The sound of the Rain

14. Confusion

“Are you alright?” Riko asked as she was helping her friend back on her feet. Alyia hurt her ankle and could not walk, but the way the guy stormed out of the cafeteria left Riko stunned for a moment and confused. She did not see his expression for long, but the way he reacted the moment she snarled at him, just before he turned his face to look down at Alyia. There was fear and regret in his eyes the moment she noticed what he did, but the moment later his entire composure changed and once he dropped his jacket on Alyia, he just left.

“I am fine,” Alyia replied to her. Once she wrapped herself in the jacket he threw at her, she grabbed Riko’s hand, trying to support herself so she could stand up. Riko supported her and once she collected all their staff, she led Alyia to the infirmary.

“Just a sprain. It should be good after few days of rest.” Doctor’s words startled Alyia. Not only she had work today, but it would be also difficult to move around the campus with the injury like this. She sighed, losing all her hope.

Those two scared doe's eyes staring down at her from his height appeared in her memories, making her unable to be angry with him. Although he caused a fundamental problem for her, it was not his fault. Alyia felt he was trying to run away. She did not know why or from what, but about one thing she was sure about. He was running, hiding his true self from the world.

‘You should take her to the infirmary.’ Echoed again in her mind. Ah, so he is the owner of that voice. She thought for herself, replaying the other words as well. Alyia tried to put together the same face she saw in the cafeteria today and the owner of those previous words from the library. The image of those two did not fit, but based on the voice, she knew it was him. The one who bumped into her today and the one she overheard in the library were one person.

“So, I guess I will have to excuse you today from work,” Riko interrupted her thoughts all of a sudden. It took a second to realize she was still in the infirmary and her friend talked to her.

“Ah, I am sorry for that.” Alyia said with a heavy heart. In the end, the only thing she could do was to go home and continue with her regular work. Doctor bandaged her ankle and gave her support, so she could at least step on it, but without the crutch she could not walk.

“I’ll take you home for the day.” Riko offered her. Alyia did not want to bother her, plus they still had classes in the afternoon, which meant taking her home meant Riko would skip at least one of them.

“It’s fine. I don’t want to bother you, plus you still have class.” Alyia smiled at her.

“Don’t be silly.” Riko replied to her, leading her out of the infirmary.

“Thank you, doctor.” Riko replied, and Alyia turned around to thank him as well.

“You really don’t have to take me home. I can take a cab.” Alyia said resolutely. Riko refused to answer again and just looked straight to Alyia with a look telling her there was not any room for negotiations. She was taking her home. Seeing how fiercely Riko stared at her, she just bowed her head and let her do whatever she wanted. She still stank like soup, with her clothes completely soaked and dirty. Alyia wanted to take a shower and get out of these clothes, so she decided not to have a fight with Riko and just go with her for now. She could not fight with her.

“Good girl.” Riko said, patting her head as they both walked towards the parking lot. Riko’s car was small, an ideal car for cities, but for two of them it was more than enough. She helped Alyia into the car and once they arrived in front of her building, she helped her out as well.

“Let me help you with the shower. You shouldn’t soak the leg now.” Riko said. Alyia felt shy, but Riko looked, pouting her lips. Alyia thought about what she should do, but no other idea came to her mind. In the end, she just nodded to her and let Riko help her.

Alyia took off the jacket the guy gave her, putting it on the sofa. She planned to wash it later and return it. Once she got herself out of the clothes, with Riko’s help, they put them into the washing machine. Riko helped Alyia into the bathroom and brought her two chairs. One for Alyia to sit on and the second to support her leg up, so it would stay out of the water on the ground. It took a little adjusting so Alyia could feel comfortable while her friend stood in the bathroom with her, while she was n***d and washing herself. Riko helped her wash the back and once Alyia could not smell the food from her skin anymore, Riko helped her dry her and without touching the ground, taking her back to the living room so she could go back and clean the bathroom. Alyia just sat in the living room, wrapped in her bathrobe, still feeling shy someone else saw her like this. In her entire life, only her parents saw her n***d when she was a little baby.

