[F] You Shouldn't Run in the Hallways (Kiku)

[goldfiiish]

Matthew bounced his backpack higher onto his back before quietly following Kiku out of the room. He glanced out the windows lining the hallway. It was still raining hard against the glass. He sighed inwardly, he really didn't like rain...

At least he had brought his umbrella, it was just sitting in his bag waiting to be used. But, Kiku didn't have his umbrella? Oh dear... "Y-you can use mine." He shrugged the backpack off his back and unzipped the front pocket. Matthew pulled it out and handed it to him. It was his one and only umbrella, but he wasn't going to let someone else get soaked from the rain.

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku gave the blond a warm smile. "Thank you, Matthew. I greatly appreciate you sharing your only umbrella." He slung his satchel across his back as he accepted the umbrella. As he opened it, the flaps of the waterproof material spread out. Its circumference was medium sized. It definitely couldn't cover two people but it would have to do.

The smaller student walked over to the blond and put the umbrella over the two of them, trying to cover as much as the both of them as possible. Checking to see, Kiku found that both their sides were slightly exposed but it would have to do. "Shall we go, Matthew? It appears we'll have to use the same technique from before to stay in sync and avoid getting soaked." he said slung his free arm around the blond again.

"I cannot promise we shall be completely dry once this is over so I suppose it's a good thing you like the rain." he said, giving Matthew a sincere smile. "On three, right foot forward. Ready?" he said, a happy tone in his voice.

[goldfiiish]

Sharing? Matthew blinked at the word. He froze in place as Kiku put an arm around him again. "R-right." He mumbled and awkwardly placed his arm on his acquaintance's shoulder. Matthew let out a slow, shaky breath. This was very bad on him, it made him panic more than before for some reason.

Heart pounding against his rib cage, his old enemy anxiety made his head spin. But he wasn't about to let himself give into the panic and run like he usually would, no matter how much he wanted to. If he ran into Kiku again, which seemed almost inevitable, he might ask Matthew what happened, and Matthew didn't really feel like he would want to answer. So, he willed himself to relax slightly. "Ready." He managed to whisper out.

[Kiku Honda]

As the pair walked on the pouring rain, they were silent. Kiku thought this alreadt quite awkward. He'd be damned if Matthew didn't think this so twice as much. The rain was loud enough to drown any sort of whispering. Kiku thought Matthew might be complaining under his breath. The smaller man immediately felt bad. Hadn't he forgotten his umbrella they wouldn't be in this uncomfortable position. Still, he was grateful Matthew was bearing with it.

It was working, in any case. Since they moved as one person, they stayed perfectly under the umbrella. They were only getting a tad wet from the angled drops being blown by the wind. Still, Kiku didn't want their first encounter to end awkwardly and deal with it some other day, so, the smaller student tried to think of what to say. After discerning what seemed like an appropriate topic, he spoke up.

"So, ah, Matthew, where exactly do you live?" he asked loudly, the rain still the most prominent sound.

[goldfiiish]

Matthew stared down at their feet, concentrating on matching his footsteps with Kiku's perfectly. It was easier to concentrate on that instead of that he was sharing an umbrella with someone who was basically a stranger.

"Wh-where do I live...?" Right, that would be important for where they should go. "Um, at the end of that road down there." He said loud enough to be heard over the rain and pointed.

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku blinked several times, still keeping in sync with the blond. The rain was strong, he had a hard time catching what Matthew said but the pointing gesture sure helped. What Kiku couldn't quite believe was that they lived on the same road. '... ... ...' Kiku's mind was a bit blank.

He thought he knew everyone on his street. This was a bit too freaky, Matthew lived on his street, were classmates but this was the first time they had met. "A-Ah, I live on this road as well. My home is near the end of the road. Most likely, two blocks or so before yours."

[goldfiiish]

Matthew noticed the long pause after he said where he lived. Was there something weird about it? Matthew was relived to hear that they simply lived on the same street. "Oh, well that's good. Neither of us get wet if that's our route." He nodded.

As they rounded onto their street, he wondered which house Kiku lived in. He never really paid any attention to who lived on his street, mostly because he never really got out, but he recalled seeing his fellow classmate around a few times.

[Kiku Honda]

"Y-Yes, it's very fortunate, however..." the smaller man paused for a second before continuing. "Well, I find it very strange that we live on the same street, have the same classes and yet, this is the first time I've met you." he finished honestly, part of his brain always trying to keep the flow of their steps in sync.

It then hit Kiku they should probably wrap up their conversation soon. It wouldn't be more than five minutes until the pair would arrive at his house and they'd part ways. Then again, it's not like they won't see each other ever again. Now that Kiku was aware of the blond's existence, he could look for him and say hi every now and then.

Kiku let a small smile slip onto his face. He had made a pretty good friend today.

[goldfiiish]

"Is that strange? I don't think so." Matthew shrugged awkwardly. It was perfectly normal for no one to notice him. At least, it seemed normal to him. Since when had someone noticed him? People who lived in the same house as him forgot who he was, so someone who walked past him on the street occasionally didn't really need to have spoken with him.

Matthew pondered if he would ever speak with Kiku again. He found that unlikely though, no one spoke with him more than once. Although, no one usually spoke with him anyway. He wouldn't mind speaking with Kiku again though. This meeting was some sort of a break through in his time of seclusion. Hm, he liked that.

"So, which house is yours?" Matthew asked curiously.

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku pondered the thought for a second, momentarily breaking their sync. Kiku double stepped with his right and they were going left-right-left-right again. "A-Ah, well. At the very least, I can now catch up with you when I see you in school." he said, smiling at the blond.

His house was coming up soon. He could already see it. Well. The duo's time together was about to end. And, here it was, his house.

"Ah, let's stop here, Matthew." Kiku said, halting his steps. "This is my house." he said, pointing to the house directly in front of the pair. "A-Ah, I suppose this is goodbye for now, Matthew? Will you be okay on your own from here?" the smaller man asked.

[goldfiiish]

(Oh, God, I'm so sorry this took so long.)

Matthew stopped along with Kiku. He glanced up at the house, which was similar looking to Matthew's. "... I'll be fine, I just live a little farther down." He nodded, looking down the street, he could see it from where they were. He stepped back from the other.

"It was nice meeting you, Kiku." Matthew tapped the bandage on his cheek. "Thanks for patching me up, too. Well, um, see you later, I guess." That was probably the first time he'd ever said that. 'See you later...' It rolled off the tongue easier than goodbye, though. He waved before heading home, smiling slightly.

[Kiku Honda]

(( No worries, it's basically over already LOL. ))

Kiku gave a final low bow to the blond. "It was very nice meeting you, as well." the smaller man said as he raised his head. Kiku smiled slightly. "You're very welcome. And I suppose I'll see you tomorrow, then." he finished as the blond went off, waving a bit.

Kiku extended his arm and waved back. Noticing Matthew smiling, he couldn't help but smile himself. That was the first time Matthew smiled throughout their entire encounter.

Kiku then took off his shoes and stepped inside his house with a bit of a hum.