Miss Rain Originally appeared in Nakayoshi, July 1990. Written by Takeuchi Naoko. Translated by Alex Glover. Version 1.0, 5.98. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I wanted to dance the last waltz." "Ladies and gentlemen! Now, it's finally time for the last waltz of the party! Get up your nerve, take that hand, and everyone onto the floor!" The girl with short blue hair watches as a dark-haired boy offers his hand to a blond girl. "K, you leaving?" says another boy. "What about the last waltz?" "I still don't feel like tying myself to one person," says the blond boy. He walks out of the room. The blue-haired girl stands outside in the pouring rain, tears falling from her eyes. Her feet slip out of her heels as she runs away. Kei picks up one of the shoes from the ground and reads the label inside. "'Miss Rain'..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Miss Rain!? K, you! Then those must be the shoes Miss Rain was wearing! I bet she was beautiful, right!?" "Don't you know?" says Kei. "The idol Miss Rain is hidden in our own school! It's Kuramitsu Rena! She's a 7th-grader, but they say wherever she goes it's sure to rain! She's a famous rain girl!" "Then that must be why it rained at the party last night." "She's so like the daughter of a politician..." Kei watches the blue-haired girl walk through the hallway. "Miss Rain!" calls a girl. "Come here, come here! This looks like fun!" She shows her a flyer. "Searching for members. 'Crazy Society'. Entrance requirements: Be a cute girl who looks good in a 'Miss Rain' brand suit...? What is this...?" "Hey," says the girl. "Don't you think you could get in unconditionally, Rena? After all, you're Miss Rain herself." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Girls gather around Kei. "Why did you quit the tennis club, K? You looked so cool!" "We miss the soccer team captain! We've lost all hope of winning now!" "So what are you doing? This new club you've started, K..." "It's a club to eat, party, and do what you like," says Kei. "They're those clothes that talent 'Miss Rain' wears, right?" "Her silhouette is so pretty. Thin and fluttering..." "But why 'Miss Rain' clothes?" "Right! They're so expensive!" "There's no way there's a girl in our school who would fit them." "Nope," says Kei. "I know there is one in this school." Rena walks by, stopping as she hears him. "The girl who was dressed soaked in water and covered in mud." He opens a box and takes out the shoe. He kneels before Rena and holds it out to her. "I have been waiting, Princess." "My shoe!?" says Rena. "Congratulations!" says Kei. "Since this shoe fits you perfectly, you're a special member in my club! As a privilege, I will semipermanently take you to and from school!" Rena gasps. "All right!" says Kei to the other girls. "Let's have everyone who's come be members! There'll be a big meeting on Sunday! We'll go to Shibuya and Roppongi and more!" "I don't know about this," says a girl. "The popular 9th-grade guy K doing all this to draw Rena out. But it looks interesting..." Kei smiles at Rena. "I'm K," he says. "Furukawa Kei. It's an honor to meet you, Miss Rain. You'll be sure to come on Sunday?" "It'll rain..." says Rena. She stares out the window. "If I go, it'll definitely rain. The sky doesn't look good either... Sunday it will surely rain." "K! Miss Rain's on the student council. She can't enter our club." Kei looks at Rena. "What if you quit the student council..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rena walks briskly through the hallway. "W- What!?" she thinks. "What!? That guy... How rude!" Two girls watch her go by. "Oh, it's Miss Rain," whispers one. "I wonder if it's true she's a special member of the club K started. Wow..." Rena enters the student council room, and slams the door behind her. "I wonder who thought of that..." she says. "Miss Rain, since I'm a rain girl..." The blond girl sets a book on the desk. "It's an honor," she says. "Those 'Miss Rain' clothes at the party last night looked good on you. That's why everyone calls you that." "Come on, Mami-senpai," says Rena. "I think it's none of their business..." Rena gasps as she sees the dark-haired boy lying back on the couch. "Is the president sleeping?" "I'm awake," he says. "You can really relax here... No extra people, so it's quiet." "Get more people!" says the blond girl. "This work is tough!" "For the student council," says the boy, "one president and two vice presidents are enough!" He winks at them. "Isn't it great? It's a castle for the three of us." Rena sees a box from Confectionary West on the table. "Oh yeah, we've got cake." "Oh, we're out of coffee," says the boy. "Let's go buy some, Renny." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Is it all right?" says Rena. "President, leaving Mami-senpai behind... I was looking after the place." He pats her head. "Don't be so suspicious, Renny," he says. "Suspicious..." thinks Rena. She watched as the dark-haired boy offered his hand to the blond girl. Kei watches the two walk. