Bab 48: Chapter 48 : The Feeling That Won't Dry Up Even After The Rain Stops
Spring break was already nearing its end, and it was the 30th of the month, almost April. Although leaving the premises was not allowed, I could live comfortably without any inconvenience, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I could manage that thanks to Keyaki Mall.
Even so, I was currently engrossed in playing Monster Hunter in my room, thinking about spending a relaxing time. As I opened my phone, I saw a chat message from Kiyotaka.
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji: Can you meet me with Horikita at the Keyaki Mall café from 10 o'clock today?
Checking the current time, it was miraculously 11:30. Well, I guess there's no need to go anymore. Just as I thought that, my phone rang.
The caller was "Suzune Horikita."
Ah, I'm done for.
In my head, the background music for fighting against Miraboreas resounded. What should I do? Should I pretend I'm not here? But then again, I might end up getting killed. Should I just go?
"Hello?"
"Have you seen my message?"
"...No, I haven't."
"Then why is there a 'read' mark on Kiyotaka's chat?"
Horikita was exerting quite the pressure. Scary.
"...I'm going now."
"That's fine."
And the call ended abruptly.
What's going on? Am I being tamed? With that thought in mind, I casually picked out some clothes and headed to the destination.
Arriving at Keyaki Mall and heading to the café on the second floor, I found Kiyotaka, Horikita, and Ichinose sitting there.
I wonder why they called me here. I'm not quite sure, but let's just go for now.
"You made it, Horagasaki."
"Sorry for being late."
"I'm sorry, Horagasaki-kun. I called you even though you're busy."
"You should really fix your habit of being late. I won't tolerate tardiness once the new term starts."
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry."
"...Do you want to die?"
Hmm, Horikita-san is really putting on the pressure. Without delay, Horikita urged me to sit down, and we got to the main topic.
"To be frank, I want to make full cooperation with you from the next academic year."
"I thought you might come up with such a proposal."
"We lost to Class A in this exam and fell to Class D, but we haven't lost in terms of content."
"That's right. Your class earned the most class points throughout the year, Horikita-san."
Ichinose didn't immediately agree. There are conditions for cooperation, one of which is the difference in class points. We earned 300 class points, but Ichinose's group ended up dropping their numbers. In other words, we don't meet both conditions.
"I want to set a clear goal of being in Class B or higher next year. And I intend to capture points within reach to surpass Class A."
"...I see."
In other words, it means defeating Ichinose's group, who are in front of us. Naturally, if that happens, it's not a matter of cooperation anymore.
"Do you have any objections, both of you?"
"Ah, of course. I'll follow you. It's the right decision to aim for Class A."
"I'll leave it to you, Horikita-san."
The decision is not wrong, and even if I were to say let's continue cooperation, their proposal would be adopted by a 2-to-1 vote, and I have no intention to oppose it anyway, so I'll just go along with Horikita's plan.
Upon hearing our replies, Ichinose let out a big sigh.
"From the second year onwards, we're clearly enemies."
"Yes."
Horikita tightly shook Ichinose's hand, who extended it. Horikita must have some calculations in mind, such as the strengths and weaknesses of Class B and how to overcome them, as well as Ichinose, who is likely thinking about the strengths of Class D and how to control them. We need to figure out how to restrain them. And with that, the short conversation ended.
After the dissolution, I was stopped by Ichinose.
"Hey, would you like to have lunch together?"
I, surprised by the unexpected invitation, had no reason to refuse, considering the time, so I agreed.
"Sure."
"Great, thank you."
We ended up having lunch at an Italian restaurant in the mall.
"Sorry, Horagasaki-kun, I might not have enough points, so maybe this place is too expensive..."
"I'll pay. Don't worry about it."
"But... this place is really expensive."
"It's okay, it's okay. I'm not short on points."
Saying that, Ichinose smiled as if she remembered something and apologized.
"Haha, then I'll take you up on that."
"Feel free to order whatever you like."
With that, we entered, and I ordered arrabbiata while Ichinose ordered lasagna. After finishing our meal and heading towards the mall's exit...
