It was still raining pretty heavily outside when Fumiko rested her head on my lap and fell asleep. She was cuddled up in the blanket I had wrapped around her as she peacefully slept like a baby. As I watched her take gentle breaths, I realized something for the first time,

She was beautiful.

What I mean is before this, I never realized just how attractive she was. As I held her in my arms, I couldn't help but examine her beautiful lips, that had a faded colour of pink which I found lovely.

What am I doing?, I can't be having these thoughts at this moment. I should be worrying about getting her home!

Just then, I realized that everything around us had become quite.

It stopped raining

A great feeling of relief came over me. I was about to wake her when I decided not to because she seemed tired and probably wouldn't have been able to make the long trek back to her home. So in that moment I decided I would take her myself.

It was the right thing to do, considering that the reason she came here was for me.

As I picked her up and stepped off the porch, she wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on my chest. The warmth of her breath on my neck made my cheeks flush red, which I found odd.

"Fumiko" I couldn't help but whisper, as I brushed a few loose strands of hair from her face and began my journey to her house.

***

As I stood before her house, I took a deep breath before lightly knocking and awaiting a response. The door flew open suddenly, to my surprise and I had to quickly pull back to prevent it from hitting Fumiko in the face.

"Fumiko!" Her teary eyed mother cried running to me. "Sora, is she -" she said between sobs, "is she alright?" It was such a shame seeing such a beautiful lady crying. Just then I saw her husband appear from the kitchen and he was anything but teary. His eyes were furious and he looked dangerous as he walked.

"Where the hell did she go! Just you wait until she comes home -"

He froze when he saw me with Fumiko in my arms and I saw a look of shock on his face as it slowly registered into confusion.

"Fumiko -" he said before his eyes landed on me. "What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing. she's just asleep." They looked at each other before looking back at me.

"What are you doing with her?" Her father asked approaching me.

"It started raining and she wasn't able to leave. While we were waiting for the rain to stop, she fell asleep." I replied as I walked over to the sofa and placed her on it.

"I don't understand, what was she doing with you?" Her mother asked coming to stand beside me.

"What do you mean? Didn't she tell you?" Silence soon filled the room after I made that remark.

"Tell us what?" Her mother replied drying her tears.

"Fumiko has been visiting me everyday after school for the past few weeks." I said stirring the silence in the room.

"What, why would she?" Her mother said with a look of confusion on her face.

"I don't know" I declared with a shrug.

"It's surprising that she never told us about this." Her mother said staring at the ground. "She has never kept anything from us before."

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I didn't know that you weren't informed." I said burying my hands in my pockets.

"It's okay, it's not your fault. It's not hard to believe that she would not have told you that she didn't inform us. Perhaps she just neglected to."

"Perhaps." I said with a sigh.

"Maybe, you should stay a little. Tonight is cold, and I'll make you a cup of tea."

"Arigato" I replied with a light smile.

"You speak Japanese." She said with growing surprise in her eyes.

"Yeah, just a little" I must admit, maybe I did speak more than just a little.

"But your accent is amazing." She said clasping her hands with glistening eyes.

"Come on Moriko, leave him alone." Her husband finally said after standing by silently all the time.

"You know, I was born here and I've never been to Japan. So I only speak a little Japanese." She continued anyways, " My husband on the other hand was born there. He came here for a job and we met....then we fell in love." It was nice to see how her eyes sparkled as she spoke, even now after so many years, you could see that she was very much in love with her husband.

I wonder if I would ever fall in love that way.

"Moriko, I'm sure he doesn't have time to listen to that, come on." He pleaded to her.

"Okay, fine." She sighed, his pleas winning.

I watched as she pouted her lips and turn her back to him, while he frantically threw his arms around trying to get her attention.

They were like teenagers, despite their appearances.

Playful and in love.

Well, at least I know where Fumiko got for her playfulness from.

"Oh my, I've almost forgotten about you Sora. Please take a seat, I'll go put on the tea pot."

***

The three of us were seated at a table which was in the center of the room, sipping tea. I glanced back at the sofa and saw that Fumiko was hugging a pillow in her sleep, with a light smile on her face as she cuddled it.

I couldn't help but smile at her before turning back to her parents and taking another sip of tea.

"So Sora, is there anyone special in your life.....I mean like a girlfriend." Fumiko's mother asked with a chuckle.

"Moriko" her husband said as he shot her a look.

"No, not at the moment." I said laughing and waving my hands dismissively.

"So, there isn't any girl you find interesting where you live." She persisted.

"No, I live alone and no one's really around."

"That's such a shame." She said as she slouched in her seat.

"Its okay, I'm used to being alone."

"What are you saying, you've never had a girlfriend?"

"I did have a girlfriend before- well sort of, but It never really worked out." I said with a sigh.

"Oh, I see. Does that mean you're still a virgin?" She asked out of the blue while cocking her head to the side. Her husband seemed petrified by her question, while all I could do was stare at her with burning red cheeks.

"Jesus Christ Moriko, what kind of a question is that!" Her husband remarked staring at her.

"I'm sorry, I just got a little carried away." She replied staring into her cup of tea.

"Anyways" her husband said shaking his head, "what do you and Fumiko do whenever you meet?"

"Nothing much, we just sit and talk." I answered truthfully.

"About what?" Her mother cut in.

"Anything really; school, places, things." Fumiko's parents looked at me blankly before continuing,

"I don't understand, Fumiko is usually not very talkative, and she spends a lot of time in her room, but to hear that she visits you everyday so she can talk with you is.....strange."

" I suppose." I said before finishing my cup of tea. "But, the only reason she comes to see me is because I'm alone. I don't think she's strange, just caring."

I saw understanding in Fumiko's parents eyes and a smile appeared on my face. "Well I suppose, she is very caring" Her mother said glowing.

"I'm sorry, I have to go now" I noted getting up and pushing back my chair.

"Oh, okay." Her mother said getting up and following me to the door.

I couldn't help but look back at Fumiko who was fast asleep. I felt a soft pain in my heart as I realized that I was leaving her, a pain I felt would never leave. As I went out the door I heard Fumiko's mother's voice saying, "have a safe journey home!" I turned and waved to her lightly, but as I continued down the street I couldn't help but wonder if this was what Fumiko felt, whenever she left me.