The rain was pouring heavily,
and the entire sky had darkened.
The gloominess made the girl at the cash register involuntarily shudder.
"With this weather, I'm not going back at lunch..."
She muttered softly, taking out her cellphone to start texting her friend, complaining about the awful weather.
Despite saying that, she was actually feeling quite good; rainy days meant few customers would visit the convenience store.
It was relaxing, and if the rain stopped by the time she finished her shift, it would be even better.
Unfortunately, when has anything in this world ever been perfect?
That's because humans are never truly satisfied creatures.
Having read this line in a book, Chiba Shimizu shifted her gaze back toward the rain-blurred world outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
Raindrops hitting the glass formed little streams that fogged up her view.
In the living room, there was only the young lady by herself, seeming a bit lonely.
The dining table was set with dishes covered by thermal cloths, with wisps of steam faintly visible.
He just took an umbrella with him when he went out, didn't he?
......
"Sister Reiko, will you be going back at noon?"
Arisugawa Hoshina lay bored on the deli section table, scrolling through her phone with nails that were brightly manicured, and asked nonchalantly,
"With such heavy rain, who knows when it'll stop."
"I should go back, I guess..." Reiko Onodera looked out at the torrential downpour with a gentle frown on her face.
She still needed to go back and cook lunch... just a ten-minute walk, so maybe she could run? It wasn't raining when she left the house, and who knew that just as she stepped into the convenience store, the rain would start.
Mrs. Onodera quickly straightened up, while Arisugawa Hoshina stood up with an annoyed expression, grumbling under her breath,
"Right in the middle of the day, not eating lunch at home, what are they doing coming to a convenience store? Must be a shut-in."
Hearing the Spice Girl's impatient voice, Mrs. Onodera quickly warned, "Don't let the customer hear you, Hoshina, or they might complain about you again."
"I know, I know." Hoshina grumbled discontentedly, putting away her phone and taking a deep breath as if to regulate her mood.
The person who had entered the store didn't linger at the entrance long, and with the obstructed view, Mrs. Onodera couldn't see what the customer looked like, but it seemed they were walking towards them.
And that just made Hoshina even more irritated.
Just as Mrs. Onodera was about to head over to the shelves to do her work, she froze when she realized who the visitor was.
"Har... Haruka?"
The boy in her sight stood about 183 cm tall, his black and white sportswear giving him an especially tall and straight figure, the sunny smile on his handsome face deeply affecting.
Even Hoshina, who had been sulking, couldn't help but blush at the sight of the attractive young man—his allure was undeniable.
"You, why are you here? Do you need to buy something?" Mrs. Onodera asked curiously.
"Of course, I'm here to pick you up to go home," Haruka Yuzan said with a smile.
"Huh?"
Mrs. Onodera was stunned, not expecting that the boy had come especially to fetch her,
"You didn't really need to come all this way; I, I could have gotten home on my own."
Suddenly, her cheeks flushed red, whether from shyness or the shame of feeling like a burden to her landlord was unclear.
"It's raining so hard outside, and since you didn't bring an umbrella, surely you can't just get soaked on the way home," Haruka Yuzan said with a smile.
Having seen that the rain showed no signs of stopping and was getting heavier while he was at home preparing food, Haruka Yuzan had suggested that he should pick up Mrs. Onodera.
He glanced at the time, "It should be time to get off work now, right?"
"Yes, I'm off now. I'll go change my clothes," Mrs. Onodera said, smiling and nodding her head, with irrepressible joy in her gentle eyes.