When it Rains it Pours
Chapter One - The Rain
by Ishida Takeru

Takeru stared at the ceiling a small frown etched across his features. He wasn't in the greatest of moods. In reality, he didn't know exactly what had happened. The truth of it, it was probably something stupid and childish. He tried to remember the previous day's incident.

~Flashback~

It was Sunday, but it was far from being sunny. A large storm had moved in the day before leaving the streets slick from a constant downpour. Takeru had woken up early to get ready, his mother had agreed to let him stay the whole week with his brother and father. Takeru was ecstatic, it had been a long time since he was able to spend time with both of them. It was either one or the other.

"Do you have everything?" His mother asked from the kitchen.

Takeru sighed, sometimes his mother could be so annoying. "You asked me that five minutes ago."

"I just want to make sure."

"I know, I know." Takeru mumbled swinging the duffle bag onto a shoulder. "I'm going to go now."

"I'm sorry I can't take you, but I have to run to work."

"It's okay, it's not like I haven't taken the bus before." Takeru said opening the door. "See you in a week!" With that said he closed the door behind him and headed down the stairs of the apartment building.

Takeru was greeted by a strong gust of wind as he moved out of the building. Clouds hung over the city like the feeling of death over a mortuary. The sun was kept prisoner behind an army of stormclouds. The rain stopped only momentarily, before continuing it's attempt to flood the city.

"Nice day." Takeru mumbled as he ran down the sidewalk to the bus stop. It took about an hour to get to his brother's apartment. Sometimes Takeru wondered why he never walked there. Maybe it was the fact that it was raining.

Takeru whistled a bit as he was let off in front of the apartment building. It was going to be a great week. He hadn't even seen his brother for a week. Which was, in his opinion, far too long.

Takeru waited by the elevator for a few moments, the time moving slowly. After about five minutes he had given up on the elevator and started up the flights of stairs. A thousand stairs later he had reached the floor his brother resided on. "It sure seemed like a thousand steps." Takeru mumbled as he knocked on the door. No answer.

He knocked again.

Still, there was no answer. What could be going on? He had told them he was coming, hadn't he? Of course he had, his brother was probably just asleep. Or maybe he had the radio up too long, or he was practicing in his room.

He knocked again.

Nothing, this was getting weird. What was going on? Did they forget? No way, his brother was probably picking up groceries, and forgot about the time. That had to be it. That was the only answer.

An hour passed.

Okay, so he was really late. Maybe he got stuck in some flood, or something. Takeru shook his head at that notion. It wasn't raining that hard was it? No, of course not. What else could it be. A run in with Jun? That would eat up an hour.

Another hour gone by.

This was getting strange. Although his brother wasn't the best with being places on time. This was far from his usual lateness. Had he forgotten that he was going to stay there? Was that the truth? HE had been brushed off for some reason or another.

It was four hours later when his father got home. Yamato, had still yet to make an appearance, it had dawn on Takeru that maybe he had forgotten, or just didn't care enough to remember. "Hey, Dad....."

"Takeru, what are you doing out here? Didn't Yamato answer the door?" His father asked.

Takeru grumbled something under his breath before answering. "No, he wasn't home."

"How long have you been out here?"

"About four hours."

"If I would have known Yamato wasn't going to be here, I would have dropped off a key or something..."

"It's okay, Dad. I thought he was going to be here too." Takeru sighed as he followed him into the house. The whole situation was really bothering him.

"I have some extra work to finish, I'll be in my room."

"Okay, Dad." Takeru said flopping onto the couch, there was really nothing to do if his brother wasn't there. Of course, the time he sat there didn't make him any happier. His brother had forgotten about it, that's why he wasn't there. At least, he could have left a note or called or something.

An hour passed.

Takeru shifted the way he was laying across the couch. Man, there was nothing to do. He had started to clean his father's apartment, but soon gave up when something on one of the dishes began to stare at him. Now, the only thing he was doing was watching the television. Unfortunately, nothing good was on. It always seems when you're not busy, nothing good ever comes on.

An hour passed.

Takeru rolled onto his belly yawning widely. The television had long ago been abandoned for the radio. Of course, the same song seemed to come on every hour. It was some song by Asterix-1-. Takeru had long forgotten it's name.

An hour passed.

