Chapter Text
Sakura hated the rain, but today he hated it even more.
His body laid onto the concrete, blood mixed with the water pooled under him.
His bones were cracked, his left eye could barely see as it swelled significantly after the last few hours, and the bruises on his face were being stung by the pelting rain.
Today wasn’t any different, just a few guys who wanted to mess with him, pick on him, and call him names.
Sakura couldn’t help the way his hair split into two different color, how his right eye was twilight and the left was a shimmer of gold. He couldn’t help the way he was born, but people don’t seem to care.
As soon as his birth, he was instinctively unwanted, hated, and alone.
It was fine, Sakura was used to it.
This was his normal, beating people up, getting beaten up, this was his idea of normal.
He exhaled a breath, letting the frigid droplets fall into his mouth.
It tasted… loamy…
Not a great taste, but somehow it was better than the metallic taste of blood that stained his tongue.
The light trickle of the rain fell harder, harsher, and the wind began to pick up into a terrifying speed.
Sakura could only chuckle wryly, blinking idly as he watched the thunder roared on, flashes of lightning brightening the sky. And the white clouds transforming into a dark gray.
Even the heavens themselves mocked Sakura, laughed at him for his state, for his appearance, for his birth.
Sakura truly hated the rain.
He shut his eyes, exhausted. Not just from the fight, but just exhausted in general.
No matter how much Sakura punched and kicked, he couldn’t win. Not really anyways, he’d always ended up losing.
Because how can he ever win when Sakura always felt like he’s losing. Losing to the people with families, with friends, with… people surrounding them.
He let out another morose chuckle, "I really can’t win…"
As the storm went on, his ears began to fill with water, his clothes becoming drenched, and exhaustion fully taking over his body.
"A-…are you okay?"
Huh? Was Sakura hearing things or was that a voice?
He peeled opened his eyes to find a boy with blonde hair and amber eyes holding an umbrella over him.
The boy’s hand trembled, his lips quivered too as he tried to stay a good distance away from Sakura.
He narrowed his eyes, puzzled by this strange boy. "The hell?!"
The boy flinched, moving farther back, the umbrella in his hand dropped.
"I-… I’m sorry!” He yelped, bowing. "Y-… you seemed hurt…"
Sakura scoffed, "I’m fine, now leave me alone."
The boy nodded, picking back up the umbrella, quickly dashing away.
Sakura watched the blonde take faltering steps away from him, but then, he stopped.
The boy stood still, and Sakura couldn’t be more confused as to why.
Suddenly, his heels turned around, his legs moving back towards Sakura.
"Wha-… what are you doing?!"
The blonde recoiled once more, but this time he didn’t run, instead he lifted the umbrella over Sakura, a sheepish smile on his face.
"It’s raining… you might get a cold if you stay here without an umbrella." He gestured to Sakura to take it, his hands shivering as he held it up.
Sakura was stunned, unsure of what was happening. Was he dreaming, hallucinating, or was someone actually being nice to him?
"W-… why?" Sakura uttered, his eyes glancing at the umbrella back to the boy.
The timid smile the blonde had turned more relaxed. “Well…, I live close by, I don’t really need it, so you can take it.”
Sakura hesitantly reached out his hand, slowly taking the umbrella. As he grabbed the handle, he could feel the slight graze of the blonde’s fingertips.
Warm…
"Don’t stay out too long, you should take shelter!" The blonde hollered, waving goodbye as each leap he took made the puddles splash.
It was strange, Sakura was freezing cold, numb even. But, somehow his whole body was warm, as if a fire lit inside his chest.
I wonder what’s his name
Sakura laggardly got up, holding the umbrella over his head. He glanced over at the shaft of the umbrella to see an engraving of the name, Akihiko Nirei.
Nirei…
Sakura’s not the type to be curious of others, but somehow, his interest in this Nirei person skyrocketed.
Sakura began to take slow steps, glancing up at the blue polka dotted umbrella that protected him from the pouring rain.
Sakura still hated the rain, but just today, he hated it a bit less.