Under the rain

It was a perfectly good day. The sun was out, shining in its glorious heavenly light. There was nary a cloud in sight. Spring could be smelled in the warm luscious air as it swayed around, ruffling the trees on its passing. Men, women and children alike were up and about, skins basking under the warm light. Truly it was a beautiful day, up until the dark rain clouds came painting the once blue sky a dull grey.

Setsuna hastily stuffed her cold fingers in her jacket pocket, resisting the urge to shiver from the cold wind beating at her back. She looked up, scanning the darkening sky. A sniff at the air and she could tell the rain was approaching fast. The once boisterous crowd littering the streets slowly dwindled down as people hurriedly sought for shelter.

Setsuna sighed, smirking dejectedly at herself she pushed on. She had nowhere important to go to and her energy seemed to slowly fade the more the sky darkened. Like her mood.

She had hoped that a walk around town would help clear her mind, as thoughts of a certain chocolate haired girl were sorely hindering her attempts at training. She had tried everything she could think off to clear her mind, all of course were in vain. It seems that no matter what she did it would always be there. Taunting her.

She snapped out of her revere when she felt something drop at the top of her head and she instinctively looked up. Another followed and another as the rain began its decent from the heavens. Those remaining outside quickly slipped away into one of the stores lining the streets, as if afraid that the rain would eat up their skin. Setsuna, however, only shook her head. Pulling her shoulders closer together she went on her way to the station.

It had been raining for days now, today wasn't any different. So what if she got wet? She would eventually end up under a warm shower when she gets back to the dorms anyway. She just hasn't the energy to hurry.

Every day it always rain
Like there's no end to it
Just like the hardships I've been through
It's like they will never cease

By the time she reached the dorms it was already pouring hard. The sky had darkened considerably as the onslaught of ice cold droplets fell to the ground, quickly making puddles here and there. The sky suddenly lightened up, as if a light bulb in the sky flickered to life, and then just as fast as it flashed it was gone again. Thunder rumbled deafeningly overhead, quick to chase the burst of light in an endless game of tag.

Setsuna winced at the raucous sound, her shoulders hunched further as she tried to make herself smaller, leaving her already soak back to the mercy of the harsh weather. Quickening her pace Setsuna made her way to the entrance of the girl's dorms. Once inside she pulled off her wet jacket, struggling somewhat when her jacket decided to twist itself around her arms in a death like grip.

Cursing under her breath she unsympathetically tugged at the cloth, pulling one of her arms free. She did the same to the other and, once free, began twisting the poor material, squeezing out the water it gathered consequently making a rather sizable puddle under her feet. So engrossed was she with what she was doing that she didn't notice a presence slip up to her side.

"Secchan?"

After all the effort I've put in just to forget you

Setsuna froze mid assault. Her eyes widened at the sound. Forcing the lump in her throat down she croaked out the one word that made her heart beat fast. "Konoka?"

It just cannot be done

Setsuna swivelled around, her heart pounded quickly in her chest as a smile began tugging at her lips. Konoka stood in front of her. A small frown marred her angelic face as she hastily pulled off her warm jacket.

"Sechan, you're soaking wet." She said simply. Slipping behind Setsuna Konoka lightly placed the warm cloth over her drenched friend. "It's bad if you get a fever because of this." She continued, reaching over she took Setsuna's cool hand in hers and began pulling her to the stairs. Setsuna couldn't help but smile as she silently followed her friend, her hand slightly tightening on the warm ones in hers.

She probably should have pulled away, should have just thanked her and took her leave, but she didn't. She couldn't, not when the opportunity presented itself. Not again. So she kept quiet, letting herself enjoy the attention while she still could.

It's not that I'm stupid
I know that you're already gone

They stopped in front of Konoka's room. Konoka pulled her hand away, just long enough so she could fish for her keys and open the door before reaching back to take Setsuna's hands once more. She turned slightly, giving Setsuna one of her sweet smiles before entering, pulling Setsuna in with her.

Despite herself Setsuna couldn't quite get herself to return the smile.

Why?

Because it wasn't the one she used to receive from the girl of her dreams. It was of a different kind. It was the same smile she gave Asuna and Negi, a smile from a friend and nothing more. She had so many chances to make that special smile hers, and only hers, and she never took it, and now it was too late.

