I still didn't know what happened to Mei to send her running to my house—and I didn't need to. Judging by the state she was in, it was clearly something people shouldn't know, so I never asked. If she wanted me to know, she would tell me herself.
Even though she hadn't said anything since reading the message, I still didn't ask. I just remained completely still, erasing as much of my presence as I could.
After a few tense moments, Mei let out a deep, shuddering breath. "It's… from my Father. He said he wants me to come home—now."
I wasn't surprised. She was bound to leave eventually. My parents would be coming home soon, too, so it wasn't like she could stay any longer. She also couldn't avoid going home, either.
Still…
Is there anything else I can do?
I obviously couldn't go home with her. Her familial matters were none of my business. But it didn't feel right to end things here either, when she was clearly shaken.
As if on cue, my own phone buzzed. I leaned back and turned on the screen. It was a text from Lily.
"What is it?" Mei asked.
An idea sparked in my mind.
I put my phone back in my pocket and pushed myself off the bed. "My sister wants me to pick her up at the station. I'll walk you back partway while I'm at it."
She stared at me, her face unmoving, but her fingers curled into the hem of her sleeve.
"Is… that okay?"
I gave her a dismissive shrug. "I'll have to go out either way. I might as well walk with you while I'm at it."
Before Mei could say anything else, I stepped out of my room and into the laundry room. Her clothes were dry by now, so I pulled them out of the dryer and handed them over.
I thought we'd put them into a bag for her to carry home, but instead, Mei went into the washroom and locked the door.
From inside, I heard soft rustling.
"What are you doing?" I asked, hiding my confusion.
"I've told you before," Mei said, her voice muffled through the door. "But my Father is strict with boys. If he sees me coming home with your clothes, he'll get suspicious."
While she may have sounded as cheery as she usually did, I could still vaguely make out subtle traces of disappointment.
Well—that's a problem.
It felt wrong to simply take my clothes back after giving them to her, but I couldn't insist she bring them home either.
I leaned against the wall across from the washroom with a loud sigh. "Then I'll bring it for you to take home the next time we hang out. How about that?"
There was a slight pause before Mei responded.
"...Sure. That'd make me very happy. Thank you."
"No problem."
I spent the rest of the time waiting in silence until Mei stepped out of the washroom wearing her uniform.
She handed me my clothes, which I left in the laundry room for the time being. After that, we headed downstairs to the front door.
On the way there, I grabbed two umbrellas and handed one to Mei.
"Your Father won't get suspicious if you have an umbrella with you, right?"
Mei lowered her gaze toward the shoe rack, thinking for a moment. "...It's hard to say. He could, but if I had to bet on it, I think he'd be too preoccupied to notice something that small."
I didn't show any signs of change, but inside, the gears in my head started turning, slowly connecting the nonexistent dots.
'Too preoccupied to notice,' huh?
From what little I know about her Father, he seemed somewhat like my Mom—hard to fool, sharp on change. Then there was the way Mei looked when she came to my house. No shoes. Soaked. Messy hair. And her face was slightly bruised up. So for someone like her Father to be preoccupied and not notice that…
While my mind worked on these thoughts, my body moved on its own, grabbing a pair of my old shoes and placing them at her feet.
"What about shoes? Would he recognize that the shoes you're wearing aren't actually yours?"
Mei shook her head. "Probably not. Or at least—not when it's this dark. At night, even if I leave your shoes inside my house, they'd blend in with the darkness easily."
Mei probably didn't realize it, but she just handed me another hint—which went to show how comfortable she was with me... and just how normal this concept was to her.
'Blend in with the darkness easily.' I couldn't speak for everyone, but at least in my house, whenever there was a foreign pair of shoes, my family tended to notice at once, even at nighttime. Even my Dad, as clueless as he was, was no exception. The only way this wouldn't be the case… was if the house was literally pitch black.
But is that even possible? Does anyone actually live in complete darkness, even in their own home?
I'd like to say no, but when it came to Mei, anything was possible—
I bit the inside of my mouth, pulling myself out of my thoughts.
Whatever. Now isn't the time for this. I can think about these things when Mei isn't here.
I reached over to the doorknob and pulled it open. The instant I did, a heavy gust of wind and pellets of rain hit my body. I quickly put up my umbrella, using it as a shield, and stepped outside. Mei followed closely behind me.
Out of all the days of the week, the weather tonight was especially vicious. The street was covered in water, so much so that it mirrored the night sky above it. Each step I took sent water splattering, soaking my pants and shoes.
I thought my sister was being overdramatic at first, but now that I was out here, I could see how her umbrella ended up getting destroyed.
Imagine how much worse it would have been if I had run out in this weather without an umbrella or shoes…
I glanced at Mei, using the edges of the umbrella to hide my line of sight. I could only make out the bottom half of her face, but judging from what I could see, she seemed… normal.
I almost would've believed it—if I hadn't seen how she was a couple of hours prior.
...Just what the hell happened?
Still, we didn't utter a single word for the remainder of the walk.
Eventually, we reached a fork in the road. One way led to her house, while the other led to the train station.
We both stood still in the middle, no one taking the lead.
There was no one around us, not even a single car in sight. With the rain acting as a curtain, it felt as though we were the last two people on earth.
How nice it would have been if we could have stayed like this forever.
Despite the weather and the circumstances surrounding us, the quiet we had right now was somewhat… pleasant.
I reached over and lightly held her hand, pulling her closer to me. She followed my lead, lowering her umbrella and finding shelter in mine.
My chest swelled, the burning sensation that I felt whenever I wanted to see or talk to Mei growing stronger than ever.
Yes—how nice it would have been…
But we can't stay like this forever.
I had someone waiting for me, and so did she. If there was one thing I didn't do—it was run. And I, at the very least, knew Mei was the same way.
Still, that didn't mean I was going to let it end like this. I couldn't let Mei walk in there without any support either.
So—I leaned in and gave her a soft peck on the cheek.
"Mei," I said, my usual detached tone carrying a trace of something else. "I guess this is where we have to go."
Mei gave me a small nod, her hand tightening around mine. "Yeah… I guess so…"
Even as she said that, she didn't let go. But I didn't hesitate.
Before she could react, I pulled her into a hug. Her body tensed for a brief moment at first before going soft against mine.
I didn't say anything. No—it was more like I couldn't. No matter what I said, it wouldn't matter if she didn't believe it. So I waited for her instead.
As if realizing this, she spent a few extra seconds sharing my warmth before taking a step away. My arms gradually unraveled as she pulled away and looked me right in the eyes—still holding my hand.
In the darkness that surrounded us from all sides, under the hammering rain, the only colour that existed was her trembling purple eyes with streaks of pink.
"Hoshino," she said, almost like a whisper, yet breaking through the howling wind. "If anything happens again… will you be there for me?"
"Obviously," I replied, somewhat sarcastically. "Even if it's 1 a.m., if you call me, I'll come running—after I wake up... and without shoes if I have to."
But I was dead serious. And she knew that too, as it earned a small giggle from her.
Mei drew back her hand, the last thread between us, then took one last step, severing the connection. But from the heat that welled in my chest, it was as if she were still there.
Before she left, Mei gave me one last smile.
"Bye-bye. I love you, Hoshino."
I smiled back.
"Yeah. I love you too."
With that, she vanished into the darkness, the rain swallowing her whole.