1 Under The Rain

As our teacher talked about the lesson during class, I ignored her as I instead stared at the window by my side, where I noticed it was dark and cloudy outside. 'The perfect weather', I thought. I believe that a dark weather is the perfect weather for procrastination. No person can resist laying on the bed during a moody weather, after all.

While I looked forward to my planned activities after school, I finally hear our school bell ring.

Soon after that, our teacher swiftly ended the class and left the classroom. The students soon followed suit as everyone got ready to leave with their respective groups.

I too began my preparations to leave. But as I was putting my textbooks back into my bag, I hear a familiar voice coming from my back.

"Yo, Haruki-kun! I see that you're as gloomy as always, huh!"

"...Ikeda..."

This energetic voice that came from my back is from a man named Ikeda Kento. He was my classmate in middle school. And somehow, he thinks that we're close.

"I told you already, don't talk to me like we're close. Also, Stop using my first name already."

"Heh~ you know~ you kind of sound like a tsundere~"

"And you sound disgusting. Just shut up if you have nothing good to say."

"Oh come on, can you really say that to your one and only friend in school? Hmmm?"

He said, while pushing his annoying face onto me. I just pushed him back with my hands in retaliation.

"Don't get your face close to me, it's annoying."

"My actions?"

"No, your face."

"Ack! Ikeda received a critical attack!"

The idiot shouted while falling to the ground.

Although I don't really like it, what he just said is true. He is the only "friend" I have here in school. Because, I am what the people would call a "loner"... Though, If I actually have a friend, could I still be called a loner? ...I should stop thinking about it.

But anyhow, this "loner's" name is Inoue Haruki.

My hobbies are, Lazing around, reading novels and watching anime. I also like programming and writing stories... Why am i even saying these?

As I was doing this stupid self-introduction in my head, I heard the stupid guy talking to me once again.

"So, are you leaving school straight away again?"

"Yeah, I need to buy ingredients in the supermarket today for my food."

"Heh~ well that's a shame."

"Why?"

"I was going to let you and my girlfriend meet today..."

"Girlfriend?"

"Yeah! She's also my childhood friend."

"I've never even heard anything about your childhood friend before..."

"Ohhh~ are you jealous? Haruki-chan"

"Stop it. You sound disgusting."

"Hahaha, well I guess you won't be able to meet her today, huh. Well, I'll try again on another time then."

"I'd rather not get invited at al-"

Not letting me complete my sentence, Ikeda cuts me off and leaves in a dash.

"Alright, see you in tomorrow then!"

He then sprints off before I could say anything else.

'How can someone be so energetic...

Though, I guess him getting a girlfriend isn't that shocking. He is the king of normies in this school after all.'

I thought, as I picked up my bag and left the school.

But before going home, I went to a supermarket first to food supplies.

Cheese, pasta, butter, guanciale, eggs, vegetables, meat, and a lot more.

After my shopping, I headed back home through a station and continued my walk for a few minutes on the side of the main road.

However, whilst I was walking on the pavement, rain suddenly began falling from the sky, so I got the umbrella from my bag and opened it, not letting the sudden change of weather stop my journey.

As I was enjoying my peaceful walk under the rain, I heard some unpleasant shouting coming from a storefront.

"You're fired! Never come back here again!"

An old lady shouted at a girl.

The old lady quickly went back inside the store afterwards.

Meanwhile, the girl just stood there. Not moving.

Surprised by what had just happened, I just stared at the girl.

As I kept staring at her, I noticed she looked familiar. Curious, I slowly started walking towards her.

They say that curiosity kills the cat, and this decision of mine definitely killed my desired peaceful life.

Because, as I got closer, I finally realised who the girl was.

Her long, shiny and smooth black her, with that light blue pupils and long but thin eyelashes. Her pink glistening lips, her height, taller than most high school girls. And finally, a beauty that could only be matched by a few people in japan.

It's definitely her. The school princess, Sakurai Fumiko.

At this moment, I knew I messed up. Getting acquainted with such a girl could easily destroy my peaceful school life. But, it is already too late to back out now.

Besides, she might get sick if I left her out here with no protection from the rain.

Her life is much more valuable than mine. So I decided that sacrificing my peaceful school life would be a sufficient way of apologizing to society for my laziness.

And with that in mind, I approached her.

"What are you doing out here in the rain?"

Surprised by the sudden voice, she turned her head in the direction the voice came from.

Recognizing my uniform, she looked dumbfounded as she stared at me for a few more seconds until she finally snapped out of it.

"Oh? Inoue Haruki right? How may I help you?" She asked. Of course, surprised... Also, how did she even know my name?

I probably shouldn't think much of it. I heard a rumour that she memorized everyone's name in school... maybe it's true...

"Nothing, I was just curious what you were doing here outside the rain with no umbrella."

"...Did you see anything before that?"

"Before what?"

Hearing my response, she let out a heavy sigh of relief. Though, i don't think she should be relieved since this action of hers just confirmed my suspicions... and that is how she doesn't want anyone knowing the events of what had just happened. You sure are unlucky, Sakurai-san.

"Nevermind...Well, about me standing here out in the rain. It doesn't really matter to you, right? Inoue-san?"

Sakurai said with an obvious fake smile on her face. But well... she does have a point though... Why would a stranger like me care about her doing her own thing?

With that reasoning in my head, I finally had a reason to back off. So I did.

"Oh... Okay then..."

I said, as I started my retreat.

This is probably for the good. Being related to her will probably give me more problems than it's worth. This is what I kept telling myself as I continued my walk away from her.

But as I was walking away, I couldn't stop worrying about her, thinking that what I am doing is... incorrect. After all, abandoning a girl out in the rain just feels... wrong.

Unable to control myself any longer from the guilt I was feeling, I ran back up to her and shoved my umbrella into her hands.

She may think that I'm a creep, but I don't care about that right now.

After (forcefully) giving her my umbrella, I sprint away, back to my house as I heard her shout from the back.

"Wait! Why did you give this to me?"

She shouted. But I just ignored her and continued running. 'I did this to please myself, not for her'. I kept repeating those words in my head as I kept running.

This will probably the only time we'll ever have contact, so I didn't worry much about the aftermath. But, it would appear that I was wrong. Because, the very next day...