seemed to be, he never felt uneasy with Naomi. She was a good sister. She had grown up appreciating him and being kind to him even despite the fact that as a toddler, he'd adamantly pushed her away, the fact that all his older childhood years, he spent as a delinquent, causing trouble, distancing himself from his family. Half the time, Ryosuke got the impression his friends and acquaintances couldn't even imagine his family. He never talked about them, and if he did mention them, he tended to mention only Naomi, because she was the only one he really trusted and was sure he loved.

But what she had told him.....

"Hey! Hey you guys...!"

Ryosuke looked up at the sound of a new voice, one he recognized but wasn't his sister's or his mom's, his mind shaken from his thoughts. Naomi had gone silent too--she had been startled out of her phone call as well. Ryosuke could hear their mother still saying something from the other end of the line, her voice muffled slightly by the sound of the pouring rain.

The speaker was running towards them now from the middle school gate, getting closer and closer with every second that passed. Ryosuke tried to recognize them through the curtain of rain.

TAG: ANYONE! Please feel free to hop in!!

[Mizusawa Taku]

It had already been a very long day, from the moment he had woken up, right through school, and afterwards. He'd gone through all the usual motions of the day, and had come home after a particularly strenuous tumbling practice, ready to go up to his room and relax on his bed after a nice hot shower to relax his muscles, maybe reading some manga or playing some games on his phone to pass the time until his mother called him down for dinner.

But that wasn't how the day played out. Instead, when he'd returned home, he'd been greeted at the door by his mother's highly concerned face. At first he'd thought he'd done something wrong, but then she explained to him what the matter was. Ki, his rabbit, had been looking particularly sickly. Apparently he wouldn't eat all day, even though usually he ate tons and took any opportunity to do so. He'd also been making some kind of weird whining noise. Mizusawa knew his mother had a soft spot for animals, even if they didn't have any family pets, so he could only imagine how worried she had been, all alone in the house, probably waiting for him to get back home, hoping he'd get back as soon as possible.

He'd gone up to his room to find that his mother was indeed right. Ki was sitting in his cage at the far end of the room, looking a little thing and making some strange noises. Mizusawa felt his heart skip a beat. "Ki?" he had called gently, fearful of what might be wrong with his only pet. He'd had the rabbit for a while now, since middle school, and he didn't think he could bear anything particularly bad happening to him. Obviously he needed to find out what was wrong, and fast. There would be no time for relaxing today.

So, finding the pet carrier he'd used to bring Ki home when his parents had first bought the rabbit for him, he lined the carrier with some bits of cabbage and carrots and old newspaper as a type of bedding, then opened the rabbit's cage and gently lifted him out. Even though he'd lost some weight, Ki was still a pretty big rabbit. He moved as carefully as he could, stroking the top of the rabbit's head to keep it calm as he guided it into the pet carrier. Despite the cooing and shushing noises the boy was making to calm the animal down, he himself felt just as panicky. What was wrong with Ki? He'd never had any problems before. Mizusawa had always taken good care of the animal, and he knew his mother would do the same when he was away at school. It made him sick with worry if something had happened to the rabbit right under his nose, without his noticing.

And so, he had taken the rabbit to the nearest veterinarian's. His father had taken the only family vehicle to work, so he'd walked to the nearest bus stop, then taken the bus down further into Miura City. The closest vet was by Miura Middle School, and thankfully on this particular day, she hadn't been all that busy. When he'd gotten inside, he found an old man with a husky dog waiting sleepily in the waiting room. There was some sound from the examination rooms beyond the front desk, and Mizusawa assumed that the vet was at the moment busy with another animal, so he'd taken a seat across from the old man and the dog, setting Ki's carrier down on the seat beside him.

Even with magazines around to look at while he waited, Mizusawa felt himself far too nervous to be able to focus on any of them. Instead, he spent the greater portion of his time examining the dog across from him. It was a very pretty dog, with black rings around its ice blue eyes. It actually looked pretty healthy, all things considered.

After the man and his dog had been called in, Mizusawa looked back into Ki's cage. The rabbit was making the weird whining noises again. "Shhh," he had said comfortingly, reaching in to stroke down the bunny's ears, feeling the soft fur beneath his fingers and praying that his rabbit would be alright.

Even though it was only a matter of 20 to 30 minutes, it felt like the man with the dog had been in the examination room for hours. The noise Ki was making was beginning to frighten Mizusawa, and by the time the vet and her partner were ready to see them, he had begun to feel quite panicked.

On the overly-large examination table, Ki looked pretty tiny and vulnerable. Mizusawa swallowed hard, watching as the vet's hands splayed over his pet rabbit, her gloved fingers sinking deep into the animal's fur, which he and his family had worked hard to take good care of, through proper diet and a constant show of love. No one in the room spoke the entire time that the examination went on--not Mizusawa, not the vet, nor her assistant. The vet had checked the rabbit's heart beat and performed quite a number of other tasks, all of which made Mizusawa's worry rise further and further. Was it so bad that the vet couldn't even tell what was wrong with the poor thing?

