As she made her way back home, walking past familiar storefronts and apartment buildings, it began to rain. "Shit. Just what I needed." As Emi prepped herself to start running, the rain had suddenly stopped hitting her. She looked up and saw the familiar pink and blue umbrella, with its meticulously hand-painted floral patterns. Then she looked at the familiar stranger she had seen only moments ago. He stared off in the distance with a stoic gaze, before snapping back to the present and looking down at Emi. He smiled and greeted her warmly.

"Oh hey! Aren't you that girl that was on the subway earlier? When did ya get there? I guess with the rain going it's understandable why you'd come under my umbrella." Emi gave him a puzzled look.

"Huh? You're the one that walked next to me." Ronaldo paused for a moment.

"Man, the weather is bad today, isn't it?" Emi was dumbfounded by this poor attempt to change the subject.

"Uh sure. Is it ok if I ask you something?''

"Sure." They both started walking.

"What did you say before you attacked? Ko-mah-something?" Emi tried her best to recall the word.

"Koumorigasa?"

"Yeah! That's the one. What does that mean?" Emi asked enthusiastically.

"It means umbrella," Ronaldo answered.

"Oh." She seemed disappointed. "I should've known. Why did you use an umbrella of all things?"

"That's what I was trained to use by my teacher." Emi looked at him in disbelief.

"There are people that teach you how to fight with umbrellas? That's ridiculous! That's-" Ronaldo turned away and Emi realized she might have overstepped a little, and making a source uncomfortable makes getting a story much more difficult.

"I'm sorry about that. Today's just been crazy so this is a lot to wrap my head around, not that that excuses anything. You did kinda save me from my head goin' splat back there too. I-I'm sorry." Emi looked down feeling pangs of guilt in her gut.

"The Meiji Era,'' Ronaldo said.

"What?" Emi asked.

"During the Meiji Era samurai were no longer allowed to carry their swords out in public anymore and many weapons were being confiscated by the government. Swordsmiths ended up making kitchen cutlery to get by, and while some samurai were able to find a new place in society, others committed seppuku and some revolted against the new government only to be slain. Other groups, however, put down the katana and picked up other tools. Brooms, fishing poles, umbrellas. There were no laws about carrying those things in public, so groups formed around them. You can't really find dojos that teach those things anymore, but there are people still around that teach and practice." Emi took a couple of seconds to process all that.

"So why umbrellas out of all those things," Emi asked. Ronaldo paused before looking up at the raining sky, a small beam of sunlight cracked through the storm cloud and shone on his face.

"Humans have always been at the mercy of the gods and whatever they decide to reign down on us. A flourishing city or powerful army can be wiped away in an instant by a tsunami or hurricane. Despite our weaknesses, we continue to struggle against these forces. It may not be much." More sunshine began to break through the clouds onto Ronaldo. "But by being able to walk through the middle of a rainstorm without having a single drop touch you shows that, just like Prometheus, we have the power to defy the gods, and the very existence of the umbrella itself is defiance. Because whether it's the storm from a god or laws created by an emperor, the Umbrella manages to deflect it all." And with that, the rain had completely died down and the sun began to shine on the city once more. "Oh look at that." Ronaldo started to close the umbrella. "Looks like it cleared up. So did that explanation suffice miss uh... Now that I think about it, I don't think I got your name. Miss? Miss? You hear me?"

Emi was covering her mouth with both of her hands facing away from Ronaldo. She was trying so hard to hold back her laughter that she was getting lightheaded. That was the dumbest thing Emi heard all day. Umbrellas are an act of defiance against the gods. Is this dude for real. I have to keep it together. She let out some very loud coughs.

"Ahem! Ahem! Yeah, I heard you. Sorry about that. This city air just hits me sometimes." She cleared her throat and gathered herself. "My name is Emi. Investigative journalist at New Jump High. Nice to meet you." Emi gave a bright smile and extended her hand. Ronaldo looked at the hand for a moment and back up at Emi.

"Nice to make your acquaintance."

They firmly grasped hands and shook.