Part-2 Ch-10 Ep-02

 Maki’s POV

A single raindrop fell right in front of me with a soft plop. I let out a small “Ah” and looked up.

The sky was blanketed in heavy, leaden clouds, and soon after, a deep, bass-like rumble echoed through the air, reverberating all the way into my body.

It was as if the sky itself were growling.

In the next instant, large raindrops began pouring down all at once, and the sharp scent of wet asphalt spread through the area.

It was what people call a torrential downpour. Having just stepped out of the bookstore, I ended up stranded beneath the eaves.

I let out a quiet sigh.

Well, actually, this is perfect. Now I have time to let my thoughts wander.

I pulled the Okinawa guidebook I had just bought closer to my body inside my bag so it would not get splashed by the rain.

My smartphone vibrated in my hand. When I checked it, I saw a message from Mari.

『The rain is crazy. Maki, didn’t you say you were going to the bookstore today? Do you have an umbrella?』

It was the kind of concern a parent might show.

Today, she had said she had an appointment to get her hair done.

So we were spending the day separately.

Even we do not spend every holiday together.

『I don’t have one. I’ll wait until it lets up, so it’s fine』

As soon as I sent the reply, it was marked as read.

But even after waiting five minutes, there was no response. I put my phone back into my bag and looked up at the sky again.

The rain showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.

I had not told Mari, but during the free time on the last day of the school trip, Godaiin-kun had asked whether we could go around together.

Naturally, I refused.

During that free time, I had already promised to go around with Mari, Kagami-kun, Todoroki-kun, and the rest of our group.

After that, on the night of the third day, the day before the last, he had asked if I could spare a little time before returning to my room. I reluctantly agreed to that much.

“Maybe it’s a confession.”

The murmur I directed toward the rain was easily swallowed by the sound of it falling.

I have already decided to turn him down.

Even so, it still feels heavy to me.

Ever since around middle school, there have been several times when boys from my grade or from higher grades confessed their feelings to me.

Each time, I turned them down. And every single time, the weight of someone’s affection felt heavy to me.

I think that is because, to begin with, my interest in people and things is rather thin.

It is not that I have no interest at all. When something truly catches my attention, I can become absorbed in it. But I do not form strong attachments easily.

Even I find that strange.

Despite that, I have become so fixated on my childhood friend, that girl.

And now, that childhood friend, who is my girlfriend, still seems to feel a slight sense of inferiority toward Godaiin-kun.

She shows more possessiveness than before, yet Mari’s top priority is always me. If she believed it would be better for me, she might even choose to break up with me herself. That thought scares me.

If she were to witness the moment he confesses to me, there is a chance she might step back on her own, and that possibility irritates me more than I would like to admit.

Even so, since this would be our first trip together now that we are dating, I had come to buy a guidebook to change my mood. And yet, this is what happened.

The rain showed no sign of weakening. If anything, it was growing heavier, and my visibility was worsening.

When I checked the weather forecast, it said it would take another two hours before the rain stopped.

I guess I have no choice but to prepare myself to get soaked like a drowned rat, I thought, gripping the shoulder strap of my bag tightly.

That was when it happened.

“Maki!”

“Eh, why……”

Mari came running toward me from beyond the curtain of rain, holding an umbrella.

In an instant, my mood lifted.

“After getting my hair cut, I was wandering around town too. You said you didn’t have an umbrella, so I went looking for you. That said, I only have this one umbrella.”

She held it out apologetically. I thanked her and stepped under it.

As the two of us squeezed beneath the single umbrella, the distance between us shrank sharply, and my heart skipped a beat.

“……You really do have some kind of GPS on me, don’t you?”

I could not help saying it.

There are several bookstores in this town, both large and small.

For her to find the exact one I was at in such a short time was honestly impressive.

“My intuition was right.”

When I looked at Mari as she said that with a smile, I noticed her left shoulder was damp, while my right shoulder was completely dry.

“Ah, Mari, let me hold the umbrella.”

“It’s fine. This is my umbrella anyway. And I’m taller.”

“It’s only a one or two centimeter difference, though.”

As we exchanged remarks like that, the way the umbrella was tilted bothered me.

Once again, I was the one being protected.

Even so, being treated with such care was not unpleasant. On the contrary, it made me happy.

Still, I want to treasure Mari too.

The sound of the rain falling and striking the umbrella was so loud that our conversation gradually faded away.

The two of us walked home in silence.

By the time we finally reached my house, the rain had eased slightly, though it still seemed likely to continue for a while.

Mari, who had walked me all the way to the eaves of my house, looked up at the still gray, rain-filled sky and said, “Well then, I guess I’ll head back.”

Low thunder continued to rumble overhead, and lightning flashed from time to time.

Even though our houses are close, I did not want to send her back alone in this weather.

“……Are you really going home?”

When I said that, she looked at me worriedly and asked, “Eh, could it be that you’re scared of thunder?”

“Eh? Ah, no, not really scared at all…… ah.”

Come to think of it, when we were kids, every time thunder roared I would panic. Whenever Mari was nearby, I would scream and cling to her.

She probably remembers that, which is why she is worried.

In truth, thunder does not bother me anymore.

I was scared when I was little, but now, even if there is a loud thunderclap, I only flinch slightly at most.

If I concentrate, I stop noticing the sounds around me altogether. I can even study without realizing there is thunder.

But since Mari was looking at me with such concern.

“Yes, I’m scared, so stay with me. Mom is working her part-time job today too,” I tried saying.

Mari glanced up at the sky once more.

At that exact moment, lightning flashed.

I gently tugged at the hem of her clothes.

She turned her eyes toward me.

“Hm, all right. Then I’ll stay a little longer.”

Perhaps to reassure me, she gently patted my head.

Those words and that gesture made me so happy that I quickly said, “Then come in, come in. I bought an Okinawa guidebook, so let’s look at it together,” and hurriedly opened the front door.

“You look pretty happy about this,” Mari said with a wry smile. She might have seen through my lie.

But if she is staying with me even knowing that, then I hope it means that, by mutual understanding, Mari wants to be with me too.

That is what I thought.