Work Text:
Masami Kondou breathed in. The crisp winter air filled his lungs; a fresh departure from the cigarette smoke in his apartment. The cold yet reinvigorating feeling travelled down to his stomach, before he exhaled. He watched his breath escape his lips; a white cloud that quickly faded away. His attention was drawn to his companion, who jogged ahead from beside him. His eyes dropped to her right ankle. Akira Tachibana stopped a little way ahead, grinning to him as he approached.
And then something hit the middle-aged man. She was waiting for him; she had stopped for him. He stood in place, but his lips moved of their own accord.
“Tachibana-san, don’t you want to run again?”
The smile faded from her face. Tachibana faltered. “N-No. I’m fine the way I am.”
“Are you sure, Tachibana-san?” Kondou stepped forward. “Surely you must be all better by now, right? All it would take is some rehabilitation, and–”
“I don’t want to run again,” She reaffirmed. She turned on her heel. “I don’t.” She trudged stiffly through the snow. Frowning, he followed her. Although she had reacted bitterly to his inquiry, he knew there was more that he needed to say, whether she liked it or not. The rest of the walk felt like an uneasy eternity, though it wasn’t long before they caught sight of his apartment block. Tachibana took a big step, as if to run, but refrained and continued to walk slowly. As they approached the metal staircase, Kondou paused.
“Tachibana-san, why don’t I take you home?”
“Why?” Tachibana whirled around to view him. Her grip on her umbrella handle tightened. He gulped. She was truly glaring at him this time.
“There’s nothing more I can offer you there,” He began. “All there is is a dingy old apartment, barely any food, an unfinished manuscript, and a used fountain pen–”
“That doesn’t matter. I just want to spend more time with you.” She averted her gaze. “If that’s not a problem.”
Considering the situation for a moment, he sighed. “No, it’s... no problem.” They ascended the stairs, and she stood by patiently as he unlocked the door to his home. He had aired out most of what he could of the cigarette smoke when Tachibana had arrived, but the stale smell still lingered in the air. They removed their shoes and coats. Kondou appeared pensive as she hung her coat beside his. He stepped over to the kitchenette, grabbing the kettle. “I’ll make us some tea. Please, sit down.” Wordlessly, she sat at the kotatsu, resuming her seat from before. As he prepared a fresh pot, and washed the dishes from Tachibana’s meal, he thought over his next words carefully.
He knew what he had to do, but he wasn’t sure what the outcome would be.
Kondou glanced over at Tachibana, and he noticed she was sneaking a read of the manuscript lying on the floor near her. She hadn’t touched it; and when she checked to see if Kondou was watching, her shoulders tensed as she snapped her attention elsewhere. He chuckled and turned away. “Go ahead. Have a read.” He heard her pick up the manuscript, and when he looked over again, she was smiling to himself as she carefully turned the pages.
At last, the tea was ready, and he sat down beside her and served their cups. She thanked him, and they drank in silence. After feeling satisfied with the result of his tea, and leaving Tachibana to continue reading, he asked,
“So, how is it? The manuscript, that is.” He rested his chin on his hand. He was wondering how to raise the topic from earlier.
“It’s good,” She breathed out, closing the manuscript. Her eyes stayed on the top page, which was covered in black and red pen, the latter for edits and notes. She sheepishly put her hands in her lap. “I’m… sorry I don’t have much to say about it in terms of writing.”
“That’s fine,” Kondou reassured her with a nod. “As long as you enjoyed it.”
She nodded, “How far are you into it?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe about a third of the way through?” He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. Tachibana blinked in surprise. The manuscript was quite hefty. “It’s the first draft. First drafts are the ones where you simply let the words flow onto the page. You don’t stop to think too much if they’re good or not - or else you’ll hit a roadblock. I’ll edit it further and rewrite it later. I have some ideas that I want to add that I’d forgotten, or didn’t think of at the time.” He smiled as he brought his cup to his lips. “Ah, the downfalls of long-form.”
“It does give you a physical sense of how much progress you’ve made,” Tachibana said. Kondou saw his chance. He hoped it wouldn’t backfire.
“And… how about you, Tachibana-san?” He asked. “Have you thought about running again?”
She stared at him before peering down into her cup, brows furrowed. Her shoulders lowered. Kondou studied her with a concerned look, wondering what was going through her head. Eventually, she mumbled,
“Yes… I’ve begun attending practises again.”
His eyes widened. “That’s wonderful news, Tachibana-san!” He grinned.
She gave him a small smile in kind. “Thank you.”