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rena stares out the window after school. "It's not raining..." says a voice. Kei steps next to her. "It's not raining, is it," he says. "Maybe because you're here?" says Rena. "I'm not any kind of weather boy," says Kei. "I wish everyone wouldn't do as they like, Renny." "That's rather familiar..." "But Renny is much better than Kuramitsu Rena-san or Miss Rain," he says. "How about we join Rena with Rain, for Renny?" says the president. "Instead of 'Miss Rain', this is much better." Rain starts to fall on them. "You happened to pick up my shoes at the party?" says Rena. "What is this special member... I'm fine without you coming with me. I don't want to be followed around." "That's impossible," says Kei. "You and I had a destined meeting. Even though you might not have known it." Rena blushes. Kei bows to her. "Anyway! See you tomorrow." "Oh, wait!" says Rena. "Do you have an umbrella..." "Be sure to show up tomorrow at the club I started!" he says. She watches him leave. "A destined..." she thinks. "A destined meeting..." She looks at the Crazy Society flyer in her hand. "Strange guy..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The school bell rings. "Renny!" says Kei. "Hey, Miss Rain," says a girl. "He's here for you." "Oh, K!" says another girl. "I heard about this! I want to get into this 'Crazy Society' you started! You're going to Shibuya on Sunday, right?" "Since Miss Rain will be there, I won't vouch for the weather," says Kei. "Now that K's let Miss Rain in," says another boy, "we won't have any more good..." Kei presses his hand over the boy's mouth. Rena smiles and laughs. "Renny," says Kei. "I'll be sure to return your shoes. I'll be waiting in the club room every day for our special member princess." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rena enters the student council room. "Oh, I can't believe this..." she says. "We saw you from the window, Renny," says the president. "You looked like you were having a lot of fun," says Mami. "So that guy picked up your shoes at the party?" says the president. "Guess I missed my chance to ask you for the last waltz." "The last waltz..." thinks Rena. "So about our budget for this year..." says Mami, holding a paper. "Which one..." says the president. Rena stares at him. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rena approaches the room of the Crazy Society. "Right, I came to get my shoes back," she thinks. "My shoes..." A boy opens the door. "Oh! Wow, K! Miss Rain! It's Miss Rain!" She goes inside and sits down. "Is oolong tea all right?" says Kei. "I was just making some." He pours her a glass. "Welcome," he says. "I'm impressed. I was afraid you might not come." Rena blushes. "I was..." she says. "My shoes..." She looks around. "What a huge mountain of candy..." "Oh, Miss Rain," says one of the girls. "How about it? Will you help out with our candy fund?" "And this too!" says one of the boys. "This is delicious! Have some, have some!" Rena chuckles. "It's kind of fun having a lot of people," she says. "The student council is just three people, isn't it. Don't you have tea or anything?" "Occasionally," says Rena. "We buy cake and stuff." "Cake!? That's great... How elegant." Rena takes a bag of potato chips and eats a few. "Oh!" says Kei. "Miss Rain is eating garlic chips!" "Oops, sorry..." says Rena. "That doesn't suit me..." Kei laughs. "No, that's not it," he says. "It does suit you, Renny." One of the boys looks out the window. "It's raining!" "Wow! Miss Rain brought rain!" "Amazing!" "It was really raining at the party, too," says the boy. "My rental tux got soaked!" "Hey, hey, Miss Rain," says another boy. "You must have gotten tons of offers for the last waltz, right?" "Oh..." says Rena. "No, I left in the middle." "What for..." "What, what?" says another boy. "What is this about the last waltz?" "Don't you know? It's a tradition at our school. At the end of the party once a year, the last waltz is danced. You confess to the one you like, and couples who love each other dance." "Oh? Then maybe the president..." She watched as the dark-haired boy offered his hand to the blond girl. "Yeah," says Rena. "He became a couple with the other vice president... Maybe I will quit the student council..." Kei looks at her. "Actually, I've been thinking of quitting for a while," she says. "It's not like here... It makes me tense." "What?" says one of the boys. "How come?" "That's not like you, Miss Rain." "I guess..." says Rena. "I have to be getting back to that student council." She walks out into the hallway. Kei runs after her. "Renny," he says. "I'm sorry." She looks at him. "What? Why are you apologizing?" "Oh, well..." he says. "I've been kind of pushy... Your smile looked kind of lonesome before." "It was really nice there," says Rena. She blushes and laughs. "It's nice for my feelings to be mollified like that." "It's something I can't do..." she thinks. