Rainbow Days Side Stories

When I met Raina, it was during an intro class- I don't remember the subject now. I remember this, only because we were put into a group project together. As predicted, and I suppose there's something universal about group projects that cross cultural lines, only she and I took it seriously. out of a group of four, the two of us did the majority of the work. I'd been nervous. My English was very good in my homeland, but here, I felt inadequate. The words stuck in my throat, or lounged on my tongue as I tried to communicate what my thoughts were to the world around me.

A world that was increasingly difficult to navigate and pray I didn't mess up. I knew the words but I didn't know words the way they used them. The slang puzzled me often and I felt like a complete fool smiling when they said something that didn't quite sound right. I just wanted to make a good impression. Especially since my break up with Usako...Usagi. Even to this day, I have trouble thinking of that time.

I hadn't wanted to do it. I don't think either of us did. Yet, I couldn't soothe her insecurities. I couldn't comfort her to let her know she had been the most important person in my life. Then..she turned on her friends with her baseless accusations. She insisted on coming with me to my every course meeting with other students. She asked me to give up my dream... It...it wasn't like her. It hadn't been like her to allow fear to rule her so much. I'd known she could get ridiculously jealous and normally it had been easy to placate that side of her as I never did anything to warrant it.

But she'd drawn the line there.

"If you love me," She'd said after an argument we'd had again about me returning to the program, " You'll stay here! Can't you do the same studies here instead of Harvard?"

​

"I could, but this is my dream!" I'd explained, "If I go, I get to attend one of the best schools in the country. I'll get ahead in my major- and, I might get a good mentor. "

She hadn't wanted to hear that. Instead, she'd burst into tears, called me cruel, and ran off. We didn't speak for a full week. Our second big fight. And it broke us.

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I didn't blame her for it.

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Everything just... I decided to make it easier on the both of us. I initiated the break up just like before. Just to protect her. This time, it was to also protect myself. I think she understood it too. She didn't ask me to change my mind. She didn't tell me to stay again or call me anything awful. Instead, she told me she hoped that I would have a safe trip. And that it might be..for the best. But I knew she didn't believe some of that.

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However, it was for the best of both of us to be away from each other for a time.

I truly believed I would never love again after that. Raina, though, proved me wrong.

On the third day of trying to get our classmates to work with us, she met with me at a coffee shop around the corner and declared, " It's just you and me, Chiba. We're going to ace this project come hell or high water!"

Surprised, I nervously sipped my coffee, trying not to feel it. In a way, she was a little like Usagi in this regard. She spoke her mind whenever she saw fit.

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"What do we tell the professor?" I asked, watching as she gathered some materials to put on the table. "It's supposed to be a group effort."

"It is one." She assured me, "It's just only half of the group is going to get credit. Unless they start coming to these meetings too or contribute something, I'm not covering for them." She then gave me a smile, "Don't worry too much. I heard this one is pretty easy going. If they can butter him up good, they'll get some extra credit to cover this mistake."

I didn't know enough to contradict her, but it sounded like a good course of action. If I were honest, I was also annoyed by our group mates refusal to even give anything to help.

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So, we worked together. It was a three week assignment. We spent many of our afternoons and breaks together. I learned a lot with her. She expressed a desire to learn my language as well.

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"I know it's silly," She said bashfully one day, "but I want to know how to speak and read it because I had a relative that lived in Japan for a while. He used to tell us kids about it all the time. And everything he's seen and heard from there. It sounded beautiful. As you can imagine, there's not a whole lot of books about it where I'm from. It's why I got into this course. I wanted to learn about other people and cultures." She had a dreamy expression in her green eyes, "To see what makes humans so...human. "

Then it's like she caught herself and laughed, hiding behind her cloud-like deep burgundy red hair. Even though her skin was the color of a dark brown moonstone, I could tell she was blushing.

"Sounds silly, right?"

"Sounds like a beautiful dream." I said, finding myself fascinated by her. "Tell me more about it. I could help you if you want?"