That was a relief - he hadn’t expected this turn of events. Hoping to keep the positive momentum going, he asked, “Do you have any goals you want to achieve? The Tokyo Olympics, maybe? Or is that too soon?”
“Not… really, I don’t know yet.” Tachibana said, before closing her eyes. “I wanted to run again, because I love it when the sound of the wind fills my ears, it makes me feel like I’m dissolving into the sky…”
Kondou gazed at her with awe. He could picture her running, cutting through the air, her ebony hair flowing behind her. He could remember how amazed he felt on that day, when Tachibana ran to return the customer’s phone to him. He couldn’t believe someone could run that fast - not least in his own restaurant staff! He snapped back to reality when he noticed she was fixing him with a curious look.
“Are you okay, Manager?”
Realising he’d been staring, he laughed, embarrassed. “Ah–yes, yes I am. Apologies.” He cleared his throat. “It just sounded quite poetic. I had no idea running could feel that way.”
A peaceful silence hung in the air for a moment, before Tachibana’s eyes widened. She waved her hands reassuringly. “You needn’t worry, though. I can still work shifts at Garden–”
“Absolutely not,” Kondou said with a sudden authority. “You should be pursuing your dreams, not working at Garden. It would be too much of a commitment for you, I would think.”
“I-I could work just the weekends,” Tachibana stuttered. “Even just one day a week.”
“You shouldn’t, Tachibana-san.” He regarded her with a solemn look. “You should be focusing on your studies and your goals full-time.”
“No.” Tachibana’s hands curled into fists on the table. “I refuse. Please, let me work one day a week, at least.”
He contemplated her. She was trembling slightly. She didn’t want to hear him say what he was going to.
But even now… he found himself hesitating. Did he really want to cast her out of his life forever? He wondered if she would regret having a relationship with him. He didn’t want to ruin her trust in other men, let along jeopardise reputation and business. What would Yuuto think?
But he really did feel for this girl.
This girl, who had made him feel like he wasn’t a complete failure in life, that he had the time and the passion to pursue his dreams. For the first time, he had found someone who had accepted his deep love of literature…
He didn’t want to let go of her for good.
To Tachibana’s surprise, Kondou chuckled. “What an impasse,” He drank more of his tea. “You don’t want to leave, nor do I want you to, yet I want you to pursue your passions wholeheartedly, without worrying about work.” Tachibana began to tremble as she nervously awaited his next words. She looked at him with desperate eyes. She knew he knew; working at Garden was the only time she would get to see him. “I’m still letting you go from Garden, Tachibana-san, but...” He leaned in, and gesturing with a hand, he finished, “I have a proposal for you.”
“...What do you mean?”
“Promise me, Tachibana-san, that you’ll continue running, and achieve whatever you set your heart on in the future. And in return,” Kondou tapped on the manuscript, “I promise to continue writing, until I publish this novel, and… when one of us fulfills our goals, the other will mail the other a question mark.” Tachibana’s eyes shone with remembrance back to the book festival. “And the second will reply with an exclamation mark. And then… and only then, we can meet again.” His gaze connected with hers. Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes, but she was smiling.
“Okay, Mana… Kondou-san.” A tear slid down her cheek as she nodded. “I promise.”
The rest of the afternoon passed by in a bittersweet blur. They had reminisced about the Servant of Rashomon in their journey back to Tachibana’s home. At last, they arrived, and Kondou pulled the brake.
“Thank you for the ride,” Tachibana said. She hesitated for a moment, as if to say something else, before getting out of the car. Kondou followed suit on his side, and opened the passenger door behind him.
“Hang on, Tachibana-san,” He said. He grabbed the small, folded parasol, enveloped in bright wrapping paper. Tachibana had walked around the car, and stood before him on the sidewalk. He handed the present to her, and rubbed the back of his neck with an embarrassed laugh. “Merry Christmas, I suppose? Better late than never, haha. I meant to give it to you earlier, but as you know, I’m prone to forgetting.”
“It’s fine, Kondou-san.” She admired the gift with a grateful beam. “Thank you.”
“Well…” He gave her a bittersweet smile. He felt rooted to the ground, like he didn’t want to say goodbye. But he had to. “This is goodbye, for now.”
“I’ll see you again, Kondou-san.” He was about to turn away, but Tachibana stepped forward, suddenly kissing him on the cheek. She stifled a giggle as she viewed his gobsmacked expression, his cheeks alight. She grinned.
“D-Don’t be too hasty now, Tachibana-san.” He fixed her with a reprimanding look, which was betrayed by the smile on his face. He got back into his car, and Tachibana waved as he drove away. When he was a speck in the distance, she headed inside her apartment building.
And together, they were in love, after the rain.