Love Advice From A Childhood Friend. - Chapter 2.5: The Beginning Of My Daily Life (Part 5)
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- Chapter 2.5: The Beginning Of My Daily Life (Part 5)
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The Beginning Of My Daily Life (Part 5)
The rain that started falling in the afternoon showed no signs of letting up, and continued even after school.
The forecast was for cloudy skies, so I thought it would stop soon.
Sugiuchi and I left the classroom after being locked out early, and took shelter from the rain in the quiet library, fiddling with our cell phones and making small talk.
“Sugiuchi, what did you do for lunch today?”
“Do you like me that much? —Don’t get jealous just because we weren’t together.”
Uchino kura-san had also gone somewhere, so it was just me and Hinagata for lunch, instead of the four of us yesterday.
“Idiot, it’s just curiosity.”
I lightly kicked Sugiuchi’s foot.
In the end, I asked him what he and Uchino Kura-san talked about after school yesterday, but he didn’t tell me.
“I told you not to kick me. Well, I’ve got a lot on my plate.”
He muddied the waters, so I decided not to ask any more questions.
…He might have a girl he likes, too.
If that’s the case, well, I don’t understand why he’s muddling the waters.
We talked about pornography, but Sugiuchi and I have never had a real love talk. This is partly because we’ve never had such a serious conversation before.
As we listened to the quiet sound of the rain, Sugiuchi began to breathe in his sleep.
I should leave him alone.
Through the window, I can see a few girls coming out of the gymnasium
Hinagata has club activities today.
I don’t know how long they’ll be out for, but they’re probably hard at work practicing right now.
“Tonomura.”
Sugiuchi, who I had thought was asleep, was awake. He was looking at me with a cane on his cheek.
“Hmm?”
“Aren’t you going back to your club activities?”
“What is it? What’s up?”
“No, nothing …It’s just something.”
Sugiuchi didn’t say anything else but kept his face down and fiddled with his phone.
From inside the school, I could hear the cheerful shouts of the athletic club, which was unable to practice outside.
Just as I was deciding to get wet and go home, someone came into the library.
“What are you doing, Tonomura-kun?”
The one who came to me was Hinagata, who was out of breath.
“What? Taking shelter from the rain. What about club activities?”
“I have to prepare for the entrance ceremony, so I finished early.”
“Ahh, okay.”
How did you know I’d be here? I was about to say that, but Hinagata told me that she had guessed.
“I had a good view of where you were sitting from the gym.”
Hinagata seemed to be one of the girls who came out.
I couldn’t see her from my side because of the raindrops on the window, but Hinagata could see me.
Sugiuchi plopped down on his desk and went into full-blown good night mode.
“Oh, um… If you’re okay with folding, I, I, I, I have it.”
Have what…?
“A folding …umbrella.”
“Yeah, I guessed from the way you’re talking that it’s a folding umbrella.”
Hinagata puts her bag on the desk and starts rummaging through it.
Like Doraemon in a panic, she began to pull out the contents of the bag, looking for this and that, and finally grabbed a folding umbrella and showed it to me.
“Well, I guess I’ll be troubling you.”
“Uh, yes.. C-come in… It might be a little cramped, but still.”
Hinagata unfolds the umbrella with a wobbly hand.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry, you don’t have to unfold it here.”
“Oh, …yes.”
Hinagata hurriedly puts away the folded umbrella again.
The umbrella bag that was originally in the bag is packed now, probably because it was folded in a hurry.
“Sugiuchi-kun is…”
“That’s fine. I’ll let him sleep.”
I didn’t want to wake him up, so I grabbed my bag and urged Hinagata to leave the library.
Sugiuchi, tomorrow you’ll say, “Why didn’t you wake me up! When I noticed, it was pitch black and I was all alone!” I’m sure he’ll say something like that.
I heard the sound of the brass band practicing in the classroom. At the entrance of the school, I bumped into a senior from the baseball club.
I didn’t get along with anyone because I quit the club, but I felt guilty somehow.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
In a whisper, I bowed my head a little, not knowing how to greet him, though I couldn’t ignore him.
Senpai …Nishimura-san looked at Hinagata and asked, “Are you going home now?”
“Ah, yes.”
“With a girl? You have a good company.”
“I don’t mean to do that …”
I turned my eyes down to the rugged words.
He was a senior pitcher, and in terms of rank, I was higher than him. It was no wonder they were looking at me like I was an enemy.
