Amidst the Pouring Rain

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*Amidst the Pouring Rain* is the 6th event of Limeade Idols and is focused around Aspen Viola from first-generation group Re"verse. Other characters who have cards in this event include Yuzuki Katō, Rukia Kurayami, and Ophelia Minh Huynh, all from Re"verse.

## Main Story

### Main Story - Part One

The end to another long, dreadful lecture had come. While everyone began hurrying to leave the room, the professor stopped Aspen in her tracks.

“Aspen, I need to talk to you for a moment.” the professor called out to her, causing her to turn around to face him.

“Yes?”

“You’re falling behind by a lot. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, however you’ve been doing so well up until this point.” He lets out an overly long sigh. “I expected much more from you. I’m disappointed.”

“Just try harder, okay?”
Aspen bit her lip slightly. “Understood. Apologies for the inconvenience, I’ll… do my best to get back on track.” She smiled at him, speaking in a disgustingly sweet tone. He replied with a short ‘Mhm’ noise, along with a small smile before leaving.

Aspen stood there, alone in the room that had an unsettling echo every time she moved. She stared down at her feet, her hands gripping her skirt firmly as she took in those words.

“What’s the point in trying anymore..?”
‘What would happen if I were to just disappear?
Not as in death— but to just disappear into thin air. With no proof of my existence. I've been trying so hard to reach this point, but I wonder... Why is it that I try so hard? Because of my reputation? My friends? My parents?’

‘That doesn't seem right.’
‘There's no reason for me to keep this up anymore.’

‘My efforts haven't made a single difference anyways.’

The same, old cycle continued; nothing really seemed out of the ordinary to others. Aspen did everything as ‘normal’, like talking to her roommates or arguing with Rukia over something stupid. Yet, there was an odd, suffocating air surrounding her that was hard to shake off. She wasn’t crying– that was easy to tell. However, This look of devastation in her eyes made it seem as if she witnessed the death of someone or something. It was an unpleasant sight to look at.
Yuzuki almost immediately sensed something was wrong with her. Throughout the day, she’d look at Aspen constantly. She wanted to comfort her, but Aspen seemed unapproachable. She didn’t know how to bring it up.

As Yuzuki was lost in thought, she noticed Ophelia sitting down in the kitchen, trying to figure out a new recipe book. Ophelia tends to be the person that people go to in these types of situations, so she decided to talk to her about the topic. She approached Ophelia, taking a seat beside her.
“Ah, Yuzuki!!” Ophelia looked at Yuzuki, giving her a warm smile.

“Hi Lia.. Uhm, I kind of need your help on something..” Yuzuki spoke, looking down at her hands.

“Of course! What can I help with?” She moved her chair to face Yuzuki properly, looking at her with her hands resting on her lap.

“It’s about Aspen.. She seems off today.. It's bothering me quite a bit. I want to ask her if she’s okay but I just don’t know how to bring it up..”
Ophelia nodded with a worried look in her eyes, she took Yuzuki’s hands and placed it on her lap. She pondered for a bit, then spoke.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed it too. It’s been bothering me for a bit now… For situations like these, I’d usually wait until the other person is ready to speak… But I’m worried that in this case, we can’t afford to wait.”

Aspen had the same suffocating air that surrounded her back then. When Yuzuki read out Aspen’s diary in front of the whole school. Ophelia felt like if she didn’t run after her that day, she might just slip away.

Yuzuki nodded then as Ophelia was about to speak again-
“Yuzuki…? Ophelia…?”

The two of them tried to speak, but not a word escaped their lips before Aspen interrupted- infuriated.

“Yuzuki... you went to Ophelia again?! Is she the only one you care about? I’m not useless!”

“I feel so guilty, I- I just needed an outlet and I didn’t know where I could go..” Aspen attempted to explain. Rukia faced her to show her annoyance, “That doesn’t make it right. You need to apologize.”

Aspen drew in a long breath- turning her head downwards once more.

“I know.”

### Main Story - Part Two

Rukia had left Yuzuki and Ophelia alone. Not having any sense of closure, Yuzuki attempted to hold a conversation. Change the topic, get their minds off of things. However, Yuzuki felt that she also wasn’t in the mood to talk. Suppressing her feelings had never been her forte, but trying to escape it and diverge towards another was a different thing.

