[Would it be okay for you to head back now?]
Saiki glanced at the heavy rain outside and asked with a bit of concern.
Hearing Saiki's words, Kubo Nagisa's face turned slightly red. She smiled happily and said, "Ara ara, are you worried about me, Saiki-kun? Geez, you don't have to worry that much. I can make it home."
(Yare yare.)
"Well then, see you later, Saiki-kun!"
Kubo Nagisa opened her umbrella. She had only taken two steps out of the apartment when a strong gust of wind blew in, instantly deforming her umbrella and dragging her along for a couple of steps before she finally let go. The umbrella flew off quickly in the other direction.
"Ah!! My umbrella!"
Seeing her umbrella get swept away by the wind, Kubo Nagisa seemed to want to retrieve it. She took a couple more steps outside to chase after it, but Saiki grabbed the back of her collar—her fate.
[Yare yare, this isn't the time to worry about an umbrella. Get back here!]
After being pulled back by Saiki, Kubo Nagisa pouted, stretching both hands toward the direction her umbrella had flown off in. She kept murmuring under her breath, "My~ umbrella." (*°▽°)ﾉ
Saiki was utterly speechless. (She's still thinking about the umbrella, Kubo-san.)
After thinking for a moment, Saiki patted her head. [Forget it, Kubo-san. The rain outside is way too heavy, and it's not safe. You shouldn't go back today. Just stay over at my apartment for the night. That way, you can help look after Shiina-san too. It's not really appropriate for me, a guy, to take care of her by myself.]
Hearing Saiki's words, Kubo Nagisa nodded. Then she looked at him. "Saiki-kun, you're definitely worried about me this time, right! Aren't you? Aren't you?"
(Is that really the main point here?)
Saiki looked at Kubo Nagisa, whose body was soaked, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at him. He sighed and replied.
[Yeah, yeah, I'm really worried. Let's head back to the apartment first.] After saying that, Saiki turned and walked toward the stairs.
"Hehe ꒰^ↀωↀ^꒱❤❤! Thanks, Saiki-kun."
Kubo Nagisa patted Saiki on the shoulder from behind, then sped up to walk in front of him, hopping and skipping back to Saiki's apartment.
Once they were back in the room, Saiki told Kubo Nagisa to go take a shower first, since she was completely drenched.
...
After both Saiki and Kubo Nagisa had finished showering, they sat in the living room.
Saiki picked up his phone and handed it to Kubo Nagisa. [Kubo-san, why don't you call your family first and explain the situation?]
"Oh, right!"
Kubo Nagisa took the phone and dialed her home number. The other side picked up quickly.
"Moshi moshi, Onee-chan..."
Hearing Kubo Nagisa's voice on the other end, a loud voice immediately rang out. "Nagisa, where did you run off to? It's pouring rain outside! You still haven't come home."
Kubo Nagisa waited for the voice on the other side to calm down before replying. "No, Onee-chan, the rain is too heavy outside. My umbrella got blown away. I'm staying at my classmate's place right now. The thing is...."
After a messy string of "moshi moshi" explanations that no one could quite follow, she handed the phone to Saiki. "Saiki-kun, my sister has a few words she wants to say to you."
[Sister?]
Saiki took the phone and held it to his ear.
[Hello.]
A cheerful, giggling female voice came from the other end. "Ara ara, so you're the Saiki-kun that our little sister mentions all the time, huh? Ah, sorry about this. I let my sister cause you trouble again today. Thanks for taking good care of her, Saiki-kun."
(She feels kinda weird, this sister.)
[No problem. I should actually thank Kubo-san for her help today.]
"Oh, really? Then I'm relieved. But since my little sister is staying over at your place tonight, you two should be careful, okay? You're both still high school students, after all. You can't go doing anything weird. Even if you're going to do something, wait until you're adults. And also..."
(This sister really isn't proper at all.)
Before Saiki could respond, and before the voice on the phone could finish, Kubo Nagisa's face turned bright red. She snatched the phone back and said, "Okay, Onee-chan, bye!"
Kubo Nagisa, sitting next to Saiki, had heard her sister's loud voice clearly. [Geez, why did Onee-chan say those things to Saiki-kun? Now he's going to think I'm some weird person. This is so embarrassing.]
(She really is a weird person, but I can see how she's your sister.)
After calming down, Kubo Nagisa looked at Saiki and said, "Sorry about that, Saiki-kun. My sister is, uh, kinda weird. She says strange things, but she's actually a really good person."
[Yeah, I know. I can tell she's really concerned about you.]
"Really?" Kubo Nagisa scratched her head, about to say something else when her stomach let out a loud "gurgle gurgle."
Saiki glanced over, noticing that Kubo Nagisa's ears had turned completely red.
[Kubo-san...]
Kubo Nagisa blushed and weakly pinched her fingers together. "It's not that… it's just because it's really late now, haha. Um, so… can we… eat now?"
[Cough cough, sure. There's ingredients in the fridge. I'll make something. You just rest here.]
After saying that, Saiki walked to the fridge, opened it, and started thinking about what to make. Kubo Nagisa spoke up as she walked over.
"I'll help too. I can't just sit around doing nothing. Don't judge me by how I look, but I can actually cook."
[Oh, really?] Saiki looked at Kubo Nagisa with clear disbelief.
Seeing Saiki's expression, Kubo Nagisa puffed out her cheeks. (づ ●─● )づ "What's with that look? You don't believe me? I'm just helping out, you know. I can at least handle some prep work."
[I didn't say anything.]
"Your face says it all, hmph!"
[Yare yare, what a hassle. Fine then, could you trouble yourself to chop an onion for me?]
Saiki handed her an onion.
(If you want to see if someone can cook, first check if they can even cut vegetables properly. But it's just chopping an onion. Nothing should go wrong, right? Yeah, that's it…)
Kubo Nagisa put on an apron and patted her chest. "Task accepted, guaranteed completion!"
...