The young man's feet kept leading him forward, one after the other. Exhaustion covered his body, alluring him to throw the backpack on his back down without a care and just lie down on the muddy and wet ground.

The sun was already setting. He knew that it would take less than an hour before it would no longer light up his way for him.

There were trees all around him, making it hard for him to see anything but the brown trunks and dark green leaves and bushes that were aggressively getting attacked by fierce water droplets and the strong, cold wind.

The rain pouring down wasn't any help.

He sighed. He wanted to pull out his paper map to see where he was, but he couldn't when it was raining as aggressively as it was in that moment. It could damage the only way home he had, and he couldn't risk that.

It was a bummer that he had forgotten his umbrella at his friend's house.

It was also a bummer that his friend's house was in Ignacia when his own home was located in the Sea of Sands. Nonetheless, he needed to get home.

He had spent the past two days at his friend's house to work on a History project for school. Since the distance between the two homes was too much, both sets of parents had agreed to let him sleep over at his friend's.

But now he was on his way back home when a thunderstorm caught up on him and brought some heavy rain, too.

It was too late to walk back to his friend's, but his house was also still too far away, too.

You would think that he could find shelter under a big tree, but he was too scared of any animals jumping on him at his most vulnerable state.

On top of that, he was hungry and thirsty. Granted, he could take out the water bottle he had in his bag and drink out its contents, yet he decided to ration his water when he remembered that he also had to walk through a freaking desert. And he did not have any food on his person.

His parents, although very fascinated by technology, refused to use cellphones for a reason that he was not understanding.

"Some things deserve to stay in their own generation, son," his father had once said.

Still didn't make sense for him, though.

And it was also no use to think harder about it when his phone was out of battery already. He had a charger in his backpack, yet he had no place to use an outlet for the charging of his cell phone.

A sound of relief left his mouth as he seemed to near the end of the small forest he had been walking through for the past ten minutes.

When his feet landed on concrete, he let out small, tired sound of happiness. As he looked up at the scenery in front of him, he found a lot of greenery and a small shop of some sorts.

He thought about continuing to go so that he would arrive at home sooner, but he was really craving to rest his feet as well. Besides, it was raining like crazy.

The young man walked over to the small shop, and once he was standing right in front of it, he was quite happy that it had not closed yet. When he looked up, he could read the name, even if he had to squint his eyes due to the raindrops smacking against his face.

"Four Weapons," his voice rang quietly amongst the heavy rain covering most of the sounds around him.

Taking a peek inside, his eyes did, in fact, land on a variety on weapons. Without much hesitation, he walked inside and sighed out in relief when he stopped feeling raindrops pouring down on his frame.

After releasing a shuddered breath, he just then realized how cold it was. Yet all he had was his blue zip-up jacket which was drenched by now.

His eyes roamed his surroundings. Swords, katanas, shurikens, spears, scythes, shields, and lots of armor were all around him, wherever he looked.

If the circumstances had been different, he would've felt much happier.

He was only planning on staying there for as long as it took for the rain to go away, or at least not rain as heavily.

Besides, there was no one around him, so he could just sit down on the floor and wait.

As he was sitting down, his hand accidentally brushed against a rack of katanas which took the opportunity to topple down onto the ground while creating very loud noises. He cringed, hoping no one heard that.

"Kai, is that you?"

He jinxed it.

As he hurriedly tried to put the katanas back onto their rack, he failed to notice the person that was standing in the room with him now, watching him.

When the katanas were secured again, he let out a huff of air as he turned back around from the rack.

And then, their eyes met.

His breathing stopped once he realized the person was a girl. A very beautiful girl, in fact. Her black hair was tied up in a high ponytail with her bangs and a few strands out and flowing along her round face. She was wearing a red kimono paired with a pair of black sandals.

When he looked at her face and saw the confusion and light blush on her features, he realized he had just checked her out in plain sight.

Coughing awkwardly, he looked away, feeling his own cheeks getting tinted with his own blush.

She cleared her throat. "Welcome to Four Weapons! How may I help you?"

"Oh, uh," he cursed himself for letting out a few squeaks. "I'm not actually here to... buy anything," he said honestly while fiddling with his fingers.

