The Bunny Umbrella

by helenisacompletemess

Summary:

There was a rain shower on the day I saw her for the first time.
I couldn't breathe because my heart was fluttering.
As if, I forgot how to breathe.

- Lovely Runner, episode 6

Kou Seiya should have listened to their mom when she told them to bring an umbrella to school. But they chose not to listen. Instead Seiya meets a girl with an unusual hairstyle and a tacky pink umbrella with white rabbits on it.

The Bunny Umbrella is an outtake for a future work based on the K-Drama Lovely Runner.

Seiya knew that they should have brought an umbrella to school today.

When their mother had warned them about the weather forecast, Seiya had ignored the warning.  After all, the chance of it raining was only around five percent—that was basically non-existent.  Besides, if it ended up raining this afternoon, they could always borrow an umbrella from their entertainment agency.  The agency always kept a few extra umbrellas for their trainee’s use.

Oh, how wrong Seiya had been.

They watched as the large and heavy raindrops drummed on the pavement.  It had been around fifteen minutes since the downpour had started, causing the grounds of Juban Junior High School to become drenched, with an earthy aroma lingering in the air.  Seiya stood at the entryway of the school, watching their classmates leave.  They couldn’t help but hear the flapping sound of umbrellas opening by their classmates who had paid attention to the forecast.  While others tried to take shelter from the rain by using their school bags as a makeshift barrier.

If only it had started raining after they had arrived at the agency, Seiya couldn’t help but think as they watched the rain plopping into puddles.  Seiya continued to people-watch as they tried to weigh their options. If they waited for the rain to lighten up, they would be no doubt late for training.  Yet if they decided to brave the storm—getting drenched in the process, they could end up with a cold.  With the monthly evaluations coming up, that could cause them to lose their spot in The Three Lights debut.

“I can’t believe Haruna-sensei kept me after class again, I know my grades are bad.  It’s not my fault school is boring.”  A higher pitched voice murmured behind them, not that Seiya was paying much attention.  “It’s not my fault all I want to do is sleep all the time.”

Seiya knew they couldn’t keep idling in the entryway.  Every minute they stayed here, meant disaster for their debut either way they looked at it.  Finally, they raised their school bags over their head.  Hopefully it will keep them dry enough until they stopped at a convenience store along the way.  They were about to take their first step out into the downpour, when someone tugged on the sleeve of Seiya’s school uniform.

“What are you doing?  You're gonna get drenched if you go out in the rain like that.”

Seiya looked over to the side of them and froze.  There stood a girl they had seen a few times in passing but had previously not paid much attention too.  If Seiya recalled correctly, she was in class 3-1, the class next door to them.  Her cerulean blue eyes, several shades lighter than their own—a shade of cobalt blue, looked at them with curiosity.  However, what was most interesting about her was that her blond hair had been pulled into an unusual hairstyle with two buns on her head.  With pigtails hanging down from each of them.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion Odango.”  Seiya said with a smirk.

“Are you stupid, these are buns not dumplings.”  She said pointing towards her hair.  She looked ready to whack Seiya with her school bag.

Seiya checked as they lowered their own school bag.  “But they remind me of the dumplings that I enjoy so much.”

The girl continued to glare at them.  “My hair is not food!  Besides, aren't you one to talk, your long hair is against dress code.”  She said as she pointed to Seiya's long blond hair that was tied at the nape of their neck.

“For your information Odango, I have permission from the school to keep my hair this length.”

“For the last time my name is not Odango, it’s Usagi Tsukino. U-sa-gi-” The girl now known as Usagi made gestures as she sounded out her first name to Seiya, causing them to laugh at the girl.

“I’m Kou Seiya.” Seiya replied with a smirk, awaiting her response, but got nothing.

“Are you supposed to be famous or something?”  Usagi said with a slight tilt of her head.

Wait…she had to be joking right? Seiya couldn’t help but think after hearing Usagi’s comment. “Haven’t you heard of The Three Lights?”

“No, is that some sort of school fan club or something?”

Seiya shrugged slightly in disappointment.  “I guess I’m not as famous as I thought.”

“O…kay…”  Usagi replied with a blank expression on her face.

“You see Odango, I’m the real deal here.  I’m part of an idol group.”

“Like Minako Aino!”

“Not exactly, our debute is coming u–” Seiya began to speak, but Usagi interrupted them.

