It was the afternoon.
Without warning, large raindrops began pelting down, instantly soaking Shido's school uniform jacket. He let out a surprised "Woah!" and hastily raised his school bag over his head, making a futile attempt to shield himself from the sudden downpour.
"What the heck is up with this weather? It was perfectly fine this morning!"
As he complained, he quickened his pace, jogging along the slick sidewalk. His mind was filled with the discomfort of wet clothes clinging to his body and the potential scolding he might face from Kotori when he got home
—even though she often wasn't careful herself.
Just as he was sprinting headlong around a corner, hoping to reach his dry, warm home quickly, his gaze was firmly caught by a figure ahead.
His steps unconsciously slowed.
— It was a girl.
She was wearing a cute, uniquely designed green hooded jacket. Her petite figure stood out prominently on the deserted street.
Most striking was the large, rabbit-eared hood she wore, which completely obscured her face. On her left hand, she wore a rather comical-looking rabbit puppet.
Ignoring the intensifying rain, the girl was currently skipping and jumping merrily and lightly on the ground where shallow puddles had formed, as if this annoying rainy day were her personal dance floor.
"What...?"
Shido frowned, not only out of curiosity about the girl's actions but also because of an inexplicable attraction.
Why couldn't he take his eyes off her?
Her attire was certainly strange, but... that wasn't the only reason. A strong, familiar sense of unnaturalness seized him. This feeling... he seemed to have experienced it recently. Where was it? Ah, yes, the first time he met Tohka, and also... when he faced Chinatsu?
The cold rainwater ran down his hair into his neck, and the clammy feeling of his soaked clothes seemed to vanish. He was simply staring intently, wholeheartedly, at the Spirit dancing lightly in the rain curtain—
And then—
— *Thud!* She slipped!
"Huh...?"
Shido widened his eyes in surprise.
He saw the petite figure lose her footing and fall heavily, face and abdomen first, onto the wet pavement, splashing a considerable amount of water. The rabbit puppet on her left hand flew off due to the sudden impact, landing a short distance ahead.
The girl remained motionless, lying face down.
"...Hey... Hey!"
After a brief moment of shock, Shido immediately reacted, running over in a panic. Ignoring the puddles, he knelt down and carefully lifted the small body, helping her turn over into a supine position.
"Are... are you okay? Hey!" he asked anxiously, his voice filled with concern.
It was then that he truly saw the girl's face.
She looked to be about the same age as Kotori. Her light hair was a deep sea blue, maintaining its cute, curly shape even when wet from the rain. Her soft lips were a faint cherry blossom color. With her fair skin and long eyelashes... she looked just like a delicate French doll. Currently, her eyes were tightly closed.
"...!"
As if hearing his call, the girl's eyelashes fluttered and slowly opened, revealing a pair of eyes like the purest sapphires. At the moment, those eyes were filled with confusion, which was quickly replaced by alarm.
"Ah... that's good. You're not hurt, are you?" Shido sighed in relief, trying to keep his tone gentle.
However, upon seeing his face clearly, the girl's complexion instantly turned pale, and her gaze flickered violently, like a startled fawn. She abruptly broke free from Shido's grasp, scrambling backward hand and foot. After putting some distance between them, she curled up and stood, her entire body beginning to tremble uncontrollably. She looked at Shido with eyes full of terror.
"...Um..."
Shido raised his hand awkwardly. *Oh, man. Although I was trying to help her, maybe suddenly touching a strange girl's body was too reckless...* Still, being stared at like he was a dangerous criminal made him feel a little hurt.
"Well... that's because, I—" He tried to explain.
"...! Please... don't... come near... me...!" the girl cried out in a thin, tearful voice, retreating another half step.
"Eh?" Shido froze in place.
"Please... don't... hurt me..."
She followed up with that sentence, the fear in her voice almost overflowing.
Her constant trembling made her look like a small animal cornered by a hunter, filled with helplessness and dread.
"Um..."
Shido didn't know what to do for a moment. His gaze swept the ground and found the dropped, comical-looking rabbit puppet.
It must have slipped off when she fell, right? He slowly bent down, picked up the puppet, gently brushed off the dirty water clinging to it, and then, using movements that wouldn't scare her, offered the puppet toward the girl.
"Is this... yours?" he asked softly.
"...!"
The girl's eyes immediately widened, her gaze fixed intently on the puppet, and her body subconsciously made a move to approach.
— But the moment her foot lifted, she abruptly stopped. The internal struggle was clearly visible on her face: although she desperately wanted her puppet back, she was afraid to approach the strange older boy.
She stood restlessly in place, anxiously gripping the hem of her jacket, assessing the situation.
Seeing the girl like this, Shido understood. He gave a helpless, wry smile, then, maintaining the posture of offering the puppet, he slowly approached the girl, one small step at a time.
"...!"
The girl's shoulders trembled slightly as he drew nearer—but perhaps sensing his goodwill from Shido's movements and gaze, and realizing he only wanted to return the puppet, the girl also shuffled her feet, approaching him extremely slowly and cautiously.
When the distance was close enough, she practically snatched the puppet from Shido's hand and immediately put it back on her left hand.
Immediately afterward, under the girl's control, the rabbit puppet's mouth suddenly started moving with a "patta-patta" sound, emitting a strange, slightly sharp, yet energetic voice:
"Hello~ We're sorry about that, Mister. You really helped us out a lot~"
Was it ventriloquism? Shido looked at the girl in surprise, but she only kept her head down, focused on the puppet.
As if deliberately trying to interrupt any direct communication between Shido and the girl, the rabbit puppet continued speaking on its own:
"— So, um~ when you were helping us, it seems you touched many parts of Yoshinon's body. How did it feel? Honestly, how did it feel?"
"Wh-What...?" Shido was stunned by the sudden, slightly suggestive question.
The puppet shook its body, mimicking a burst of laughter.
"You can't fool me~ This pervert is trying to play dumb!... Oh well, since you did help us up, consider that a Sp-e-ci-al Ser-vice for you!"
"...Ah... Ah, I see..."
Shido could only offer an even more helpless, wry smile in response to this talkative and bizarre puppet. He felt that talking to the puppet was more exhausting than communicating with the girl herself.
"Well, bye-bye. Thanks again~"
Then, the moment the puppet spoke those words, the girl seemed to receive a command. She immediately turned, clutching the puppet, and ran off without looking back.
"Ah—Hey!"
Even though Shido called out, the girl didn't respond at all; she only ran faster.
Her petite figure quickly shrank in the rain curtain. She deftly rounded a corner and soon disappeared without a trace.
"What was that all about..."
Shido stood rooted to the spot, watching the direction where the strange girl had vanished in surprise. After several seconds, he scratched his rain-soaked cheek and muttered to himself.
"Ah!"
Then, belatedly, he realized something he had ignored for a long time.
Because his attention had been completely absorbed by the peculiar girl, he hadn't noticed—he was now utterly drenched from the inside out, looking as if he had just been pulled from the water.
Incidentally, because he had rushed to help her just now, his knees had landed directly on the wet ground, and his pants were now stained with a large, noticeable patch of dirt.
"Ugh~ Seriously..."
He scratched his soaked hair distractedly, scattering water droplets from his tips, while pondering the realistic and slightly desperate question, "Does the house still have any heavy-duty stain remover?"
Since he was already this wet, there was nothing he could do. Shido converted his mounting melancholy and confusion into a long sigh, remained where he was, and then dragged his heavy (both physically and psychologically) feet to continue on the path home.
"Ah... I'm completely soaked." He repeated the factual complaint weakly as he walked.
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