FURINKAZAN ~ A WBW Production [it starts!]

[Weasel Overlord]

'pologies for lateness. Personally, I blame 24.

EDIT: Also, may I be the first to say: WAAAY!! PAGE TWO!! *celebrates*

EDITEDIT: SORRY FOR CONFUSION ALL IS EDITED NOW HOPE THAT'S OK EVERYBODY!!

Inoue Hotaru
"furidashita ame wa itsuka yamu n da ne..."
~
[with] Rika, then [with] Aria & Dai-kun

Hotaru had absolutely no clue what Rika was doing, but he didn’t like it, that was for certain. Everything around him was darkening, as if a storm was brewing overhead, but when they had set out, there hadn’t been any sign of clouds, but now they whipped overhead as if driven by a demonic wind which tugged and pulled at Hotaru’s hair and clothes with an almost malevolent will.

He fell to his knees and covered his head with a quiet whimper. Whatever it was that had sprung up from the ground exuded an evil aura, and Hotaru wanted nothing to do with it. Crouching as close to the ground seemed like the best course of action - adopt the safety position! Cover your head! Throw up? Maybe not, but as the wave of blackness swept over Hotaru, he couldn’t help himself. All the dark thoughts he’d ever had flooded his mind at once - all the hurtful things he’d thought then instantly dismissed as cruel seconds later; all the nasty things people had said to him over the years; a blurred memory of deep, confused sadness as his mother cried in the kitchen, they flowed over him like a crashing waterfall, pounding at his senses until he wept into the ground, his fingers curling into the dirt in anguish.

“No more, oh please, no more…” he lifted his head up to squint into the terrible darkness and was shocked to see Rika almost embracing it. She stared deep into the winged light, unafraid, as she manipulated the wind - and by extension, the tree trunks that were whirling about the sky as if possessed. Hotaru looked away sharply, seeking solace in the untouched earth under his knees, seeking quietness in the unnatural storm Rika had summoned.

Hotaru stared at the ground, willing it to be over, for so long that when the winds finally stopped, and his world fell silent, he did not notice at first. He looked up in astonishment, hoping that it was true - that the winds had stopped, and that whatever was wrong with his friend had disappeared with the darkness. He saw Rika cradling her brother’s head in her arms, weeping as she stared ahead, until, seeming to hear him move, she looked into his eyes with despair.

“What did I do?” her voice was hoarse, as if she herself had been the howling of the black wind. Hotaru got to his feet unsteadily, feeling as if all the blood had been drained from his veins.

He staggered the few steps to Rika, then fell at her side, unable to do anything but touch her arm gently, as a sign that he was there, and still her friend.

“What was that black light, Rika-chan?”

“I…I don’t know. Maybe it was there because of m- no, it was there because of me.”

“I think… maybe it was something to do with what’s been happening around here. You know, the attacks?” Hotaru’s voice got stronger the more he spoke; it felt as if his strength was flooding back like water into a teapot.

A sudden crashing noise brought colours and hearing back in a rush as a Kazan uniform-clad boy skidded into the debris-cluttered vicinity. He stepped rather violently over a tree trunk and scowled down at Rika.

“Just what do you think you’ve been doing Rika?” His no-nonsense manner gave Hotaru a hint that he may be another relative of Satou-san’s, and he stood up in a hastier fashion than was probably wise, wincing as the blood rushed too quickly back to his head.

“Maybe I should be going, Rika-chan. I don’t want to get in the way of anything… you know. Family-esque…”

Rika was distracted by who Hotaru could only presume was her brother, so he slipped away quietly, with the intention of returning to the TCC.

Unfortunately, often the best intentions are thwarted by seemingly random events, and for Hotaru, this day was turning out to be a rather action-packed one.

He hadn’t been walking ten minutes before he came across the scene of another ruckus, this one had presumably involved none other than his beloved Dai-kun and Miss Sakamoto Aria-chan, who were heading off in the direction of their home.

Hotaru gasped in an over-dramatic way at the destruction of yet more trees, and immediately ran over to where Dai and Aria were stood, leapt through the air and threw his arms around Dai who rolled his eyes and patted him on the back carefully.

“It’s alright, ‘taru, me and Aria are safe. Hey… are you crying?”

Hotaru sniffled. “No…”

“Are you sure?”

“Oh, well,” a sniff, “fine, maybe I am crying.”

“Why are you crying, Hotaru? You’re a boy, you know. Boys aren’t meant to cry,” Aria piped up from behind Dai, a smirk on her face.

“S’none of your business.” Hotaru sniffed into Dai’s school shirt, burying his head unashamedly into the lovely cosy spot between shoulder and the chest that’s just perfect for a pillow.

“I’m not a hanky, ‘taru.” Dai rubbed his back, slightly awkwardly.

“Sorry…”

“What happened then?”

“R-rika,” he gulped. “I’ll tell you later, I guess.”

“Mm,” Dai agreed, wryly, “perhaps right now isn’t the best of times, eh?” He stroked Hotaru’s hair in a way that proclaimed that, though he was a man, he was a damned sensitive one at that, who didn’t mind occasionally comforting his probably sexually-confused friend, no matter how dubious it may look when said friend’s hands move from their perfectly hetero position in the small of Dai’s back, to the slightly less hetero position of his bum. He sighed that small, patient sigh and concentrated on trying not to care that his best friend was currently groping his arse.