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I look down at my phone, currently displaying Makoto's caller ID. My finger hovers over the call button, itching to just press it. I want to hear his voice, to know he's okay and that he's going to make it home safely. If only I could be near him, to protect him... but I know it's not always that necessary. I know he doesn't see me as one, but I don't like being a bother to him.
Even so, my heart aches like this when he feels so out of reach. It's as if a great calamity could come hurling down from the sky and take him away. Just like when he left and faced Nyx alone. That feeling was brief, but I don't ever want to feel that way ever again...
Sitting on the couch in our apartment, I can clearly see the dark rushing clouds, hustling winds of a storm. It's pouring down hard like cats and dogs, as they say. Thankfully, I took the laundry in before everything began spiraling into chaos. The news reporter had said that it's going to be storming all night long.
I look back at my phone again, still featuring his name and number.
"Please just make it back okay, Makoto... Please..."
Sigh
Of all days to not have a car... Not that I necessarily like using them anyway, but still, I'd swallow my fear if it meant having a roof over my head that covers more than just barely of my body... Especially one that isn't made of this flimsy fabric...
I'm holding onto to this umbrella for dear life, my hands clasped strong against it's spine holding it down to keep above me. The winds are strong and the rain is shooting down fast. Feels like I'm standing right in the center of a no man's land, caught between all the gunfire and explosions.
Aigis is probably worried about me. Strangely, though, she hasn't called or texted me about coming home. I hope she's okay too... Maybe I should call her just to let her know. I think we both need to hear each other's voices right now.
I flip out my phone, a great illumination centers around my face as the digital lighting pierces through the darkness of the storm. Aigis is the first name to appear in my contacts. My finger is ready to touchdown on the call button until...
SPLASH
I feel a wet, chilling shock in my foot. There was no reason to look down. I knew what happened, it would be clear to anyone on days like this, but I still peered my eyes down to it anyway. After just stepping off the curb of the sidewalk, a completely unconscious decision as I was distracted by my phone, I had stepped in a rushing puddle of rainwater. The rain was pouring down so much that not even the sewage drains were quick enough to gulp it down. And I had just landed myself right into the center of a whirlpool. All the rainwater dancing around my ankle.
"Ah! Are you serious," I scoffed. It was a fault of my own, of course, but I'm still pissed about it. But that turn of attention away from my current goal would lead me to a harsher road ahead. Cause, just then, a gust of wind bashes into me, the force of which caught me off guard so bad I had lost my grip on the umbrella. Having to only hold with one hand... I should have seen it coming, but I really needed to let Aigis know I was okay. And unfortunately, I would also find that to be... a lost cause.
I attempt to reach for my umbrella again with both hands, but in doing so, with so much already pushed against me, my cellphone slips out of my hand. Like a bar of soap...
It splashes with no grandeur. Just a sad plop. I see the light from it flicker and then die. A black screen, a void, is all that it can capture now.
And there I was, the fool in the rain. No umbrella, no working phone. It hadn't even been 10 seconds and I can already feel the rain seeping into my undershirt...
I walked back and forth relentlessly, fighting the urge to even lay a gaze on my phone. If I wasn't wearing the prosthetic feet that I use for foot wear when going out in public, there might be scuffs in the wood flooring from all my pacing.
I've waited... and waited... but it hurts too much now! I need to check up on him!
I lunge towards my phone and instantly started darting the sequence of numbers that would reach me to his voice and waited, horribly waited for the ringing to start... But it never did. Instead, it directed me to voice-mail and my heart sank. Voice-mail...? B-But... why!? Was his phone dead? I tried calling again, but I was met with the same tone once more. My mind raced, my chest a fumed engine. I felt a horrible sensation like the pulling of strings on my heart, stressing its brass far without intention to make beautiful sound. All just to hurt!
I was going to rush out of the house, right at that instance. Without shoes or even a thought of who might see me. I held no hesitation. But my pursuit dropped when I heard the click of the door. It opens and, right in the doorway
And there stood my husband... drenched from the rain.
"Ma-Makoto! Are you alright!? Oh goodness... your soaked from head to toe..."
"Just like back when that typhoon hit the dorm, huh," he tries to joke, but I can see it in his face he's very exhausted. His voice sounds coarse and dry. He must have been running as fast as he could to get here, which only made me worry more for his health.
"Don't joke about that! You could get sick again! Please, Makoto, I don't want to..."
I hugged him. His body and clothes were cold and wet, the pressure I applied as I wrapped myself around him wringed the fallen tears off his fabric as drops on the floor. But to me, he was warm. So very warm.
"I'm sorry," I say in a melancholic tone. My face brushed up against his damp shoulder, longing for his presence. "I'm being selfish... Aren't I? I'm just so afraid of something happening to you... I worry that you'll be taken away from me..."
"...Aigis," he respires. I feel his arms come up to foil my despair as he returns the embrace, his fingers gently caressing the back of my head, loosely buried into my hair. "I'm not going anywhere," he reinforces to me, "I'm here, look at me, Aigis." I remove the tension I threw upon him, as does he loosen his hold on me. But our hands slide down each other's arms, settling at the joints of our elbows. My head tilts up ever so slightly to meet his eyes.
"I'm home," he says.
I love him so much.
