Chapter 14

From then on, the day's classes ended without incident.

After the bell rang, Yui returned as if nothing had happened and attended class as if nothing had happened.

Still, she seemed to be in a bad mood, glancing at me from time to time, but Yui didn't speak to me after that.

It seemed her mood changed as quickly as the weather in the mountains, so I decided not to worry about it.

"Ah, it's raining again...”

When the after-school noise filled the classroom, Yui, who was right behind Yuki's seat, was sticking to the large window, muttering to herself.

"Ah, I forgot my umbrella...”

She kept mumbling.

"Forgot your umbrella, huh...”

Just as Yuki was about to stand up, pulling the chair, she accidentally made eye contact with the person behind her.

She thought about ignoring it, but the other person stared at her and blinked exaggeratedly.

"...What?"

"Yui forgot her umbrella."

She tilted her head cutely. It was a terrible performance.

It was currently the rainy season, and it had been raining every day.

It wasn't raining in the morning, but the forecast said it would rain heavily, so Yuki had brought her umbrella today.

She had already taken it from the umbrella stand and placed it next to her desk.

"...So?"

"Hey, didn't I lend you my umbrella yesterday?"

Yui said, pointing her index finger.

Even though it only rained for a few minutes and then stopped, it didn't really matter.

She stared back, implying, "Wasn't that the case?"

"Hmm, or maybe you want to go home with me today?"

"You just want to use my umbrella, don't you?"

"No, that's not it..."

It sounded like something she would say.

Besides, if that was the case, she could have borrowed an umbrella from the school or asked a friend for help.

Just as Yuki was about to say that, she thought of another possibility.

"Maybe you forgot on purpose to play that game?"

"Hehe."

"Not 'hehe.' For such a trivial reason..."

She sighed, and Yui pouted.

"No, I really forgot! I was distracted by my lunch!"

"That's pretty silly, too."

"Huh? You forgot it yesterday, too."

She shot back immediately.

Thinking that this argument would go on forever, Yuki concluded:

"Really, you're hopeless..."

"...What, is it okay? I was only half-joking."

"Yeah..."

"Really? You wanted to go home with me that much, huh? I see, I see~"

Yui crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and nodded vigorously.

(Hmm... I'll just ignore her and go home.)

Yuki, having reached this conclusion, quickly slung her bag over her shoulder and slipped past Yui, who was beaming, and left the classroom.

She had no particular plans to stop anywhere, so she walked quickly down the corridor, down the stairs, and to the entrance.

Stopping at her shoe locker to change her shoes, she heard footsteps approaching and a shadow stopped nearby.

Looking over, she saw Yui holding a clear plastic umbrella, thrusting it in front of her.

"Huh? You have an umbrella."

"No, this is yours. You forgot it."

"Oh..."

She had left it by her desk.

She remembered that she had forgotten her umbrella yesterday because she had been arguing with Rina all morning.

"Ah, because of you, I came this far too. I guess I'll have to share it."

"Sure, sorry about that," Yuki said, taking the umbrella and shrugging, then they both left the entrance together.

Although she said "share," there were students leaving school everywhere, so they couldn't share the umbrella in such a public place.

Stopping under the eaves, Yuki opened the umbrella, checked the rain, and then handed it back to Yui, letting her walk ahead.

Fortunately, it was only drizzling, so it didn't make much difference whether they used the umbrella or not.

"Sorry about this. Borrowing your umbrella."

Walking out the school gate and on the wet asphalt, Yui said in a cheerful tone.

Feeling that she should walk faster, Yuki increased her pace, and Yui hurried to catch up.

"Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. Pour on Yuki's head."

"Stop singing that weird song."

As the number of umbrellas around them decreased, Yui started singing a mysterious song, seemingly in a good mood.

But as she sang, it started to rain, and Yuki glared at her.

"Hmm? Do you want to share?"

"It's my umbrella, you know?"

Yui approached quickly, lifted her arm, and held the umbrella over Yuki's head.

But then she shook her arm exaggeratedly.

"No, it's too heavy... I want someone tall and strong to hold it."