Then, finally, she spoke. "It seems that the problem is that he has eaten something that is inappropriate for a rabbit's diet. Otherwise, this animal is well-taken care of, young man. Please try to continue to take such good care of him. Did you accidentally feed him something that he wouldn't normally eat? Maybe something with plastic that he could have bitten into, or maybe even a house plant of some kind?"

Mizusawa bit his lip. He couldn't think of anything else he'd fed the rabbit, especially anything in a plastic container or such. And he didn't have any house plants in his room...He shook his head. "I don't think so..."

The vet nodded her understanding. "Well, even so...I don't think this is as serious as a case of gastrointestinal stasis. Please try feeding him some hay, or dried pineapple. And if he's still not eating properly, I recommend doing a gentle massage on his stomach. If he looks like he's in pain, please come back, and I can prescribe some medications."

Mizusawa stared from her to Ki. "So, is that it? Do you think he'll be alright?"

The vet nodded her affirmation. "I think he'll be fine. He seems to just have eaten the wrong thing. But again, please call me if the situation gets worse. Lily-san," she began, turning to her assistant, a Caucasian female. "Could you write our phone number down for this young man and settle everything in the way of payment?" She glanced down at her watch. "I want to begin closing up shop now."

The Caucasian woman had nodded and, in very good Japanese, had asked Mizusawa to follow her, his rabbit resting comfortably in his arms. He thanked the vet before he left, then had headed back into the front room with the assistant, where she had offered him some advice on where to pick up the things he would need, as well as giving him their business card and then, of course, taking the required payment from him for the check-up.

After that, he'd put Ki back into his carrier, and had headed back out, planning to go into the nearest market he could find to pick up some dried pineapple. He already had some hay at home.

But that was when the rain had come. And oh, had it come. One moment he'd been walking peacefully (though his arm was beginning to hurt with the weight of Ki and his carrier), and the next, the sky had begun to empty the entirety of its contents over the boy's head. He was actually somewhat relieved that he had brought the carrier--at least Ki wasn't getting wet. But he was already drenched, the already-thick material of his school uniform becoming waterlogged enough to weigh him down. He grimaced at his rotten luck.

What could he do now? Catch the nearest bus home as fast as possible? It was difficult to even see what was in front of him with this sheet of rain. It would be better if he could somehow find a shelter for him and Ki, if that were possible.

And so, he had walked a little further down the sidewalk, brushing his drenched hair out of his eyes, blinking the water dropletes out of his vision constantly, and squinting to see in front of him.

That was when he saw it, the Miura Middle School. It was right next door to the veterinarian clinic, and right now, it looked like the best place for some kind of shelter. He moved quickly for the front gate of the building, and that was when he noticed two people straight ahead, resting under the awning of the school's entrance. He stopped, peering out at the two. Despite the curtain of rain, he could tell one was a girl, and the other a boy. And the boy had a shock of blonde hair and a similar school uniform, and looked an awful lot like...

Ryosuke!

Recognizing his team mate, even from this distance and with all the rain, Mizusawa felt some kind of relief in his heart. He wasn't sure why that was--what exactly could Ryosuke do to help him and Ki out? But maybe it was just the comfort of seeing a familiar face after all the stress from the day, from the fear that his rabbit might be dangerously sick or...

"Hey! Hey you guys...!"

He waved at the pair, even though he didn't know who the girl was. Maybe one of Ryosuke's girlfriends? It would be awkward intruding on them like this, but he needed the comfort right now. And the shelter. He began to move quicker towards them, to get out of the rain so that he wouldn't get sick. But he was careful not to swing Ki's carrier, making sure the animal was comfortable and hoping it couldn't sense his anxiety.

"Ryosuke!" he shouted over the rain, reaching the boy and what appeared to be a younger girl beside him. He saw now that the awning they were under was barely enough to shield the two of them from the rain, let alone him and his rabbit. Why hadn't they gone inside?

Raising a hand to his face to wipe away the water that was now streaming down it, he grimaced. "Sorry to trouble you, but...this storm..." He paused, shaking his hair out of his eyes again. "Do you mind if we go inside? I don't want either of us to get sick." He motioned to the pet carrier in his right hand, which was now beginning to feel like dead weight.

[Tsukimori Naomi]

Naomi listened patiently to what her mother had to say on the other end of the line, though she'd heard the words many times before and knew how these conversations always ended. She would never say it out loud, but it was tough being the middle ground in her family. It was tough for her to show she loved her parents and still loved her brother at the same time, when neither of the other two parties seemed to want to make an effort to understand each other.
And she understood that. It couldn't be easy. So many years of misunderstandings and assumptions....even if they weren't true, she was sure that when a person devoted a great part of their life to feeling one way or believing something....truth or not, in that person's mind, it becomes truth. Still, she had some hope that her parents and her brother would make up one day. She believed in second chances. And third and fourth ones too. She knew she loved her Mom, Dad, and brother equally. One day, they would feel the same way. People couldn't survive just hating each other.

