Chereads / Red in Black / Chapter 11 - Falling Rain.

Chapter 11 - Falling Rain.

Dina was expelled after Emma told the principal everything. Her father then decided to home-school her since no other university had accepted her. 

One day, the parent was buying vegetables and fruits at the food market. As he was checking up some carrots, a man came up to him.

"Asalamu 'alaikum, Mr.Viotto." 

"Hmm?" The father was confused, for the man before him was not one of his friends, neighbors, or relatives. He observed him well as he brightly smiled at him. 

"I'm sorry... Do I know you?" He tried his best to remember him but failed to do so.

"Ahehe..." The man nervously chuckled.

"Wa 'alaykumu salam. How may I help you, sir?"

"Uhm... I... I'm Rain Vrochi. Nice to meet you, sir." 

"Nice to meet you too..." The two shook hands but awkwardly smiled at each other.

"I'm Dina's teacher, sir. Or rather the replacement for that day..."

"Are you the guy she almost... killed?"

"Uh... Yeah..."

The father opened his eyes wide, pulled Rain quickly into his arms, and hugged him tightly. The young man was too stunned to speak and couldn't move a muscle.

"Oh! Thank God you're alright! I am so sorry for the harm my daughter has caused you!" The father was in pure joy as he embraced the teacher lovingly. 

"I looked for you at the school to apologize, but they told me you had left."

"There's nothing to apologize for, MR.Viotto--"

"Oh, yes there is! Believe me, my son... I know." The father patted Rain gently on the back then let him go.

"You... know what?" Asked the young one.

"Ugh." He sighed then told him about his experience with Dina's transformation.

"Oh, God..." Feared the teacher. "Thank God you're alright!"

"And thank God you're fine as well." He smiled.

"You know... Mr.Viotto... This is not what I came to you for..."

"How can I help you, son?" The father turned around looking for some good carrots.

"I... ahh...I came to you for your... Oh God! How do I say that..." Rain was eaten up by hesitation. Shyness was feasting on him as well.

"Speak, my boy! Don't be shy. This is the least I can do to pay you back for not sewing my daughter."

"Sewing your daughter? Why would I do that?"

"Well, say that to those other parents. Not a single scratch on their children's bodies, yet they wanted to send my child to prison, while you're the one who's got the right to do so." The father's expression changed. The thought of him losing his daughter made his heart ache.

"Don't worry, Mr.Viotto. I'm not sewing anyone, I wasn't even planning to."

"Thank you, my son. It really means the world to me. My daughter is all I have left, and if she... if anything bad happens to her I--"

"Mr.Viotto, I assure you, you have nothing to worry about, and I highly doubt anything bad will happen to your daughter," he joked.

The father chuckled as he patted him on the shoulder. He then continued his shopping with the teacher by his side.

"Oh, God! I can't speak a word! I'm dead nervous! How do people do this?" Rain was fighting with his thoughts. His mouth would shut every time he decided to speak.

Mr.Viotto noticed that the young one was trying to tell him something. His body was trembling, his fingers were tightly intertwined, and his lips were moving as if he was talking to himself.

"Is everything okay, my boy?"

"I don't know how to say this, Mr.Viotto."

"I sense you're trying to ask me something. Am I right?"

"Y--yes..."

"Then how about we go to my house and comfortably talk?"

"Uhm... I..."

"Come on, my boy! I'd love to invite you for dinner!" The father gently pushed Rain from the back and they both headed home.

Inside the house, Rain was sitting on the sofa while the old one was in the kitchen. After a little while, he came to the living room.

"Alright! While we wait for the food to be ready, let us talk about your request." He sat down next to the young man then turned to face him.

"Thank you so much for having me in, Mr.Viotto. I'm sorry for bothering you with me."

"Don't say that, my boy. You're like a son to me!"

"I appreciate that Mr.Viotto."

"Now quit with the formal talking and ask away! I'm all ears!" The father, with a warm smile, kept his attention on the teacher and listened to him carefully. Rain then took a deep breath and spoke.

"Mr.Viotto, I'm a huge fan of your kind. I read so much about the women's transformations and how they happen, their duration, and all their slightest details. Truly the forms are fascinating and beautiful, and any man would want a pretty and magical wife, but... what really caught my attention was the affected transformations, the ones your kind call 'Trauma'. I read so much about it that it has become my only dream to see it at least once in my life, and your daughter, Mr.Viotto, has made my dream come true. Maybe that day I almost vomited my lungs out, but at the same time, I was in complete awe from the whole experience. The way that thing emerged from her back without her even flinching, that screamed strong woman to me! And the way her eye shined red and the smoke surrounded her bo--" Rain stopped after the father choked him by the neck.