“Usu…..”
“That…”
Hinagata, who had been listening, opened her mouth.
“Tonomura-kun … didn’t run away.”
“Hinagata, it’s okay.”
I stopped Hinagata when she tried to continue.
“Well, take care of yourself.”
Nishimura-san, looking sullen, slipped on his indoor practice shoes and walked away.
“I hate that senpai.”
“Don’t say that. Well, I don’t like him either, but I can’t help it, he’s a little sarcastic.”
What Nishimura-san said was true. Like when Sugiuchi asked me whether I’m returning to baseball or not, it was not like the injury made me unable to play baseball at all. It was just that I could only throw a ball for like 10 meters. I had no difficulty hitting the ball with the bat or running.
“He became an ace because Ryunosuke was gone.”
“Don’t say that.”
….That is actually also true
Humph!.. Hinagata looked away abruptly from the direction from where he left.
I came under the umbrella opened up by Hinagata in order to leave the school. By this time, the sharp atmosphere from before had returned to normal.
“It’s a love love umbrella.” I said, and Hinagata nodded.
“Yeah. That’s right.”
Love love umbrella…
“When we were in elementary school, we were teased a lot.”
“Hahaha.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because it reminded me of something.”
“Ehehehe. I know right.”
She then peeked out with a sly smile.
The umbrella was narrow, and her arms were completely soaked. I knew that the suffering was only that bad because Hinagata was leaning the umbrella towards me.
“I’ll take the umbrella.”
“Ehh, sure.”
I grabbed the handle of the umbrella and touched Hinagata’s hand.
“Pyaa!”
Pyaa?
“S-sorry. I made a weird noise.”
“Your face is all red, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it…..”
This time I took the umbrella and pointed it towards Hinagata. As if she understood that, she said, “Ryunosuke will get wet.”
“I was going to get wet on the way home, so I can afford this.”
“Really?”
After walking for a while, she lent me a handkerchief, as if she was still concerned about me.
“H-here, wipe yourself with this.”
“Even if I wipe it, I’m already soaked right now, so…”
Then Hinagata pouted as if she had decided, and approached me about half a step.
“…Eh?”
Mine and Hinagata’s shoulders and arms are almost in contact with each other.
“T-this way, …..Ryunosuke won’t get soaked…”
“No, that’s right ──”
I think you’re getting too close, here.
I can feel Hinagata’s body heat even through her uniform.
I’m starting to feel weirdly nervous…
“I don’t want you to catch a cold because of me.”
“I’m not going to catch a cold from this.”
In dramas and mangas, people catch colds when they get wet in the rain.
“I hate not being able to meet you if you have a cold and are absent from school …”
Hinagata says, looking at her toes with her upturned cheeks.
Well, I knew that she didn’t want me to catch a cold because of her.
I’m nervous, and apparently Hinagata is too. As we were walking down the street in almost silence, a car passed by us and ran over a puddle of water with great force, causing it to splash violently.
My uniform… and especially my pants, which were getting a little wet, were soaked by the splashing rainwater.
“Ugh.”
“Are you okay?”
I’m glad I was on the side of the road.
“Yeah. Well, I’ve got about ten minutes left. It’s fine.”
Hinagata poked me in the pants.
Hey, what are you doing?
“You’re wet.”
“Don’t talk like that.”
“What?”
“It’s nothing”, I shook my head.
I couldn’t help but say it in the spirit of talking with Sugiuchi, but I didn’t have any other intentions with Hinagata.
“Umm. Y-you know, …My house is in front.”
“Ahh, okay. Here, your umbrella. My house is near Hinagata’s, I will arrive there soon if I run.”
“Almost there, so….”
“Yeah. So don’t worry about it——”
Hinagata, with a red face, pointed in the direction of her house.
“U-uh, l-let’s go home and dry our uniforms..!”
You mean at Hinagata’s house? My uniform?
“But my house is only about four or five minutes away——”
“I-it’s fine.”
What do you mean, it’s fine?
“You know what? You think I’m a kitten or something, don’t you? I can’t catch a cold like this.”
“T-ther….. There’s always a “what if”! P-please, come to my house! —Please….”
I rolled my eyes at her unusually strident insistence. The last part was a muffled whisper, though.
I don’t know if she was embarrassed or if there was some other reason, but her face was still red.
“Okay. Then I’ll take your word for it.”
“Funfun~” Hinagata then shook her head several times.