Halfway through her mother's arguing about how inconvenient it was to come get them now, but how she didn't want to leave Naomi in the rain and alone with her brother, in case--as she said directly--"he went off to do bad things," Naomi looked up in time to see someone running towards them, someone she couldn't make out through the rain properly, but someone she was sure she didn't know anyway. Suddenly eager to get off the line, Naomi nodded, as if her mother could see her gesture, then quickly added, "Thank you, Kaa-san! I promise we'll be careful and I'll make sure not to get into trouble. See you soon!"

A small Dah-ding! sound, as she hit the "End Call" button, and then she snapped her phone shut and pocketed it, squinting her eyes at the person rapidly approaching them. But he had known them, considering he'd called out first--so maybe he was a friend of Ryosuke's? Naomi looked up at her brother.

As if to confirm her thoughts for her, the approaching person began to wave animatedly. "Ryosuke!" Naomi glanced down at his arms--whoever he was, he seemed to be holding some kind of animal carrier. And yet, Naomi actually froze when the boy was close enough that she could see him clearly enough. She didn't know him, at least not by first glance. Or second or third or fourth.

"Sorry to trouble you, but...this storm..." He shook the water from his eyes. "Do you mind if we go inside? I don't want either of us to get sick."

Naomi reached up to tug on her brother's sleeve, only just catching his school jacket as it slipped off her head. "Ryo-kun....is this a friend of yours? Don't be rude--introduce me."

If Naomi really wanted to be honest with herself, she didn't want to be introduced just so they wouldn't look rude.......she was absolutely taken aback by this guy, whoever he was. He didn't look like the type of person her brother would be friends with. Certainly not a Yankee, or like many of the other guys she'd seen Ryosuke spending time with. This boy was a lot more tender-looking, loving. He gave her the impression of being a serious student and good friend and............

She smiled. He was so cute. "Hi there! My name's Naomi--nice to meet you. I'm a first year at Karasumori, Ryosuke's sister."

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

OOC: Godplaying for Naomi allowed since I play her! And by the way......my post sucks. T_T

Ryosuke recognized the person who had called out to them the instant he saw him pick up his hand to wave at them, though he was admittedly surprised to see his fellow classmate and Tumbling teammate at the middle school. And Mizusawa looked to be carrying some kind of....pet holder?

Ryosuke lazily picked up his own hand and returned his friend's gesture.

"Ryosuke!"

"Mizusawa," the blonde Yankee imitated, raising his eyebrows. "What are you doing running around in the rain with a......" He squinted against the onslaught of water droplets, trying to make out the shadow of a form in the pet carrier. "Cat, dog...?"

He glanced up at the other boy's face and frowned. The other 3rd year looked fairly stressed out about something, and the buckets of water pouring down on him certainly couldn't be helping. Ryosuke tried to squeeze over closer to his sister to give Mizusawa some room under the minute protection of the front doors' overhang.

i"Sorry to trouble you, but...this storm..." He shook his hair from his eyes. "Do you mind if we go inside? I don't want either of us to get sick."

Ryosuke shook his head and shrugged. "You're not troubling us. If anyone's causing anyone trouble, it's probably me." He thought to his sister, on the phone with his mother, how she seemed to be taking quite some time just to request a simple ride home, and he was sure he knew why. He could already imagine what his Mom was saying about him... He actually felt partly bad that Naomi had to stand there and listen to all that. "We were hoping to go inside too, Mizu, but the front doors are locked. They close the middle school up early before weekends, as soon as club meetings ends." He sighed. "We're waiting for a ride home with our parents, which we may or may not get for....dumb reasons, but if we do, you're welcome to join in. Just don't tell my mother you're friends with me--be friends with her instead." He gestured to his little sister, who was just finishing up with her phone call.

Seeing that, he turned to her, eager to find out what the answer was, though he was trying not to be too hopeful.

But Naomi didn't seem intent about the phone call at all. In fact, Ryosuke was surprised at how googly-eyed she was suddenly looking, and it took him a moment to realize all her googly-eyed attention was on Mizusawa. Ryosuke looked between the two for a moment, trying to keep from laughing.

Naomi tugged on his sleeve. "Ryo-kun....is this a friend of yours? Don't be rude--introduce me."

He shrugged, opening his mouth to meet her demands, when she began speaking out herself.

"Hi there! My name's Naomi--nice to meet you. I'm a first year at Karasumori, Ryosuke's sister."

"My annoying little nun sister," Ryosuke added in, grinning. Naomi seemed to have fallen hard. She wasn't always that outspoken--she hadn't even given him the chance to say a word. He thought it was....cute, but he didn't have the heart to tell her that he doubted it was going to work out in the end. Instead he decided a change of topic would suit.

"Naomi-chan....what'd she say?"

Naomi glanced at him for a moment and gave him the kind of shrug he'd given to Mizusawa moments before. "She'll do it, but she was....well...she'll do it. That's all." She turned to Mizusawa again, a smile crossing her face once more. "Do you need a ride home too...? Mr......?"