Why the hell was he suddenly so nervous?

As he was still insulting himself and his stupidity, he heard her chuckle which sent sparks around his body.

"Looking for shelter, eh?"

He wordlessly nodded as he watched her. The girl was slowly walking over to him and then past him to have a better look outside. She was just a few inches shorter than him, he noticed.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she whispered. "The way it all comes down so gracefully. The way its sounds are so aggressive yet soothing at the same time. The way its smell is so enticing yet so refreshing..."

When she realized what she was doing, she quickly snapped out of her own bubble and turned back to the boy. Looking at him, she found him staring right back at her. It was then that she noticed how soaked his clothes were.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized for zoning out. "What I meant was that you can stay here for as long as it takes the rain to stop, or at least subside."

"T-Thank you," the boy said, stuttering.

Her eyes widened. "You must be freezing," she voiced her thoughts out loud, stating the obvious. "You look like you have a similar build as my brother. Would you like to change your clothes?"

No matter how much he wanted to refuse, and no matter how much the thought alone of being in someone else's clothes was gross, he couldn't refuse the offer when his body felt like it was about to combust due to the cold.

So, he nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.

The girl smiled. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

And with that, she disappeared behind the same door which she had come out of earlier. The boy assumed it led to the main building of the shop.

While he was waiting, he looked around a little more. The weapons were all shiny and clean, like they had just been polished, which he liked. He lightly let the top of his forefinger glide across the sharp blade of a katana as he walked along its length.

Once he reached the end, his eyes landed on a pair of modern-looking nunchucks, the chain being that of silver and the two grips black.

He let his finger press against the material and realized that it had to have been an expense pair due to the firmness of the grips. It felt like rubber, too, which had to allow one a good grip on the nunchucks, he knew it.

He turned back around to glance at the door. The girl could come out at any given moment, and he would either look like a robber or a complete idiot if she were to see him play around with the nunchucks.

But then again, his curiosity was arisen and his fingers itched to hold the nunchucks in his hands. Just this once.

Going against his better judgment, the boy carefully removed the nunchucks from their holster on the wall. "Cool," he whispered to himself, admiring the intricate details that were carved into the grips.

He let go of the left grip and let it dangle down, making sure to hold the other grip steadier to ensure maximum safety.

After that, he went wild. He began to swing the nunchucks in the air and even managed to do a few easier tricks with it that he had once seen in a TV show back in the day.

"That's quite dangerous," the girl's voice called out, causing him to lose his focus.

In response to that, he hit himself against his head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, letting the nunchucks fall to the ground to hold his forehead.

When he realized what he had just done, he immediately bent down with wide eyes and grabbed the nunchucks. "I'm so sorry!" he apologized while trying to wipe off any dirt or dust.

"It's fine," she quickly assured him, getting closer to him. She took the weapon out of his hands and put it on the desk, right next to the closed cash register.

While she was doing that, the boy let his eyes land on the beauty in front of him once again. This time without her catching him.

She had a pair of black sweatpants and an oversized red hoodie neatly folded up in her hand. He could also make out a white towel in the mix.

"Are you okay?" she then asked him, turning back to him. She got a bit closer to his frozen state and looked at his forehead with a concerned expression on her face. "That looked painful."

"I'm fine," he lied. "No worries."

Although she was skeptical, she let the matter go and handed him the clothes she was carrying. "Here. These are my older brother's. I'm sure he won't mind sharing them with a stranger, and if he does, that's not my problem."

The boy chuckled. "Isn't he here?" His eyes shortly glanced at the door behind the girl, wondering why she was constantly mentioning her brother without really going into any details about him.

"No," she answered. "He's in town, up to something. He wouldn't tell me why he went there, but my guess would be to get me something for my birthday." She rolled her eyes.

"It's your birthday?"

"My upcoming birthday," she corrected him. "It's in three days."

"How old will you turn?"

"Eighteen."

A sparkle popped up in his eyes. "Ah, finally becoming a legal adult, eh? I remember my big day." He had a faraway look on his face as he sighed, a content smile on his nude lips.

The girl looked him up and down. "You don't look any older than me," she guessed.