"Agh-- I'm sorry Mr.Viotto, I got a little-- carried away--" He choked.

"You sure did..." The old man was shocked by all he had heard. Though Rain didn't get to the point, he understood the message behind his words.

"Uhm... Are you telling me that you like my daughter?"

"Y-- yes... sir... and I--"

"And you want to... marry her?" The father was confused. His daughter was hated and feared by many people, for years, which made him lose hope of ever seeing her in a wedding dress. But after hearing Rain's words, the long-lost hope had unexpectedly returned.

"You do realize that my daughter lives with a monster that can slice you bit by bit if you ever make her angry?" 

"Y--yes, s--sir..." Rain was hardly breathing.

"And you still want to marry her though she can end your life at some point?"

"Ab--solutely s--sir..."

The father unhanded the choked man and then crossed his arms. Rain on the other hand was catching his breath.

"I can-- tell where she got her strength from..." He massaged his neck.

"Are you playing tricks on me, Mr.Vrochi?"

"I assure you... Mr.Viotto, I am not..." He hardly spoke.

The father just sat there and sneered at him.

"W--why are you looking at me like this, sir?"

"You saw a monster come out of my daughter, and now you want to marry her?"

"I know this may sound weird, but yes."

"I'm starting to think you're into the monster and not into my daughter..." He moved back from him and gave him a grimace of disgust.

"What!? No!! Sir, you misunderstood the situation! I--"

"What's going on?" Dina asked as she stood by the door. When Rain saw her, his heart beat faster and his blood pressure rose. 

"Asalamu 'alaikum, my child."

"Wa 'alaykumu salam, Father."

"Come here, Dina. Someone is here for you." Dina obeyed and headed towards her father. Rain followed her with his eyes as she walked to the living room and sat next to her dad. 

"Mr.Vrochi... Are you feeling well?" She asked.

"I've never been better..." He said in his head.

"I am so sorry for what happened before I-- I lost control and--"

"Lost control?! You had full control over there! You literally saved my life!" He exclaimed with excitement.

"Saved your life...? Didn't she almost kill you?" The father was confused.

"That's what I was trying to explain to you, Mr.Viotto! The monster almost killed me, but your daughter saved me. She controlled the beast and stopped it! That's what... what really caught my attention..." He shied away.

"Caught your attention...?" Wondered Dina.

The father turned towards his daughter and held her hand.

"Dina, my sweet child. I know this may sound sudden, and a little strange, but this man is... is here asking to marry you."

"WHAT??!!" Dina's eye, from the shock, shined red; and so did her cheeks.

"WHY WOULD HE...!" She held her mouth shut and hid her face away.

"She... she's blushing..." Rain exclaimed in his head.

Suddenly, the father remembered the food.

"Oh, God! I almost forgot the food on the stove! You! You better behave while I'm gone, or I swear..." He quickly got up and ran to the kitchen. 

The two were left alone, sitting away from one another, while each one looked in the opposite direction of the other.

"Is... is this true...?" She asked.

"Uhm... Y--yes..."

"But, why?" She softly asked while her eyes were looking down.

"Why not?"

"I'm a monster... Didn't you see that for yourself?"

"We all have monsters within ourselves," he told her. "Yours just happens to be more visible. And unlike us, you managed to hold it back and have full control over it. That requires lots of strength, you know... and I... I liked that..."

Those words ignited a flame in Dina's heart, a flame that boiled her blood making her whole face turn red.

"What's there to like?" She observed the smoke around her hand.

"What's there not to like?! You managed to hold back that MOUNTAIN with your small... uhm... body, and you want me to be unimpressed!?"

"Well, I almost killed Emma if it wasn't for you..."

"If you wanted to kill her you would've done so immediately, but I saw how the monster slowly stretched its arm as if something or 'someone' was holding it back. You wanted her to run away, didn't you?"

"Well... I sure wanted her head on my hand, but at the same time it felt wrong."

"See, I told you. You managed to hold the beas--"

"Nightmare." She slowly turned her face towards Rain.

"Huh?"

"Its name is Nightmare."

"Oh... You even named it... Heh!" He chuckled.

Dina smiled with her red cheeks, shying up from his words.

