#mod flare

"Water.

Without water, there wouldn't be rain. Without rain, would there be life?"

It's pouring again, the sky screaming and venting its frustration. Projecting its woes onto the earth itself, a loud thundery storm, lighting striking the ground repeatedly. Somewhere around the Earth, a child screams, frightened by the very forces of nature. Countless adults sigh and complain.

The walls of Chikusei-so seem to shake like a leaf as unrelenting winds battered the creaky building harshly. A boy lifts his head to watch the crying of the sky, soft music playing in the background drowned out by the thunder echoing. He jolts once again, seeming to feel the tremors of lighting run through the whole building, knocking over a photo frame at the corner of his desk. The edges of his mouth pulls upwards, casting a fond gaze upon the photo as he reminisces about the past. Storms tended to calm him down.

"Hakone Ekiden." Whispering quietly, he holds the photo up towards the light, watching the light reflect off the cool metal frame. The room lights up and the boy is blinded for a moment. He braces himself, the pitter-patter of rain disrupted by yet another booming of thunder. Placing the photo frame on the desk gingerly, he picks up his pen.

His head was empty, writing whatever he wanted, letting the smooth navy-blue ink flow onto the page.

A loud crash... he blinks, placing his pen down. He thinks to himself, must've imagined that. Then, he hears a shout of surprise, judging by the voice, one of the twins. Flicking off his lamp, he gets up and heads out.

Joutarou is standing by the door, pointing at a figure. This figure looks very familiar. The boy steps forward and practically rips off the hood. Greeting with a bright smile, the figure turns to shut the door tightly behind them.

"Ha? Haiji-san?" Joutarou says and his younger brother sticks his head out from inside the kitchen, "Oh~"

The boy ushers Haiji in, giving him a change of clothes. Haiji smiles gratefully, taking them and heading to the bathroom.

"Kakeru?" A voice asks tentatively, the boy turns to face the source of the voice. "Shindou-san, do you need something?" Shindou looks briefly at where Haiji had been before, "I just woke up from a nap. Was that Haiji?" He nods and Shindou's eyes go as wide as saucers, "I have to tell Musa. Thanks."

The boy is just left standing in the hallway, the storm outside as intense as ever. He sighs and heads to his room. As he steps towards his desk, he notices that his pen had rolled onto the floor.

"Ink has water, doesn't it?" He tilts his head before turning around, "Haiji, that was fast." Haiji is all smiles as usual, ulterior motive hidden behind a mask, "Thinking?"

The boy pauses to look at him, bending down to pick up the pen afterwards, "Maybe." "You're writing again." Haiji traces his handwritten words gently, the boy smiles softly at him. Haiji purses his lips, eyes scanning over the page, eyes softening, "You're Kurahara Kakeru. You don't need to be who your parents want you to be as long as you're a good person."

"Tell them that. See if they believe you." The boy offers a lopsided smile, putting the pen into his pencil case. Then he blinks once more, processing Haiji's words, "What's with the water thing anyway?"

Mysterious smiles as usual.

"It's raining, there's water, isn't there? Ink has water. There's water in us too."

The boy chuckles, grabbing Haiji's hand, leading him out of the room, "Alright, whatever you say."

Even though he can't stop his parents from pushing their expectations in him, even though he can't stop himself from feeling stressed and suppressed, he feels lighter somehow.

They get to dinner and midway, Haiji places his chopsticks down and gives a wide grin, "Water is an essence of life, isn't it?"

"To which everyone didn't quite understand.

But, the boy... no, Kakeru smiled, he would interpret it in his own way.

He was Kurahara Kakeru.

His thoughts and actions mattered.

He wasn't lost any longer.

He found his meaning to run.

He found his partner for life.

"Why did you call me to come downstairs?" Prince asked, eyes not leaving his manga. Haiji blinked, not even caring that Prince was obviously disinterested, "Well, he was certainly a very interesting character!" Prince sighed, shoulders slumping even more, "Look, Haiji-senpai. I'm not here to help you out with your love life. Please just leave." Haiji gave an unreadable smile and Prince put his manga down, he had that bad feeling that Haiji was up to something. "If you're so unwilling, I guess we can call off that deal with the bookstore." Prince looked at him in disbelief, "There's no way that you would! Manga is my life!" He stood up, hands on the table, staring at him intensely.