His words flush my face and curves my lips to warmth. I bring my hands to one of his and hold him ever so gently.
"You are," sighing with infatuation, "...and you're soaking all over," I giggle as I brush a wet strand hanging over his eye. His wonderful smile shines through, I can already see the light in his eyes brighten.
"Yeah, hehe... I think I'm due for a shower. I'll clean up real quick and we can head to bed together. And tomorrow, I'll have to figure out a new phone plan..."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Oh, ...I'll tell you later. It's not a long story, but I think I need to get myself out of this mood first." Makoto awkwardly takes his socks and shoes off. There's a wet, sponge like squish from his footwear. I think he's going to be needing some new shoes. Maybe even a full new suit by the looks of it...
He strips his feet down bare and makes way to the bathroom, just down the hall. Although it may feel like my trouble and worry have been resolved, something still writhed inside me. A feeling as if I'm not satisfied with what's been done. What I've done. He could always say that I've done enough for him... but...
"I'll help clean you up," I speak abruptly and boldly to him just before he passes into the doorframe. He turns his full body to me. I must have really caught his attention with that one.
"Aigis... you don't have to—"
"But I want to."
Makoto's eyes widen, his mouth ever so slightly agape and cheeks flared from my straightforward desire.
"...P-Please." I shyly clasp my hands together, blushing at my own request too. There's a great silence between us till the faint retreat of air escapes Makoto's lungs as confirmation.
"Okay," he breathes softly.
The water is nice and warm. Not too scalding, nor undertemp, just perfect. Aigis always seems to get it right. And it's particularly nice after the cold soggy hell that I had to journey through.
I sit on a stool, the rejuvenating feel of the shower's spout flows over my head and slithering down my back. Obviously, I'm completely naked, and I suppose Aigis is too or, well... about as naked as she can be. Thinking of it now, it is odd seeing her without her ribbon. But saying that now, it shouldn't be that weird, she doesn't wear it to bed either... Why I am so caught up in this?
She kneels behind me, gently massaging my scalp with a coat of bubbled shampoo. It drips down to my neck, and then my shoulders. She scoops some off and returns it back to my head, scrubbing the rain fresh off with what I would imagine what professional quality feels like.
The tips of her fingers, despite being metal, feel so relaxing. Or maybe, ...it's just her in general. I began to feel emotional. When was the last time someone went this far for me, for such simple care? Was it mom? It's been so long... I even feel as if the memory is fading, but what's being replaced now is so wonderful, so... comforting. Aigis here with me, her love always showing. It's all so...
My eyes. I'm crying.
It's good I'm already covered in tears. Not sure if I want Aigis to see me like this, but I can't stop them. The tears won't stop rolling down. I sniff, now that this sensation is reaching my sinuses, and it's a wet one. Aigis' fingers slow their scrub.
"Makoto? Are you developing a cold?"
"Huh? N-No, I'm fine, Aigis. Really..."
I didn't give a very convincing response. My throat feels tight, I felt my own words choking me as I spoke and guaranteed she heard it too. Her hands stop massaging and fade away from my scalp. I sense her get up on her feet and slowly hover over me, bending over to see my face. Her head blocks out the rainshower, getting her hair wet now too. I look up to meet her. Now the only tears she can see are my own. It's not often I've seen her hair wet before, but... wow...
"What's wrong," she frowns at my teared face. Her hands rub up to my cheeks, wiping away the droplets.
"I... I'm just... emotional to have you," I tell her.
"I don't understand," she's says tilting her head.
"It's okay. Just know you make me happy, Aigis."
"Makoto...," she whispers. She leans down close to me and places a chaste kiss to my forhead, settling her own just right on top. Her arms craddle across my chest, just holding me tenderly. "I love you."
"I love you, too." I lean the back of my head to her chest, right next to her heart. As I stare up at her, I see her dangling wet strands of hair. It makes me chuckle. "I think you should have your hair washed too."
"Huh?" She sounded puzzled but it was a cute response.
"Here," I say slowly sitting up straight and urging her to take my seat, "c'mon, I'll do yours!"
"O-Oh! O-Okay, okay!" She starts giggling at my sudden shift of tone. "I suppose, I could use one too..."
I pour some shampoo in my hand and get to scrubbing. The bubbles foam up quick while dancing my fingers into the gold of her hair. It's like ballet in a wheat field on a misty evening. I hear a calming hum resonating from Aigis as I worked my magic. She seemed to be really enjoying it.
"Your hair's starting to grow a bit. Have you been thinking about keeping it long?"
"Hehe. It has, hasn't it? Would you like it that way?"
"I like you in anything." I must've really touched her heart there. She gasps as if shocked by my words and became silent for a bit.
"I suppose... I wouldn't mind that, then...," she replied. I continued going all around her scalp, just massaging her head, keeping her comfortable. And I did that for a little while longer.
"Makoto...," Aigis softly speaks, quiet enough that the tap dancing of the splashing droplets almost drowns her out.
"Yeah?" I lean closer to her, trying to hear her voice more clearly. She turns to me, her wet hair drooping across her forhead and face, but clear from it all I see her eyes. There are tears, masked in with the water droplets. Some laying in wait to fall, and others already streaking down her beautiful face.
"I understand," her voice cracks as she gives me a tearful smile.