Chapter 14 | Do You Like the Rain?

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It is now late June and we have entered the rainy season.

It rained yesterday, the day before yesterday, and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

There was no sign of sunshine at all, but that didn’t bother me at all.

I have always rather liked the rain since I was a child.

I never played outside in the rain, but I used to watch it fall.

I somehow liked the smell of the rain and the sound of the rain, and I used to sit in the rain and stare at it.

The rain was special to me because I could forget all the bad things and anxieties I had. But then, the rain started to fall again.

It’s raining again. We can’t use the field again today.

“Even if it stops now, we can’t use the field. We’ll have to do core training again today, won’t we?”

“The competition is coming up, but we can't train… This really sucks.”

I hear my classmates, who are in the athletic club, talking.

It’s been raining for the past week and they haven’t been able to practice properly.

“Hey, it’s been really humid here lately.”

“You know what? I’m having a hard time taking care of my hair. I hate the rain.”

I also hear my classmates, a group of girly, cheerful girls, talking.

It seems that rain is hated everywhere.

I was a little disappointed at the difference in values between them and me since I like rain so much.

“What are you doing? Let’s go home soon.”

Rinka, who was standing next to me before I knew she was there, spoke to me like that. It seems she has already finished getting ready to go home.

“You haven’t prepared to go home yet? What were you doing?”

There are still textbooks and pens and pencils scattered on the desk. She has not put anything in her bag either.

“Well, sort of. I was thinking.”

“What do you mean, thinking?”

“Do you like the rain, Rinka?”

She is preparing to leave, her mouth moving but her hands firmly in motion.

Glancing sideways next to her, I can see her silky hair that looks like it has never lost its moisture from the rain or anything else.

Whenever I stroke Rinka’s head, her hair always feels nice and silky.

“I hate it.”

“Oh, I see.”

It seems that the number of people who like the rain is very small.

Unless you live in a dry area, it is hard to find a time when you want it to rain. At best, a child who is not good at sports might pray for it on the day of an athletic festival.

“Until…”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I had a chance to fall in love with it. Besides, these days, if I hear the sound of rain or something, it calms me down.”

I was simply amazed at this.

It seems that she is one of a very small number of people who like the sound of rain.

“Oh, I see.”

“How about you, Ikki?”

“I’ve liked it for a long time. Rain has a special place in my heart.”

“I see. Let’s go home early, shall we? You’re going to see a movie today, aren’t you?”

“Oh, crap. I’m sure it’s still on time, right?”

I hurriedly shoved my luggage into my bag.

If we missed the train or something, our schedule would be ruined.

“I guess it’s not too late. Come on, hurry up.”

I held the hand that was held out in front of me.

A soft, warm, gentle hand as usual.

But sadly. I’m going to have to let go of this hand soon. We can’t walk hand in hand on a rainy day. Because when we hold umbrellas over each other, a distance is created.

Rinka realized this when she got off at the entrance to the station.

I looked at the incessant rain and muttered to myself.

“I don’t like rain after all.”

“Well, why don’t we just not hold umbrellas over each other’s heads?”

“What do you mean?”

She stared at me seriously with a face as if to say, “What are you talking about?”

With her looking at me like that, I held up my umbrella.

“Here, come here.”

“Is this a shared umbrella?”

“This way we can walk while holding hands, right?”

“Yeah, but isn’t it funny that we’re sharing an umbrella when both of us are carrying our own umbrellas?”

That’s true. I have never seen a person holding an umbrella in one hand and sharing an umbrella in the other, at least not in my life.

“I don’t really mind if Rinka is okay with that”

“Ikki said he wanted to share an umbrella with me, so I had no choice but to do it for him. I’m sure you can leave your umbrella here.”

As soon as she said that, she crawled into my arms.

I was going to hold her hand, but due to the size of the umbrella, we decided not to hold hands, but to join our arms, which made us even closer.

I felt something soft and big on my arm.

I felt something very big and soft against my arm.

“Hey, are you thinking something weird?”

“No, I’m not thinking about anything. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Hmm, I feel like you’re being evasive.”

Her cheeks were puffed up as if she was sulking, but a little pat on the head brought her mood back to normal.

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