Her eyes lit up then, " Really? That'd be amazing! And you won't regret it either!" She grinned, "I'm going to show you everything this place got!" She paused in her excitement to ask, "Are you going home for the holidays?"

I stopped myself in mid-thought. Yes, I would've said. I would've told her all about the friends I've missed from back home and everyone that's waiting for me. Only...

"No." I told her, feeling a dull ache, " I don't have anyone. I'm an...orphan." I rushed on, "My family is gone and I don't have any relatives waiting for me."

There's no one waiting for me. No one. Not any more.

Raina smiled softly to me then saying, " Well, you'll have some now, Mamoru."

I didn't know then, how true her words would prove to be.

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I was a nervous wreck the entire time. She invited me to stay with her family over the holidays. I had, reluctantly, agreed. I didn't have anything to do and the campus would be closed over the entire holiday until sometime after New Years. It wouldn't have been very exciting without any friends.

"Are you sure your family won't mind?" I asked again, for the millionth time, as we collect our bags. "I can still stay at a hotel. It's not too late."

Raina laughed softly, "Don't be ridiculous! Sure, you'll have to stay in my sister's room- she's going to visit with her husband's family this year. They're all the way in Cali.- but it's cozy." She grabbed her bags and patted my shoulder. Heat rushed to my cheeks as she said, " They'll love you. I promise."

I suppose she was right, again. When we arrived at her parents home, they welcomed us warmly. Her mother, Lucinda, ushered me into the kitchen to help with some preparations the moment Raina and her father started arguing about something.

"Don't worry about them none." She'd chuckled tying an apron on and offering me the spare, " They're always like that. It's how they talk to each other. There's no danger." She nodded over to the stove, " Can I get you to help me with some things?"

"It'd be my pleasure." I paused, a flush on my face as I tried to pronounce her name right.

She was patient with me and at last simply said, " Just call me Ma. Everyone does at this point."

Face still aflame with a light blush I asked, "Is-would it be fine if I called you 'okaasan'?"

"Sure, sugar. Now get that apron on and help me out, will you?" She said with a slight chuckle, "Don't worry. One of the things I learned from Rain was some basic words. I know what you mean."

Maybe it's because I hunger for the warmth of a family and a good meal again that I let myself be careless now. Or, maybe it's because of the Tsukinos, I know that not everyone would turn me away as well. I suppose, though, I also cheated just a little. The power of psychometry wasn't necessarily one that I could completely control on demand. However, I could at times peek into the memories of objects to get a faint sense of what had happened. With them, it's everywhere. In every piece I picked to look in, I could see snippets of the most mundane things. Raina and a girl I assumed was her older sister, fighting over the last slice of cake. A happy memory between her parents over a dinner for them. A family gathering with games and songs.

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This place was filled to the brim of memories. Despite myself, despite however I felt before, I wanted to be part of them too. I wanted a connection again. Longed for one.

After dinner the first night, Raina took me out to walk the neighborhood for a while. Showing me places she's been. The familiar stomping grounds of her youth.

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"Are there places you like to visit?" She asked me, stuffing her hands into her blue winter coat. "Places that you used to hang out?"

I ran a hand through my head. Places? There were plenty of those. " I don't know if I'm welcomed to those, anymore." I said.

"Why not?"

I made a face then looked away, "There's just, somethings that might be best to forget."

After a moment she asked, " Who was she?"

"Who?"

"The girl who broke your heart, duh." Raina tilted her head, "A person only acts like that when their heart gets broken."

"It- It wasn't like that." I said keeping my eyes on the ground, " We decided we had to. Long distance and then the.. other things. It's just best for all involved. It's, very personal."

I could feel Raina's eyes on me. The deep green eyes that reminded me of emeralds or maybe the forest canopy with its shifting green hues. The silence grew almost uncomfortably as I racked my mind to figure out what to say to break this tension. Though, maybe it was just me.