Haiji continued smiling, "So, what are your opinions?" Admitting defeat, Prince grumbled a bit as he sunk back into the kitchen chair, "I've met him a few times. Just give him running shoes or a waterbottle. Everyone in first year knows that he likes to run." Narrowing his eyes, Haiji asked, sounding like he was super suspicious of something, "Why would you know that? You're in second year." Prince opened his mouth and was going to say something when Haiji's face lit up, "I can give him Hakone Ekiden!" Haiji's hand reached forward and placed it on his manga. Not his manga! He scrambled forward, trying to grab it but the book cover was glued to Haiji's hand.  Just like that, Haiji began to melt like ice and the floor started creaking. Prince tried jumping back but he couldn't. All he could do was watch as the floor swallowed the melting Haiji, combining together in one big mess.

"AHHHHHH!" Prince jolted awake, sweating profusely. He clutched his futon tightly, that bookstore deal was still there, he reassured himself. He would get his discount, Haiji wouldn't be swallowed by the floor and manga was still his life. He took in his surroundings silently, although still breathing heavily. His heavenly stacks of manga was still there, everything would be fine. Prince looked at the door,

A knock, followed by several knocks. "Come in." He said, getting up slowly, going to fold up his futon. Kakeru stuck his head in, "I heard some shouting while I was walking down the stairs. Are you okay, Prince-san?" "I'm fine." Kakeru just gave a stiff nod and closed the door.

After closing the door, Kakeru continued climbing down the stairs. "Good morning, Kakeru." Haiji greeted him, back facing him, using the stove. "Good morning, Haiji. Did the rest of them go for a run?" Haiji turned around, "Yeah, except Prince. Can you go check on him?" The raven-haired boy gave a small smile, "I already did. How are you feeling?" Haiji's heart sped up and he turned back to the stove at an alarming speed. Darn it, he's so cute...

He felt arms wrap around his waist and Haiji paused, "What is it?" Kakeru hugged tighter, "Thanks for finding me on that night. I don't regret coming to Aotake." Haiji turned off the stove, "I have to thank you too though. I found my true reason to run."

Prince came in, "You both gave each other Hakone Ekiden. End of story, please no more PDA." 

Kakeru pulled apart, cheeks flushed, "W-" A sudden laughter came from Haiji, "You still remember that?" Kakeru tilted his head and looked at Prince, "That?" Haiji grinned, "I talked to Prince about you before we met on that night." "O-oh."

"Come on, hurry up!" Haiji laughed, eyes twinkling. The rest of Chikusei-so watched the two leave, indulging Haiji with unnecessary dramatics. The twins were "bawling", lamenting about seeing the toilet in different light and other nonsense. Shindou was clutching a cookbook, waving sadly as if they were never going to see each other again. Musa was shedding tears, murmuring about some crush, the twins, and not having anyone to talk to. 

"Maybe if you helped carry something, it wouldn't take this long. You know, the rest of you could help too." Kakeru grunted, giving everyone a glare. Haiji leaned out of the driver's seat, giving a merry shout, "You're almost there, keep it up!" 

Putting the last of the luggage in the trunk, he opened the passenger seat door and the twins became a blob on the floor. Kakeru gave a small wave as Haiji started up the car. 

For a few moments, they were just silent, enjoying the peacefulness around them. "You know, I'm surprised that we could do this." Kakeru broke the comfortable silence, looking out the window at the passing hills and the constant of the Tamagawa River. A smile slipped onto Haiji's face easily, "We're going on a date!" 

"For 5 days," Kakeru questioned, "I'm not sure that's how it works." 

"Hush! We can go on a date everyday. Now, don't distract me, I'm driving." 

Kakeru pouted, "Fine." He leaned against the window, nodding off. 

When he came to, the passing scenery outside had changed, the Tamagawa River was no more, replaced by rows of trees. "Wmhere?" His words slightly slurred from sleep. Haiji glanced at the raven-haired boy, a slight tiredness in his tone, "We're almost there, another ten more minutes." Kakeru sat up slowly, rubbing his sore neck. They seemed to be at some sort of mountain place, there had been a significant change in pressure. 