"Wow, this is..."
"This is terrible, and I don't have an umbrella."
What awaited us was heavy rain, as if someone had overturned a bucket. Checking the weather online, there was a downpour exceeding 30mm, making visibility poor.
"It seems like you have an umbrella, Ichinose, so you should head back first. I'll buy an umbrella."
"Wait..."
As I stopped, I turned around to find Ichinose blushing slightly as she spoke.
"Would you like to share an umbrella with me?"
Gah... that face is cheating, it's so cute. Naturally, I couldn't refuse and just nodded, "Yes."
Passing through the automatic doors, the raindrops hitting the umbrella were large enough to be overwhelming. Being slightly bigger in stature, I ended up getting soaked on one side, with my shoulder sticking out of the umbrella.
After walking for 15 minutes, I thought about starting a conversation, but the rain was too loud, and we couldn't hear each other, so we ended the conversation there. It felt long, but we finally arrived at the dormitory.
"It felt really long, didn't it?"
"Yeah, it did...!"
As Ichinose looked at me and spoke, her face turned bright red, and she looked down.
"What's wrong?"
As I peeked at her, she mumbled something quietly.
"You know, Horagasaki-kun, when you're wet, you look really sexy..."
That's what it was. It's kind of happy, kind of sad... In that flow, I tried to return to my room. Ichinose seemed to have something to say, but I just wanted to change as quickly as possible. Saying we could talk about it another time, she offered me to use her shower in the room.
... Seriously?
"Excuse me."
"Come in, come in."
Invited into her room, I felt resistance going into a girl's room while completely drenched.
"I haven't changed yet... What should I do?"
As I said that, Ichinose seemed to have not thought that far ahead either, showing a troubled expression, and then suddenly remembered and handed me an oversized t-shirt.
"...Seriously?"
"Can you wear this? Would you hate it...?"
"No, thanks. Can I use your shower?"
"Y-yeah..."
She seemed to be blushing for some reason, but I decided not to worry about it. After taking a quick shower and changing into the shirt Ichinose lent me, I left the buttons undone since it was a shirt meant for men, making it quite tight when buttoned up. It felt awkward wearing a shirt with the buttons open like this.
"I'm done."
"Yeah, your clothes got smaller...!"
"Ah, the buttons! The buttons!"
"Oh, these? If I button them up, it might pop off, right? So I'm leaving them open to avoid that."
Then there was silence for a while before Ichinose brought up a topic.
"I have something on my mind. I wonder if I'm really fit to stand in front of everyone."
Perhaps she was feeling guilty about the recent exam, where we lost to the Ryuen class and dropped to class C.
"If you're troubled by something, you can talk about it."
"Talk about it?"
"Everything that Ichinose is thinking, feeling, or worried about right now."
"But... that's not good. I've been relying on you too much, Horagasaki-kun. You've saved me so many times... I'm starting to become dependent on you..."
"But relying on someone and being dependent are different things. I want Ichinose to confide in me about everything she's thinking right now."
"But..."
"Because back in middle school... It was Ichinose who saved me."
"...Horagasaki-kun..."
If Ichinose hadn't taught me about strength and kindness back then, I wouldn't be here now. But now that the person who taught me strength is showing weakness, I don't know what to say as well.
"Ichinose, you told me I was a strong person. But seeing the current weak Ichinose, I don't know what to say."
Ichinose must know her own weakness, so without saying anything, she looked into my eyes.
"Of course, there will be times when it's tough. At those times, you can rely on your classmates or me. But I want Ichinose to be stronger than me and confide in me about everything she's thinking right now."
"I'll do my best."
She still seemed to have some lingering anxieties as her hand trembled slightly. I gently wrapped her trembling hand and hugged her.
"You can do it, I'm sure."
"I promise, I'll fight with all my might to aim for Class A this year."
Will the time come when Ichinose truly becomes strong? If it does, will it be next year, at graduation, or beyond? Or will she never become strong and just end it? It won't happen unless Ichinose chooses to break her own 'shell'.
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