Yuzuki soon realized that her so-called attempt to clear the air had fallen on deaf ears. She gave a small sigh as she stood, still feeling on edge. She looked to Ophelia again: waving goodbye as she opened the door.

“Lia, I… I need to get some work done now, remember that photo shoot I told you about? Uhm… Will you be okay? Do you want me to stay?” Yuzuki spoke- trying to remain courteous, but her voice was still slightly shaky nonetheless.

“...Mm, it’s fine, Yuzuki. Remember to get some rest, okay?” Ophelia half responded.

She now sat alone, listening to the empty tick of the clock as she once again ran over the previous events in her mind.

How am I supposed to explain this…? Aspen had no reason to be angry, it was all a simple misunderstanding... How can I help…? If this trails on, then…

Though she was trying to remain composed, she couldn’t help but walk in circles with no way of coming to a conclusion. After all- she had no way of knowing where Aspen's anger originated other than asking herself; and she wasn’t so sure Aspen wanted to talk with her.

She tried her best to be reliable for her friends, but had she taken it too far? Had her persistence to help one cause another to grow to resent her? How could she repair something like that? Would things be able to go back to normal after this? …Will she still be seen the same? Will everyone… hate her for this and cut her off because of this misunderstanding…?

Before she was able to wander further into this rabbit hole, she jumped at the sound of the door creaking open.

To her surprise, she saw a still shaken Aspen being coaxed into the room by none other than Rukia.

“...Hi Lia.”

The reality of the evolving scene hit Ophelia just as Rukia shut the door- still on the other side of it. Ophelia shot up from where she was sitting.

They were alone.

“Look, I-” Aspen began, before being cut off by Ophelia’s sharp movements as they crashed into each other.

“Aspen..!”

Shocked by the collision, Aspen had forgotten her words. In this second, things were okay with her in the arms of her friend. Aspen could barely hear what was being said around her due to this, so when she came to she found the will and the words to start again.

“Lia, I’m really sorry about how I reacted to that situation. I-I was being immature and I swear I never meant to make you upset..!” She paused, looking up at her dear friend with a slightly teary eye then averting her gaze once more.

“I’ve just- been feeling really down recently…. and it affected my reactions. You guys didn’t do anything wrong and I’m… I’m so sorry if I made you guys feel like it was your fault,” Aspen spat out bitterly. They thought that Ophelia would resent her, even for the slightest bit. But when Aspen looked up again, she only saw Ophelia smiling. Like a mother comforting a sad child.

Even though Ophelia didn’t do anything wrong, she still apologized sincerely. There was a moment of silence- then Ophelia heard a sniffle. Aspen had all but begun sobbing; trying to hold back tears. However, the second Ophelia looked at her in the eyes she felt as though it couldn’t be held in.

The waterworks started once again as Aspen wrapped her arms around Ophelia.

“I’m sorry,” Aspen kept repeating.

Ophelia knew it was most likely useless to try and get words through to her now crying friend, so she just sat with her. She whispered soft shushing noises every once in a while to try and calm Aspen’s nerves, as well as rubbing her hands up and down the other’s back.

“It’s alright. You’re safe,” Ophelia finally mumbled. “Being okay isn’t something you can just do. Emotions are complicated and letting yourself process is the first step. I’m glad you felt safe enough to tell me.”

Aspen choked out another sob: taking in Ophelia’s words. They stayed like that for a while… Aspen noticed how… warm Ophelia’s embrace was… It felt very comforting, and it felt like Aspen’s sins could be redeemed… Even just for a small moment.

### Main Story - Part Three

After Yuzuki’s shoot, she realized her phone started buzzing. Not one of a call but one of messages she’d forgot to read.

```
   RUKIA (2:21 PM):
   hey, weve still gotta go shopping !!!

```

```
   LIA (2:24 PM):
   oh yeah! rukia and i were thinking that we could meet up soon-ish?

```

```
   RUKIA (2:25 PM):
   ya but yuzuki has her shoot so no rush ! i can wait :3c

```

```
   LIA (2:27 PM):
   are you sure about that rukia?

```

```
   RUKIA (2:27 PM):
   excuse me, ill have u know im a VERY patient person. right yuzu???

