Chapter 20: Dancing In The Rain

Haruka's POV

I could tell something was off with Kai as soon as we stepped out of the school building. His shoulders were tense, his posture stiff, and the look in his eyes—distant, as if he was somewhere else entirely. The rain had started up again, a soft drizzle that quickly turned into steady, relentless droplets. The kind that soaked you through in seconds if you weren't careful.

I didn't know what he was thinking. I had tried to ask him earlier, but he'd brushed it off, his usual smile too forced to be convincing. Something was weighing on him, something deeper than the casual brush-offs and sarcastic remarks he'd been throwing around for weeks.

I hated seeing him like this. Kai was always the one who seemed to have it all together—cool, collected, always in control. But now? He looked like he was breaking apart, and I couldn't figure out how to stop it. How to help him.

As we walked down the school steps, I couldn't help but notice how the rain was coming down harder, the sound of it splattering on the pavement blending with the silence between us.

"You wanna grab some lunch?" I asked, trying to break the quiet, but I saw him glance up at the sky, his expression unreadable.

"Nah, I think I'm just gonna head home early. I'm not feeling too great," he muttered, hands shoved deep into his pockets.

"Are you sure?" I stopped walking for a moment, glancing at him. He didn't even look back at me. "You don't have to be alone right now, Kai. If you want to talk... or if you don't want to talk, we can just hang out. You know, if you feel like it."

Kai hesitated, his steps faltering for a moment. I could tell he was debating whether to let me in, but then, as usual, he shut down the thought. His face softened, but only slightly, and he sighed.

"I don't think you'd want to deal with me when I'm like this," he said, his voice low, like he was ashamed of what he was feeling.

My heart twisted. I knew Kai well enough to understand that he wasn't used to being vulnerable. And even if he couldn't admit it, I knew he didn't want to push me away. So, I made a decision.

"Well, I think I can handle it," I said softly, walking up next to him. "If you want to stay out here in the rain and brood, I'm okay with that too."

His eyes flicked to mine, his lips quirking upward just slightly—enough to make me feel like I had won this little battle.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice," he muttered, his voice taking on a lighter tone. "Fine. I'll hang out with you. But I'm not promising I'll be much fun."

I smiled. That was a start.

——~

Kai's POV

It was raining harder now, and I could feel the chill seeping into my jacket as I stood there beside Haruka, letting the water hit my face. My hands were still shoved into my pockets, but for once, I didn't mind the way the rain felt—cool, refreshing, like it was washing away the storm that had been swirling inside me for days.

Haruka was standing next to me, her posture easy and unaffected by the weather, but I could sense that she wasn't quite as carefree as she was pretending to be. She'd tried to talk to me before, but I hadn't given her much to work with.

We didn't say anything for a while. We just stood there, letting the rain do what it seemed to do best—drown out the noise, erase everything that wasn't important.

Haruka's voice broke the silence. "Wanna run in it?"

I turned my head, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"Come on," she said with a small grin, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "You've got to be more than just the brooding guy today. I dare you to run in the rain with me."

I laughed a little, though it wasn't from humor—it was from disbelief. "Are you serious? You want to just... run around in the rain like some kid?"

Haruka shrugged. "Why not? What's the point of standing here being miserable in the cold if we're both gonna be drenched anyway?"

For a moment, I thought about it. About how ridiculous it was to even consider something like that. But then again, what was I really doing standing here, letting my thoughts drag me down even further?

"Alright, fine," I said, pushing my hands out of my pockets. "I'm game if you are."

Without another word, I took off in a sprint, hearing her laughter echo behind me as I ran, my feet slipping on the wet pavement. It felt like a child's rebellion—just the simplest act of running through the rain like we had no cares in the world.

——~

Haruka's POV

It wasn't long before we were both soaked to the bone. The rain was relentless now, the droplets hitting our faces in a steady rhythm, as though the world was trying to wash away everything we had been carrying.

I could hear Kai laughing beside me, the sound surprising in its lightness, and it made my heart skip a beat. There was something so freeing about running like this, as if we were escaping our problems for just a moment. And for once, I didn't care that I was drenched, or that I looked like a fool.

"Kai! Slow down!" I shouted, breathless from the sudden burst of energy, but my words were lost to the sound of the rain and our laughter.

Kai looked back at me with that signature grin of his, one that was rare but always genuine when it appeared. He wasn't the Kai I'd seen earlier—silent, withdrawn, distant. This was a different version of him: the one I had missed, the one who wasn't weighed down by everything all the time.

I pushed myself harder, catching up to him, my arms swinging with the rhythm of my steps. I could feel the warmth of my laughter mixing with the cold of the rain, but it didn't matter. We were both in it together. And for once, nothing else mattered.

By the time we stopped, panting and soaked through, we were standing at the edge of the school grounds, both of us bent over, hands on our knees, trying to catch our breath.

"That... that was crazy," Kai said, his voice hoarse from laughter, though there was a lightness in his eyes that I hadn't seen in days. "I haven't done something like that in forever."

I looked at him, my heart softening. I had always known there was more to Kai than what he showed the world. Beneath the cool exterior and the tough-guy act, he was just like everyone else—vulnerable, broken, trying to figure things out.

And in this moment, I was more certain than ever that I wanted to be there for him, no matter what.

"You're not so bad when you're not brooding," I teased, nudging him with my shoulder.

He chuckled, but his eyes softened. "Maybe not. But I guess I needed this... to just let go for a while."

I smiled, feeling the weight in my chest loosen, just a little. "It's good to let go, Kai. Even for just a bit."

We stood there for a moment, the rain still falling, but the atmosphere between us had shifted. There was a quiet understanding now, something that had been missing between us for a while.

"Thanks," Kai said quietly, his voice low but sincere. "For this. For... everything."

I looked at him, and for the first time in a long while, I wasn't worried. For the first time in a while, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

"You don't have to thank me," I said, meeting his gaze. "I'm always here, you know?"

And for a moment, as the rain continued to pour down around us, I believed it.

——~

Kai's POV

The weight that had been pressing down on me all day seemed to lift. The rain, the laughter, Haruka's quiet presence next to me—it all combined into something so simple, so necessary. I had been running from my emotions, my fears, my past... but for the first time in a long time, I felt like I could breathe.

I didn't have all the answers, and I didn't know what would happen next. But standing in the rain with Haruka, I realized that I didn't need to have it all figured out right now. I just needed to take it one step at a time.