Meanwhile, the father was peeking from the kitchen. He listened to them closely and watched them as they spoke. He was amazed by Rain's comfort next to his daughter. For years, the poor parent saw nothing but fear and disgust in people's eyes whenever they were near his child, but Vrochi was different, and that's why he wanted to give him a chance. He prepared the table and called for them. After everyone gathered around, Mr.Viotto asked.

"So, Rain Vrochi. Where do you live?"

"Uhm... I'm from Tilan, sir."

"Tilan? And what did you come all the way here for?"

"I'm on vacation, sir, and as I said earlier, I'm a big fan of your kind, and I hoped to find a... beautiful woman from this place to marry." He looked at Dina for a second then looked away.

"Didn't you mention before that you're her teacher?"

"Yeah... about that... The principal of Dina's university is a friend of mine, and he asked me to help him out with her class since the teacher was absent. I accepted his request because I'd been here for almost ten days and I got a little bored... And Thank God I did!"

"Wait... So you're not a teacher?" Dina asked.

"No, I'm not..."

"How did you teach us the subject so well? Even better than our teacher!?"

He shyly chuckled then said, "I'm a writer and I know what writing requires, so teaching it is pretty easy for me."

The father put his spoon on the table and relaxed on the chair.

"Agh! Alhamduli Llah!"

"Thank you for the food, Father. It's really delicious!"

"Yes, Mr.Viotto. You're an amazing cook!"

"What about you?" Asked the old man.

"Huh? Me?"

"Are you not an amazing cook?"

"I... I don't know how to cook, Mr.Viotto...I--"

"And you want to marry my daughter? What are you expecting her to cook while you lay on the sofa or something?"

"No no not at all, sir! I just--"

"You just what? You just don't know that my daughter spent her whole life in seclusion and that she refused to eat for years. I had to beg her to eat at least one meal to stay alive. She didn't have the energy to learn how to cook, all of it was drained by her illness, so I had to cook for my child to keep her fed and at least a little bit physically healthy. If I handed her the cooking chore, you'd be standing before a pile of skin and bones."

"Father! You... you don't have to tell him everything!" She whispered in embarrassment.

"No, Mr.Viotto. I'm not planning to make her cook for me. I'm not even planning to make her clean. I have maids at home that take care of these things. What I want from your daughter is to fill my empty life with--"

"With what? With smoke!?" Joked the father.

"Oh my God! Father, stop!" Dina giggled as her father was laughing up a storm.

"I apologize. My Father is a bit of a joker." 

"Haha! I can tell!"

"Ah! I'm just messing with you, son! I love my daughter to death, and I love her flying smoke too. It may look dark and gloomy, but if you look closely at it, you'll see how beautiful it is." The father gently placed his hand on his daughter's face.

"I agree with you, Mr.Viotto."

Rain warmly smiled at Dina making her look down in shyness. Mr.Viotto noticed that his daughter didn't refuse the idea of marriage, instead, she showed signs of interest. For that, he decided to proceed with the questions.

"So, Dina."

"Yes, Father?"

"What do you think of this crazy man? Is he a good meal for Trauma?"

"WHAT?!" Shouted Rain.

Dina giggled and raised her head to look at Rain. The moment their eyes met, she quickly looked away with her cheeks as red as blood.

"We need to know each other a bit more, don't you think? We can't just rush into things like that." She noted.

"She's right. We must know more about you, Rain Vrochi." The father squinted his eyes and turned his focus on Rain.

"Yes, of course! Just ask anything! I'll answer all your questions." Rain put down his spoon and faced the parent, giving him his full attention.

After all questions were asked and answered, the father and his daughter were comfortable with the answers. Dina didn't want to marry a man she just met, so Mr.Viotto suggested that Rain visits them every day. This way she'll get to know him even better and become more comfortable around him; with her father's presence for sure. After two months, the two were finally married. Dina and her father couldn't live far from each other. After all, they were the only family members they had, so Rain bought a new house next to his father-in-law to keep the family together. For his job, Rain owned a writing school. Wealthy as he was, he had people who took care of his job, all he did was make sure everything was under control, well structured, and of course, paid for. Once or twice a month, he'd have to travel to Tiran for some business trips, then after three to four days, he'd come back to his loving wife. Because of her husband's support, Dina managed to control herself better and keep Nightmare at bay; only in some cases. Thanks to Rain's obsession with her transformation, she became more educated about her illness, and with every piece of information learned, she reached higher levels of self-awareness and love. The two were deeply in love with each other and lived peacefully ever after.