```

```
   LIA (2:28 PM):
   hehe (´ ∀ ` *) i’m just messing with you

```

```
   Any smile Yuzuki managed to crack at the exchange fell when she noticed Aspen hadn’t replied yet. Steeling herself with a breath, she thumbed out in reply:

```

```
   YUZUKI (3:41 PM):
   Just got done. Meet up at the food court?

```

```
   A pause.

```

```
   YUZUKI (3:41 PM):
   Rukia… Hm

```

```
   RUKIA (3:41 PM):
   just “hm” ?!?!

```

```
   This time, the smile that graced Yuzuki stayed with her for a while.

```

[...]

It’s funny—Yuzuki ached every time her eyes passed the empty chair situated beside her, but she didn’t think she felt any better when it was filled.

“My apologies,” said Aspen through currents of blue hair, head bowed as they took a seat. “I thought I had replied to the group chat.”
There was a tangible pause as she turned the words over in her brain before they added, “I, ah, forgot to hit ‘send.’”

Ends raised in a question, probing and uncertain. It was a lie, Yuzuki’s sure of it, but it’s not like she didn’t understand.

“Hey, that happens to the best of us! I do it all the time,” Ophelia was quick to reassure, giving the both of them a smile as confident as Aspen’s was not.

It returned to silence just as soon as Ophelia stopped to take a bite of pizza. Yuzuki had never been as skilled at hiding her emotions as Aspen was, but she was a professional at pretending the salad she poked at with a fork was more interesting than Aspen’s eyes. Bow your head like they did, hide the redness of your eyes with decongestant drops and the swelling with concealer, tune into the buzzing in the back of your skull.

Silence, thick and loud, and about as unpleasant as driving through fog. But when does silence ever stick around when Re'verse is involved?

“You know what? I just realized that Rukia and I had a study partner we unintentionally bailed on!”

Rukia’s brows furrowed.

“What? I don’t have a—”

“So we’ll have to leave the shopping to you two!”

Ophelia took a visibly puzzled Rukia by the arm and left in the blink of an eye, barely sparing the time to spew apologies over her shoulder. What began as one empty chair ended in two, and—oh.

Oh.

Yuzuki, as she’d come to realize a fraction of a second too late, was now alone with Aspen.

### Main Story - Part Four

Here was something to know about Yuzuki: she’d never been good with mazes. Not with her tendency to hone in on the finer details, on the tendrils of light she could make out through otherwise impenetrable walls of sky-high hedge, nor how she focused so much on the possibility of getting to the center that she missed all the obvious twists and turns along the way.

Yuzuki was bad with anything she could find herself lost in. Trees, corn stalks — human hearts, especially when they were Aspen’s. And if she can’t navigate herself through a physical maze, how could she ever hope to scope out the maze that her angel-in-crime was?

And so Yuzuki didn’t. Not then and there, not to cut through the silence, and especially not after she’d already made them upset by seeking advice to do precisely that. She was content folding dressing into her greens a thousand times over instead. Really, she was!

Luckily, she didn’t have to be content with it for long.

“Perhaps,” Aspen started, curled fingers floating somewhere before her jaw but not quite letting it rest on them, “We should get some fresh air. I believe we’d be more productive in shopping if we…”

She pantomimed something with her hands, vague and unclear, and Yuzuki nodded like she understood it.

“If we wait another day to go shopping together?” she guessed.

“Yes, right.”

Yuzuki didn’t recall when the two had stretched to their feet or how long they’d walked, because her mind was hazy and the situation felt much like a dream you’d forget as soon as you woke up. Here’s what Yuzuki did know: Aspen and Yuzuki had long left the mall, taking to the sidewalk until concrete dissolved into grass and peat and her short heels sank into earth. What she’d learn upon looking up from her shoes was that they’d ended up at the park about equidistant to their university and the parking lot they’d left.

“I’m sorry,” said Aspen. “Was it a long walk? I sometimes come here to clear my head.”

Yuzuki shook her head before she’d even processed the sentence. “No, don’t worry. I was actually…” Not paying attention at all? Dissociating? “Enjoying the scenery. It didn’t feel long to me.”

“That’s good to hear,” Aspen breathed.