“How are you?” Riko asked as the first thing she came back from the bathroom.

“Does it still hurt?” Alyia shook her head as a reply to the second question. Before Riko cleaned the bathroom, she already put home clothes and just sat in the living room waiting for her to come back.

“You should go back to campus. You might still catch the last two classes.” Alyia encouraged her to leave, but Riko felt quite reluctant to leave her friend alone, especially while injured like this.

“Are you sure?” Riko asked, unsure whether she should leave.

“I am fine.” Alyia assured her with a gentle smile.

“But if you need anything, just call me, okay?” Riko was worried about her friend, but if Alyia insisted on her to leave, then there was not any reason to fight with her. Alyia kept smiling at her as she was collecting her stuff and leaving the apartment.

“Thank you, Riko.” Alyia waved at her. Once the door closed and Alyia became alone in her apartment alone, heavy thoughts flooded her mind. Something seemed off about the guy who pushed her today. Alyia realized it was just an accident because he was sulking in his own thoughts and not paying attention. She also had to admit she did not move away when she saw him, but seeing his expression as he was coming closer to her, she could not help but stare at him. At that little moment, she could see so many dark thoughts in those eyes. Immense pain radiated from them. Alyia could hear the silent screaming of his mind and his hidden soul. Whoever that man was, he suffered a lot. Alyia wanted to help him, but she knew very well that those were the eyes of someone who would not accept help from anybody. He was a loner and most likely he had a dark past behind that.

His facial expression and those eyes highly reminded her little boy she met as a little girl. A boy who later became her reason to fight against the tides and brought her back here. Her mind wondered whether it could be the same person. Ten years passed since they saw each other for the last time and they both were still children. Alyia changed a lot herself, not only by her appearance, but by her character as well. Or at least she hoped she changed, but the same for sure happened to Hiro. For ten years, he sure matured and grew up. Alyia suddenly realized that even if she would meet him, she might not recognize him at first sight. She asked herself how she was supposed to find one person in the presence of millions?

She went to her bedroom, searching for old pictures she hid in the small treasure box she created for herself shortly after they moved from Tokyo to Osaka. All her pictures Hiro gave her, together with the key chain and the ring he presented her the day she left, were safely stored there, hidden from the surrounding world, treasured deeply by her.

Alyia had only few pictures together with Hiro, but even these few she had were more than enough for her to remember him, hold him deeply in her heart for the past ten years. She never let go of those thoughts. Alyia never forgot a single thing about the time they spent together. Once again, she remembered the main reason for her to come to Tokyo and, without even realizing it; she was close to what she looked for.

A lot of suppressed feelings resurfaced at once while she stared at those pictures. Tears bobbled down her cheeks as she reminisced on the past. She missed him so deeply. Many times, she wished to go back to the past, even just for a moment, to hold his hand or place her head on his shoulder. She wanted to feel the warmth she felt when hiding in the tree trunk during the heavy rain.

It was already dark outside when she finally calmed enough to stop sobbing. On her one foot, she got to the kitchen to search for something to eat, but to her surprise, she forgot that today was her grocery day. She had nothing to eat at home. Calling Riko was pointless. She would have to drive in the heavy traffic, especially at this hour when most of the people hurried home from work. She looked at her crutch and went to the convenient store nearby. It was the only option for her to get something to eat and her stomach made funny sounds, announcing that the dinner time had already passed a long time ago.

It took quite some time, but Alyia managed to get to the store. Shopping went slowly, holding the shopping basket while supporting herself with the crutch cost her a lot of energy.

Alyia slipped, losing the stability, but to her shock, another customer caught her before she fell to the ground.

“Careful.” Echoed the voice in her ears, but she could barely hear it.

“I am sorry.” Alyia apologized, still shocked at what had just happened. Stranger held her in his arms while her crutch ended on the ground. When the shock passed and her mind finally caught up with the current situation, she tried to reach for her crutch. Stranger carefully placed Alyia to the ground, letting her lean towards the shelves before he bent and lifted her crutch, handing it to her.