I didn't say anything back. I just walked, and kept walking, and let her hold on as tight as she needed to.
In my mind… it was different, I raised a brow slightly at that. (Right. That's… what I am now, apparently. I hadn't fully processed it yet.) Didn't think I was going to be one anytime soon.
Then a cold gust tore through the street and I shivered hard, the kind that starts at your spine and radiates outward. "Haha… it's freezing. We should find somewhere to rest, or we're both gonna catch a cold."
She nodded immediately against my shoulder, not even lifting her head.
Smart kid. The night was genuinely awful— rain coming down without any mercy, wind cutting across the empty streets like it had somewhere important to be, cold that crept into the bones and stayed there.
The kind of weather that doesn't feel accidental. Lately everything had been like this— too extreme, too sudden, like the seasons forgot what order they were supposed to go in, first it was hot… next it was cold… then one time it started snowing and next it was raining… which it's right now.
I exhaled, breath misting in front of me. (Didn't think it'd be this cold tonight. Rain, wind, freezing air… what a perfect combo. Really nailed it.)
I carefully set her down and held onto her hand, scanning the empty street around us. "Is there any shelter around here?" I muttered, mostly to myself.
She squeezed my hand and tugged gently forward. "I-I think… there's a bus stop around here," she said softly.
And just like that she was leading the way, this tiny shivering kid navigating a rainstorm like she'd memorized every corner of the city out of necessity. Probably had.
The bus stop was old. Rusted metal frame, cracked glass panel on one side, a flickering light overhead that was doing its absolute best and losing badly. It wasn't much — barely a roof and three walls — but it blocked the rain and most of the wind, and right now that was everything.
"Should we stay here for now?" I said, shaking water off my sleeve. "Rain's only getting stronger."
She nodded rapidly, teeth already chattering. "Y-y-yes please…"
I sat down on the bench and before I'd even fully settled, she climbed onto my lap— no hesitation, no asking, just immediate strategic relocation to the warmest available spot.
She pressed herself against my chest and looked up at me with those big green eyes, suddenly a little self-conscious. "Is this okay? I-I'm sorry if I'm heavy…"
I shook my head. "Nah, don't worry about it. You're pretty light." (Like actually… super…) The relief on her face was instant— her whole body relaxed against me, a small smile breaking through. "R-really?"
I leaned back against the cold bench and sighed, staring out at the downpour hammering the pavement beyond the shelter. "Why is the rain this bad? I swear the news said clear skies tonight, well the weather is tweaking."
She rested her head against my chest, watching the rain with an expression that was too quiet for a kid her age.
"The rain… it's like it's crying," she whispered. "Maybe it's sad too… like me."
A pause.
Then she pressed closer, like punctuation. "But now I'm not so sad anymore. Because I have you." She giggled softly after that, small and genuine, like she surprised even herself by saying it.
Something warm spread through my chest— unfamiliar, a little inconvenient maybe— and right at that exact moment a cold raindrop found the gap in the shelter and landed directly on the back of my neck.
I chuckled before I could stop myself. "Heh."
She tilted her head up immediately. "Why are you laughing?" Another soft giggle escaped her. "D-did I say something silly? What's with that smug look?"
I just looked at her. "Guess." She pouted, but she was still smiling— that kind of pout that's lost the argument already and knows it.
"But hey…" She reached up and touched my cheek with one small, dirty hand, voice dropping to something almost shy. "You have a nice smile. It makes me feel warm."
(Oh.)
Yeah. That one landed differently. Didn't see it coming and didn't have a defense ready, which was honestly embarrassing.
I patted her head to buy myself a second.
"Well. You get comfortable a little too fast."
She flinched back slightly. "O-oh! I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude—"
"It's fine," I said.
She settled again, fidgeting with her fingers, voice going quiet. "It's just… it's been so long since someone was nice to me. And you're so warm… and so kind…" She didn't elaborate. She didn't need to.
