Just before the end of cram school, the rain began to fall.

It wasn’t heavy rain, though.

It was only light enough to just barely paint the windows a dull grey and keep all the students trapped inside of the building with a collective misery.

With his head resting against the window, Kuro Kurogane stared out through the glass with glassy eyes.

"Of course," he said under his breath. He didn’t bring an umbrella.

Of course.The world loved to choose on him.

And surround him now were other students standing at the entrance of the school waiting to either get picked up by their parent or find a friend.

Kuro let out a heavy sigh and prepared himself mentally for a long walk in the rain back to his house.

Then he felt someone speaking at his side.

"You need to be careful or you may end up sick."

Kuro slightly turned his head.

He saw Aoi standing next to him holding a black umbrella in one hand.

The long, dark blue black hair that fell to her shoulders were a soft frame for her delicate facial features that were illuminated under the hallway light.

Kuro blinked slowly once.

"You are still here?"

Aoi gave him a slight smile and said, "Yes.".

"For me then?"

Aoi nodded at him again.

The silence around them felt awkward.

At that moment, Kuro felt his heart beating again.

"You could have just went home first.".

Aoi turned her head towards the rainfall.

"I do not want to.".

A simple answer to Kuro’s question, but somehow the energy of her answer hung in the air between them.

A few around him had noticed what was taking place between Kuro and Aoi.

"Oh my goodness....".

"They look like they could be a couple.".

Instantly, Kuro turned his body away again from anyone that was within earshot.

"Let’s go before any rumors get a chance to build again.".

As though she had done this before, Aoi unhurriedly opened the umbrella.

After that, Aoi walked closely to Kuro’s side naturally.

The raindrops that fell from the sky were cool and freshly scented.

Streetlights created reflections on puddles of rainwater, and the sounds of traffic echoed in the distance.

Kuro and Aoi shared an umbrella together, but they were huddled much closer than necessary.

Every other step or so, their shoulders brushed against each other.

It felt nice and warm, but a little risky too.

Kuro tried to concentrate on what was in front of him.Aoi, on the other hand, was calm.Way too calm.

"You need to loosen up," she said.

"I can’t when you’re so close."

"The umbrella isn’t very big," she said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, well, maybe that was your plan."

"Maybe."

Kuro immediately turned his head toward her and found her looking straight ahead.

However, the corners of her mouth were upturned just slightly.

That was dangerous.

More so, it was very dangerous.

It was raining lightly and falling silently around them; so quiet in fact, it felt as if they had entered a different world together.

It was odd though.Kuro noticed that first.

When he normally spent time in silence with anyone, he always felt like he had to find something to say.

Silence and Aoi felt completely normal.

Kuro, for some reason, felt comforted by this.

"Kuro?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you had fun today?"

Kuro blinked at the question.

"What do you mean today?"

"Around school."

"Yeah, nothing happened," Kuro replied back to her.

"Mina sat down on your desk today," she pointed out.

"That’s right," he replied.

"And Akari stole your lunch again."

"She is a repeat offender—she’s always stealing my food."

Kuro looked at her quizzically.

"You have been smiling a lot more recently," she said while nodding her head.

Kuro blinked once again as he looked at her in disbelief.

"What do you mean?"

"Yes."

Aoi answered him immediately as if she’d been thinking about it for some time.

Kuro scratched his cheek, feeling a little awkward.

"Yeah, probably because it would seem like everything got louder."

"I got louder?"

"Yeah, in the house."

Aoi looked quietly ahead.

"Before you seemed lonely."

Kuro’s frown deepened.

"I wasn’t lonely."

"You had dinner alone almost all your life."

"That was different."

"You stayed in your room most of the time; I’m not sure that I’m understanding your meaning of peace."

Aoi gazed softly at him.

"Now you smile a lot more."

Kuro paused before answering.

The rain fell softly on the ground around them.

"Well, maybe."

Aoi seemed to be looking at him with softer feelings.

A small step forward.But a small jump backward.

When they were about halfway home from their trip, the rain began pouring heavily.

Aoi moved under the umbrella closer to him instinctively.

Their arms were now touching completely as they walked.

Kuro became very painfully aware of everything around him at this point:

Her warmth; her smell; how some of her wet hair was brushing against her face very quickly; how the sidewalk was suddenly slanted from all the rain causing Aoi to slip.

"Ka— ahh!"

Kuro saved her from falling with his hands on her waist as fast as he could.

Stillness.Both Aoi and Kuro froze for a second or two.

Aoi was looking at him, quietly.

Way to close to be appropriate.

Her body was pressed up against his chest under the umbrella.

The sound of the rain continued softly tumbling off surrounding things.

Neither of them had made a move for a minute and then Aoi broke the silence with a quiet word of thanks.

Kuro let go of Aoi, "Please be careful." Aoi then remarked, "You are reliable."

Kuro replied in somewhat disbelief, "That is a strange thing for you to say." Aoi responded with confusion, "Why?"

Kuro felt justified in saying, "Because you often treat me as though I am not capable of taking care of myself." Aoi followed this with, "You are emotionally incompetent."

In return Kuro replied with disbelief, "That is so rude." Aoi replied coldly, "That is accurate."

With a sigh of resignation, Kuro stated, "That is fair."

Then Aoi let out a soft giggle - her first real giggle - Kuro was a little surprised at how soft it was compared to the way Akari laughs.

He would describe it as more delicate. And for some instinctual reason - more likely to break his heart.

They would stop under a little bit of cover from the rain at a small bus stop while the rain continued to pick up.

As water dripped from the roof of the bus stop creating puddles and with thunder rolling in the distance, Aoi would simply stand there next to him in silence.

Eventually, after some time, Aoi broke the silence, "I love this."

Kuro quickly responded, "You love the fact that it is raining" Aoi quickly explained, "I love moments like this."

Aoi looked out into the street at the lack of cars or any presence of people, "When no one is here to bother us."

With a slower, softer tone, Aoi continued, "At home, Akari is very loud." Kuro acknowledged how true this is. Aoi added, "At school, everyone is continually staring at me."

Again Kuro was forced to concede that this was accurate.

Then Aoi looked at him again, this time looking more closely, "This is very peaceful."

The rain started to die down once more outside.

Kuro found the need to turn away to be more comfortable with the fact that, for some reason, he was beginning to feel warm again in his chest.