She said in a full-on tsundere tone.

Thinking it would be troublesome to argue, Yuki took the handle.

"I'm not that strong, you know."

"Hmm..."

Yui glanced at Yuki's profile and then smiled mischievously.

"Then I'll support you."

Saying that, Yui placed her hand over Yuki's, holding the handle.

Then she looked up with her usual grin.

"Hehe, I'm holding your hand. What should we do?"

"...Isn't your hand wet?"

"Wet...? ...N-no, this isn't sweat, it's the rain. Rain."

"It's sweat..."

"I said it's the rain!"

As she spoke, Yui's hand, which was resting on hers, started to heat up.

Yui quickly pulled her hand away and made a gesture of tapping Yuki's shoulder with a fist.

"...Why do you have to say such things?"

She grumbled as they walked, but then fell silent, apparently getting bored.

After a while, the conversation stopped, and they walked in silence.

"You suddenly went quiet."

After a while, Yui said softly.

To Yuki, being quiet was normal, so she didn't think much of it.

"...Are you mad?"

"Huh?"

Surprised by the sudden question, Yuki looked at Yui.

She had a serious, somewhat anxious expression, different from any she usually showed, so Yuki asked back.

"I'm not mad, but is something wrong?"

"Well, I kind of forced myself to follow you... and, I don't know, it feels awkward when you're quiet. I thought maybe I should talk more or something."

"You don't have to force yourself to talk."

You're unusually quiet, which is a bit strange. Yuki added.

Yui looked down slightly.

"Maybe I'm actually a very quiet person."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure myself... but maybe I'm acting or putting on a mask without realizing it."

"Hmm? But you don't have to worry about that."

After saying that, Yui fell into a deep silence.

Not only that, but her expression was dark, and she seemed less energetic.

As they walked, Yuki switched the umbrella to her other hand, and her free hand reached out...

Just before it touched Yui's head, Yui quickly dodged.

"Y-You were trying to pat my head again, weren't you?!"

"No, I wasn't, there was just a bug..."

"No way, you were definitely trying to pat my head! I'm not falling for that again!"

She ranted with great enthusiasm.

She must have really disliked the last time.

"I just wanted to cheer you up."

But thinking it was for the best, Yuki was about to let it go when Yui fell silent again. Glancing sideways, their eyes met.

But Yui quickly turned away. Even so, it was clear that her face was red.

"You blush so easily."

"Is that bad?"

"No, I just think it's cute."

A light smile escaped her lips, and Yui turned her face back.

"Thinking I'm cute when I'm blushing is so sadistic!"

"Are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing!"

"Then are you mad?"

"Thinking I'm cute when I'm mad is so masochistic."

After saying that, Yui turned away, and fell silent again.

Apparently, she gets anxious if no one talks to her, so Yuki tried to say something that came to mind.

"I like the rain. The sound and the smell. Well, I don't like it when it pours or when there's a typhoon."

Yuki thought she was unusually talkative for herself.

But she couldn't think of anything else to say, so they fell silent again.

As the rain intensified, she moved a half-step closer and tilted the umbrella slightly toward Yui.

"I might like it too."

After that, they continued walking in silence, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

The sound of the rain hitting the ground was unusually clear and echoed in their ears.

After about ten minutes of walking, they stopped at a large intersection with a red light.

Yuki's house was off this road, so she would part ways with Yui here.

"Well, I'm going that way."

"...Oh, okay."

Yui nodded slightly, and Yuki offered the umbrella.

"Here, you can have the umbrella."

"Eh? But..."

"It's fine. I can run home, it's close."

The light turned green.

Yuki pushed the umbrella into Yui's reluctant hand.

"Bye."

She waved her hand and turned to leave.

Yui looked surprised for a moment, then quickly waved back.

In her haste, she let go of the handle, and the umbrella shaft almost slipped off her shoulder. She grabbed it awkwardly and smiled shyly.

Yuki watched the girl waving and smiling under the umbrella in the rain, a picturesque scene.

She thought, as always, that Yui looked best when she smiled, and hurried home, the last image of Yui lingering in her mind.