But it's hard to grasp the idea that I can't call you mine

She took a whiff at the air and felt her stomach drop. She pulled her hand away and instantly regretted it as Konoka stopped and turned to look back at her. Setsuna didn't know whether she was imagining it or not, but for a moment she swore there was hurt showing in those expressive brown eyes. No, it must have been her.

She put on a smile as she forced herself to shuffle into the room, trailing behind her friend. Konoka, smiling now, nodded and lifted a finger to point to the bathroom door. "I'll pick out some clothes for you. You'll fit in mine no problem, right?"

Setsuna nodded once and turned to the door.

"Make sure to take a hot shower alright." Konoka called out. Again Setsuna nodded.

You left me on my own
In the dark and drenched under the rain

Setsuna took her shower quickly, not wanting to take more of her friend's time. Her clothes were too wet to take down the hall so she opted to leave them in the hamper, Konoka wouldn't mind. She tried to slip out, but her efforts were futile when Konoka stepped in between her and the door, a small frown on her lips and her arms crossed over her chest.

She pointed defiantly to the couch. An unheard order. Setsuna complied, hanging her head as she slowly made her way towards the couch. With a satisfied smile Konoka slipped into the kitchen and began talking animatedly.

Setsuna flopped down with a huff, closing her eyes to try and relax herself. She wrapped her arms around her, feeling the warmth of her own skin against her palm. She took a whiff at the air, her nose scrunching up a bit as the strong odour of men's perfume lingered in the stagnant air.

Reluctantly she peeled open her eyes, scanning the objects in the homely room. The beds were neatly made, at this a part of Setsuna significantly lightened. Books were arranged on the small bookshelf and school bags were put to the side, already arranged for the coming of the morning. Everything looked to be in place, knowing that Konoka liked to keep things in order it wasn't such a shocker.

Setsuna continued her silent observation, only opening her mouth to give a short response to Konoka's question or a grunt. Her eyes lingered a little longer on the child-teachers space on the top of the built-in closet before moving on to the study table beside the television. She felt a pang of pain in her chest as her eyes finally landed on a single picture frame. It was a shot of Konoka, her mouth quirked up in a huge smile as she stared directly at the camera. Behind her, with an arm curled around Konoka's middle was of a young man, not much older than Konoka herself. His short black hair was mussed a little, giving him a rebellious sort of look, his dark brown eyes looking elsewhere with a smug smile playing on his lips. He was from a line of a well-known business enterprise. He was charming, intelligent and, much to Setsuna's chagrin, quite the looker.

Konoka had taken a liking to him after the couple of times her grandfather, dean Konoe, arranged for them to meet. Setsuna had to admit the guy wasn't nearly as bad as the others, in fact he was quite the decent guy. It was hard to find a flaw in him.

But don't you worry
I won't get in your way
I know now that you have someone else

With a deep sigh Setsuna pushed herself up. Slowly and quietly she made her way to the kitchen where Konoka busied herself, still going on about something or another. Taking a deep breath Setsuna pulled up all the courage she had and closed the distance. Wrapping her arms around Konoka's middle she pulled her in for a tight meaningful hug.

"Thank you Kono-chan." Setsuna mumbled into Konoka's ear.

Konoka tried to turn but Setsuna only tightened her grip, making it impossible to move from the waist down. "Sechan?" Konoka quipped quietly, her voice laced with worry.

My only request to you
Is that during the pouring rain

Gingerly Setsuna pulled away, a huge smile plastered on her face. Konoka turned to her, eyes searching worriedly.

"Sechan? Is something wrong?" she inquired, her head tilted to the side slightly. Her brows knitted together, making a small crease in the middle. Her doe-like eyes shined against the light as they stared steadily ahead.

Setsuna swallowed hard and kept her emotions in check. She shook her head. "No, everything's fine. No need to worry Konoka ojou-sama." The corner of Konoka's lips dropped at the title. Setsuna bowed her head, refusing to meet Konoka's eyes, afraid that if she did her resolve might break.

Turning on her heels she quietly excused herself, mumbling something about an emergency she needed to tend to. She didn't look back, even after she shut the door behind her. She ignored the protest coming from Konoka's lips, blocking her voice out as best as she could. She continued forward, trusting her feet to take her to her room. The voice died down leaving her in silence in the semi dark hallway. A small trail of water trickled down the side of her face.

Konoka finally found someone she liked. She was happy. And it was Setsuna's duty to see to it that she would always be happy, no matter what happens.

Konoka's happiness was her happiness. Besides...

I hope you'll remember
There's someone here who loves you – me

... one would do anything for the one they love.