"Ok." Raina said simply and smiled, " Let's head back. I think there might be something left in the fridge and a terrible movie on. I'm going to expose you to some of the classics!"

I blinked, feeling as if whatever was strung taut inside of me, loosen. A smile eased itself across my lips as I followed her, "The classics?"

"You bet!" she walked backwards in front of me, the wind whipped by us. "I'm going to show you some of the joys of being adults and naming your own bedtime."

I laughed. I didn't tell her that I had been doing that the moment I turned thirteen and left the orphanage to live on my own when I started junior high school. I also didn't tell her about my alter ego and the enormous burden I carried now. I didn't tell her that I had powers. That I knew of worlds beyond our own. That there's a place beneath the earth's crust in an almost sub-dimensional world where dreams of people heal and encourage the growth of what some might call a paradise. That it's responsible for keeping this world in balance. That I'm responsible for keeping it. That I knew of eight women and two talking cats that could and would protect this world.

Though, I'm not sure if they would now.

I shook the thoughts from my head. Shoving it away from now. Instead, I popped popcorn and watched movies with her that night. We fell asleep somewhere watching a 'classic' Charlie Brown movie. When I woke in the middle of the night, someone had covered us with a blanket to keep us warm. I drifted off, feeling safe once more.

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I'm not sure how I managed to do it. I'm not even certain when it started. Sometime between the first holidays and the second one when I visited Raina's family again, she and I became very close. Even though our majors were different, we made time to meet together or study together when allowed. I realized, with a start one night while lying in my dorm, that I felt more than just friendship with her. The realization made me shoot up from my bed. Almost woke my roommate when I pulled my street clothes on and headed out for a late run in the cool January night. Honestly, I was freezing. Yet, the cold didn't bother me at all. What kept my blood pumping more than this run, was the thought- the wonder that I...I had feelings for someone that wasn't Usagi.

Feelings that were my own. I wasn't being manipulated by some scheming person to feel this way. It was simply, mine. The novel feeling of being able to have my own emotions for something so precious as love-it feels like love. It is love I'm feeling- that I couldn't help but wonder when it happened.

But it happened.

And I was terrified to know - to wonder if she felt the same way.

I got my answer one night when she invited me to take a break from studying and go to a house party that one of her friends was holding. I've been to them before once, when they were recruiting for frat houses and sports teams. I hadn't liked them much then, but with her, I knew I'd at least have one person to talk to. Maybe more. So, I accepted.

The party was more riotous than any in Japan- at least any I've attended. Music blared so loud, you could hear it from a block away. People, student and non-student alike, steamed in and out of this place. Some milling about on the lawn. It looked like the whole neighborhood was awake. Everyone was out, watching or playing games. There were some dancing as well. I even saw children playing up and down the street, even though it's cold.

Raina introduced me to some of her friends, before she dragged me out to dance. She loved dancing. Far more than anyone I've known did. The way she moved was different too. It reminded me of the music videos she'd let me watch some times. I awkwardly moved beside her, feeling self-conscious still, but she just smiled, taking a swig of her drink and handing it to me.

"We're here to have fun and take a break from studying. You gotta loosen' up there, Ru."

"Ru?" I raised a brow, smiling a bit, "Do I get to give you a nickname?"

"Sure, if it's cute." She smirked impishly at me. Without waiting to hear my response a slow song came on, "Ooooh! I love this song!"

She's cute when she's like this. So infatuated with the song, she slung her arms over my shoulders, "Dance with me, please? It's my favorite!"

"If that's what you want." I said, letting my hands rest on her hips, holding the red plastic cup in my hand.

"Thank you." She murmured resting her head against my chest. "I really love this song."

"Why's that?" I asked softly, swaying with her.

"Because it's well, I don't know." She lifts her head up to look at me,her lashes lowered, "I think it describes pretty well how people feel sometimes." With that, she sang the lyrics softly, " I get so weak in the knees, I can hardly speak. I lose all control and something takes over me..." She trails off and laughs quietly, " It sounds pretty accurate to some stuff, doesn't it?"

