Chapter 13: Lost Property

Chapter 13: Lost Property

The day’s classes ended without a problem.

Yui came back as if nothing had happened when the pre-class bell rang and took the class normally.

I’m not sure if she’s in a good modd or not, but she didn’t talk to me after that, although she glanced at me a few times.

Apparently, her mood changes as quick as the weather in the mountains. So I decided not to worry about it.

“Wow, it’s still raining~…”

After school the classroom was filled with hustle and bustle. Yui was stuck to the large window right behind Yuki’s seat, talking to herself about something.

“Eh… crap, I forgot my umbrella…”

She mumbles some more.

“I forgot my umbrella…”

I was about to get up and go home when, to my annoyance, my eyes met with the person behind me.

I was going to head straight home, but she was staring at me and blinking her eyes deliberately.

“…What?”

“I forgot my umbrella.”

She says it cutely and nods her head lightly. It’s a terrible performance.

It’s the rainy season, and it’s raining every day.

It hadn’t rained this morning, but the forecast said that it was going to rain hard, so Yuki brought an umbrella with him.

I already brought my umbrella from the stand in the classroom and leaned it on my desk.

“….So?”

“That’s it, you see. I gave you an umbrella yesterday, right?”

Yui said with a ping, holding up her index finger.

Even though he was let in, it was only for a few minutes, and it didn’t mean much since the rain stopped soon after.

“Hmmm… I mean, I wish I could go home with you today.”

“You’re after my umbrella.”

“No, no, not really!”

The way she said it was suspicious.

In other words, it was a bother for Yuki, so he was about to tell her ‘You can borrow a school umbrella or ask a friend for help’.

Just as he was about to say that, Yuki came up with another possibility.

“Did you… did you intentionally forget for the game?”

“Niyaya.”

“Oi. All that nonsense for the sake of a game…”

I was so stunned that Yui had to point out,

“No, no~! I just plain forgot! I got distracted by your lunch!”

“That’s pretty dumb of you.”

“What? You forgot yours yesterday.”

I say a few words and she comes back with a counter.

I knew that arguing like this all the time wasn’t going to get us anywhere.

“Really, I can’t help it at all…”

“…Eh? Are you sure? I was half joking.”

“Eh…”

“So you wanted to go home with me that badly, huh?”

Yui closed her eyes as she folded her arms and nodded proudly.

(Hmm… let’s just ignore her after all and go home.)

Since I came to such a conclusion, I quickly grabbed my bag and left the classroom beside a happy Yui.

As I didn’t intent to stop anywhere in particular today, I went straight through the corridor at a fast pace and went down the stairs to the entrance and exit.

As I was changing my shoes, I heard clattering footsteps and a figure stopped close by.

When I looked in that direction, I saw Yui holding out a clear plastic umbrella in front of me.

“Huh? You have an umbrella.”

“Wrong. This is yours. You forgot it.”

“Ah..”

I left it on the side of my desk and forgot it.

Come to think of it, the reason I forgot my umbrella yesterday was because I was arguing with Mizuna about something.

“Ahhh. It’s because of Yuki-kun that I’ve come this far, you know? You’ll have to let me in this time.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry.”

Yuki shrugged and took the umbrella, and he eventually exited the doorway with Yui.

That said, there were many shadows of students leaving the school around here, and you can’t be under an umbrella together in such a conspicuous place.

Yuki stopped under an overhang of the building, opened the umbrella, and once he checked the rain, he handed it to Yui and walked forward.

Fortunately, the rain was only a drizzle now, so it didn’t really make a difference whether or not he was using an umbrella.

“Sorry~. I owe you an umbrella~.”

While walking out of the school gates and onto the wet asphalt, Yui said that in a somewhat amused tone.

When I increased my walking speed she caught up to me while saying, “Wait a minute, wait a minute~”.

“Ameyo ameyo fure~ fure~ I’m going to blow on Yuki-kun’s head.”

“Could you stop with the weird song?”

After a while, as the shadows of the umbrellas nearby decreased, Yui began to sing a mysterious song, taking advantage of the fact that no one was nearby. She was in a rather good mood.

But it really started raining just as I said that, and I couldn’t help but glare at her.

“Are? Do you want me to let you in?”

“That’s my umbrella, okay?”

Yui suddenly approached him and lifted her arm to hold the umbrella Over Yuki’s head.

While deliberately pulling up her upper arm,

“It’s too heavy. I want someone tall and strong to hold it.”

She said it in a full blow, smug tone.

It’s too much trouble to refuse so Yuki just said ‘Yes, yes, yes’ and took the handle.