Her eyes started going heavy not long after that, the warmth and the exhaustion catching up with her all at once. "Can I… sleep for a bit? Just until the rain stops?"
I ruffled her hair without thinking about it, and only noticed I was smiling when it was already too late to do anything about it. "I… I don't mind. Go ahead. I'll keep watch."
Her eyes slid shut slowly, like she was fighting it out of habit— like she'd learned a long time ago that sleep wasn't always safe.
But my hand kept moving through her hair and eventually she stopped fighting. "Mm… thanks… ahjussi." she mumbled, already half gone.
(A… ahju— what?) I thought.
But the rain kept coming. The wind still found its way through the gaps.
I pulled her a little closer and stared out at the dark street, listening to the sound of the storm and the soft steadiness of her breathing and thought, not for the first time, that this was one of the stranger nights of my life.
Then— "A-Achoo!"
Her eyes snapped open like a switch flipped. "You okay?" she asked, suddenly fully awake and peering up at me with genuine concern.
"Yeah," I said, completely deadpan. "Absolutely not cold. Thriving, actually."
She giggled softly. "Yea, it is cold… ( ╹▽╹ )"
"Yea, I said it's not cold ಠ_ಠ."
Then, without a word of warning, she wriggled out of her ragged, half soaked jacket— the thing was barely holding together, more memory of a jacket than an actual jacket— and held it out to me with both hands, expression completely serious. "H-here… take this… it's not enough, but. (⑉•-•⑉) "
I shook my head immediately. "Keep it. You need it more than I do." She ignored that entirely.
Instead she crawled back into my arms and draped the jacket over both of us in one decisive motion, tucking the edges in like she'd done this before.
(Yeah. Haha. This is somehow colder.)
The jacket covered approximately thirty percent of one shoulder between the two of us, but she looked very satisfied with the arrangement.
"O-okay… but we have to share, alright?" she whispered. "We'll keep each other warm."
I looked down at the world's least effective blanket situation. "You're stubborn." She didn't deny it. She just smiled and rested her head back against my chest.
I glanced out at the rain snd immediately regretted it. It had gotten worse— noticeably, almost personally worse, like the sky had made a decision. "Gah dayum."
Her eyes opened again. She looked out slowly, then her grip on my shirt tightened. "It's… getting worse…" she whispered. Then, very quietly, with complete sincerity: "Is it mad? Maybe it's angry… maybe it's jealous because we're happy…"
I stared at her.
"PFFT—" The laugh came out before I could catch it, and she immediately recoiled with full offended energy. "Wah!!! What was that for!?"
"I— pfft— I'm sorry—" I was not sorry. I was barely holding it together.
"W-what are you even doing?! Now I'm covered in your spit!"
"Yeah," I said, clearing my throat with great dignity.
"Anyways." I looked back out at the rain, properly this time, and did the math. It wasn't letting up. If anything it was going sideways now… which was… a new development. "If we want actual shelter, looks like we gotta make a run for it."
I stood up and lifted her into my arms in one move, and she grabbed onto my neck instantly, eyes going wide as she stared at the curtain of rain between us and the street.
For a second she just looked at it— at the dark and the wet and cold— and I could see her deciding something.
"O-okay…" she whispered. Her arms tightened around my neck.
"Yea, we're going home," I said, already stepping toward the edge of the busstop. "My home." I cleared my throat. "Our home. Eh— whatever."
"Our home…" she repeated softly, like it was something she was practicing.
"Ready?"
She took a deep breath, puffed up her cheeks, and nodded. "Hehe… yes. I'm ready."
Then— right on cue, as if the universe had been waiting for exactly that moment— thunder cracked across the sky, loud and sharp and mean, rattling the rusted frame of the bus stop, and she made a sound somewhere between a gasp and a squeak and buried her face so hard into my shoulder I was pretty sure she was trying to phase through me entirely.
I didn't say anything. I just stepped out into the rain and started running.
KABOOM. Another thunder…