I couldn't help but smile a bit. "Yeah, it does sound pretty accurate. Especially- "

We were jostled by some guys, obviously drunk, passing by. The drink I had held so securely fell out of my hands and down the side of her pants. Embarrassed, and I'm sure my face was redder than the cup, I apologized.

"Ina, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-!"

She looked down at it and then up at me. Tilting her head she smiled, " Ina?"

The blush deepens, "Yeah. I mean, if you don't mind? It- well- If I called you 'Rai' it sounds too close to a friend of mine's. So.."

Chuckling, she just nodded, "Sounds fine to me. Ina it is. Lets go. I need to change or something before this stuff sticks to my leg!"

"I'm still really sorry about that." I said again once we were outside in the chilly air, heading towards her place. "I should've held on to it better."

She sucked on her teeth then rolled her eyes, "Boy, if you apologize one more time, I'm going to punish you!" She sounded playful.

Without thought, I said, " Is that a promise?"

She raise a brow, giving me a once over look before saying, "Keep it up, and it might be."

Our banter continued as we made it to the house she was staying at with at least four other roommates. She looked around before inviting me in. " You could stand to warm up a bit. Come on through."

I felt so awkward, but also chilled enough that I didn't think much about it until she lead me to her room. Her room was as clean as you would expect from a college student that both worked and went to school. A little messy- that she hurriedly shoved in the closet. I pointedly tried not to look at her bra she left on the bed until she moved it.- but it was also mostly filled with books, maps , figurines of various shows and a few posters of her favorite groups.

"I'll be right back." She told me, gathering a few items and shuts the door to her bathroom.

I waited, wondering a bit about the figurines, I picked one up that looks like it was from a sentai show I've seen as a kid. I turned it over in my hand and got a pleasant feeling from it. She must've loved the show. I put it back on her dresser and looked through the books, noting she had a wide variety. What I didn't expect were the part of her shelves that were books from mythology and the astronomy. My brows rose at that. Interesting.

"Sorry if that took too long." Raina said, re-entering the bedroom dressed in an oversized t-shirt and shorts. "I think I'm calling it a night. Unless you want to watch a movie before you go?"

"I didn't know you were interested in mythology or astronomy." I pointed to her books, " You always go on about the latest shows or something."

She plopped down on her bed, laughing a bit, " Oh that, yeah. I used to be obsessed with Greek and Roman stories! If you look there, you'll see a folktales book from around the world. I've always been interested in that kind of thing."

I picked up one book and moved to sit down next to her. " I used to be interested in gemstones. I could name them and their properties off the top of my head."

"Get out!" She grinned, " That sounds like a fun hobby though. Can you tell the difference between them? Or like, how many karats there are?"

"Only a bit." I replied modestly, " I'll show you sometime?"

"Cool, I would love to learn that too." She gushed then flopped back onto the bed, " Just think, Ru, we'll be graduating from Harvard in a few years as undergrads!" She turned over on her side to look at me, "It's exciting, isn't it? Then you'll be off to med school. To be a great doctor. And me, traveling the world, studying so many cultures to my heart's content." She sighed happily, "I just hope we'll still be in each others' lives then too."

I couldn't tell her that some strange disaster or some nebulous calamity would befall the earth in the future. I think that, may still happen. What I wasn't sure about was the existence of Crystal Tokyo. Or if...

"Of course we will be." I told her, turning to look at her. Suddenly, I was conscious of the fact I was on her bed and she was laying down looking up at me through those long dark lashes. A small smile on her face as she continued to watch me. "I would never want a future where you weren't in it."

"Heh, you say such sweet things, a girl might get the wrong idea." She leaned up, "I hate for that to be true."

My pulse jumped. She's so close. It felt as natural as breathing what happened next, " Then I'd like to tell her that she doesn't have the wrong idea. At all."

"Mamoru..." She breathed my name, closing her eyes as my lips descended to hers.

I didn't go back to my dorm room that night.