“So, you expected me to know who you are, and you haven’t debuted yet.”  She began to laugh.

Seiya glared at her. “Why do I even bother?  I’m leaving."

However, before Seiya could step out into the rain.  Usagi tugged on their sleeve again, stopping them. A worried expression on her face.  Seiya found themself frozen.  They didn’t like seeing such a face on her.  “Seiya, I’m sorry…”  She reached into her bag and pulled out a pink umbrella, with white rabbits on it.  “Don’t go out into the rain like this, you’ll get sick.  We could share my umbrella.”

“You wanna share your umbrella with me.”  Seiya said with a smirk.  Causing Usagi to playfully nudge their arm with her own.

“Don’t go romanticizing it.  Let me walk you to the convenience store.”  She said as she unfurled her umbrella as it fluttered open.  She then turned around and offered the umbrella to themwith a smile on her face.  “You hold it.  You’re much taller than I am.”

Seiya froze.  At this point the rain had begun to slow down into a drizzle. Seiya no longer heard the rain tapping on the roof or pinking into puddles.  All they saw was her.  The girl held out a ridiculous pink umbrella with rabbits printed on it, with the brightest smile they had ever seen.  At that moment they were no longer looking at a girl that had annoyed them. Seiya found themself holding their breath.  In that moment, Seiya’s heart began to flutter—no it was definitely fluttering.  In that moment, the annoying girl who had no idea who Seiya was, had become pretty in their eyes.

“...Seiya.”  Usagi’s voice called out, breaking Seiya out of their daze.  They could suddenly breathe again.  Seiya reached out and grabbed the umbrella and then made sure that the two of them were both covered from the rain hissing around them. “We should go.  I’m sure your agency is looking for you.”

Seiya simply nodded, too stunned to speak.

Those five minutes they took to the convenience store seemed all too long. Yet that time seemed to end way too soon, the moment they parted. Seiya was barely able to utter a goodbye, as they handed Usagi back her tacky baby pink umbrella to her. However, Usagi simply smiled again, causing Seiya to be breathless once more, as she stepped away from them.

Seiya found themself watching the umbrella as it moved further away from them, until it was out of eyesight. Then with a sigh, Seiya walked into the convenience store. As Seiya walked towards the rack of umbrellas, they noticed a bunny phone charm hanging on a display. Without a second thought Seiya purchased the phone charm and the umbrella, before they walked out into the misty rain once more.

It was just a thank you present. To show their appreciation to Usagi for allowing herself to share her umbrella with them. Seiya didn't want to overthink it. Then why did Seiya keep imagining Usagi accepting it with that large smile of hers.  Seiya couldn't help but feel a bit flushed about that thought. They needed to stop thinking about her and focus on getting to the agency.

But if Seiya did see her smile again, it would be worth it.

Notes:

What can I say, except I love Lovely Runner. It was recommended to me by a friend and I basically binged watched it for several days. I absolutely love the story and casting. Since I've finished the K-drama it's been on my mind lately.

As some of you know, I'm currently in grad school to be an educator and I'm currently taking a class on children's literature. This week we had a class on children's fantasy literature and as we were discussing it in class, I couldn't help but think about Lovely Runner. We ended up talking about children's fantasy literature that involved time travel (Lovely Runner would be classified as low fantasy), how important it was to have objects with powers in fantasy books (aka Sunjae's watch), and this whole discussion on the consequences of messing with time (aka all the timelines Sol ended up in), and finally why a good fantasy novel needs a villain. I swear this was crazy how we were having this discussion days after I finished the drama.

Can I say after watching Lovely Runner and hearing the insights from my Professor, I feel like I need to attempt to write a work based on this drama. I do have a general idea of what I want to do, if I do pursue this project. One thing I'm certain of is that I want Seiya to be the protagonist (aka the time traveler). Also, I do plan on having Rei be an important character and her having an unlikely friendship with Seiya after they arrive in the past.

With that in mind, I wanted to get a feel for the universe I was crafting. I decided to write the umbrella scene because of how important it is to the drama. After writing this version of the scene, I decided I was unhappy with it and decided to scrap it. However, it seemed to be a waste to keep it in my drafts so I decided to post it. I'm hoping to get some insight to see if I should go with this idea once I finish my current long fic The Imperial House. So please let me know if I should go with this idea in the future.

If you're a music lover, here is a spotify playlist filled with songs that inspired this work along the way here.

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