Pulling to a stop, Kakeru got out first, opening the trunk. As he got out the bags, Haiji stretched his spine out, offering assistance as soon as he was done. "Let's get inside quickly! It's so cold out here." Exclaiming loudly, Haiji grabbed some of their bags and headed towards the brightly lit building. A clerk was typing away dutifully at the counter when they entered, he gave them a smile and Haiji checked them in.  

He gave them instructions about how to find their booked cabin, keys and a map. "Left or right?" Haiji grinned, holding the map upside down on purpose. "Please don't tease me, Haiji. It's very cold out here." 

Haiji had the nerve to pretend to be offended, "You were so much cuter when you weren't so snarky!" Kakeru gave him a blank stare before snatching the map and finding the way to their cabin. 

When they found the cabin, Haiji fished out the keys and unlocked the door. They peeled off their jackets and Haiji started preparing dinner. Kakeru went to shower on Haiji's insistence.

The moment he came out from the shower, his nose was assaulted by the smell of delectable food. "That smells nice. What did you make?" Kakeru walked over earnestly, earning a heartwarming laugh from Haiji. "You can already guess. Curry!"

Chuckling, Kakeru moved towards the table, setting the bowls and plates down. "I like the wooden aesthetic of this place. How did you find this cabin?" Haiji beamed at him, "It's a secret! I thought you'd like it." 

They ate, enjoying each other's company, and engaging in some small talk. After they finished dinner, Kakeru washed and cleaned the place up while Haiji went to go wash up. 

It wasn't long before they were in bed, snuggling under the covers. Kakeru felt Haiji shift a little, "So, how was our date?" Kakeru was confused, "Huh?"  

"Date 0." That was all Haiji said but Kakeru poked him. 

"It can't be Date 0. We've been dating for so long already."

"T-that's not what I meant." 

"Really? Because I think that it's probably day 100 already." 

"You made that number up, didn't you?"

"Maybe, I want to sleep now. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Kake-chan."

He could feel his blood boiling, a searing heat threatening to pierce right through his skin and unleash his fury upon the boy in front of him. Breath coming out in short bursts, he clenched his fists tightly, shoulders tense. Sakaki mimicked the face he was making, mocking him, "What? You're going to hit me? Won't that be the same as what you did to the coach?" He felt his hands claw out towards Sakaki without permission, "You-" The redhead sighed, steeping backwards so his hands never hit him, "You never change." Kakeru reeled back at Sakaki's sudden change in tone, "W-what?"

As if realising a mistake, Sakaki gasped and his eyes widened. He stepped backwards further, eyes narrowing, "I meant, animals will always be animals, no matter how appearances change." Kakeru snarled, feeling a new wave of anger wash over him, "What gives you the right to say th-" He felt a comforting hand placed on his shoulder and he turned. It was Haiji.

The older male kept his hand firmly on Kakeru's shoulder as he regarded Sakaki coldly, "Are you an animal too? Animals should stay at the zoo. Kakeru's changed but yet, you hold this grudge for so long. It's almost been four years since then. Have you really changed?"

Sakaki sneered, "Oh, the prince charming appears to save the damsel-in-distress." With Haiji at his side, keeping his emotions and actions in check, Kakeru surveyed Sakaki quietly. Hands clenched into fists and yet, his eyes seemed to exude a silent form of sadness. Haiji sensing that Kakeru was calm, dropped his hand from his shoulder, "Why do you keep attacking Kakeru like this? You're already in your forth year of university." Kakeru reached out and linked his hands with Haiji's, "Sakaki, maybe before I wouldn't have said this but, I'm sorry for what I did back there. If I had kept my anger under control, things might have turned out better. I can't change that but I can make it up to you, right?"

Sakaki smiled, a serene expression in contrast to all his anger, fury and rage before. "You've changed, haven't you? Only I haven't, I'm the animal, aren't I?"

Sakaki began walking away. Kakeru was about to call him before, Sakaki whipped around, this time truly yelling, "But, humans are animals, aren't they?!"

He turned, his bag held closely next to him, they couldn't see his face or expression anymore.

"But I'm human. Therefore, I'm an animal."

He spun around once more, "Don't you dare try to comfort me! You two lovebirds will never understand!"

Tears were running down his face of emotions better left unspoken, he took off running.

Kakeru looked at Haiji, "Do I?" "No, he has to sort out his problems. Everyone needs time to be alone."

"But he's not an animal." Haiji sighed and glanced at the spot where the redhead had previously been at.