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- She walks to the student council room. "What?" she thinks. "The lights are off. I wonder if they're done working for today." She peers in through the door. She sees the president and Mami kissing inside. "Listen and don't laugh," says Mami. "When I first came to the student council and met you... Oh, our destiny has come true." "I felt it too," says the president. "Destiny..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rena runs to Kei, crying. "Renny...?" he says. "It's a castle for the three of us." "No..." she thinks. "It's not like that anymore, is it? I felt destiny then, too." "Do you know?" she says. "Mami-senpai and I first met the president on the same day, in front of the student council room. He was sweet to both of us in the same way... He was very sweet. In my heart, I felt a little... hopeful..." "How about if I be president," he says, "and you two be vice presidents." "It seems foolish..." "You're going to the party, right?" he says. "You must be. What kind of dress will you be wearing, Renny?" "Wearing a 'Miss Rain' dress, I waited for the last waltz with anticipation..." "Renny, I'll call you that," he says. "I think it's much better than 'Miss Rain'." "I felt the real me was understood for the first time... I'm not 'Miss Rain'. I'm an insignificant, ordinary girl." She looks up at Kei. "Are you disappointed?" "That's not it," he says. "You said it was a destined meeting," says Rena. "But destined meetings are all around." "Our destiny has come true," said Mami. "I felt it too," said the president. "Destiny..." "Did you know?" she says. "It can't just be one person who thinks it's a destined meeting." Kei steps closer to her as rain starts to fall. "The president..." he says. "I'll make you forget him. I will..." He puts his arms around her waist and leans toward her. She holds up her hands. She turns and runs away. "Renny!!" calls Kei. Her heart pounds as she runs. "He startled me," she thinks. "He startled me. What was this now...?" She stops. "I'll make you forget him. I will..." She breathes heavily. "W- What? My bag... I'm so thoughtless." She stands in front of her house, and looks up. Kei holds out her bag. Rena blushes. "Oh no..." she thinks. "Why is... my heart making such noise..." "Sorry," says Kei. "About before. But... Even if it's one-sided. Even if it's wrong, I don't care. I love you, so... I don't care." She watches him walk away in the pouring rain. "He doesn't care..." she thinks. "Since he loves me... Yes, I understand... That precious feeling..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rena opens the door to the Crazy Society. The room is empty. "It's dissolved?" "Yeah," says a boy. "After all, the Crazy Society was just a whim of K's." "You're Miss Rain?" says another. "Wow..." "So K's house was in the exact opposite direction, but he regularly walked her to and from school?" "Oh, 'Miss Rain'... Her biggest mistake was having such a good guy near her, but not realizing it." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "For me?" says Rena. "That's right," says Mami, holding a wrapped box. "K came here just to bring this, but he left right away... And... He won't follow after you anymore. He asked me to tell you that." Rena opens the box and sees her heeled shoes inside, along with another, smaller wrapped box. She holds the small box. "Say, President, Mami-senpai," she says. "Is my smile lonesome?" The president smiles at her. "Are you lonely?" he says. "Shall we add another person to the student council?" She smiles. "I'm going out for a bit." She leaves the room. "Lonely people don't leave looking happy," says the president. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Rena walks outside the school, rain starts to fall from the sky. She sees Kei leaning against the front gate. "Princess," he says. "How about an umbrella? That's what I wanted to say, but as a rule I don't carry umbrellas... I like the rain." He looks up at the sky. "I said I wouldn't follow you anymore, but... Since my destined meeting with the drenched Miss Rain, it's poured rain every day. Saying I didn't care if it was one-sided, or if it was wrong... That was a lie. Giving up on a wonderful girl who suits the rain is something I can't do after all. Did the poor shoes abandoned by their owner reach you, Princess?" Rena holds the smaller box. "What's this?" "I actually wanted to get you the same shoes as those for a present," says Kei. "But girls' shoes are expensive. So that's your present instead." She opens it and takes out the small item inside. "A music box?" "That music is called 'Miss Rain'," he says. "Really?" He takes the music box from her. "I've been waiting, wanting to confess to you, soaked in rain." He winds the box, and music plays. "Would you dance the last waltz with me?" "Yes..." she thinks. "A wonderful rain waltz." The end. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naoko's note for "Miss Rain". Original manga copyright © 1990 Takeuchi Naoko. English translation copyright © 1998 Alex Glover. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Manga of Takeuchi Naoko | Miss Rain