"I'm nineteen," he confirmed. "Just turned nineteen two months ago, in fact."

He was about to talk a bit more but had to stop himself when a giant sneeze interrupted his train of thought.

The girl even flinched. "Okay, I think it's time for you to get out of those clothes now," she advised, glancing at his soaked jacket and jeans. Her guess would be that his underwear was wet as well, but she couldn't possibly offer a stranger her brother's underwear.

And there was no way she would go through his underwear drawer. Nuh-uh.

"Um, where can I..." he wondered, looking around.

They were both in the middle of a partially open area. If anyone nearby were to try and look inside, they could.

The girl understood what he meant. "Oh," she nibbled on the dried skin on her lower lip. "You can change in the bathroom. Follow me."

She turned around and began to walk towards the door, and the boy had no choice but to follow.

"If you plan on murdering me in there, do it quick. I'd like to be freed from this cold hell as soon as possible," he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

The girl faked a laugh, but deep down she couldn't help but like his taste in words. "Ha ha. You're very funny."

"Thank you," he said, just as sarcastic.

They stopped in front of a door. She turned to him and pointed behind herself. "This is the bathroom. You can change in there."

He nodded and entered the smaller room. It was a cozy-looking bathroom with a flower aesthetic. He immediately tore his wet clothes off his body — which wasn't all that easy due to the clothes sticking to his skin — and wiped himself dry with the towel she had also added to the pile of clothes.

Then he picked up the sweatpants and quickly put them on, feeling a little uncomfortable to be just in his boxers in a house that wasn't his. After that he picked up the red hoodie and subconsciously sniffed it.

His eyebrows furrowed. It smelled like the cheap hair gel he used to use to glue his hair to his head to straighten it when he was younger. But now he was just letting his curls be the center of his head. He even liked his appearance in the mirror.

After getting dressed, he picked up his wet laundry, threw the used towel into the laundry basket he discovered to be next to the porcelain sink, and exited the bathroom. Not knowing where else to go, the boy went back to the front desk.

And indeed, there she was, waiting for him. When she turned around, she smiled before she burst out in laughter.

The boy looked down at himself before looking back at her. He smiled. "What? You don't think I look good in red?"

He was joking. Red had never been his color.

"No," she said, getting herself together again. "You definitely have to stick to blue. It's just that you look just like my brother, only your head is different."

"Is that a good thing?" he asked, a little confused.

"Oh, hell no!" she yelled out before laughing again. "One Kai is enough Kais. His name is Kai if you haven't gotten it already."

"Got it," he confirmed. Then he remembered something. "Do you have a bag I can borrow for these?" he asked, motioning to his wet clothes.

The girl nodded before going behind the desk and bending down to retrieve a plastic bag. She handed it to him. "I would've offered you a paper bag but that would not help at all," she clarified. "And a box is too fancy."

"Yeah," he said as he put his clothes into the plain white bag and then made a knot in the plastic material.

When his ears couldn't hear the aggressive rain anymore, he turned around and looked at the weather. The rain had subsided substantially, and the evening sun was shining even.

"As much as I like your company, I really need to get back home before it gets dark," he said, his tone apologetic. He really did want to spend some more time with her, but his need to return home was more urgent.

She could understand him. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

He nodded and stuffed the full plastic bag into his backpack. Then he secured it on his back again and got ready to leave.

Before he did, he turned around to look at the girl. "Thank you so much for offering me shelter and some warm clothes," he thanked her. "Speaking of warm clothes, I guess I will need to visit sometime in the future to return the clothes."

She got his hint and smiled. "I'll be looking forward to that. But then again, the way I know my brother, he would not even notice that his clothes are gone."

The two laughed.

"So I'll see you again?" the girl asked, feeling giddy about it inwardly. She didn't let it show though.

He nodded. "Of course, ..."

"Nya."

"Nya," he repeated, his smile stretching wider.

"And you are?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Jay."

"Okay, Jay," she said. "You better go now unless you want to fight off demons in the dark."

Jay's eyes widened. He waved at her before bolting out of the small shop.

Nya shook her head. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't get rid of the smile on her face.

She had definitely not expected to come across a guy like him on a regular, boring workday.