“I’m not that strong.”

“Hmmm….”

I didn’t know if she was listening or not, but Yui glanced at Yuki and smiled mischievously as if she had something in mind.

“Well, let me help you with that.”

As soon as she said that, Yui covered his hand with her own, which was holding the handle.

And without a moment’s hesitation, she looks up at me with the usual grin on her face.

“Oh, I’m holding your hand. What do I do now?”

“Are your hands getting sweaty?”

“Wet…? …No, no, it’s not sweaty hands, it’s rain. Rain.”

“It’s sweat…”

“I said it’s rain!”

Yui’s hand became hot.

Yui quickly let go of my hand and makes a gesture of grabbing it again, hitting me on the shoulder.

“….mouu. Why do you say things that ruin the atmosphere?”

They were complaining for a while as they walked, but they got bored halfway through and became quiet.

The conversation stopped and we were silent for a while.

“You got quiet all of a sudden, didn’t you?”

Yui said that suddenly.

Even if you say that, I walked normally and ignored her.

“…Uh, are you angry?”

“Huh?”

I couldn’t help but look at Yui’s face after suddenly being told that.

It’s a bit mysterious… It looks like I’m a little worried, and it was different from any expression I always show, so I thought back.

“I’m not mad, what’s going on?”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to follow you… it’s just that… I mean, I don’t know. It’s kind of awkward for me to be silent. I wondered if I shouldn’t be talking anymore.”

“You don’t have to force yourself to talk.”

“It’s a little weird when you’re quiet”, I add.

Then, Yui looks down a little.

“I mean, I’ve been known to be a very quiet kid.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t really know what I’m doing… but I think I’m acting out without knowing, or maybe I’m playing a cat.”

“Hmm? It’s not like you to worry about something like that.”

When I said that, Yui fell silent.

It’s fine if that’s all there is to it, but her expression was dark and still somewhat listless.

As she walked along, I couldn’t help but change the hand that was holding the umbrella and my free hand reached out…

Just before touching her head, Yui quickly swayed and dodged.

“You’re gonna pat my head again!”

“Ah, sorry, it was just a reflex.”

“No, you definitely tried to stroke my head! I’m not letting that hand near me, ever again!”

She’s going to talk up a storm.

It seems she didn’t like that very much, did she?

“Oh, come on, cheer up.”

I thought the result was okay, but once again, Yui was silent, so I suddenly looked to the side and our eyes met again.

But as soon as I looked at her, she immediately turned away from me. Even so, I could clearly see that Yui’s face was getting redder and redder.

“You blush easily.”

“Wha? Is that bad?”

“No, I just think it’s cute.”

When she smiled slightly, Yui averted her face.

“Wha, it’s embarrassing being called cute.”

“Are you shy?”

“I’m not shy!”

“What? Does that mean you’re angry.”

“How is being angry cute?”

After saying that, she quickly turned away and Yui fell into silence again.

According to her, if I don’t say anything, it makes her uneasy, so I’ll just say what comes to mind.

“The rain is nice, isn’t it? I like the sound and smell of rain. I don’t like it when it’s muddy or a typhoon comes, though.”

Yuki suddenly thought he was talking a lot, which was unusual.

But I couldn’t think of what to talk about after that, so we ended up in silence.

Since the rain was getting stronger, I took a half step closer and leaned my umbrella a little more towards Yui.

“I… think I like it too.”

After that, we just kept walking in silence, keeping a very close distance from each other.

The sound of the rain hitting the ground was so clear that it was the only thing that sounded good to my ears.

And after a dozen minutes of walking, we stopped at a red light at a large intersection.

My house will pass by if I don’t turn here, so I’ll have to say goodbye to Yui here.

“Then, I’ll be going this way.”

“…Un.”

After saying that, Yui gave a small nod. Yuki held out the handle of the umbrella and said,

“I’ll lend you my umbrella.”

“Wha? But…”

“I’ll be fine. My house is only a few blocks away.”

The signal turned green. Yuki pressed the umbrella into Yui’s hand, who didn’t want to receive it easily, and handed it to her.

“Bye.”

With a small wave of his hand, he turned on his heel.

Yui looked as if she was momentarily taken aback, but as if she suddenly came to, she immediately waved back.

She was in a hurry and that caused her to let go of the handle, and she laughed, a little embarrassed, as she regained her grip on the shaft of the umbrella over her shoulder as it was about to slip off.

A girl waving her hands under an umbrella in the rain smiling. It’s somewhat picturesque.

After all, a smile looks good on her. Yuki remembered the last image of Yui in the back of his mind and hurried on his way home.