Takeru turned and stared at the clock. It was seven, and his brother had still not showed up. Takeru sighed, his brother wasn't going to show up. What was going on? This wasn't very good, it wasn't the fact that he didn't show yet, but the fact that he didn't even call.

An hour passed.

The door slowly opened as Yamato pushed his way through the door. "I'm home." Yamato glanced around the room, sitting his things in the corner. "Takeru?"

On the couch Takeru was staring at him. It wasn't just a stare, if it was anybody else Yamato would think it was a glare. "You're late."

"What are you doing here?" Yamato asked.

"Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"

Takeru folded his arms. "That I was coming over, say around two."

Yamato eyes widened as he realized what had happened. "I got the days mixed up, I'm sorry."

"How could you get the days mixed up!? I told you this morning."

"I'm sorry, I was really busy and I totally forgot."

"You always forget." Takeru said before adding. "Some brother."

Yamato stared at Takeru. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you're a horrible brother!"

Yamato took a step backwards. He felt like he was just shoot by a Sherman tank. Takeru couldn't mean it, could he? Was he horrible brother? "I'm sorry I forgot! Okay, My mind was just occupied!" He knew he shouldn't be shouting back, but that's just how it came out.

"You always have other things on your mind!" Takeru yelled running into a bedroom.

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To make a long story short, they didn't talk the rest of the night. Nor, did they talk all morning. At the moment, they both needed time to cool down. It would have been easier if it wasn't raining. With the rain pouring from the heavens, neither of them could get out of the house.

"I'm going, anyway." Takeru mumbled as he picked up his coat. "I'm going to go to Hikari-chan's" He announced to nobody in particular. She was his best friend after all, she would have some way to cheer him up, or something.

As Takeru stepped out side he was met with a strong gust of wind, it was still pouring. There's a saying 'When it rains, it pours.' If they were talking about the weather or not, it really didn't matter, because it was pouring. By the time he finally made it to Hikari's house he was soaked from head to toe. He knocked a few times, before Taichi finally opened the door.

"Hey, Takeru."

"Hi, Taichi-san. Is Hikari-chan home?"

"Yeah, she's in her room talking to Daisuke."

"Oh." Takeru mumbled.

"But, I'm sure they wouldn't mind you barging in. Friends do that."

Takeru nodded as he entered the house and headed back to Hikari's room. He brought his hand up to knock, but the door was already open. Takeru shrugged a bit as he pushed open the door. "Hikari-chan, I just stopped by to--"

Takeru eyes widened at what he saw. There was Hikari kissing Daisuke. At first he was sure his eyes were playing tricks on him. Hikari just looked like she was kissing him. Unfortunately their sudden blushing faces smashed that thought to pieces.

"Takeru!" Hikari said hopping to her feet. "What are you doing here."

"I could ask you the same." Takeru mumbled. "It's okay, I know when I'm not wanted. And I now know when I'm being used." Takeru stormed out of the Yagami residence, leaving a bewildered Taichi staring out the open door.

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Takeru ran through the pouring down rain. His breath swirled into small clouds as his feet slammed against the wet pavement. He had no idea where he was running to, he hardly knew he was running in the first place. In two days, his relationships with both his brother and Hikari had been washed away. He knew he could salvage them, but did he want to? He wasn't so sure anymore. It seemed like everything in his life was taken away. Sure, he put on a cheerful exterior, he had to. He had to keep the pain bottled up somehow. Back when he was eight, he cried a lot. They all thought it was because he was scared. But, how could a scared little kid stand up to Pinnochiomon like he did. That wasn't the reason he cried. He cried because he was separated. Yes, he had his brother with him for a while, but he didn't have his parents. And eventually, his brother left to. Taken away, just like everything in his life. Hikari had played with his feelings, taken away his self-esteem. Leaving him to fumble over her almost as badly as Daisuke pined for her.

Takeru's mind was swirling like the clouds above him. Nothing was right anymore, everything was left. Or had left.

Crash.

Takeru hit the ground, next to the person he had crashed into. "Gomen." he muttered.

"Takeru?"

"Oh, sorry Ken. I didn't mean to crash into you. I was just trying to get away."

Ken stared a few moments. "By running into people. You know you're going to get sick, if you stay out here too long."

"Maybe, but I don't feel like going to my brother's....and my Mom isn't home."

"Well, then you're just have to come inside my place. Getting sick isn't the best thing to do on the weekend."

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