Sitting under the tar-black sky, Ru glanced heavenwards to see the large clouds gathering in the sky. The postcard-perfect night sky changed its color and began to darken into gravel-grey.
The soft wind blew like whispering softly. Xiao Zhi-Ren glanced at the side of her face intently.
"Xiao Zhi-Ren!" Qin Qu was calling out his name making Xiao Zhi-Ren groan.
He immediately stood up and said, "He’s really annoying. I’ll see you around." With that, he turned around the shrubs and went to Qin Qu’s side.
"Stop shouting! I’m right here," Xiao Zhi-Ren spoke abrasively making Qin Qu narrow his eyes at him.
"I told you to make some connections. Why are you hiding here?" Qin Qu asked acrimoniously.
"I can make connections if only the hyenas inside leave me alone." Xiao Zhi-Ren replied matter-of-factly. Qin Qu pursed his lips at the way Xiao Zhi-Ren addressed the ladies from aristocratic families as ’hyenas’.
Qin Qu shook his head and took Xiao Zhi-Ren inside the party hall with himself.
The moment Xiao Zhi-Ren walked away from Ru, a figure clad in black appeared before her and paid his respect before standing upright with his head lowered in respect. "Master!" He was a part of the Black Mist group and held Ru in the same regards as everyone else in the group.
Ru looked at him and asked, "What is it, Conor?"
The man in black, Conor replied in his polished Irish accent, "There is some movement at the Feng Bar."
Ru rubbed her bottom lip and listened to Conor’s detailed report. "Go back to Wu Dishi. I’ll look into that bar myself." Conor bowed his head and vanished in the dark of night.
After a moment of piercing silence, a droplet of rain fell on her cheek. And then plenty of other droplets followed it in a lazy manner. The rain poured down the sky hesitantly and politely. It was rather comforting.
The whispering hum in the wind along with the pitter-patter of the rain and the soft maracas that is the sound of grass, she felt content and tranquility spread on her face.
She didn’t move and neither did she had any intention of finding shelter. She was a pluviophile.[1] She always felt a strange peacefulness listening to the rain’s sound. The rain wasn’t just a piece of music that she listened to, it was an emotion she could feel deeply.
The soothing sound of rain made her lips curve upward in an enchanting smile.
"She sat under the drizzle,
alone with a glass of swizzle.
Her heart ran amok in dismissal,
and yet she kept her wounds not so superficial..."
Suddenly a memory gushed into her mind. "Young master Ru, who locked you here?" Her grand master opened the door of the storeroom and asked the young girl of 8 years.
She was sitting in a corner hugging her knees. Slowly, she lifted her head and gazed at the aged face. "Clan Mistress locked me inside," Ru spoke in a wronged tone as she informed him how her own mother had locked her up.
Grandmaster stroked her hair asking, "And why did she do it?"
"Because I wanted to go out with other boys to play in the rain." She rubbed her nose annoyingly.
Her grand master smiled affectionately at her and held her hand. He brought her out of the small room and walked towards the back side of the clan houses. He brought her to an isolated courtyard and said, "Young master, next time when you want to go out in rain, come to this place but all alone."
"But why can’t I go out with other boys?" She asked blinking her eyes.
"Because you’re different," the reply came.
"How am I different?" she asked while scowling.
"Because you are the young master of our clan. You’ll be the next clan leader. It’s not suitable for you to be so open with everyone else." Grandmaster answered cleverly hiding the fact that she’s a ’girl’ and that’s why she’s not allowed to hang around boys in the rain.
But being a young girl, she actually believed him and distanced herself from everyone. And became the unapproachable, untouchable and formidable young master Ru of the clan.
Her reminiscing was broken when she didn’t feel the raindrops falling on her face. She opened her eyes to see an umbrella covering her. Ru tilted her head and saw Xiao Zhi-Ren standing beside her with an umbrella to shield her. His chiseled lips curved into a charming smile and took her by surprise.
In her life, she had never been shielded neither from a wielding sword nor a pouring rain. She felt strange at her heart as she raised her brow at him inquiringly and her green eyes gazed at him. As if asking, "Why?"
"Sitting here all alone, you’re reminding of a lonely person." He started as he gazed at the puddles of water. "I feel like you’re trying to make this rain touch you to make you feel less lonely."
When he had seen the rain outside the window, he had a feeling that the ’young man’ he met would still be here. Xiao Zhi-Ren took an umbrella and came out only to find ’him’ smiling under the rain. But that smile reminded him of his favorite quote of John Green, ’If people were rain, then I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.’
Xiao Zhi-Ren felt like the smile of the ’young man’ before him, was akin to a silent hurricane. But the only difference was ’his’ silent storm was only destroying ’himself’.
"If you’ll keep acting saintly, I can only call you Mr. Saint," Ru remarked with a poker-face.
Xiao Zhi-Ren grimaced and she added, "Drop that umbrella. We already hide behind our own tears, at least we shouldn’t hide from heaven’s tears."
"You think the sky is crying?" Xiao Zhi-Ren asked utterly intrigued by her statement.
"Yes, it’s crying," she answered blankly.
"Why?" he asked further.
"Because of its unrequited love for Earth." Xiao Zhi-Ren stared her with mouth agape. "Have you noticed how after every heat wave, rain comes pouring down?" Xiao Zhi-Ren’s frown loosened up a bit. "Seeing the Earth burn up with heat, the sky feels hurt and its pain turns into tears and fall upon us."
Xiao Zhi-Ren was bewildered at her way of thinking. He heard her scoff as she went on, "Oddly, because of our human nature, we rejoice in the tears of the sky as we rejoice in others misery."
"Have you been told that you’re weird?" Xiao Zhi-Ren whispered leaning closer to her.
Ru stood up from the bench saying, "I’ve been told." With that, she waved him bye and trudged towards the darker part of the garden.
[1] "Pluviophile"; a lover of rain. someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days.