A beat passed, silent and long.

“That’s good.”

Yuzuki expected every painful second to continue their gnashing; long teeth incorporeal but sharp enough to chew out her insides and leave her hollow. What she didn’t expect was that Aspen would speak again.

“Yuzuki.”

Like a spell, Yuzuki was entranced. “Yes?”

“I did want to apologize. For earlier, that is,” she said, eyes averting. “I jumped to conclusions, and I… Well, even if I was correct in my assumptions, I behaved inappropriately. I… snapped at you unfairly, and I’m sorry.”

“Your assumptions?” Slow and undemanding, like handling thin, fragile glass.

This seemed to catch Aspen off-guard. They floundered for a bit in their own body—eyes dancing about quicker than a candle’s flame, fingers weaving and unweaving, lips parting only to close when words didn’t come to them—and Yuzuki hesitantly took her hands into her own. Aspen allowed herself a breath to recuperate.

“I assumed that you were only going to Lia because I wouldn’t have been as helpful.” They winced at their own words. “I know, it’s very silly. I just…”

“It isn’t silly,” said Yuzuki, thumbing reassuringly at a knuckle. “I promise.”

“It’s unfair to you, at least. I mean, I don’t even know what the two of you were talking about.”

A pause. Yuzuki found herself humming to fill the silence as she considered her words.

“Well…” Another pause. God, Yuzuki had thought about this for so long and yet she was still woefully unprepared. “Aspen, I noticed that you’d been seeming off lately. Upset. I’ve been wanting to help, but I didn’t know how and didn’t want to make things worse for you. I thought Ophelia might have good advice for me.”

Aspen seemed to react physically before the weight of the explanation fully hit them, with her hands tugging gently back to her side before she realized she wanted them over her face and eyes. Yuzuki could see a hint of red peeking between thin fingers.

“Ahh,” was all they managed, muffled and breathy.

“But please don’t blame yourself,” Yuzuki added quickly. “I understand why you felt that way, and I should have come to you first.”

“No, it isn’t your fault,” Aspen pried away their own hands. “I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. It—my stress, I mean. It’s been weighing on me a bit, particularly after…” She sucked a breath through her teeth. “Earlier that day, the professor told me how disappointed he was in me for falling behind. I suppose I just…”

No more pantomiming, because Yuzuki had already taken her hands prisoner again (when did that become instinct?) but she thought she could guess what Aspen meant anyway.

“You felt like you might be falling behind in other ways, too?”

“Right, exactly.”

Yuzuki watched as Aspen opened her mouth and let out the beginnings of words disguised as breaths, thought better of it and took her lower lip into her teeth, fell into a cycle of trying to speak and biting her tongue. Tried to be vulnerable, Yuzuki thought. She was about to cut in when Aspen finally continued.

“It’s just difficult, thinking that I’m stuck in second place. And that’s true no matter what, but,” and they took in one more shallow breath, a failed attempt at leveling their voice when they noticed it quavering, “When it’s you…”

Aspen, do you realize you’ve started crying?

“When it’s you… Ah, I’m not sure what I’m trying to say anymore.”

Do you know that you’re special to me for the person you are, not the person you pretend to be?

“I think,” started Yuzuki, and the sugar in her voice felt sticky in her throat, “I understand what you mean. But…”

Aspen,

“I can’t imagine a world where you’re second place to anyone, least of all to me.”

Do you know that I love you?

“Thank you,” came Aspen’s murmur; a simultaneous answer to questions asked and questions left unspoken. “Really, I wish I could say more than thank you.”

Some of the sugar worked around Yuzuki’s lips and stuck the corners to her cheeks, a fragment of a smile. “You don’t need to say anything at all.”

Yuzuki didn’t recall how long the two stood with hands clasped or for how long it had been raining, because her mind was hazy and the situation felt much like a dream you’d forget as soon as you woke up.

What Yuzuki did know was this:

That angels and devils have more in common than you would think.

## Event Cards

**Suffocating Rain - Aspen 5\* (Re"verse)**

Hidden Emotions - Yuzuki 4\* (Re"verse)

Operation: Reconciliation! - Rukia 3\* (Re"verse)

Making Amends - Ophelia 2\* (Re"verse)